History YMMV / Bloodborne

** The devs saying that the game [[http://www.technobuffalo.com/2014/10/28/bloodborne-dev-aiming-for-30fps-because-its-the-best-to-play-action-games/ will run at 30 FPS, claiming that's it's the best framerate for action games]] caused no shortage of arguments. Some people were indifferent to it, while others think it was an excuse to prioritize the graphics over making the game run smoothly. Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that the game often drops below 30 fps during combat, which hurts the smoothness and responsiveness of the gameplay. This is somewhat mitigated by playing the game on [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation5 PS5]], which improves performance significantly, but the [=PS5=] is notorious for being extremely difficult to obtain at MSRP and the game has never been patched to run at 60 FPS for [=PS5=] users.

* FandomRivalry: A large chunk of ''Bloodborne'' fans were not happy when ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'' was revealed to be getting a remake (despite already having a remaster that was still playable on [=PS5=]) that is also coming to PC as well as UsefulNotes/Playstation5 while ''Bloodborne'' is still a [=PS4=] exclusive and hasn’t even received a 60FPS patch for [=PS5=] users.

** The Powder Kegs are slowly gaining momentum, considering they make the coolest trick weapons in the game. Including the Whirligig Saw and the Boom Hammer. By extension, this includes Valtr, a Solaire {{Expy}} and wielder of the Whirligig Saw.

* CommonKnowledge: Popular perception is that Bloodborne is the "fast" ''Souls'' game with the most powerful dodging system and quickest enemies. While this is true compared to its immediate predecessors, it actually isn't compared to any game in the series came after it. Enemies in ''Dark Souls 3'' and ''Elden Ring'' are faster than their ''Bloodborne'' equivalents in just about every way (actual velocity of their swings and projectiles, down time between combos, the number of hits thrown out per second in the combos themselves, and tracking across their arenas) and dodges in those games are better for about the same stamina cost. To put it in numbers, [[https://www.bloodborne-wiki.com/2015/10/movement.html?m=1 BB's]] dodges take 0.7 seconds of which 0.33 seconds are invincibility frames (48%); [[https://www.reddit.com/r/opensouls3/comments/68khsv/wip_a_comparison_of_roll_frame_data_from_the_3/ DS3's]] medium dodge rolls take 0.7 seconds with 0.43 seconds of invincibility frames (62%).[[note]]''Elden Ring'' and ''Dark Souls 3'' use the same roll frame data, and ''Elden Ring'' also added even better dodges in some Ashes of War like Quickstep (0.77 seconds with 0.5 seconds of invincibility; 65%).[[/note]] The difference between them however is less noticeable than that between ''Dark Souls 1'' and ''Bloodborne''; the former's medium dodge rolls take 1.1 seconds, of which 0.36 seconds are invincibility frames (33%), while costing far more stamina.

* DifficultySpike: Even for a ''Souls'' game, once you [[spoiler:kill Rom]], Yharnam and Yahar'gul get a lot more dangerous with the addition of Bell-Ringing Women buffing and reviving enemies, and new enemies throughout Yahar'gul. What follows Yahar'gul are the [[spoiler:Nightmare Areas like the Frontier and the Nightmare of Mensis]], which are both quite hard as well.

** Blood Souls, after the naming conventions of the previous games Miyazaki directed.

* FriendlyFandoms: ''Bloodborne'' is held in very high regard by [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraft]] fans, and sees a lot of crossover between the two fandoms, due to its extremely faithful send-up to his mythos, and being the rare video game and/or visual work that pulls off both the [[CosmicHorrorStory existential dread]] and [[EldritchAbomination unknowable nature]] of those works.

* MemeticMolester: A dark variation. Some players see Gehrman as a DirtyOldMan and believe that he not only raped the Plain Doll, but encourages the player to do the same. This is due to some alarming dialogue, his distant attitude to the Doll, and [[spoiler:the heavily implied backstory of both the doll and himself]].
** Taken up to eleven in ''The Old Hunters DLC'', [[spoiler:long before the Doll was created, Gehrman has a ''curious mania'' towards Lady Maria, his apprentice of Cainhurst heritage. Being unable to cope with her loss, Gehrman created an exact replica of Lady Maria, and that is where the Doll came from. [[FridgeHorror One may wonder]] [[AndIMustScream what else Gehrman did]].]]

* NarmCharm: The [[spoiler:Orphan of Kos']] screams. Out of context, it sounds a bit silly, but considering ''what'' you're fighting, many find it terrifying.

** To all of the ''Souls'' games, from fans and reviewers alike. It takes the excellent combat of the ''Souls'' games and reinvents it for a much more visceral experience.

** [[spoiler:Given its CosmicHorrorStory aesthetic, the game is essentially an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's works, with particular emphasis to the Dream Cycle.]]

