With the PS5 launching this fall, FromSoftware is preparing its latest projectElden Ringfor release at some point in the future. As part of a surprising and exciting collaboration withGame of Throneswriter George R. R. Martin,Elden Ringwill be a new IP for next generation consoles. Obviously a new IP from theDark Soulscreators is exciting, but it’s going to make the wait for aBloodbornesequel even harder.
The Victorian-inspired beast hunting RPG saw great success on the PS4, gaining fans from both inside and outside theSoulsseries for its iconic atmosphere and gameplay design.Bloodbornein a lot of ways transcended theSoulsgames, but also borrowed from the same lineage that madeDark Soulsgames so popular in the first place. Since the first game, there’s been several great Soulsborne games likeSekiroreleased in the wake ofBloodborne’s success. Assuming there’s aBloodborne 2on the way, there’s an element fromSekiro’s combat system that should make a return inBloodborne.
Sekiro’s Strategic Aggression
In a lot of waysSekiro: Shadows Die Twicereally isn’t a traditional soulsborne game. There’s a static main character with no class or appearance customization, a linear plot with character moments and interactions, and environmental storytelling and subtlety isn’t the main expression of story. The game was developed solely as a single-player, narrative-driven experience inspired by and designed to be a spiritual successor to theTenchugames.Sekiromade a lot of significant changes that made it very different fromDark SoulsorBloodborne, especially in the posture-based combat system that emphasized aggression and movement.
Combat inSekirois centered on dexterity and strategically aggressive offense. Rather than constraining players to the stamina system like in previousDark Soulsgames, the player and enemies each have a posture status. Posture reflects combatants' balance and stamina, with each successful strike not only inflicting damage but raising the posture meter as well. Breaking posture opens opponents to deathblows, similar to backstabs or critical hitsinDark SoulsandBloodborne. While there are plenty of enemies who can be defeated simply by whittling down their health, most enemies are defeated by filling their posture meter until they lose balance for a deathblow.
From Deathblows To Visceral Attacks
PlayingSekirorequires a different understanding of mechanics when directly compared toBloodborne. There are similarities at the core of the gameplay, but the Wolf moves and fights in a different style fromBloodborne’s Hunters. That being said, there are elements ofSekiro’s combat systems that would fit well intoBloodborne’s combat to differentiate it further from itsDark Soulsorigins. ManyBloodborneenemies are defeated by exploiting critical hits and weaknesses, so it would make sense to have an extension of the posture system in the nextBloodbornegame.
Granted deathblows would likely bea little unbalanced inBloodborneif every critical hit lead to one, but incorporating a posture system could make combat more interesting. Rather than constantly hitting tough enemies or bosses in the same weakness with the same critical hit every time, adding in the posture system would add some complexity to each encounter. Reducing how often critical hits are available to the player, but using a version of the posture system to reward players for optimizing damage output would be perfect. Critical hits would be rare, but upping the damage reward for a posture break and visceral attack would be perfect for competitive depth. Balancing the posture meter with stamina would be a difficult task, but it would account for player vulnerability in a way that makes a lot of sense forBloodborne.
Implementing Posture in Bloodborne
Firearms inBloodborneessentially already do the same thing, but it’s a very simplistic design. Basically instead of a shield fromDark Souls, guns allow players to exclusively parry, instead of using a shield to both parry and defend. To counter that limitation,allBloodbornehuntershave high mobility to dodge, as well as limiting the amount of ammunition players can carry. But in the end that would either turn into this consistent cycle of firing the gun at one specific attack, do a visceral attack, then rinse and repeat. Then if the Hunter runs out of ammo, well, players just have to play hit-and-run for the rest of the fight under the fallacy that they didn’t optimize damage.
Theoretically a posture system could be implemented with some balance changes to make critical hits more rewarding but harder to achieve. Players could have reduced ammunition, but would be encouraged to save bullets for the high posture damage range to pursue a posture break. Then players could inducea visceral attack just like in the originalBloodborne, where they’d be much harder to achieve but far more rewarding to land. Staggering enemies could perhaps still be possible without a posture break, but visceral attacks could do less damage compared to a posture-broken stagger instead. There’s a few possibilities, but there’s certainly room for more competitive depth inBloodborne’s combat system as it currently exists, andSekiro’s innovative combat systems could serve as an inspiration.
As FromSoftware’s next project approaches, it will be interesting to seehowElden Ringadapts the formula of Soulsborne combat in its own way. But assuming aBloodbornesequel is a possibility, there’s plenty of material the game can draw from to enhance the combat mechanics to add more depth and strategy to fighting beasts.
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