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Old habits are hard to break, especially when they're ones that kept you safe through trying times. When you walked through the Valley in the shadow of Drakes, when you descended into the toxic depths of Blighttown, and when you paced the gleaming ramparts of Anor Londo, the old sword and shield combo was a reliable fallback in Dark Souls. Block, slash, back off, wait. It was a mantra you repeated to yourself over and over, a song whose comforting words saw you through the darkest nights. Block, slash, back off, wait. Dark Souls' creator Hidetaka Miyazaki doesn't want you to get comfortable, which is why his latest title, PS4 exclusive Bloodborne, is taking that fallback away. And as suspected, learning to get by in a From Software game without relying on a sword and shield doesn't come easy - at least at first. Starting the game, you awaken, laid out on a gurney, in Iosefka's Clinic, a grimy, sunless room lined with dirty bottles and rusted medical equipment. A man in a wheelchair with his eyes bandaged, presumably Iosefka himself, looms over you. He calls you a 'Paleblood,' tells you you'll need some Yharnam blood in you, and that you'll need a contract in order to begin the transfusion. This opens up the Character Creation screen, where you'll choose the appearance and gender of your avatar. You also select your character's personal history, or 'origin', which affects their starting attributes. Being a Lone Survivor gives you higher life essence and vigour, for example; other choices include Milquetoast (all stats are average), a Noble Scion, a Troubled Childhood and a Waste of Skin - a miserable state as you're told you're worthless, talentless, and shouldn't even really be alive. How charming, and oh so very Souls-like.
Upon creating your character and 'signing' the contract, the transfusion will begin, Iosefka will disappear, a werewolf will rise from a puddle of blood on the floor and reach out to you before bursting into flames, and then hissing little imp-like creatures will crawl up over the gurney and you'll pass out, awakening some time later. After getting up you're free to explore the clinic, though the only company will be your own creaking footsteps, until you stumble upon a werewolf that will immediately kill you. You'll reawaken (again) in the Hunter's Dream, a quiet, moonlit churchyard that'll act as your hub world. It's here you'll be able to level up, upgrade weapons, and, by inspecting various tombstones, warp to other locations. Upon the steps of the church, a life-sized doll stares at you with blank, glassy eyes - its use unapparent for now. Approaching it, the text description reads simply that it's "Just a plain doll." Not likely.
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