Publication date of the original Japanese article: 2021-11-01 18:33 (JST)
Translated by. Ryuki Ishii

Game developer Lilith Walther announced the release date for Bloodborne PSX, a fan demake of FromSoftware’s Bloodborne. It will come out on January 31 for PC as a free download. The newly released trailer below gives you a glimpse of Yharnam recreated in PS1-style.

Bloodborne PSX is an unofficial demake of Bloodborne. It recreates the acclaimed action RPG in PS1 quality, giving off a retro feeling, unlike the original work. You can see the elaborate low-resolution visuals in the new trailer above. The city of Yharnam and its residents are still recognizable with their characteristics intact, while intentionally depicting them with less detail. The unique weaponry and enemy designs are also retained, but with fewer polygons. Creating a different kind of charm compared to the original.

The grainy CRT TV-like effect adds to the nostalgia. And if you look closely, the developer even recreated the TV glare in the upper left corner of the screen, which is also a nice additional touch. These effects can be adjusted to the player’s preference or turned off completely.

The UI is also in line with the PS1 feel, and even the frame rate seems a little low. The gameplay part, however, seems to be going for a faithful recreation of the original, with a focus on fast-paced combat and visceral attack sequences. Overall, it looks like the demake is a work of love and passion for Bloodborne and games from the PS1 era. This is not a full recreation though. You can only play up until the Father Gascoigne boss fight segment, which is early on in Bloodborne.

Lilith Walther, the creator of Bloodborne PSX, handled most of the work including programming and modeling. Walther is currently working as a lead programmer at Heartstrings Studios, the developer behind Witch. You can check out Walther’s other works at itch.io.

Bloodborne PSX is being developed in Unreal Engine 4, and Walther stated that it will be released as a free download since this is a fan-made game. The source code will be made available to the public a few months after the game’s release.

As this title tries to recreate the original work, rights-related concerns cannot be ignored. However, there is an existing fan-made game called Yarntown, which is still available to the public a few months after its release (related article, in Japanese). It’s hard to say for sure, but it seems like the rights holders are generous about derivative works.

Bloodborne PSX is scheduled to be released on January 31, 2022.