Bloodborne: The Old Hunters DLC Preview, Gameplay Footage

The Old Hunters digital expansion for Bloodborne was playable at the Tokyo Games Show floors, which is why we can take a gander at the off-screen footage recorded by Gamersyde and read this preview from Destructoid, which unfortunately isn’t exactly glowing:

Based on this build, if I saw someone playing The Old Hunters, I wouldn’t have really been able to tell that it took place in new areas. In short, the demo location is very similar to Central Yharnam, outside of one particular landmark hill that hosts a striking view of the sun. Even the enemies look and feel the same, down to the werewolves that you’ve encountered since the beginning of the core adventure, and of course Hunters, the humanoid foes that sport the same weaponry choices as the player character.

The map itself felt rather linear, which may be a result of paring things down for a fast-paced TGS demo, but so far it lacks the sprawling feel of most of the Souls DLC. At the end of the demo I encountered a boss that looked like a demonic cross between a horse and an abomination of some sort, complete with features that felt very similar to the Cleric Beast. The creature had a grand opening, as usual, with unconventional movement animations to boot, bringing it inline with the rest of the big bads in Bloodborne. It’s not jaw-dropping or particularly difficult, but it fits nicely into the lore. Hopefully this horse-thing was just a palette cleanser.

Personally, I can’t help but feel that the preview mirrors my feelings after seeing the trailer for the DLC, but I’m still confident that, much like with the main game, most of the surprises will be kept under wraps until launch. Let’s hope that faith isn’t misplaced.