Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: promising fan project gets shutdown prematurely after behemoth publisher deems it to be infringing on its property. In the defence of Sony, it’s generally not as trigger-happy as the likes of Nintendo and Rockstar, but given the publicity pointed at Bloodborne PSX, we’re almost expecting it to all end in tears.
That would sure be a shame, because this upcoming demake looks spectacular. Clips of this project have been shared on social media for several months, and now it has a PC release date: 31st January, 2022. It’s exactly what it looks like: a 32-bit port of FromSoftware’s seminal PlayStation 4 exclusive, complete with scanlines, pointed polygons, and putrid textures.
The project’s been developed by Lilith Walther, who’s done a bang-up job, as evidenced by the opening 10 minutes embedded above. We’re particularly entranced by the obtrusive loading screens, and can almost hear our poor PS1’s CD-ROM drive grunting and groaning as it seeks out the next section. Chances of it getting shutdown before the year’s out, though? High, in our opinion.
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments 31
I played Bloodborne just a few months ago, and absolutely adored it. The best game I've played this year, just beating Hades. The atmosphere, the bosses, the level design, I just loved it! This demaster looks pretty cool to be honest, but yes as soon as Sony has its eye on it it'll never see the light of day again
@BranJ0 Unbelievable game that will hopefully get a PS5 (and PC!) port in the near future.
Welp, I'm off to ebay to look for Nightmare Creatures.
I completely get why Sony would shut this down, but why not just hire the person to finish it and put it on PSN for the laugh? These PSX Demakes make me want to weep with nostalgia whenever I see them. I'd pay a tenner for this easy.
@get2sammyb One of the games on PS4 that would benefit most from a PS5 port I feel, with 60fps and dramatically increased loading times, this game would be even better
I'm amazed Sony's legal department hasn't shut this down yet.
Yeaah you should lay low if you work on a Fangame until its ready for Release
If these people had sense they wouldn't announce or market these games and instead would just drop them once its done and then market, by that point its out there and nothing can be done about it.
Doubt Sony would order a Cease and Desist, that's more Nintendo's territory, I don't think Sony would even care, in fact: if I remember correctly, about a year or two ago, someone was recreating a level from Sly 2 Band of Thieves, and upon hearing about this project, the folks at Sucker Punch reached out to said person and actually sent them most of the assets they themselves used on the original game.
@JustPlainLoco It'd be lovely if they treat it like that. This looks cool and isn't really going to stop anyone from playing the PS4 version.
If anything, this only adds to the game's prestige!
It should be shutdown, call it whatever you want it's still the full game being ported to PC without Sony's permission
Kinda cool, although the developer needs to run the script by an editor and/or spellchecker.
Wish fans would stop making elaborate projects based on established IPs that'll inevitably get shut down and instead put that energy into original projects that they can actually sell and market.
It reminds me of Nightmare creatures, I loved that game back in the day
It really is very cool. Bloodborne’s not exactly my favourite Souls game by any stretch of the matter but it’s a nice looking fangame.
I can understand having nostalgia for the 8 or 16 bit era. Those pixelated sprites have a certain charm to them. But I'll never understand pining for Sega Saturn/PS1/N64 graphics. It was such an ugly and clunky era in gaming with virtually no titles worth replaying.
@Saitama117
I disagree. Ocarina of Time, Metal Gear Solid, Mario 64, FF7 etc. Are all still really good times. And while those games early polygonal visuals haven't aged as well as sprites they still have a charm to them especially when they are uprendered to higher resolutions or displayed on a decent CRT.
@PegasusActual93 Symphony of the Night is the only game from that era that I still play. I have favorites from that period, including those you listed, but I don't want to go back and replay them because I know I'll be disappointed. I'd rather just have the nostalgia than deal with all the glaring flaws and be disappointed.
Removed - inappropriate
@Saitama117 ever played Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver? If not then it is worth a play, as the story is GOOD. Blood Omen is also still great to play, albeit clunky by today's standards.
@Saitama117 Have you ever played The Adventures of Alundra? An absolute PS1 classic in my view. Lovely 16 bit pixel art and tough but fair gameplay and puzzles. I first played it a couple of years ago and it was one of the highlights of my gaming year
In 2022 we have a possibility of a remake and demake. What a glorious year 202w could be LOL.
@Subsided it's a loose ground up remake of the first level only but with new content and a wide variety of changes. It's not even in the remotest sense a port. The only thing that's been ported is some of the audio.
I mean, they're on pretty solid legal grounds here if they do order them to stop. That being said, they might not; it helps to build hype and taking it down would be bad for PR, plus it's not going to conflict with their own sales; if they aren't remaking it they don't have any competing product, and if they are then it's not like people are going to play this INSTEAD of the actual game. Ultimately it will come down to whether or not Sony believes letting this slide will be more beneficial than harmful, rather than whether or not they have the right to take it down.
@get2sammyb would love to see Sony or Bluepoint hiring Lilith to work on their games.
@Subsided it's only the first level. Not really the actual entire game.
Also what I like about the demake is an item that lets you use your health as ammo in case you already spent all of your quicksilver.
@Miketimothy820 imo i prefer a Bloodborne remaster. The game looks fine as it is. Just needs a resolution and framerate boost, with minor QoL additions (i.e. letting you telerport to any lamps without needing to go to the Hunter's Dream) and a photo mode.
@SoulsBourne128 not so bad if it's only the first level, that wasn't clear on this article though
@SoulsBourne128 - You can use health to create bullets in Bloodborne, no item required. Up on D-pad gives 5 blood bullets.
@Shigurui ah okay. Not gonna lie, I've played bloodborne for so many years, and I honestly did not know I could do that lol
@SoulsBourne128 - You're not alone there. I've played a tonne of BB co-op and every person I met didn't know either lol.
@TimeDelayedGamer I did play that and completely forgot about it. I might have to find a ROM and give it another go.
Here we are, months later, and the game has been fully released and there's no C&D in sight. FromSoft and Sony have been very cool about this.
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