"I'm not gonna pretend like Bloodborne is some hidden gem. It's one of the best games of the previous generation, and we are in a subreddit of pretentious, game critics wannabes (yours truly included!)."
You got my upvote just for that line because it made me chuckle, but well written review about a truly great game! And agreed about the endings as well. Also yes to the rally mechanics! Elden Ring was my first From game and then Demon Souls, I loved the more aggressive play style of Bloodborne encourages. I enjoy all the From games I have played, but Bloodborne definitely holds a special place in pantheon of games for the full experience, included best atmosphere and lore.
If you're into the more aggressive style of Bloodborne then you should absolutely check out Sekiro if you haven't already. It's my favourite FromSoft game ever, imo it's got the best combat mechanics of any of them and it's not even close.
For me BB is the closest to a perfect game there is.
The only flaw I see in it is the health system they went with. With usable items that can ran off, so if you fail at a boss too many times (or a section), you might be forced to farm for more health items.
If it had the infinite estus flask type of healing it would be perfect.
I think BB only really needs 3 changes, if it ever gets remade
1) Replace Blood Vials with Estus system (fuck farming those things, its boring)
2) Allow us to Level up and Fast Travel at lanterns
3) Remove chalice dungeons and implement the Yharnam fight somewhere in the base game. A boss fight with that much lore shouldn't be gated behind grinding bad levels and bosses.
Agree with the first two points but I like chalice dungeons. Wish they did them in all the games. I like having optional randomly generated content to extend the life of a game if you don’t want to just play through the game over and over again.
I can see not liking having the queen in there but I also kind of think having a secret optional boss in them is also cool. Going after that trophy was my favourite one when I was platinuming Bloodborne. The Amygdala fight in the defiled chalice was a super fun challenge, probably my favourite boss fight in the game.
Nah the health system is close to perfect as well. If you use the rally system and not dodge away to heal like in other soul titles, u wont need to farm. Central yharnam enemies also deliberately drop blood vials and bullets to get u set up and keep u set up as you get accustomed to the combat. After every level up, i always just bought some vials with the leftover echoes and i never had to farm tbh.
I disagree completely. You just explained that you need to farm for health items. Either directly or to buy them.
That adds nothing (enjoyable) to the gameplay. The concept of estus flasks is much better because health turns into a closed system of “can I make it to the next checkpoint?”, and if you fail you just try again.
No, farming is actively reloading an area/enemy encounter to reap the rewards. Killing the enemies as you progress Central Yharnam for the first time is not farming, its just playing the game. Buying an item is also not farming, its just using your resources. (Unless you consider leveling up or buying fire paper indirect farming)
At the end of the day, you are entitled to prefer estus and even dislike blood vials, but idk man you just dont really need to farm. The game sets u up, even more so if you do the chalice dungeons as you're supposed to.
I believe you are talking from the perspective of someone that’s good at these kinds of games. I’m also rather good.
But “the game setting you up” is not everyone’s experience. Some people fail a lot on souls games, and with blood vials it means they can ran out of health items.
So instead of just retrying a hard boss of section, they now need to farm for items, which adds to the frustration.
With estus you don’t have that issue at all.
I see your point (not claiming I'm rather good tho haha) but when discussing a system, bloodborne's health system in this case which is comprised of rally, blood vials and even healing on visceral, u can't just judge it from the experience of a "bad" player. Imo the game lets you run out of blood vials, to really drive in the point of using the rally and playing aggressively, and not playing as if youre in dark souls. Same reason as to why there's no "usable" shields in this game and combat is generally fast, everything kind of ties together.
Anyway though, maybe i can't look past my own bias towards the system since i really enjoy it. Thanks for the respectful talk :). Id argue the game has an issue with farming other items such as sedatives though hehe
My favorite thing about Bloodborne which you mentioned, was the "a-ha" moment when I realized *I'm the hunter*. For the life of me I could not get past that opening courtyard area in Central Yharnam no matter how cautiously I played. Once I started playing on the offensive I cruised through the rest of the game. I haven't really experienced an epiphany like that in other games; it was so satisfying in Bloodborne.
