How FromSoftware Should Make Bloodborne 2
The Situation As We Know It
As players of the original game will know, the origins of the scourge of beasts lies in the blood of the Great Ones, ancient Lovecraftian beings that were worshipped by the Pthumerians (a race that dwelt in the elaborate subterranean areas upon which Yharnam was built). Blood Ministration became the practice in Yharnam, a process that could supposedly cure all ills but actually… well, tended to make people furry, toothy or claw-y, or had an assortment of other hideous effects besides.
The player quickly learns that their objective in this strange, horrifying world is to find the ‘Paleblood’ and escape this world/stop the scourge. Fighting their way through Yharnam, the hunter defeats Rom the Vacuous Spider, an entity that veiled the true nature of this reality from sight. With Rom vanquished, the Hunter could then dispatch Micolash, Host of the Nightmare (whose Mensis scholars had attempted to commune with a Great One) before moving on to slay Mergo itself. The being that was the very source of the sickness.
There are three possible endings to the game, which is where the dilemma surrounding a potential Bloodborne 2 arises. If the player accepts Gehrman, the First Hunter’s offer to free them from the dream, they’re simply decapitated by his Burial Blade, awakening in Yharnam proper. Should they refuse, a battle with Gehrman ensues, after which the Moon Presence (another great one which created the Hunter’s Dream) captures and enthrals the player, who then takes Gehrman’s place as the hunts continue.
Here’s the rub, though. If gamers are perceptive enough to find and use three of the One Third of Umbilical Cord items before reaching this point in the game, they both learn more about the nature of the Great Ones (which much use surrogates to breed, hence Queen Yharnam and her baby Mergo) and have the strength to fight back against the Moon Presence. Defeat this true final boss and the player will ‘ascend,’ becoming an infant Great One themselves in the care of the Doll.