As noted elsewhere on the site, the single best thing I bought in 2015 wasn’t an album, or a movie, or even a book. It was From Software’s absolute masterpiece of a video game, Bloodborne. Caveat: before you go any further – yes, I’m going to geek out here, and very few of you are likely to be interested in what follows.

What is Bloodborne? It’s a third person adventure game, set – initially, at least – in a weird Victorian-looking city named Yharnam, wherein people are doing very strange things with blood, citizens are suddenly morphing into horrendous lycan creatures and most folk are simply hiding behind locked doors while vigilantes known as “Hunters” attempt to cleanse the streets. So far, so video-gamey. What’s unusual is how the story progresses. You’re never really told what’s going on. There are clear plotlines, and themes, but zero in the way of real exposition, and you’re left to piece it all together at your own pace. As you proceed through the game, you discover the ancient catacombs under the city, in which were found the remains of dead gods, and all manner of other » Continue Reading.