How Bloodborne Is the Perfect Interactive Lovecraftian Nightmare Visually and Beyond

From the moment you set foot onto the forsaken cobblestones of Yharnam, Bloodborne makes it abundantly clear there is something very, very wrong. After all, your first vision in the game is a beast emerging from a puddle of blood before you awaken in an abandoned clinic.

Going down the stairs to exit the clinic is a metaphor for how the game’s descent from safety to insanity has already begun.

While some of the Lovecraftian inspirations are easy enough to spot, those who have read the author’s work will agree that FromSoftware has done a deep dive into the realm of cosmic horror.

From the narrative’s subject matter to its pacing, along with all the visuals in the game, Bloodborne’s homage to Lovecraft is one of the many reasons this beloved title is brought up in many discussions.

Bloodborne’s Gothic Steeples Are Built on a Foundation of Lovecraftian Horror

Location, location, location. It’s important in real estate and in narrative-driven games. Hidetaka Miyazaki and his team were well aware of this, given the 2015 Soulslike’s setting and ambiance are perfectly curated to enhance the story’s impact.

Dimly lit alleyways, decrepit buildings, and massive ominous churches are a feast for those with a predilection for the Gothic aesthetic.

Much of Lovecraft’s work often imparts a feeling of Gothic horror, largely due to the brooding and oppressive atmosphere of his tales. Rarely, if ever, are situations and locations described as being well-lit or cheery, opting for the more somber mental images of dark hallways, abandoned mansions, and candle-lit libraries.

The player will encounter such locations, along with many others, on their quest through Bloodborne, but they won’t be the only ones traversing the gloom.

Lovecraft’s mythos is filled with grotesque and terrifying monsters and entities. Many of his stories’ protagonists have their understanding of reality and their sanity broken from even a glance at these beings.

While the creatures in Bloodborne may not elicit such a reaction from the player, we can see their effects on the denizens of Yharnam.

The Hunt is for Hunters, but the common citizenry also takes up arms and is hungry for blood. They are ready to turn on their fellow man out of fear and bloodlust rather than any real threat. But it’s not merely the presence of these creatures that has cast a collective mania over the populace.

The Influence of the Cosmic Horrors Bleeds into Every Crevice of Bloodborne

FromSoftware’s game, much like Lovecraft’s stories, begins on an odd but comprehensible footing. A plague is sweeping across Yharnam, and the Healing Church enlists the help of Hunters to keep the citizens safe. However, as the player continues on this quest and accrues greater insight, the true nature of the Hunt and the Dream are laid bare.

The many entities created by Lovecraft are described as primordial gods, who are no longer worshiped but continue to exert their influence on the world around us.

Indeed, this world we inhabit, according to the mythos, is simply a dream of the Blind Idiot God, Azathoth. Bloodborne’s entire adventure too takes place in a dream, one that devolves, at first slowly and then far more rapidly, into a bloody nightmare.

This is another characteristic element of Lovecraft’s stories—the descent into madness masked as an accumulation of enlightenment. Characters in his stories are not the most well-adjusted individuals, and their psyche is further hampered by the repeated exposure to Eldritch terrors.

Whether reading forbidden books, witnessing arcane rituals, or gazing at the monsters themselves, it’s a ‘the more you learn, the less you understand’ scenario.

In Bloodborne, this mechanic is called Insight. By taking down bosses, acquiring certain items, and consuming others, the player can gain more Insight, enabling the Hunter to discern the influences of these cosmic entities on the world.

But it’s also a marker of how far from sanity and reality we have strayed. Lovecraft’s stories start a bit slow, but the psychological breakdown of the characters quickly gains pace until it feels like an unstoppable rollercoaster.

Similarly, Bloodborne’s narrative also kicks it into high gear once the player has defeated Rom, the Vacuous Spider, and can see the world for what it truly is: incomprehensible and uncaring.

Could You Continue to Fight With No End in Sight?

An end goal is enough to inspire hope in people’s hearts and motivate them to push against even the most challenging circumstances. But what if there is no “end” to fight toward because there was no true “beginning” to the journey?

Despite getting stronger along the journey, Bloodborne’s story does a masterful job of making you feel powerless and inadequate against the unknowable.

One of Lovecraft’s most famous quotes goes like this:

The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.

FromSoftware’s narrative development ensures the player is engaged with what’s about to come next but never feels like they will be able to handle every situation. It’s this balance, teetering the player at the edge of the abyss, forcing them to look into the inky blackness without dropping in entirely, which makes the game’s story so memorable.

We can discern certain shadows and movements in the abyss, but we never truly know what is happening inside it. It holds true even after finishing the game. No matter which ending you witness, there is never a true sense of closure.

The wheels continue to spin, and the world is neither better nor worse than when we first entered. We witnessed merely a moment in time in the grand plan of an indecipherable force, one that could have the same events play out despite our efforts to work against it.

Bloodborne’s adherence to Lovecraftian formulas and how it also uses the format to bring the player a new experience is one of the many reasons the game is so highly regarded. What are some standout moments in the game for you? Let us know in the comments below!