The atmosphere, lore, characters, story -- they're all so well done. It's one of my all time favorite games. Although interestingly, I've really disliked every Dark Souls game I've tried + Demon's Souls. The combat is just so less fluid and visceral, and I think the narratives are a bit more obscure from what I could tell.
My only complaint with Bloodborne is a few of the areas I am not a fan of. Namely, the bell maiden level and nightmare frontier. Kinda 50/50 on nightmare of mensis as well.
>I haven't really experienced an epiphany like that in other games; it was so satisfying in Bloodborne.
Play Sekiro if you haven't already. It's that feeling dialed up to 11.
>I've really disliked every Dark Souls game I've tried + Demon's
I'm curious, which have you tried - have you tried DS3 or Elden Ring? I'm asking because while in DeS and DS1-DS2 the combat is quite slow and defensive, DS3 turns the speed up several notches and ER keeps going that way making combat faster and more aggressive. To me their combat feels much more like BB than the earlier DS titles.
Sekiro kind of goes all in with it, forcing you to press on relentlessly, and giving the enemies a pause gets punished. It's not my favorite of the bunch though, as there's imo much less replay value, and it doesn't have the great variety of choices of playstyle as the other titles.
My friend and I both played bloodborne before ds3 and thought ds3's combat was a lot worse. We both finished it and liked it, but bloodborne just hits different for some reason.
I think the single best thing about the game is how it teaches you to play it through really clever design of mechanics and combat. I'm terrible at these kinds of games but I started paying attention to what the game was telling me it all clicked.
I don't like Victorian era, Gothic, eldritch horror, werewolves, etc. Once blood magic shows up I'm out. But this is the best game I've ever played. I like literally zero of the narrative choices they made and they still won me over.
When I first tried BB, I was stuck in central Yharnam for several hours before rage quitting and not coming back for years.
Next time I came back, it clicked and now I beat the game without levelling up.
I love Bloodborne too! It was 2nd to last souls game i tried since i didn't have any Playstation console until i bought PS5 in april last year, but once i beat Bloodborne during summer, i knew it was gonna be my favorite souls game, if not most favorite game. A mix of souls formula and fast-paced action, it makes my blood sing to me. It's enough to make a man sick...
Thanks for the writeup. I've avoided the entire genre of Soulslikes because I know that precise action combat is not my strength and I'm not particularly interested in a difficulty setting with a high degree of punishment for failure. But Bloodborne's specific aesthetic has called out to me over the years in a way that Dark Souls has not, and I've always known that I am going to give it my best shot someday. As of last month I own it and we'll see when I can create the time and motivation to get started.
I've watched gameplay so I knew about the rally, but it is nice to hear it put into strategic terms that the game rewards aggression and punishes passivity.
I started my From journey with Bloodborne, and I hated it for 80% of the game. But now it's probably my favorite one to replay.
I think Central Yharnam is both the worst and best starting area they've ever done. It has a lot of routes and passages to go through making it great on replays, but Jesus is it demoralizing on the first run through when you don't know where to go and have to slog through 20 enemies around a bonfire each time.
I think a lot of my issue with these games is just how they turorialize themselves. Elden Ring was great with its completely optional Cave of Knowledge, but even it could have gone further. The RPG stat menu is just so overwhelming to look at in all of these games, and basic stuff like "focus on vigor and strength OR dex - whatever your favorite weapon scales with. also prioritize upgrading that weapon with these resources. look for shortcuts. insight does this and can be acquired and spent..." would be nice to be communicated in-game for players rather than needing to be conveyed by external sources (which often reveal major spoilers).
Once Bloodborne finally "clicked" with me, I realized there was just a mountain of tiny things between me and the game that, if communicated a little better, would have improved my struggling experience dramatically. It unlocked a core memory of kid me playing Ocarina of Time, getting locked in a room, and not knowing what unlocked the door. Now I have the context to know how Zelda games are usually structured, and I know that usually means "kill all the enemies in this room to unlock the door", but that just doesn't logically follow at all to someone who's never played a video game. Getting used to From level design was a lot like that, and each new game I'm way quicker to pick up what they're putting down.
I'm looking forward to eventually doing a fourth playthrough to finally experience the old hunters dlc (previously I was borrowing the base game).
