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From Software Bloodborne. Discuss or die!

Silva

Arcane
Joined
Jul 17, 2005
Messages
4,917
Location
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
Another reason for not skipping the DLC is that machine saw weapon that let's you hold the button down and the thing goes "BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ" cutting everything down. Oh, man what a weapon. What's it's name again?
 

Silva

Arcane
Joined
Jul 17, 2005
Messages
4,917
Location
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
I want from From From some respect to me as a customer, to release it on PC.
Why the fuss, bro. There are other great games for you to play, u know.

wFqbV2d.gif
 

Jaedar

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Aug 5, 2009
Messages
10,116
Project: Eternity Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pathfinder: Kingmaker
hiding some novelty bosses which aren't even that interesting (even less so if you're not crazy about the lore).
Some of the rematches against main game bosses are quite good too. I particularily remember base game Rom as a walk in the park, while the chalice version really brings out the challenge and uniqueness of the encounter.
 

Mojobeard

Augur
Joined
Dec 12, 2010
Messages
393
I've played through the game multiple times, but am finally doing the rest of the chalice dungeons. And I wish my redhead's hair didn't clip so much, should have just made a Gigachad grandpa again.

It's just. It's so good. It annoys me to no end that people don't get to experience it on other systems, and with free online. Here's my brief love letter to it just because:
The fighting system is so much more advanced than Souls, or even the "fighting game one" Sekiro. The story/lore, and even the visuals, have clearly been in Miyazaki's (& co?) mind for a long time.
It's the ultimate love letter to horror despite being an action game. It shows the fantastic and the beauty of what horror can be, that it doesn't just mean scary. Its immersiveness and weird. The philosophical quandaries. It pulls from absolutely everything and ties them all together with cosmic horror.
Like any game it's not quite finished, but like Demon's Souls or Dark Souls 1, it manages to be a complete experience all the same.

If there ever was a game that got close to perfection in what it is, it's Bloodborne.
 

Machocruz

Arcane
Joined
Jul 7, 2011
Messages
4,510
Location
Hyperborea
It's plain to see this game is going into the canon of great games out of Japan. It's to today's game scene what Contra, Street Fighter 2, Double Dragon, etc. were in their days.
 

Mojobeard

Augur
Joined
Dec 12, 2010
Messages
393
Well I finally became The Bloodborne, which is pretty late for someone who's owned this game since launch.
bl4xHvh.png

The chalices were interesting, really good stuff in there. I feel they did a disservice by having too many of them, especially when even the same bosses are reused. A little shorter trek would have been welcome, let people use the random ones if they want more.
And having the very first one be the one with the god damn rolling fatties, an enemy that's about as high quality as Dark Souls 2's hippos, was an awful idea. It gave an impression that the chalices would continue to be that low effort, when that really wasn't the case. The traps, surprising visuals, most of the new enemies, and the new bosses especially, were majestic.
 
Joined
Feb 13, 2011
Messages
2,234

some autist in his basement patched bloodborne to 60 fps on ps4 pro:salute::salute::salute:

how fucking inept From Software has to be to rely on their fans to fix their games 5 years after release?:roll::lol:
 

Ventidius

Arbiter
Joined
Jul 8, 2017
Messages
552
I've been replaying this game recently - for the first time since 2015 - and figured I might as well get around doing the DLC (which I had never played before) as well. Somehow, the DLC manages to be better - and more challenging - than the base game on a pound-by-pound basis, despite the fact that the base game was already amazing. In that regard, it was definitely for the best that I started a fresh playthrough, as that gave me the chance of comparing them rather closely.

The boss design was probably the biggest improvement over the base game, and you can see the transition from base Bloodborne and DS1/DS2 to some of the better-designed bosses in DS3 (especially the DLC bosses like Friede and Gael) in The Old Hunters. Except, I feel TOH did a better job of keeping the multiple phase/HP bloat/infinity combos design in check, which lead to a better - if perhaps somewhat less challenging - experience overall.

In particular, the Ludwig boss fight was one of the best I've ever fought in a Souls-like. Almost everything about that fight was brilliant. The "monster" phase was suitably challenging without feeling ridiculous or cheesy (like a lot of the tougher "large monster" Souls fights often do), largely thanks to the fact that it relies on Ludwig's extensive and varied moveset rather than on the convolutedness and size of his model (though obviously, like in all similar fights, this is a factor). Then, in one of the most poignant moments in gaming history, Ludwig regains his humanity mid-fight (a masterful example of ludo-narrative consonance that enhances the whole phase design), switching to a second phase that plays completely differently from the first while retaining the overall quality in moveset design in an - admittedly easier but still tough - humanoid form. Ludwig's visual design was also interesting. Gruesome, to be sure, but befitting of both the lore and the overall thematic flow of the campaign. Not to mention the fact that that the Rapehorse is immensely memeable and a change of pace from the typical wolf/ape beasts that the game saturates you with.

