The PlayStation 4 exclusive is shaping up to be a worthy successor to the Souls games

Jun 24, 2014 14:44 GMT  ·  By

From Software's upcoming strategic hack-and-slash title Bloodborne was for many the high point of Sony's E3 2014 press conference event, but Sony's been playing Scrooge with the details so far.

Fortunately, one can always count on Japanese video gaming magazine 4Gamer to come up with juicy details regarding the upcoming game, what with From Software also being a Japanese video game development company, and the latest interview with game director Hidetaka Miyazaki is teeming with new stuff for fans of the Souls series to drool over.

Hidetaka Miyazaki also directed Demon's Souls, the original madness-inducing dungeon crawler that started the entire cultural phenomenon, and he has reassured fans of the series that death will still play a crucial role in the upcoming PlayStation 4 exclusive game.

"About the theme 'exploring the unknown,' I believe the concept should be applied to gameplay elements. The tactical factor of the new 'active battle' is part of that, but we also want to include unknown elements in various areas of gameplay, for instance in character builds and the strategy the player will use. We'd like players to have fun stumbling their way through the game and finding out those unknown elements," he explains.

Bloodborne will not simply be a Souls games rehash, but will feature a ton of elements that will distinguish it from the Japanese developer's previous titles. Miyazaki has also mentioned that freedom of exploration is likely to extend to the game world, and that they are trying to steer away from the linear approach they implemented in past games.

"For example I can explain this by talking about the weapons that can be used together with the gun and that we define 'gimmick weapons.' In the CG trailer shown at E3, we introduced the saw-cleaver weapon. That weapon has an unique shape and can also transform, and its features also change depending on the transformation," Miyazaki shares.

"Using those different transformations is an integral part of gameplay, and there are even unique attacks with special effects that can be executed only while the weapon is in the middle of a transformation. I think that there will be a lot of room for exploration on how to master those weapons," he adds.

The tiny off-screen videos clandestinely recorded during Sony's behind-closed-doors gameplay demonstration left the entire world thirsty for more, and it's just a question of time until Sony mans up and releases a proper, direct feed gameplay video showing all the freaky enemies and weird contraptions in action.