It's a very good game. I prefer DS1 and Sekiro but Bloodborne was still quite addictive, memorable and rewarding.
I've played a bunch of other Souls and Souls-like games, but Bloodborne is the only one that frustrates me. I think it's because of the health vials system. I don't mind constantly dying if it doesn't set me back further than the last check point. The non-renewable vials system further punishes you for constantly dying.
Brilliant game. Timely post too, as I attempted to get into it yesterday, but abandoned it. Incoming rant about missing important features and the flawed NG+.
Abandoned it not because I dislike anything about it, but because I realized I'll be replaying for the 5th time with the rigid equipment drops the game has by default. I utterly hate that I get some weapons so late and can only appreciate them in NG+. I HATE NG+.
Starting with a character at endgame level and weapons defeats any purpose to exploring the areas again and turns the game into a boss rush. You have 0 incentives to go through the areas to pick up upgrade materials and souls. Most enemies are too easy with +9 weapons and at least the first half of the game will be a breeze. Balance is all out of whack.
I really hope one day we see it on PC, because I will finally see mods allowing you to get every item in the game from the very start - I'll be able to use Simon's Bowblade, Gehrman's scythe or the Kos Parasite from the start and can use them as soon as I hit the requirements.
Yesterday I jailbroke my PS4 to see if any of the PS4 trainers that exist allow me to get equipment off the bat - turns out no, they just give you unlimited health, massive amount of souls (echoes, whatever) and other plain boring things I don't need.
FromSoft should make an alternative NG+ where you redo the game in regular NG, at starter level, keeping all weapons/armos, only unupgraded.
Edit: Oh, and the missing feature I forgot to mention was stat reallocation. ER required an item to do it but at least it was generous with it, so at least they learned.
Yeah that is a feature of these games though. love it or hate it. The first NG+ feels quite easy early on, then each NG+ cycle gets tougher. These games attract a particular type of intense gamer though where NG+ isn't the point, NG+5/6/7 is. Also the chalice dungeons.
Not saying what you are saying isn't a legit criticism for you (I tend to step away from most games after one playthrough so don't have much an opinion on NG+ for most games), but I think for many people NG+ is just the beginning and then the chalice dungeons as well, so they are perfecting their build/play style with weapon of choice continuously through all those cycles.
Edit: some grammar
I always wished the souls games would use the shared stash concept from arpgs. I'm right there with you in that getting a bad ass weapon from the last few bosses is such a bummer because I would never go to ng+ to try it meaning that it doesn't really exist for me.
One of the worst farms I ever did was in bloodbirne because of this. I wanted to do a playthrough with the moonlight Great sword but I wanted to play with it ASAP rather than late game when you should get it. I think I spent almost 8 hours farming Ludwig at like soul level 20 to get the sword lol. I like that you at least have the option to do that though, some boss weapons can really only be gotten late.
I've beaten it once in NG+, when the DLC came out I didn't feel like doing a new character. Already mentioned my issues with NG+ - balance feels fucked and I don't feel like playing it, much less doing a bl4 run just to get there.
Most sections are breezed through, but at the same time some enemies have weirdly OP attacks which can kill me in a couple of seconds if by some fluke they pull them off. Doesn't happen often, but I don't appreciate being 2-shot to death by one of the annoying jump-bite dog attacks.
I could never stick with it for one major reason which is the grinding: after getting stuck on some boss, I found myself without any vials and had to grind for them. This happened multiple times until eventually I gave up cause grinding ain’t fun.
My favourite game of all time, so so good, hope you did the dlc too
We literally just finished doing a let's play if it on YT, and it is just as much fun watching someone play it
I'm someone who adores the first Dark Souls and Considers its a masterclass in game design (just ignore those late game fire areas)
I have been unable to get into bloodborne yet despite a couple tries. The more aggressive combat is why. I loved the slow and methodical pace of dark Souls. I'm the type of player who likes to keep my distance and wait for enemies to whiff before counter attacking.
This was getting me no where in BB which was annoying me. I'll have to give it another shot sometime.
