The Hunter

It's a rare thing to help define a genre so strongly. Platformers are just platformers, not "Marios"; first-person shooters are first-person shooters, not "Wolfensteins" (or "Doom Clones," anymore); action RPGs are action RPGs, not "Diablos." But then there are Roguelikes, Metroidvanias, and also Soulsbornes. Face your fears on the ancient, decaying streets of Yharnam, where danger, death and madness lurk around every corner, and uncover the city's darkest secrets in order to survive. I've never played any FromSoft titles, and I don't have any intention to; the Soulsborne style just doesn't appeal to me. And since most of the game's story is delivered not through dialogue but rather through item descriptions, environment, and actions, I haven't even bothered to watch a Bloodborne playthrough. So while the game is iconic, it's not somthing that I have even a loose personal connection to. No, the reason I opted to get Figma #367 (as a Singles' Day treat) was that it's the closest we're ever likely to get to having any Brotherhood of the Wolf toys. A dramatic retelling of the real-life 18th century Beast of Gévaudan attacks, Le Pacte des Loups is a 2001 French historical epic/monster movie/noir mystery/kung-fu flick/political thriller/period costume-drama romance. If that seems like a lot of disparate genres to you, you're right. But it comes together pretty well, and despite the very early-00s effects and editing, looks great and incredibly stylish. The only way Bloodborne could look more like a tie-in game would be if its colors were more saturated. Heck, the first monster you fight in the game is literally a werewolf! The Hunter is not a set character, but rather an audience surrogate - there's a full and robust character creation at the beginning, and you can pick your own clothing as the game goes along. So if you're making merchandise, how do you pick what version to use? Well, in Figma's case, they went for the outfit from the box art, which is about the Brotherhood of the Wolfiest choice imaginable. Known in-game as the Hunter Set, this comprises a semi-shredded tricorn hat, a black mask tied around the bottom half of his face, a grey duster coat, dark knee-high boots with leather armor strapped to the shins, gloves with more armored bracers tied on. The toy is sculpted with buttons and buckles and chains, and it all looks very nice. It's not a very colorful toy, however. All browns and greys, and dusty colors. That's true to the aesthetics of Yharnam and all its various environs, but it isn't exactly the most eyecatching thing you'll put on your shelf. The most vibrant part of the Hunter is the little bit of skin visible between the mask and the hat. Unusually for a Figma release, the Hunter does not include any alternate faces. He's still got excellent articulation, though, with joints at the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, chest, hips, knees, ankles and toes, with most of them being swivel/hinges at minimum. There's also a little bit of articulation for the lower edges of his coat, as is the style of the line. Bloodborne is a dynamic game, and so the Hunter is a dynamic character, meaning you'll have plenty of excuse to use all these joints. The set includes five pairs of hands (fists, open, three pairs of holding), and a clear display base with a poseable arm to support the figure in wilder poses. Unlike SH Figuarts, Figmas are a little below 1:12 scale, so even with his hat sticking up, the hunter is only5⅞" tall. Just as with the outfit, the toy's weapons default to the box art. Unlike Demon Soulds and Dark Souls, which preceded Bloodborne, this game does not encourage players to play defensively, instead doing everything it can to make you dual-wield weapons. For the right hand, you get a Trick Weapon, which has two different attack modes, and for the left hand you generally get a ranged weapon that allows you to stagger enemies and interrupt their attack animations. Yes, Bloodborne's version of a shield is "a gun." The gun included with this toy is the Hunter Pistol (the actual art shows him with the Hunter Blunderbuss, for the record, not the pistol), and his Trick Weapon is the Saw Cleaver. In its normal mode, it's a short, serrated tool; the blade actually hinges out, turning the weapon into its transformed mode, which adds a little more range to your attacks. Again, this combo is as close to a "right" loadout as you can get for a toy. That's all you got with the regular release, which is the one I picked up. There was also a "Figma 367-DX" deluxe version available, and that came with a slew of more weapons, inspired by "The Old Hunters" DLC: in addition to the Hunter Blunderbuss, it's also got a Hunter Axe, Whirligig Saw, and Ludwig's Holy Blade, plus pieces to allow you to attach those weapons to the figure's back. I was fine without those, but if you want the most complete version available, you'll want to upgrade. But then! If you preordered this figure directly from Good Smile, it included one extra exclusive accessory: a group of three Messengers. These small creatures have crept out of a nightmare, and while they may not look too friendly, they accompany hunters, follow their orders, and take care of messages left for others. Bacially little marker spots in the world map, the Messengers are weird little fetus-alien creatures that claw out of the ground in a very creepy manner. This bonus piece is a black rocky disc base with three grey Messengers sticking out of it, posed at different heights and with one holding scroll. It's a fun extra, but you don't need to feel too bad if you missed it. I'd rather have gotten the Bloodborne Hunter from, say, NECA or someone, so he'd be in scale with other videogame figures I already owned, but this is what was available; but if nothing else, it'll be fun to have the Hunter fight Pyramid Head; they seem like they'd overlap pretty well. -- 04/13/25 Can you think of any other games that named their particular genre? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.