1) Bloodborne – The Old Hunters
Of all the games that fall under the banner of FromSoftware’s illustrious and affectionally named ‘Soulsborne’ series, Bloodborne is the one most open to being criticized, not for its quality (that’s largely reserved for Dark Souls II), but rather, its length. It’s important to remember that, despite the obvious connections and similarities, that Miyazaki’s dual parts Gothic and cosmic horror RPG was never intended to be a lead-in from Dark Souls II, but its own beast entirely.
The streamlined progression system and a reduced pool of available weapons in the base game drastically reduced the allure of taking a second stroll through the cobbled streets of Yharnam and beyond. The content already present was great, there just wasn’t enough of it.
Then, along came The Old Hunters, and, just as it had done prior with the Souls DLC, Bloodborne‘s one and only add-on proved to be everything it needed and then some. Despite it ‘only’ having – and I use that word extremely loosely – introduced more of the same content (bosses, weapons, gear, etc), Old Hunters raised the already high bar set by Artorias of the Abyss and the Lost Crowns DLC, yet again proving that you can never have too much of a good thing.
It’s a testament to FromSoftware and Miyazaki’s perfected formula that it need not attempt to introduce gimmicks or new mechanics as part of its post-launch efforts, but rather, offer new options and challenges, even if the latter means getting beaten to a pulp by Orphan of Kos the millionth time. Brilliant.