A Storming Thought

     Bloodborne stands out from the rest of FromSoftware’s previous games for a multitude of reasons. It has much faster and aggressive gameplay. There is a new healing system and the opportunity to quickly regain health after taking damage. Its consistent gothic architecture creates a Lovecraftian tone that differentiates it from the Souls series’ medieval and varied architecture. I think Bloodborne shows just how different it is in regard to its story. Dark Souls is primarily interested in trying to understand humanity and how it can be preserved. Bloodborne is focused on what comes after. What is the next step beyond humanity and how do we get there? How do we as humans ascend to something greater? Bloodborne purposes two options and then spends the entire game exploring each path. There is the advancement of the physical body through blood and there is the advancement of the mind through insight. Blood The proper story of Bloodborne starts with one special discovery. ...

          I believe as a whole the series of The Last of Us is about trauma. It is about how we deal, cope, ignore, and ultimately heal from trauma and loss. In the first game, we saw how Joel suffered from the loss of his daughter and finally began the recovery process by the end. Now it’s time for Ellie’s turn. It’s extremely easy to just write Part 2 off as another revenge story that ends with the lesson that violence is bad. It is much deeper than that. It is a story about the importance of human life, the hate and rage we surround ourselves with, and the actual effects and costs of not addressing one’s trauma. Life is painful and the game is never shy of reminding us of that but it also reminds us that we do not have to hold on to that pain.  We Are The Same         Part 1 begins with a father forced to watch the death of his daughter so it's only fitting that Part 2 begins with a daughter forced to watch the death of her ...