Reviews
[Review] ‘BloodbornePSX’ Shows the Cosmic Horror Classic in a Whole New Light
In our BloodbornePSX review, Bloody Disgusting takes a trip back to Central Yharnam for a demake of From Software’s Cosmic Horror classic.
People have been begging for Sony to finally bring Bloodborne over to PC, and thanks to developer Lilith Walther we’re one step closer. BloodbornePSX manages to transform the PS4 classic into a game reminiscent of a game right out of 1997. It’s a clear labor of love that manages to hold onto the core of what made Bloodborne great in a completely different style.
Right off the bat, the game hits you with nostalgia by opening with that iconic PS1 logo, complete with that lovely startup sound. Not only do the chunky character models and muddy textures scream PS1, but the controls have also been “updated,” for lack of a better term, to be able to work on an older controller. You activate the target lock with the X button (or A if you’re using an Xbox controller like I was), move with the D-pad, and turn the camera with the back shoulder buttons. There are definitely moments where I reflexively tried using the analog sticks, but the remapping helps sell the illusion that this could have existed in the late 90s. You even have to go into the redesigned old-school menu to manually transform your trick weapons, which is clunky in all the right ways.
The new visual style isn’t just for nostalgia either. Having the less distinct visuals gives everything a bit more of an uncanny nature, letting your brain fill in all the details. This works especially well for a world that’s so Lovecraft-inspired, replicating the feeling of trying to gaze on something that your mind cannot fully comprehend. Despite having less detail, enemies are still readable enough that you always know what you’re up against, a key element for a Soulslike. Even the lower draw distance gives Yharnam a more oppressive and dark atmosphere.
Despite the changes to the controls, it still feels great to play. I was easily able to fall back into my old muscle memory, tearing through hordes of enemies as I made my way through the streets of Yharnam. It’s not as tight as the original, but it’s still easy to get quickly killed if you’re not paying enough attention. Even the boss fights feel appropriately exciting, giving me the same palm-sweating tension that I get from a full-sized soulslike. By keeping the scale small, Walther was able to polish this demake to an incredible level of quality.
BloodbornePSX isn’t a recreation of the full game, which would be an unfathomable undertaking to be done in the 13-month development cycle of this project, instead focusing on just Central Yharnam, including the Cleric Beast and Father Gascoigne boss fights. Interestingly, the recreation isn’t one-to-one, as Walther sprinkles in plenty of surprises throughout the levels to really make it her own. As someone who’s put over 200 hours into the original Bloodborne, it was nice to revisit the game in a new way that was able to surprise me. One moment that remixes the first appearance of the troll was particularly inspired. Even with these changes, it still retained the authenticity of the Bloodborne experience through a new lens.
Lots of other small changes help it forge its own identity as well. The insight mechanic is now used to gate areas in the Hunter’s Dream, slowly unlocking it as you progress through the game. Loading screens break up areas of the level, giving the player a way to escape from hordes of enemies and gain a small moment of respite. You’re also given a large amount of control over the PS1 style effects for the game. By default, you can have a more authentic 20 frames per second, or you can unlock it and let the game run as fast as it can.
So many demakes have a hard time getting out of the shadow of the original and being anything more than just a fun little gimmick. Instead of just being something that you load up to show your friends for novelty’s sake, BloodbornePSX is something I can find myself playing for hours on end, exploring one of my favorite worlds with fresh eyes. If you’re itching to get your hands on Elden Ring later this month, head over to the itch.io page and pick it up to help tide you over, as this is a quality Soulslike experience in its own right.
BloodbornePSX review code provided by the author.
BloodbornePSX is available now on PC via itch.io.
With all the hullabaloo surrounding Kane Parsons’ big screen adaptation of/sequel to his Backrooms web-series, it’s easy to forget that the Backrooms phenomenon itself actually began years ago. Since 2019, countless creators have tried to leave their own unique mark on this memorable piece of collaborative fiction, with game developers being especially interested in exploring the architectural nightmare of the rooms in virtual environments.
However, now that this once-niche creepypasta has escaped the online bubble and permeated all of popular culture, several of these developers have decided to rework and rerelease some of their old titles in order to reach a new audience. Puppet Combo did this with their interpretation of The Backrooms last month (originally released in 2019 as Day Seven), and now Cortez Productions is doing the same with the console release of The Backrooms: Lost Tape.
However, Lost Tape is more than just a cleverly timed rerelease, with Vini Cortez having taken the time to completely overhaul the 2022 game’s graphics and transfer the project over to Unreal Engine 5.6 – complete with bug fixes, exclusive new content, and a brand new visual style that’s a little too impressive when compared to what the original version of the game was trying to do. In fact, I’d argue that this is more of a remake than anything else, though it’s still built over the skeleton of that original game.
In the updated title, which is presented as a found footage anthology where each “tape” tells a self-contained story, players initially take control of a movie theater usher named Josh as he no-clips into the titular Backrooms and tries to find his way out of a liminal labyrinth. The second (and final) tape follows Josh’s brother Nikolas as he attempts to track down the missing usher and ends up embarking on his own journey through infinite hallways and not-so-empty pools.
What follows is a highly atmospheric first-person walking simulator with the occasional light puzzle and a handful of thrilling chase sequences. While the liminal environment is obviously the star of the show here, the rooms are actually populated by monsters in this game, and our characters have plenty to say about the situation they find themselves in.
Unlike Parsons’ more introspective take on the Backrooms mythology, Cortez has decided to incorporate the multiple levels of the Backrooms wiki as well as several crossovers with the SCP “franchise”. While I personally don’t mind this inclusion due to the creepypasta’s collective origins, die-hard fans might be bothered by the fact that you can run into SCP-173 (affectionately referred to as Peanut by some fans) while wandering around the yellow hallways.
However, the real problem here is the fact that the game is simply presenting imagery and ideas made by other people without adding anything new to these familiar elements. There is an undeniable novelty to exploring these beautiful renditions of classic liminal environments, but Lost Tape offers little in the way of originality in both narrative and presentation. This extends to the unfortunate use of generative AI in some of the new textures and audio files – issues that weren’t present in the 2022 version of the title.
Though Cortez has promised that he’s working on bringing back the VHS filter that made the original experience so grungy and atmospheric, the glossy new visuals make the game feel a lot less scary while also consuming way more computing power than can be reasonably expected from an indie title. Sure, the game is pretty in a “tech-demo” sort of way, but there’s no reason for it to be hogging resources like a blockbuster AAA title.
This is made even more frustrating by the fact that this found footage anthology is technically still incomplete. The two existing tapes only scratch the surface of the setting’s narrative potential, and Cortez has announced that the next ones will only be available as (likely paid) DLC. Josh and Nikolas’ tapes are self-contained yarns that’ll each get you about a feature film’s worth of entertainment, though a lot of that runtime is taken up by very slowly walking from one point to another. But it’s a shame that there isn’t a concrete promise of more content to come.
At the end of the day, Backrooms: Lost Tape isn’t a bad game. Cortez really nails the liminal atmosphere and even breathes new life into tired SCP tropes, and the upcoming VHS filter will likely resolve most of my gripes with the revamped visuals. That being said, I find it hard to recommend a project that took a completely functional experience and spoiled it with AI-generated assets and poorly-optimized “upgrades” that no one was really asking for – especially since it doesn’t give existing owners the chance to roll back to a previous version of the game.
So, if you’re looking for more Backrooms-related thrills after enjoying the A24 adaptation, Lost Tape isn’t necessarily a bad place to start, but there are certainly better and more original options out there.
Backrooms: Lost Tape is available now on Steam and PS5.
You must be logged in to post a comment.