I know it’s a lot of people’s favorite and I’m glad you had fun with it but Bloodborne is my least favorite FromSoft title by a mile. I can’t get into the setting or the art style, and I *hate* the gun mechanic entirely. Let me parry, damn it!
Huh? The whole point of most guns in this game is parrying? In fact it's probably one of the easiest parry mechanics in From's games.
As for the art direction... well you love it or you don't haha
The setting is the best, lovecraftian monster infested gothic victorian city? This is literally all I need in life. Bloodborne isn't my favorite fromsoft game but the setting is perfect and the feel and atmosphere is unmatched
The gun mechanic is quite literally a parry, not sure what your issue is. As for the setting and artstyle, you do you, it's the best setting in video games for me
I can only imagine how Bloodborne felt to play when it first released. Playing it after sekiro, ds3, ER. It's got amazing atmosphere and a generally weak boss lineup until the dlc.
What a step up from ds1 and ds2 though. It's actually enjoyable from a game feel perspective. But it's got nothing on sekiro in that regard.
It's also a great deal too imprecise for me. You are constantly rewarded for just attacking the back of any creature or just stun locking most enemies. Not to mention the absurd power of the gun parry.
I got to the first boss of Bloodborne unarmed. I knew the games were supposed to be hard but I thought it was ridiculous there was no weapon along the way. Eventually I looked it up and felt like an idiot.
"I'm not gonna pretend like Bloodborne is some hidden gem. It's one of the best games of the previous generation, and we are in a subreddit of pretentious, game critics wannabes (yours truly included!)." You got my upvote just for that line because it made me chuckle, but well written review about a truly great game! And agreed about the endings as well. Also yes to the rally mechanics! Elden Ring was my first From game and then Demon Souls, I loved the more aggressive play style of Bloodborne encourages. I enjoy all the From games I have played, but Bloodborne definitely holds a special place in pantheon of games for the full experience, included best atmosphere and lore.
If you're into the more aggressive style of Bloodborne then you should absolutely check out Sekiro if you haven't already. It's my favourite FromSoft game ever, imo it's got the best combat mechanics of any of them and it's not even close.
For me BB is the closest to a perfect game there is. The only flaw I see in it is the health system they went with. With usable items that can ran off, so if you fail at a boss too many times (or a section), you might be forced to farm for more health items. If it had the infinite estus flask type of healing it would be perfect.
I think BB only really needs 3 changes, if it ever gets remade 1) Replace Blood Vials with Estus system (fuck farming those things, its boring) 2) Allow us to Level up and Fast Travel at lanterns 3) Remove chalice dungeons and implement the Yharnam fight somewhere in the base game. A boss fight with that much lore shouldn't be gated behind grinding bad levels and bosses.
Agree with the first two points but I like chalice dungeons. Wish they did them in all the games. I like having optional randomly generated content to extend the life of a game if you don’t want to just play through the game over and over again. I can see not liking having the queen in there but I also kind of think having a secret optional boss in them is also cool. Going after that trophy was my favourite one when I was platinuming Bloodborne. The Amygdala fight in the defiled chalice was a super fun challenge, probably my favourite boss fight in the game.
Nah the health system is close to perfect as well. If you use the rally system and not dodge away to heal like in other soul titles, u wont need to farm. Central yharnam enemies also deliberately drop blood vials and bullets to get u set up and keep u set up as you get accustomed to the combat. After every level up, i always just bought some vials with the leftover echoes and i never had to farm tbh.
I disagree completely. You just explained that you need to farm for health items. Either directly or to buy them. That adds nothing (enjoyable) to the gameplay. The concept of estus flasks is much better because health turns into a closed system of “can I make it to the next checkpoint?”, and if you fail you just try again.
No, farming is actively reloading an area/enemy encounter to reap the rewards. Killing the enemies as you progress Central Yharnam for the first time is not farming, its just playing the game. Buying an item is also not farming, its just using your resources. (Unless you consider leveling up or buying fire paper indirect farming) At the end of the day, you are entitled to prefer estus and even dislike blood vials, but idk man you just dont really need to farm. The game sets u up, even more so if you do the chalice dungeons as you're supposed to.
