The newly-available Bloodborne, which was released on the 24th of March, has gotten universal acclaim from both critics and players. With that said, the most common complaint about the PlayStation 4 exclusive so far are the lengthy load times that occur after every death. This can be a big annoyance, especially when you keep getting killed over and over again in the same scenario. Instead of being constantly frustrated, you can check out our list below recommending a few ways to deal with the long Bloodborne load times.
Possible reasons for Bloodborne’s lengthy load times
First let’s talk a little bit about why the load times are so long in Bloodborne. Every time you die, all the enemies will respawn. Not to mention that you are exploring an interconnected world and not just a small section of Yharnam. Along with the asynchronous online features, the game will need to load plenty of data before you can play again after dying. 
Replace the PlayStation 4 HDD with SDD or SSHD
Sony included a 500 GB HDD with every PlayStation 4 as the company made hard disk drive installations mandatory for all games, including ones that are released on retail discs. This is done to shorten loading as games are becoming bigger in size. While the reading speed is much faster on HDD when compared to Blu-ray lens, Bloodborne is still plagued with long load times.
Thankfully, you are able to switch out the default HDD with either a SDD (Solid State Drive) or SSHD (Solid State Hybrid Drive). Both alternatives have faster reading speeds and will improve the loading time for Bloodborne, as well as the other games on your system, by a good amount.
In general, SDD is a little faster when compared to SSHD. However, the former is also more expensive when compared to the latter. So you may be better off getting the SSHD if you are on a strict budget. You can find our list of recommended PS4 compatible 2.5-inch SDDs and SSHDs on Amazon with these next links from the retailer’s website: Samsung 850 EVO 1TB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD and Seagate 1TB Laptop SSHD SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 2.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive. 
Installing your new SDD or SSHD on the PlayStation 4 is relatively simple as long as you have the right tools (such as a screwdriver and another storage device to back up saves and firmware). You can check out the official step-by-step guide from Sony on how to do so here.
Don’t Die
Of course, you can avoid experiencing the lengthy load times in Bloodborne by simply not dying. This is better said than done as the new game is similar to Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2 in that it is designed to be brutally difficult where players die over and over again. With that said, we included a few tips below that should, hopefully, limit your death count (and therefore the waiting on the long loads).
Of course, you can simply grind to level up if you are having trouble in a particular section. When building your character, we suggest increasing the Vitality, Endurance, Strength and Skill stats. Depending on your weapon of choice, you can increase your strength more than your skill and vice versa. 
In regards to weapons, you can focus on just one. Bloodborne has a limited set of weapons, so you can just pick your favorites (even the starting weapons are nice) and upgrade them as much as possible.
For the gameplay, we suggest playing cautiously as you open yourself up to ambushes and being surrounded if you decide to run around all the time (especially when exploring new areas). So it is best to move slowly and try to isolate a particular enemy from a group (by throwing a pebble or getting in their lines of sights). You should always be on your toes in case an enemy is setting up a sneaky, and often deadly, attack.
When engaged in combat, you should learn how to perform parries by shooting at an enemy as it is about to attack. If done correctly, this action will leave them at a vulnerable state for a brief moment, giving you a chance to perform a devastating attack by pressing the R1 button up close.
You should also pay attention to the lock-on mechanic, which can be enabled and disabled with the R3 button. It is probably a good idea to not use this when you are facing multiple enemies and, instead, focus on attacking the group a with a move that has a bigger range. Lock-on is extremely helpful when you are facing off with a single boss or enemy, however, as you can perform a side dodge, often leaving an opening for you to attack.
Another tip is the health regain system, which is a new feature that hasn’t been used previously in Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2. When you get hit, you have a short period of time to hit back at the enemy to recover your health. You can exploit this mechanic by continually attacking the enemy during their death animation.
If you are still having trouble, you can try playing Bloodborne online and summon the help of up to two other players. Keep in mind that you will need a PlayStation Plus subscription to take advantage of co-op and other online features. 
Wait for the upcoming Bloodborne Patch
Fortunately, the Bloodborne’s loading issue may not be that much of a problem in the near future. From Software, the development team behind the game, has already confirmed that they will try to shorten the load times in a future patch. The studio is also working on fixing glitches and other performance optimizations with the title updates.
Even with the loading issues, Bloodborne is still considered one of the best games to be released over the past few years. Hopefully, the upcoming patch, as well as the tips we mentioned above, will make the already incredible experience even better.