PS5 backwards compatibility might be a little lackluster compared to the Xbox Series X’s bountiful back catalogue dating back to the original Xbox. But that doesn’t matter because Bloodborne looks like it could get a PS5 remaster.
As a PS4 exclusive, From Software’s Bloodborne took the ‘Souls-game’ formula, sped it up and wrapped it in a Victorian London aesthetic drenched in eldritch horrors and Lovecraftian tales. And a lot of blood. It might not have landed with the impact of 2018’s God of War, but it was a stellar exclusive for the PS4 and considered one of the best games of the generation.
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But it had a few hiccups in that the framerate occasionally dropped below 30 frames per second - hardly ideal in a brutally fast game where one missed dodge is the difference between life and death. And loading times were painfully slow, especially for a game where you die a lot.
However, those problems could be fixed by Bloodborne Remastered for the PS5, which appeared in a listing by Fenech retailer Fnac. As our sibling site Gamesradar pointed out, Fnac leaked the PS5 pre-orders correctly so could be onto something here.
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Bloodborne Remastered: What can we expect?
A remastered take on Bloodborne would almost certainly iron out the long loading times with the PS5’s super-fast SSD and boost the framerates by using its 10.28 teraflops of graphics power. We’d also expect the game to run at least at 4K and sport crisper textures, as well as some extra content.
However, there’s cause to pause as Bloodborne will be part of the PS Plus Collection, which will give PS5 owners access to a curated suite of major PS4 games as part of a subscription service. We’d expect Bloodborne to load a lot faster and run at a higher resolution on the PS5, even if it doesn't get any extra graphical effects.
As such, the French retailer may have got its wires crossed. That being said, a full remastered version of Bloodborne would give Sony a new game to sell rather than something to bundle into a service. Given From Software’s Demon’s Souls is getting a remake, it’s not a stretch to imagine Bloodborne getting a fresh coat of graphical paint if nothing else.
But there's more PS5 and PS4 interplay at work.
PS5's biggest exclusives are coming to the PS4
While Sony has said that most PS4 games will work on the PS5 when it launches, it looks like some of the biggest PS5 games revealed so far will also come to the PS4.
One of those is Horizon Forbidden West, the sequel to the hit PS4 exclusive Horizon Zero Dawn — which now happens to be available on the PC. Sackboy: A Big Adventure will also span the PlayStation console generations, as will Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
“We know that the PS4 community will transition to PS5 at different times, and we’re happy to announce PS4 versions of some of our exclusives,” the official PlayStation blog explained. “While these three games were designed to take advantage of PS5 and its unique next-gen features like the ultra-high-speed SSD and DualSense controller, PS4 owners will also be able to enjoy these experiences when they launch.”
That’s good news for people keen to play these games but not quite ready to drop $499 on the PS5 or $399 on the Digital Edition. And in a similar vein to what Microsoft is doing with the cross-generation games for the Xbox Series X, Sony is offering a free upgrade to PS5 versions of the aforementioned games.
The digital PS4 versions of games like Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Sackboy A Big Adventure and Horizon Forbidden West can be upgraded to their digital PS5 versions at no extra cost. But if you buy these games on disc on PS4, you'll need the $499 standard PS5 with disc drive to enjoy the upgraded version for free.
All that being said, the best way to experience these PS5 exclusives will be on the PS5 itself. Horizon Forbidden West, from the little we’ve seen so far, looks incredible, full of sumptuous detail and graphical effects. Horizon Zero Dawn was also a visually attractive game that pushed the PS4, so we’d be a bit sceptical that it would run the sequel particularly well; maybe these games would benefit from a PS4 Pro at least.
Nevertheless, it’s looking like there'll be bridges between the PS5 and PS4 in terms of games that span the console generations. And overall that’s a very good thing for PlayStation fans. Just don't expect God of War 2: Ragnarock to come to the PS4.
