Bloodborne Level Design Was Impacted by the PlayStation 4 Hardware Limitations, New Video Details

10.04.2024 - 15:07 / wccftech.com / Francesco De Meo

Despite having been released almost ten years ago, Bloodborne still hides some interesting secrets that highlight how the PlayStation 4 hardware impacted several aspects of the game.

As detailed by a very interesting video shared a few days ago by Lance McDonald on YouTube, a well-known hacker who released the game's unofficial 60 FPS patch, the game's level design was impacted by the PlayStation 4 hardware limitation. In the game's network test and early alpha versions, after defeating Father Gascoigne, the hunter could reach Oedon Chapel by going through a nondescript area, which was later improved with additional props and better lighting, leading to an ascending hallway that brought the hunter to Oedon Chapel, unlike the final version of the game where the hunter reaches the Underground Library before reaching the Chapel.

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Interestingly enough, the changes to progression made in this area in Bloodborne's final version were essentially dictated by the PlayStation 4 hardware limitations, as the fast traversal through the hallway into Oedon Chapel didn't allow the console to load assets properly, resulting in performance issues, visual glitches, and very slow loading. As such, progression towards Oedon Chapel was slowed down with the introduction of the Underground Library just two months before the final build was submitted. In one of its iterations, the location also featured additional messages that revealed new information on the game's lore.

While content constantly changes during development, this new Bloodborne finding is extremely interesting and makes us wonder what else may have been changed to accommodate the PlayStation 4 hardware and its limitations. To this day, the popular action RPG by FromSoftware is still only available on Sony's previous-generation console, and there's no indication that the game is ever coming to other formats, although rumors about a remaster or remake have been circulating online for a while.