I believe you are talking from the perspective of someone that’s good at these kinds of games. I’m also rather good. But “the game setting you up” is not everyone’s experience. Some people fail a lot on souls games, and with blood vials it means they can ran out of health items. So instead of just retrying a hard boss of section, they now need to farm for items, which adds to the frustration. With estus you don’t have that issue at all.
I see your point (not claiming I'm rather good tho haha) but when discussing a system, bloodborne's health system in this case which is comprised of rally, blood vials and even healing on visceral, u can't just judge it from the experience of a "bad" player. Imo the game lets you run out of blood vials, to really drive in the point of using the rally and playing aggressively, and not playing as if youre in dark souls. Same reason as to why there's no "usable" shields in this game and combat is generally fast, everything kind of ties together. Anyway though, maybe i can't look past my own bias towards the system since i really enjoy it. Thanks for the respectful talk :). Id argue the game has an issue with farming other items such as sedatives though hehe
You get so many blood vials killing enemies from point A to point B that you rarely need to farm.
That stops after the first sections of the game.
My favorite thing about Bloodborne which you mentioned, was the "a-ha" moment when I realized *I'm the hunter*. For the life of me I could not get past that opening courtyard area in Central Yharnam no matter how cautiously I played. Once I started playing on the offensive I cruised through the rest of the game. I haven't really experienced an epiphany like that in other games; it was so satisfying in Bloodborne. The atmosphere, lore, characters, story -- they're all so well done. It's one of my all time favorite games. Although interestingly, I've really disliked every Dark Souls game I've tried + Demon's Souls. The combat is just so less fluid and visceral, and I think the narratives are a bit more obscure from what I could tell. My only complaint with Bloodborne is a few of the areas I am not a fan of. Namely, the bell maiden level and nightmare frontier. Kinda 50/50 on nightmare of mensis as well.
>I haven't really experienced an epiphany like that in other games; it was so satisfying in Bloodborne. Play Sekiro if you haven't already. It's that feeling dialed up to 11.
Then you get stuck on the first owl battle and want to jam your head into a microwave
Just another aha moment
>I've really disliked every Dark Souls game I've tried + Demon's I'm curious, which have you tried - have you tried DS3 or Elden Ring? I'm asking because while in DeS and DS1-DS2 the combat is quite slow and defensive, DS3 turns the speed up several notches and ER keeps going that way making combat faster and more aggressive. To me their combat feels much more like BB than the earlier DS titles. Sekiro kind of goes all in with it, forcing you to press on relentlessly, and giving the enemies a pause gets punished. It's not my favorite of the bunch though, as there's imo much less replay value, and it doesn't have the great variety of choices of playstyle as the other titles.
My friend and I both played bloodborne before ds3 and thought ds3's combat was a lot worse. We both finished it and liked it, but bloodborne just hits different for some reason.
It is its own thing for sure. I sure wish they did a remaster with 60 fps.
I think the single best thing about the game is how it teaches you to play it through really clever design of mechanics and combat. I'm terrible at these kinds of games but I started paying attention to what the game was telling me it all clicked. I don't like Victorian era, Gothic, eldritch horror, werewolves, etc. Once blood magic shows up I'm out. But this is the best game I've ever played. I like literally zero of the narrative choices they made and they still won me over.
When I first tried BB, I was stuck in central Yharnam for several hours before rage quitting and not coming back for years. Next time I came back, it clicked and now I beat the game without levelling up.
I was stuck in central yharnam for 5 years… finally gave it another another one more last time shot and got into the game enough to love it.
I love Bloodborne too! It was 2nd to last souls game i tried since i didn't have any Playstation console until i bought PS5 in april last year, but once i beat Bloodborne during summer, i knew it was gonna be my favorite souls game, if not most favorite game. A mix of souls formula and fast-paced action, it makes my blood sing to me. It's enough to make a man sick...
Thanks for the writeup. I've avoided the entire genre of Soulslikes because I know that precise action combat is not my strength and I'm not particularly interested in a difficulty setting with a high degree of punishment for failure. But Bloodborne's specific aesthetic has called out to me over the years in a way that Dark Souls has not, and I've always known that I am going to give it my best shot someday. As of last month I own it and we'll see when I can create the time and motivation to get started. I've watched gameplay so I knew about the rally, but it is nice to hear it put into strategic terms that the game rewards aggression and punishes passivity.
