Week 6

For this week we reversed engineered the Chalice Dungeons from Bloodborne. We went for using paper cutouts that can be interchangeable to simulate the procedurally generated levels. For the enemies, we decided to use little game pieces to denote enemy variation based on color. The different tiles will have the same enemies and players will roll dice to see how the encounter plays out. With the reading for design values, I want to conclude that the developers of Bloodborne wanted to make something challenging that is totally separate from the main game. This was the first time that the developers tried to do something like this with the way the level is created. Theoretically, there is an infinite number of different chalice dungeons for the players to explore. This being the case I think it was a good decision for the developers to not make it a part of the main game and have it be its own optional thing for the dedicated fans who want more game after the game. Looking at the five key approaches and how the chalice dungeons can be identified with each of them, will give us a better idea. The aesthetics of the game or experience that the player is supposed to have is; go through the level and search for a lever that opens up a door to the boss. The boss has a loot pool of blood gems, and the player has a random to get one out of the loot pool. Next, the social aspect of it is that the player is able to summon friends if they are in the same dungeon. This creates jolly cooperation for the players and the game has a massive community that helps each other and share new findings. A good example of this is that a few months ago someone on the subreddit found a dungeon that gave a massive amount of free blood echoes which is the currency needed to level up. Many gaming news outlets reported on it because of the nickname it was given. Furthermore, the environmental aspect of the game is one of the most important parts of the game according to most fans. The team that made Bloodborne has a reputation for environmental storytelling and that is very clear with the amount of detail in the chalice dungeon. Also, with the traditional aspect, we can see their experience with the catalog of games they have made in the past. There is a formula put in place for all souls-borne games and it works. This game, however, is set in a gothic and Lovecraftian setting with the enemies and level design. You can see that they took much inspiration from H.P Lovecraft with the lore for some of the bosses and the universe it’s set in. Finally, the last gender-based design values are present with some strong female characters in the lore and as a boss in the DLC. The Lady Maria boss fight is considered one of the hardest and best boss fights in the whole series.