Bloodborne PSX creator explains why the original is “so transgender”
Since January of 2021 Lilith Walther (she/her) has been publishing frequent Twitter threads on an ambitious PS1 style de-make of Bloodborne. Now, just over a year later, Bloodborne PSX has been successfully released, with great acclaim from the Bloodborne fan community. With the de-mastered recreation of the game’s entire first act hitting over 200k downloads in just the first four days post-release.
Finishing a project of this scope in a year is already impressive, but a fan project coming out at all is cause for celebration given the constant threat of DMCA takedown. We sat down with Lilith to talk through these anxieties, discuss what drew her to Bloodborne, potential queer readings of the game, and the all too real horror of being an online trans creative.
“Hot take I guess, but it was already a PS1 game” said Walther when asked what drew her to Bloodborne specifically. “Obviously, they do take advantage of modern technology, like online and level streaming, but I still think their core design is very old, retro, classic, however you want to say it. In terms of their design and enemy placement, it was kind of a perfect fit. But I’m also not going to deny that Bloodborne is my favorite game ever.”
Walther went on to explain how they first played Bloodborne back in 2017. She wasn’t out as trans at the time, allowing it to stick with her as the game she played while “going through it”. This is a little surprising given the history of the gothic horror stories that inspired Bloodborne. Many of the genre’s formative writers nurtured a nasty streak of bigotry, leading to a strained relationship with marginal identities in the modern day. How is it then that Bloodborne can provide such comfort to a queer creator when it seems to draw from a toxic source?
“Bloodborne is a story that goes in the exact opposite direction,” said Walther when asked about the genre’s complex history. “It kind of talks shit about the people in power, and the protagonist is an outsider, and all your friends are disabled people and sex workers and other outsiders. Then a lot of the enemies are the upper-class people responsible for the plague who trapped all the lower-class people into central Yarnham and closed the gates – who then die horrible deaths anyway from their own creations. It’s a direct response to a lot of the problems with gothic horror as a genre. It’s incredible, and it’s probably why it’s so transgender.”
Unfortunately, not everyone sees the queer themes in Bloodborne quite so clearly. One tradeoff for Walther’s public approach to development is the increased attention from a more regressive gaming crowd. She explained that, while the YouTube comments really were terrible, overall she was “honestly expecting it to be worse.” The fact that a trans creator has to face any amount of bigotry is a shame though. As Walther clearly stated, “we shouldn’t have to be brave.”
She does admit to getting some vindication from these angry comments though, “They’re pissed off because it’s successful. Because I am succeeding despite all their best efforts. They’re doing it because they know that they’re failing, it keeps you going…” She added, “it’s spite! I basically just described spite!”
Bigots are not the only problem for a fan project like this though. You can block terms on twitter, remove cruel YouTube comments, but the threat of a DMCA is a far more constant presence. “It was never overt. I never got any acknowledgment,” said Walther, “I get the impression that Sony was looking the other way, but I’ll never have confirmation of that. All I know is that Sony isn’t Nintendo when it comes to being IP cops.” Despite mentally preparing herself for the shutdown Walther was still careful about attracting attention. Intentionally avoiding anything that might prompt a takedown notice; “The Haunted PS1 wanted to bring me to E3, but that might have been what pushed it. I intentionally didn’t do a YouTube announcement for the launch trailer till there was an hour left. I had a release date, but no official countdown”
That careful approach paid off though. The release was successful, and the relief is plain to hear in Walther’s voice.
“Maybe they shut it down tomorrow. But at that point, who cares?”
With the hindsight possible now that the danger has largely passed, these anxieties do take on a slight poetic quality. The fear inspired by an inscrutable legal team from a vast cooperation isn’t so different from the terror of some looming unknowable beast. It’s a very cheesy comparison, but not one that’s lost on Walther: “IP Rights holding is weird and ill-defined. Capitalism is terrifying. That’s our cosmic horror. That’s what we’re going through.”
Then, leaning into the cheese as we wrapped up the interview, we began to discuss if there was something we could take away from Bloodborne. Asking if there was anything in the game that might spark insights into how to deal with more day-to-day eldritch forces.
“What’s so great about Souls is that it’s about getting over an insurmountable challenge. Especially with Bloodborne, when [sic] it’s about pushing on regardless in a process where you don’t know all the answers at the start. But you will if you keep digging. And I think that’s true for just trying to survive in our current situation.”
While the release of Elden Ring is sure to have her busy,Walther is already keen to get started on her next project. Likely an original game with similar retro graphics, but with modern fast-paced character action gameplay.
In the meantime Bloodborne PSX is free to download and play on Itch.io while its original soundtrack by The Noble Demon is available to stream on all major platforms. The full project has unfortunately since been cancelled, but guess what? BloodborneKART is now a thing.
Still, if there are any developers keen to try their hands at their own de-make, they should keep their eyes peeled, as once the documentation is written up Walther plans to release it fully open source. Because, in her own words, “gating knowledge behind money fucking sucks!”
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