** Also to Creator/FrancisFordCoppola's ''Film/BramStokersDracula'' in terms of visual atmosphere, fusion of Victorian England and Central Europe, clothing and production design, and the overall focus on blood and life.
** Some argue that huge wedges of the appeal lie in how it ''feels'' even more like old school SurvivalHorror games than the ''Souls'' games do for whole sections (and ''Souls'' is pretty nifty at the heart-in-mouth, yay-made-it, OMG-help-help-help-not-going-to-make-it, follow-the-bread-crumbs survival feel as it is). A rare thing, these days.
** Probably the closest we'll get to a ''Literature/SolomonKane'' video game.
** A lot of the game's aesthetics, particularly that of the hunters, takes inspiration from the ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' expansion ''Innistrad'', a set of cards about a Gothic town plagued by beasts. Funnily enough, ''Bloodborne'' would end up influencing ''Innistrad'' back, with the followup block ''Shadows over Innistrad'' taking in CosmicHorror tropes clearly modelled after this game.

** In the ''Old Hunters'' DLC, [[spoiler:the last Brain Fluid you have to find to finish Saint Adeline's questline is apparently found by killing her, which means she is effectively drinking her own brain fluid. Yikes.]]

** The Blood-starved Beast has the distinct honor of having the potential to be this on top of being ThatOneBoss. While it's fast, relentless in its attacks, and has a one-hit-kill grab that has lead to more than one snapped controller, it's incredibly vulnerable to parry and visceral attacks throughout all three stages of the fight, because its moves are so relentless and somewhat-telegraphed. Even without visceral attacks, it is so blood-starved it attacks mindlessly, which makes it easy to dodge because its aim is extremely poor and it attacks even if you aren't near it. With the proper timing, the beast may not even lay a claw on you as you pump bullets into it and tear out huge chunks of its health. It's also possible to toss Blood Cocktails around and distract it away from you so that you can wail into it with a fire-enhanced weapon, which has a generous multiplier against it.

** More of an Anti-Climax mini-boss, but Djura the Hunter, found on top of a tower in Old Yharnam, can be knocked into a BottomlessPit with just two or three shots of your gun. Even if you don't shoot him, Djura may just end up flinging himself off while avoiding your attacks. And if you think this will make you lose the important loot that he drops, if you just reload the map (either by quitting and reloading or exiting and reentering the area), the loot will spawn back at the top of the tower.
** The Blood-starved Beast has the distinct honor of having the potential to be this on top of being ThatOneBoss. While it's fast, relentless in its attacks, and has a one-hit-kill grab that has lead to more than one snapped controller, it's incredibly vulnerable to parry and visceral attacks throughout all three stages of the fight, because its moves are so relentless and somewhat-telegraphed. Even without visceral attacks, it is so blood-starved it attacks mindlessly, which makes it easy to dodge because its aim is extremely poor and it attacks even if you aren't near it. With the proper timing, the beast may not even lay a claw on you as you pump bullets into it and tear out huge chunks of its health. It's also possible to toss Blood Cocktails around and distract it away from you so that you can wail into it with a fire-enhanced weapon, which has a generous multiplier against it.
** The Witch of Hemwick is generally considered to be the easiest boss in the game. The Mad Ones summoned by the Witch are not very dangerous as long as you keep your distance, which isn't hard, because they merely walk toward you instead of running. The only real danger with the Witch is if you don't manage to [[spoiler:kill the second Witch in time, leading to the first Witch coming back to life with ranged magic attacks that bind you and make you a sitting duck for the Mad Ones to gang up on]]. And if you decided to [[spoiler:empty your Insight to 0, the Mad Ones wouldn't even spawn, leaving the Witches as the only enemies]].
** The Celestial Emissary is competing with the Witch for the "Easiest Boss" category. The enemies it summons are not very fast and don't have much health, and if you have a long weapon with an attack that can sweep a large area, like the Hunter Axe's transformed L2 attack, you can get rid of whole groups of them in no time. The only really dangerous attack it has is its laser attack when its health gets low, but the boss doesn't have much health to begin with, so you can kill it before it even has a chance to use it.
** The One Reborn is essentially a cakewalk if you simply dodge-roll his projectiles and keep jumping down on him from the second level. With enough luck, it's possible to beat this boss without getting hit once. While his attacks are quite punishing, and ''do'' come at the player from quite a few directions at once (making them tricky to avoid at times), he has a few moments where he stops moving and lies still, giving the player some surprisingly juicy openings to attack him. You can make the fight ''even easier'' by eliminating the six bell-ringing women on the upper level.
** Micolash, Host of the Nightmare is rather memorable to be sure, what with the crazy Mensis-member babbling at you while going with his magical attacks and fisticuffs, but all of those attacks are telegraphed and easily dodged or interrupted. [[FlunkyBoss His stage is also littered with Skeleton Puppets]] which deal decent damage when they hit, [[GlassCannon but they're somewhat slow, easily dodged, and are rather fragile]], though the odd hit from them can add up if you get lost or can't find how to get to him. His only real claim to fame is [[ThatOneAttack A Call Beyond]], which, to be fair, is friggin' devastating.
** Despite the fact that she's a Great One and has a pretty large health pool, Amygdala ends up being one of the easier bosses. Her long windup animations give you ample time to react, and you can often get at least 2 good hits in on her whenever she lowers her weakspot, her head — and those hits are often treated as visceral attacks! All these factors make the fight more long than it is difficult. If you have the Cannon fully upgraded and you applied the Bone Marrow Ash onto it, a direct hit to the head would immediately knock her to the ground, leaving you to land a visceral attack.
** For as impressive as Mergo's Wet Nurse is visually and aurally, her boss fight isn't quite the same: her attacks are slow and telegraphed, easily dodged and capitalized upon, with the only real issue being her [[MarathonBoss colossal health pool]]. Even her DesperationAttack, in which she blankets the area in fog and summons a double, can be dealt with through constant dodging.

