After the critical and commercial success of Elden Ring, discussion of a Bloodborne remaster among Soulslike and FromSoftware fans has been picking up steam—not that it ever fell off, at that. As one of FromSoftware's popular titles, Bloodborne helped pave the way for future games of its kind, even going so far as inspiring fan-made games using its world and characters. The demand for it to happen is high, and if FromSoftware were to remake this title, then it would do well to follow in the footsteps of Metroid Prime Remastered's approach to updating a beloved game.
At its core, Bloodborne isn't in dire need of a remake with many aspects of the 2015 PS4 title still holding up quite well today. Being only a generation old, Bloodborne is still entirely playable on the PS5, but its age is starting to become noticeable when compared to other, more recent titles designed specifically to run on the platform. As such, a successful Bloodborne remaster could adopt a similar philosophy to Metroid Prime Remastered and put a new coat of paint on an already solid game, if just to bring it up to par with other titles currently on the market.
Bloodborne Could Follow Metroid Prime Remastered's Path to Success
The foundation Bloodborne is built upon is already really solid, with its punishing but fair combat and engaging level design hooking players into its macabre world of Lovecraftian horrors. While it doesn't have the same depth of build customization as other Soulslikes such as Dark Souls or Elden Ring, it makes up for it by refining its combat to create a faster-paced game regardless of build type. While the bones of the game hold up well nearly 8 years later, the game could use a tune-up graphically and performance-wise, to bring its beautifully dark world up to the standards set by more recent titles running on the PS5.
One of the biggest improvements Metroid Prime Remastered made over the original GameCube title was the graphical overhaul it received. The improved lighting and textures, along with the overall higher resolution and greater detail, helped the game shake off its age and transform it into one of the most visually stunning games on the Switch. While Bloodborne doesn't have quite the age gap Metroid Prime did between its original game and remaster, giving the game a similar visual update and improving some of the performance issues, especially the frame rate dips around boss fights, would go a long way in helping it feel like a current-gen title.
While there aren't a lot of gameplay improvements in Metroid Prime Remastered, the few there are significantly improve the experience. Updated in-game physics and the ability to customize the control scheme make the game feel like a modern title without changing the core of the gameplay. Similarly, Bloodborne really only needs a few tweaks to improve its experience, such as the ability to rest and access upgrades directly from Lamps without having to return to Hunter's Dream, which could help improve performance and significantly cut down on loading screens.
Criticisms of the original Bloodborne are few and far between, but that doesn't mean FromSoftware shouldn't capitalize on the opportunity to further polish the game and bring it up to the standards of the current-gen hardware. Much like the original Metroid Prime, the legacy of Bloodborne has continued to keep it in the gaming conversation as an example of one of the best of its genre. It only seems fitting that a remaster of Bloodborne follow the less-is-more approach of Metroid Prime Remastered to give it an updated look without changing the core of its gameplay and usher the game into the current generation.
Bloodborne is available for PS4.
