Bloodborne

General Information Genre: Action-Roleplaying, Action-Adventure, Survival Horror Release: 24. March 2015 Developer: Fromsoftware, Japan Studio Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Plattforms: Playstation 4, Playstation 5 Analysis from: Nio Saner, Maksym Kliuzko, Marcel Gamma

1. Game Description

Players take the role of a person with an unknown illness, drawn to the dark gothic city of Yharnham for its long history of blood ministration. Unfortunately though, this same blood used for healing appears to also be responsible for turning the people of this city into mindless beasts. Taking on the role of a Hunter, the player must embark on a journey to uncover the mysterious eldritch beginnings of this plague, and defeat whatever gets in their way.

Trailer: www.youtube.com

2. Sound Description

Suitable for the gothic horror genre, the soundtrack mostly consists of melancholic strings, especially cello, sustained and with lots of vibrato, reminiscent of wolves howling in the night. It also doesn’t shy away from incorporating christian-sounding chorals, as well as dissonant music boxes, utilising a wide scope of its dark, oppressive mood. The sound effects have a heavy, sometimes visceral quality to them, from blood splattering and flesh squelching after a successful hit to the piercing, high-pitched noise of the healing blood vial.

3. Sound Analysis

3.1 UI Sound

The UI sound can largely be deconstructed into two categories: Selection and confirmation. Within menus, moving from option to option generates clicking noises that sound largely conventional in the history of inventory systems. More impactful choices, such as traveling to the hunter’s dream or selling off items, interestingly results in a heavy metal clang, accompanied by the sound of tearing flesh. Opening a menu, however, sounds a lot like rustling cloth. Uniting all these is a sen:-Dse of mechanic practicality, the Hunter’s nature. If one wishes to interpret, the clicking could stand for the gun used to parry, the clanging for the main weapon, and the rustling for the protective armor, thus creating a full picture of the experience of a hardened warrior.

Cursor Move	cursol_move.wav
Cursor Select	cursol_select.wav
Cursor Cancel	cursol_cancel.wav
Cursor Ok	cursol_ok.wav

3.2 Spatial Sound

3.2.1 Diegetic
As with any good game, the soundscape of Bloodborne is flexible to the environment the player is in. In the main city of Yharnham, one can hear church bells and crackling torches, befitting the religious fervor of its inhabitants. In the wintery area of Cainhurst, special attention was paid to the soft drizzle of snowflakes, and footsteps sound muted and crunchy against the soft snow. Inside buildings, attentive listeners will often perceive a quiet yet ominous drone reverberating from the huge stone walls.

New Location	bb_new_location_sound.mp3

3.2.2 Non-Diegetic
A good example for a non-diegetic environment sound is when the player enters a new location. A stinger is played to signal the transition into the area, accompanied by its name in the UI.

New Location	bb_new_location_sound.mp3

3.3. Player sound

3.3.1 Enviroment
This includes sounds such as footsteps, rustling of clothes, picking up items and interacting with doors, levers, ladders and the like. Being firmly rooted in the physical world, they share a common theme of decay that is inherent to the mortal realm. Levers and doors creak and moan with age, and the fabric sounds tattered yet heavy against the Hunter’s back.

Collect Item	bb_item_collected.mp3
Retrieve Blood Echoes	bb_blood_echoes_retrieved.mp3

3.3.2 Combat

Parry and Visceral	bb_parry_and_visceral.mp3
Player Death	bb_death.mp3
Blood Echoes Suck	bb_blood_echoes_suck.mp3

3.4 NPC and Enemy sound

3.4.1 Enviroment
3.4.2 Combat

Cleric Beast	cleric-beast-roar.mp3
Carrion Crow	crow-death-sfx.mp3

4. Immersion

5. Comparsion: Bloodborne and Pineview Drive

5.1 General Comparsion

5.2

5.3