** The FinalBoss on a normal run, [[spoiler: Gehrman, the First Hunter. Imagine the fight against Father Gascoigne mentioned above -- except he's faster, stronger, and doesn't even need a second form to kick your ass. You may be much stronger than you were in Gascoigne's fight, but it probably won't help you much.]]

* BreatherBoss: The One Reborn is generally agreed to be one of the easiest bosses in the game (not that that's saying much...). His attacks have far reach and can deal a ton of damage, but they're fairly easy to dodge as long as you keep running and rolling as much as possible, and he has some ''very'' generous openings that allow the player to freely whale on him with impunity (especially if they kill the six Bell Maidens before going to work on him). But considering he's encountered right at the end of Yahar'ghul and right before the Nightmare of Mensis--widely considered to be [[DifficultySpike the two hardest levels in the game]]--his boss fight is a welcome reprieve.

** The [[https://bloodborne.wiki.fextralife.com/Make+Contact "Make Contact"]] gesture is a reference to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauss%27s_Pythagorean_right_triangle_proposal Gauss's Pythagorean proposal]]. Just like Gauss predicted, [[spoiler:making a right angle with your arms demonstrates to an extraterrestrial (in this case, the Brain of Mensis) reciprocal existence of intelligent life on Earth and its grounding in mathematics.]]

** The Hunter's motivations for [[spoiler: refusing Gehrman's offer to leave the dream]] is also subjected to this. [[GoneMadFromTheRevelation Have they succumbed to madness?]] Is it because they want an opportunity to destroy the Great Ones once and for all? Or maybe they just want to ascend themselves?

** Taken up to eleven in ''The Old Hunters DLC'', [[spoiler:long before the Doll was created, Gehrman has a ''curious mania'' towards Lady Maria, his apprentice of Cainhurst heritage. Being unable to cope with her loss, Gehrman created an exact replica of Lady Maria, and that is where the Doll came from. [[FridgeHorror One may wonder what else Gehrman did]] [[AndIMustScream ]].]]

** Darkbeast Paarl, the BonusBoss in the Hypogean Gaol area. It has an awesome design, essentially being [[CreepyAwesome a skeletal werewolf covered in electricity]], and the theme that plays when you fight it is quite imposing. The fight itself is extremely difficult, due to Paarl being an extremely fast LightningBruiser, leaving almost no margin for error -- especially if you fight it in the first half of the game, in which case you'll be ''very'' underleveled.

** Upon defeating [[spoiler:Ludwig]] in the DLC, his severed head will remain alive and (if you're wearing any Church attire) tearfully ask you whether the Church's legacy turned out to be honorable. Tell him a [[BrutalHonesty brutally honest]] "no" and he will deliver a line to the effect of "Just as I feared...my detractors were right after all," and then start laughing/crying/''nickering like a horse'' for what feels like a minute straight.

-->''"Uncover the dark mystery of Yharnam, the Healing Church, and the Old Ones! Or don't--because most of the story is hidden in the item descriptions. And the [[GoldenEnding good ending]] has you [[spoiler:turn into a magic squid]], so...it's probably pretty dumb."''

** The Headless Bloodletting Beast's body slam attack, which he loves to do whenever you're underneath him. It's incredibly difficult to dodge because it basically turns his entire body ''and the area around it'' into [[HitboxDissonance one giant hitbox]] and, due to its short windup and the CameraScrew resulting from the boss's enormous size, it's very difficult to see coming as well. This attack can easily take off more than half your health and he spams it with abandon whenever you dare get underneath him, and it's probably the main reason why this boss is so infamous among the player base.

** Blood Souls, after the naming conventions of the previous games Miyazaki directed