Bloodborne

Bloodborne came out just a few days ago, and I'm in love with it. For those that are Dark Souls fans, you might want to pick this up. It's sitting at a 93/100 on metacritic with over 50 reviews in.



Comparing this to the Dark Soul 1 and 2, it is somewhat closely related. Plenty of the same mechanics, but instead of sword and shield, Bloodborne is a melee weapon and firearm. It encourages you to play quite alot more offensive, rather than defensive. Of course, it is one of the more difficult games out there.





I've only gotten past the first 2 bosses so far and have died like 15 times already. On release day, I watched ManVsGame on twitch and he played for 33+ hours straight. This and the other Souls games are really the only games out there that make me actually yell at the tv.

ETA - This is only on the PS 4 however.

I've read that it is a difficult game and that there aren't many save points. Still it does look interesting. As an elderscrolls/fallout fan, do you think I would enjoy this? Also, I haven't played any of the darksoul games.

a reply to: Autorico

If you don't like a challenge and dying... a lot, then you probably won't like it. It can be monotonous, going through the same areas over and over and killing the same exact enemies time and time again, but once you finally get past an area or boss you've been struggling with for the first time the satisfaction is awesome and you feel like you've really accomplished something.

The level design is really cool with all kinds of shortcuts and areas where you can see a previous area you've been to which makes exploration really satisfying as well. I've gotten past the second boss so far and am loving it. It's not for everyone though.

originally posted by: Autorico
I've read that it is a difficult game and that there aren't many save points. Still it does look interesting. As an elderscrolls/fallout fan, do you think I would enjoy this? Also, I haven't played any of the darksoul games.

The game saves automatically as you progress, but there's only a few spots where you can respawn at when you die. Those points are also where you go to basically fast travel to other points. If you die (which everyone does, I think the average number of deaths so far before finishing the first playthrough of Bloodborne is like 70-100, atleast from a few streams that I've watched over the past few days), you also lose all your leveling up points.

As for elderscrolls/fallout, it's a pretty different game. It is upclose combat, along with a small bit of ranged with the guns, but the guns are really there to parry enemy attacks. Dark Souls and Bloodborne are kind of their own series when comparing them to other games.

Since Bloodborne is priced at $60 currently, and since you're new to the Souls games in general, I might suggest that you pick up Dark Souls 1 or 2, it's quite alot cheaper and you can give it some time and see if it's a style of game that you like.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Sounds a little like MMO grinding, which I'm kinda sick of at the moment. I'll check out the vids and see if it's my cup of tea.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

but once you finally get past an area or boss you've been struggling with for the first time the satisfaction is awesome and you feel like you've really accomplished something.

Absolutely. Once you get past a boss that you've been fighting for the 5th or more time in any Souls game, it's quite triumphant. Just getting past the first 2 bosses in Bloodborne feels like a major accomplishment for me.

originally posted by: Autorico
I've read that it is a difficult game and that there aren't many save points. Still it does look interesting. As an elderscrolls/fallout fan, do you think I would enjoy this? Also, I haven't played any of the darksoul games.

I too am an Elderscolls/Fall Out fan and I have played Dark Souls 1. I've never been so enraged in my life. Dark Souls can SUCK IT!!!

a reply to: buni11687

Aah cool, thx

a reply to: buni11687

I beat the cleric beast my first time up against it, but the second boss, Father "something" (I forget his name), I died like 5 or 6 times before beating him. But when I did beat him I felt really good about it. That's what I love about the Souls games, they make you feel really accomplished when you're grinding for a while then finally get past that one spot. I like the level design a lot too, a lot of criss-crossing pathways and shortcuts to previous areas. Really enjoying it so far.

Is it linear progression or free roam? I already heard the term "level design" which turns me off automatically. Devs really need to move past this outdated method of game design. I want to decide where I go and how and when not follow a set of tracks to the next town.

Also "Bloodborne" has got to be one of the most uninspired titles I have heard in a while. I had a spear I made in Morrowind called Bloodborne like 10 years ago...

a reply to: Autorico

It's addicting as hell, it's one of those "one more try" kind of games, and then before you realize it it's 2 AM and time for sleep, but you want to try "one more time" to get past that area, and when you do you feel like going just a little further.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

I beat the cleric beast my first time up against it, but the second boss, Father "something" (I forget his name), I died like 5 or 6 times before beating him.