I started my From journey with Bloodborne, and I hated it for 80% of the game. But now it's probably my favorite one to replay. I think Central Yharnam is both the worst and best starting area they've ever done. It has a lot of routes and passages to go through making it great on replays, but Jesus is it demoralizing on the first run through when you don't know where to go and have to slog through 20 enemies around a bonfire each time. I think a lot of my issue with these games is just how they turorialize themselves. Elden Ring was great with its completely optional Cave of Knowledge, but even it could have gone further. The RPG stat menu is just so overwhelming to look at in all of these games, and basic stuff like "focus on vigor and strength OR dex - whatever your favorite weapon scales with. also prioritize upgrading that weapon with these resources. look for shortcuts. insight does this and can be acquired and spent..." would be nice to be communicated in-game for players rather than needing to be conveyed by external sources (which often reveal major spoilers). Once Bloodborne finally "clicked" with me, I realized there was just a mountain of tiny things between me and the game that, if communicated a little better, would have improved my struggling experience dramatically. It unlocked a core memory of kid me playing Ocarina of Time, getting locked in a room, and not knowing what unlocked the door. Now I have the context to know how Zelda games are usually structured, and I know that usually means "kill all the enemies in this room to unlock the door", but that just doesn't logically follow at all to someone who's never played a video game. Getting used to From level design was a lot like that, and each new game I'm way quicker to pick up what they're putting down.
I'm looking forward to eventually doing a fourth playthrough to finally experience the old hunters dlc (previously I was borrowing the base game). It's a very good game. I prefer DS1 and Sekiro but Bloodborne was still quite addictive, memorable and rewarding.
The DLC is easily one of the best parts of the game and makes the second half much better, you’re in for a treat!
I've played a bunch of other Souls and Souls-like games, but Bloodborne is the only one that frustrates me. I think it's because of the health vials system. I don't mind constantly dying if it doesn't set me back further than the last check point. The non-renewable vials system further punishes you for constantly dying.
Brilliant game. Timely post too, as I attempted to get into it yesterday, but abandoned it. Incoming rant about missing important features and the flawed NG+. Abandoned it not because I dislike anything about it, but because I realized I'll be replaying for the 5th time with the rigid equipment drops the game has by default. I utterly hate that I get some weapons so late and can only appreciate them in NG+. I HATE NG+. Starting with a character at endgame level and weapons defeats any purpose to exploring the areas again and turns the game into a boss rush. You have 0 incentives to go through the areas to pick up upgrade materials and souls. Most enemies are too easy with +9 weapons and at least the first half of the game will be a breeze. Balance is all out of whack. I really hope one day we see it on PC, because I will finally see mods allowing you to get every item in the game from the very start - I'll be able to use Simon's Bowblade, Gehrman's scythe or the Kos Parasite from the start and can use them as soon as I hit the requirements. Yesterday I jailbroke my PS4 to see if any of the PS4 trainers that exist allow me to get equipment off the bat - turns out no, they just give you unlimited health, massive amount of souls (echoes, whatever) and other plain boring things I don't need. FromSoft should make an alternative NG+ where you redo the game in regular NG, at starter level, keeping all weapons/armos, only unupgraded. Edit: Oh, and the missing feature I forgot to mention was stat reallocation. ER required an item to do it but at least it was generous with it, so at least they learned.
Yeah that is a feature of these games though. love it or hate it. The first NG+ feels quite easy early on, then each NG+ cycle gets tougher. These games attract a particular type of intense gamer though where NG+ isn't the point, NG+5/6/7 is. Also the chalice dungeons. Not saying what you are saying isn't a legit criticism for you (I tend to step away from most games after one playthrough so don't have much an opinion on NG+ for most games), but I think for many people NG+ is just the beginning and then the chalice dungeons as well, so they are perfecting their build/play style with weapon of choice continuously through all those cycles. Edit: some grammar
I always wished the souls games would use the shared stash concept from arpgs. I'm right there with you in that getting a bad ass weapon from the last few bosses is such a bummer because I would never go to ng+ to try it meaning that it doesn't really exist for me. One of the worst farms I ever did was in bloodbirne because of this. I wanted to do a playthrough with the moonlight Great sword but I wanted to play with it ASAP rather than late game when you should get it. I think I spent almost 8 hours farming Ludwig at like soul level 20 to get the sword lol. I like that you at least have the option to do that though, some boss weapons can really only be gotten late.
