It doesn’t feel like a $20 expansion
When Bloodborne: The Old Hunters was announced, I was ecstatic to get back into the world of Yharnam again. After all, I beat Bloodborne three times after just one week with it, and thoroughly enjoyed the more action-oriented gameplay compared to its predecessors.
Based on my playthrough of a demo at TGS however, my excitement has been curbed a bit.
Based on this build, if I saw someone playing The Old Hunters, I wouldn’t have really been able to tell that it took place in new areas. In short, the demo location is very similar to Central Yharnam, outside of one particular landmark hill that hosts a striking view of the sun. Even the enemies look and feel the same, down to the werewolves that you’ve encountered since the beginning of the core adventure, and of course Hunters, the humanoid foes that sport the same weaponry choices as the player character.
The map itself felt rather linear, which may be a result of paring things down for a fast-paced TGS demo, but so far it lacks the sprawling feel of most of the Souls DLC. At the end of the demo I encountered a boss (Ludwig, who plays a role in the central lore) that looked like a demonic cross between a horse and an abomination of some sort, complete with features that felt similar to the Cleric Beast. The creature had a grand opening, as usual, with unconventional movement animations to boot, bringing it inline with the rest of the big bads in Bloodborne. It’s not jaw-dropping or particularly difficult, but it fits nicely into the lore. Hopefully this horse-thing was just a palette cleanser.
That lack of excitement kind of sums up my time with The Old Hunters. I mean, it’s more Bloodborne so of course it’s going to be good to an extent (there’s nothing directly wrong here), but I’m not sure I’m sold on the prospect of paying $20 for it. When I first played Artorias of the Abyss or the three Dark Souls II DLCs, I was immediately swept into another world, which is how a paid expansion should feel. Stay tuned on our thoughts on the finished version later this year.