The Cleric beast was harder for me. I basically resorted to throwing molotovs at him to take big chucks of his health down. The second boss was easier, since he was somewhat easy to parry and didnt have the giant sweeping attacks.

a reply to: CagliostroTheGreat

Well that's just the design of the game, it wouldn't really work with an open world map. It's "open world" in a sense because once you open up a new area you can go back to it at any time and everything is connected without loading screens, but the areas have defined pathways that criss-cross each other and create shortcuts between each other. I personally love the way the level design is so far, there are barriers that you can't get past though so there are some places that can only be seen from a distance.

a reply to: CagliostroTheGreat

Is it linear progression or free roam? I already heard the term "level design" which turns me off automatically.

It's essentially linear, but there's some shortcuts/alternate routes here and there. You can run back and forth from all the areas to, and fight some easier enemies before progressing on to harder areas. I would love an open world Souls game, but I dont see it happening anytime soon.

Is there any chance it may be released in the future for XbOne?

a reply to: CaptainTwig

I believe it's for playstation only.

originally posted by: Autorico
a reply to: CaptainTwig

I believe it's for playstation only.

Yup, it's PS 4 only. I doubt it will be released on any other system, atleast anytime soon.

Chaos Witch Queelag took me 9 hours of constant trying drove me insane, but when I finally beat her all my rage and despair turned into psychopathic glory. But yeah it took me about 60 hours to get to there and thats like 20% of the game done, if you managed to complete the game without using the internet, you are extremely skilled at gaming. I found all 3 of the souls games to be more of a test of charachter than anything else, it sees how much you can take and trys to mess with you head an infuriate you as much as possible. The only motivating part of it was being able to say you actually completed the thing, which by the way I have not, got about 60% of the way through and all in all spent about 200 hours on it. Yeah... I suck and that game hates me but I kept trying eventually the game won, I will never play those games again yeah it sounds stupid but after the amount of rage stress sleeplessness and despair, never again. Stay away from the souls games unless you are sligtly masochistic and sound of mind. If your like me it will drive you to self harm. =)

Though I hear bloodborne has toned the difficulty down a fair bit and made it a bit more accesible, I will probably still not play it, maybe if it comes to PC. Everytime I see the HUD and layout I get flashbacks to those moments of extreme frustration.

To be fair I had serious mental health issues before hand.

a reply to: buni11687

Been on the fence on this, as my backlog and currents are keeping me pretty busy.

DKS 1 is in my top three games ever, along with Morrowind, and.... something else really good I can't think of at the moment.

Dark Souls 2 was a pretty major let down for me, seemed like a poorly executed sequel that didn't really have the same "spirit" as the rest of the Souls games. But, I believe I read that one of the main people behind DKS I wasn't involved with II, but was involved with Bloodborne.

To the people who say the Souls games hard: Hell yeah they are. Difficult, but fair. I never felt I died a "cheap death." It was always either a mistake I made, or over-confidence to keep pushing when you knew you shouldn't. Its not hard just to be hard, but rather a learning experience. If you view each death as a lesson in what NOT to do, when you finally do slay that Black Knight with weak gear, the victory is all the sweeter.

So how do the combat/parry/stat upgrade paths compare to DKS 1? I usually played a STR/VIT/END build, light-ish armor, and either a Halberd or Blk Knight Greatsword (2 handed) with some strong pyromancy on the side, to give you an idea of my playstyle.

Any bugginess/glitches so far? Thats probably the main reason I wait a few months after launch to pick up new titles these days, with VERY few exceptions.

DKS 1 is the most rewarding game experience I've ever had, though I understand they're not for everyone.

a reply to: TheUsersName

Yeah, that was a pretty gnarly boss fight. Ugh, just the swamps to even reach that was bad enough. Orny & Smough were pretty frustrating ( as in, at least 12 hours to FINALLY get them down) but.... Four Kings is where I had to rage quit, and take a nice long break for a bit.

Man, now I really wish I hadn't given my PS3 as a gift when I got my PS4. Could really use some time back in Lordran.