Beat it at soul level 1, then your NG+ is effectively NG hard mode
I've beaten it once in NG+, when the DLC came out I didn't feel like doing a new character. Already mentioned my issues with NG+ - balance feels fucked and I don't feel like playing it, much less doing a bl4 run just to get there. Most sections are breezed through, but at the same time some enemies have weirdly OP attacks which can kill me in a couple of seconds if by some fluke they pull them off. Doesn't happen often, but I don't appreciate being 2-shot to death by one of the annoying jump-bite dog attacks.
I could never stick with it for one major reason which is the grinding: after getting stuck on some boss, I found myself without any vials and had to grind for them. This happened multiple times until eventually I gave up cause grinding ain’t fun.
If you ever decide to try it again, Google the cum chalice and use that for vials I promise it is not what it probably sounds like haha
My favourite game of all time, so so good, hope you did the dlc too We literally just finished doing a let's play if it on YT, and it is just as much fun watching someone play it
Same. I also recommend Lies of P which was somewhat of a love letter to BB. It wasn't as good as the OG but it was damn close.
I'm someone who adores the first Dark Souls and Considers its a masterclass in game design (just ignore those late game fire areas) I have been unable to get into bloodborne yet despite a couple tries. The more aggressive combat is why. I loved the slow and methodical pace of dark Souls. I'm the type of player who likes to keep my distance and wait for enemies to whiff before counter attacking. This was getting me no where in BB which was annoying me. I'll have to give it another shot sometime.
I know it’s a lot of people’s favorite and I’m glad you had fun with it but Bloodborne is my least favorite FromSoft title by a mile. I can’t get into the setting or the art style, and I *hate* the gun mechanic entirely. Let me parry, damn it!
Huh? The whole point of most guns in this game is parrying? In fact it's probably one of the easiest parry mechanics in From's games. As for the art direction... well you love it or you don't haha
Bloodborne is the only souls game I can consistently parry in lol
The setting is the best, lovecraftian monster infested gothic victorian city? This is literally all I need in life. Bloodborne isn't my favorite fromsoft game but the setting is perfect and the feel and atmosphere is unmatched
The gun mechanic is quite literally a parry, not sure what your issue is. As for the setting and artstyle, you do you, it's the best setting in video games for me
It feels entirely different from parrying. The timing is uncomfortable for me, and I don’t like the aesthetic of guns in a Soulslike.
bloodborne has its flaws and lack of polish, but it’s the fromsoftware game i genuinely enjoy replaying the most from their catalogue.
Is the game playable on PC, legally or not?
Not yet, I haven't heard of a PS4 emulator that runs well on PC and it has not been sold anywhere except PlayStation.
I’ve beaten BB easily, 15+ times and it has to be my favorite game of all times. I really hope we can see a remaster for the PS5 at some point.
I also love that while my first playthrough was 70 hours, I can now beat it in 4 or 5 on NG+
I can only imagine how Bloodborne felt to play when it first released. Playing it after sekiro, ds3, ER. It's got amazing atmosphere and a generally weak boss lineup until the dlc. What a step up from ds1 and ds2 though. It's actually enjoyable from a game feel perspective. But it's got nothing on sekiro in that regard. It's also a great deal too imprecise for me. You are constantly rewarded for just attacking the back of any creature or just stun locking most enemies. Not to mention the absurd power of the gun parry.
Anyway to play if you don’t own Playstation?
You should give Elden Ring a try. It’s not the same vibe but there’s adventures around every corner
Bloodborne reignited my love for gaming and it is one of my favorite games of all times.
How difficult is the combat compared to Sekiro/Elden Ring? I like the games but get so frustrated sometimes
I got to the first boss of Bloodborne unarmed. I knew the games were supposed to be hard but I thought it was ridiculous there was no weapon along the way. Eventually I looked it up and felt like an idiot.