You know, that sick Frankie Muniz joint from 2006 where a cast of misfits play a game called Stay Alive and if you die in the game, you die in real life?
I used to be OBSESSED with this movie and the overall concept of the game displayed (not the fact that I’d die). And I used to love House of the Dead because it always felt like that.
Now that I’m playing Bloodborne it keeps giving me that feeling the movie gave me when I was a kid: insanely difficult, disorienting gameplay matched with this sort of gatekept thrill of actually making it to the end of the game. Besides the fact that you need to die thousands of times to progress, the overall themes and environments really scratch this 20 year old itch that a really dumb movie instilled in me.
As the bosses progress, especially in the DLC, BB gives me a “you’re not supposed to be here” vibe that makes it all the more addicting to play.
Side note: as I got older and actually understood how to play difficult video games, Tomb Raider I had this same sort of feel to me. When out of nowhere bears and wolves become Atlantean centaurs.