Lets talk Bloodborne/Souls
Bloodborne has a really interesting story that any fan of Call of Cthulhu will enjoy.
All of these videos are spoiler heavy.
Can't/Won't play Bloodborne? I found this walkthrough that focuses on the game lore to be interesting and entertaining.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4xHPekmzn7_0K3SoqRuO3nxgnKwj-s3HDave Control Live also has a growing number of Bloodborne Lore videos here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4xHPekmzn78br27VfA5BEEen-aZm-bc2VaatiVidya, of doing serious detective work to actually explain the Dark Souls story fame, also has great videos on Bloodborne Lore:
https://www.youtube.com/user/VaatiVidya/videos****Bloodborne Spoiler Discussion Below**** Hidetaka Miyazaki is the president of From Software and director of (most of) the Souls games and Bloodborne.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidetaka_MiyazakiThe Souls games are a study in storytelling economy. Most of the story is conveyed in often ambiguous item descriptions, the position of items/individuals in the context of the world's environment and in relation to each other, bits of sometimes unrepeatable dialogue and very short cut scenes.
As an example, the backstory of Demon Souls is literally a page.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnEzkbdTa0IYes, that's it. Prepare to die.
Bloodborne uses this same method of storytelling. This encourages the player to play detective and ruminate over clues from the environment and encounters even while dodging for their life and engaging in pulse pounding action. It is an interesting combination of the cerebral and fast twitch gameplay.
Miyazaki crafted Bloodborne as his take on Cosmic Horror. And I have to say I think it's a unique and deep enough story that it's not Lovecraftian, the carnivorous universe of Laird Barron, or the nihilistic darkness of Ligotti; Bloodborn really is it's own genre of Cosmic Horror. Call it Miyazakian.
One of the things that make's Bloodborne's story unique is that Miyazaki sat down and thought about some fundamental questions about alien intelligences.
First off, how would humans be able to contact aliens and convince them we are intelligent?
Enter the Make Contact gesture
Why throw up an arm vertically and horizontally? My first impression was that this looks sort of dumb.
However, notunlikethewaves on Reddit identified it's significance.
https://www.reddit.com/r/bloodborne/related/32hhg5/the_make_contact_gesture_is_spoilers/So I just realised the "make contact" gesture forms a right-angled triangle between the hunters fingertips and shoulders.
Demonstration: http://imgur.com/AlJUSkk
Why is this significant? Well, it has been suggested that if you ever meet an extra-terrestrial being, the first thing you should do is draw a right-angled (or Pythagorean) triangle, to demonstrate that you and the human race understand mathematics.
In the absence of a common language, it's the best way of signalling that you possess intelligence, and convince the ETs that you are trying to communicate with them.
For reference: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauss%27s_Pythagorean_right_triangle_proposal
Also http://io9.com/5510801/what-to-do-if-youre-the-first-human-to-ever-make-contact-with-aliens
EDIT: just to clarify, by "ET" I mean it in the literal sense, any being not from Earth. It doesn't necessarily imply that the Old Ones must be definitively from another planet. I think the lore (much like other Lovecraftian fiction) is ambiguous as to whether the creatures are from another planet, another dimension, or both.
EDIT2: Also note how the hunters hands are positioned, both palms facing inward toward the triangle shape, almost as if they are pretending to hold a large triangular block on their shoulders. To me this says "I have the Pythagorean triangle, and I know you recognize it".
Secondly, as you travel through Bloodborne, there are quite a few references to children and newborns. Empty baby carriages. Umbilical cords, cries of babies and the like.
Even when the game is completed their meaning seems somewhat unresolved. Why would alien intelligences care about human children of all things? Immediately I thought it was just a grisly sacrifice but the answer is far more interesting.
EpicNameBro discusses an interview with Miyazaki which I believe is published in the official Bloodborne strategy guide. I haven't had the opportunity to get my hands on it so I cannot verify what is said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDUyKnYBCSkR/K selection is an evolutionary ecology theory that was proposed to describe why some organisms have many offspring, a short gestation and shorter parental involvement (r-selection) while others (higher order organisms) have a longer gestation time, fewer offspring and significant investment of parental time (K-selection). Humans are considered to be K-selected organism.
Miyazaki theorized that if aliens are an even higher order of species, perhaps they have even fewer children. It is stated several times in the lore some of the Great Ones miss their children and want more. Thus the role of human children as an offering in Bloodborne. After all, humans will do anything to evolve, even line their brain with eyes to see, and consume blood without asking questions.
This is a very interesting contrast from the fecund Shub-Niggurath and one of the reasons why I think Miyazaki's Cosmic Horror deserves its own distinct place in the literature.
In addition I just have to remark on how Bloodborne references the western concepts of vampires, werewolves and even the changeling myth and makes something that has those familiar touches but is utterly different.
Tl;dr Bloodborne is worth watching even if you are not going to play it.
****Bloodborne Spoiler End****