Lady Maria was also a great fight. As with Ludwig, there is an adroit weaving together of lore, themes, art direction and gameplay that ends up being ridiculously climatic. However, it is also a much easier fight not only than Ludwig and Orphan of Kos, but her DS3 counterpart Friede (still harder than most base game bosses - including the similar Gehrman - and respectably difficult in its own right). She's also probably the best looking female NPC in the game, for what that's worth (not surprising, since she's basically the doll with a cooler outfit).

Orphan of Kos was excellent in gameplay terms. His moveset is quite diverse and the gameplay implementation of the phased battle is the opposite of Ludwig's in that the second phase is harder and more organically linked to the first phase. Both approaches are executed effectively, though, and both fights boast a similar level of overall difficulty (I'd give Ludwig a slight edge here though). That said, I found OoK's visual design to be underwhelming. I get that he's is supposed to be this ugly man-baby thing, but honestly, he just looks like a generic hollow from the first Dark Souls with a blue paintjob...

Laurence is a bit like OoK in that he combines great gameplay - and high difficulty - with disappointing visual design. Though at least in the case of Laurence there is some in-lore justification for the fact that he is just a Cleric Beast on fire, with that being that he was a apparently the first Cleric Beast.

The boss fights may be the highlight, but the level and encounter design were also on point, with my sole caveat being that The Hunter's Nightmare was the only level that came close to feeling sprawling, even if the Research Hall had plenty of nooks and crannies to explore. The Fishing Hamlet was kinda disappointing in terms of layout and complexity, but it definitely has the best atmosphere and art direction. Also, those Shark Giants are absolutely infuriating and the battle with the pair of them in the well easily rivals the hardest boss fights.

Overall, the DLC feels kinda small in terms of areas, even if you can indeed squeeze quite a bit of atmospheric and tense exploration out of it if you take your time. It probably helps that the DLC has some of the best - if not the best - itemization in the entire game, so there plenty of incentive to search every corner. The Pizza Cutter, in particular, is badass.

Honestly, the DLC enhances the game beyond the heights that it had already attained, which is frankly impressive. For years, I've viewed the Soulsborne games as roughly similar in quality, with some excelling in some things and some in others. However, playing Bloodborne again, with the DLC and after replaying the other Souls games quite a bit in the intervening years, allowed me to notice just how all-around tightly designed the game is, and the fact that it stands head and shoulders above the Dark Souls franchise. Not to mention it's probably one of the best games ever. In world-interconnectivity, atmosphere, and lore it rivals DS1. In level design (both peak quality and consistency), encounter design and itemization it's close to DS2. In terms of having a modern, smooth combat engine and tough boss fights it's comparable to DS3. The only aspect in which it is perhaps weaker than the others is probably the character system and build variety, since this was obviously the least "RPG-ish" of the bunch. But frankly, I don't hold that against it, especially since those RPG aspects could be pretty hit or miss in the others (except perhaps in DS2). Also, the art direction in this game is just gorgeous, one of the best in any game ever, and it's miles ahead of the Dark Souls games in this regard frankly. It's just an all-around great package with some fine highlights to boot.

Right now, I am positively hooked with the game again. The first thing I did after finishing my fresh playthrough+DLC was... to start another fresh playthrough with a more fine-tuned build. Which I have already beaten, and also the DLC. Perhaps I'll move on to NG+, but I also want to mess around with some other stuff as well. Perhaps the Chalices. Then again, I played the Chalices all the way up to Queen Yharnam back in 2015, and while it was a decent experience, I'm not too enthused with playing through them again. Haven't done co-op on my new playthroughs either, since it's kind of annoying to have to get PS Plus for that, but I do remember co-op in this game being fun. We'll see.
 
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Silva

Arcane
Joined
Jul 17, 2005
Messages
4,917
Location
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
I agree. I used to think of DS1 and BB on equal terms but after my recent re-playthrough of both, I'm convinced Bloodborne is the best one.

Have you tried a Arcane build? I recommend, if you didn't.
 

Ventidius

Arbiter
Joined
Jul 8, 2017
Messages
552
Yeah, with my first character I ran a Strength build, but I also did both an Arcane and a Bloodtinge playthrough back in 2015. I remember having fun with both, even if I always default back to something STR/Quality-ish. That said, I should probably throw in some points on my new character's Arcane score, as some of those Hunter Tools are quite useful regardless of build. Not to mention the Moonlight Sword is tempting me to pay some more attention to Arcane as well.
 
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Silva

Arcane
Joined
Jul 17, 2005
Messages
4,917
Location
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
Try Sekiro next, Ventidius . Sek is not as good as BB in my opinion, but it does some things REALLY well. It's combat is superbly good (despite Demon of Hatred), world traversing and exploration feels great, and the way the story branches out depending on what you do is neat.
 
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LESS T_T

Arcane
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
13,582
Codex 2014
While BB is not mentioned, Sony now commits to bring more games on PC, starting with Days Gone this Spring. https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/playstation-vr-jim-ryan-interview-2021

Fair enough. So releasing PlayStation games on PC was something that Sony PlayStation held back on for a long time. Now it sounds like you’re very much on that bandwagon. What changed?

I think a few things changed. We find ourselves now in early 2021 with our development studios and the games that they make in better shape than they’ve ever been before. Particularly from the latter half of the PS4 cycle our studios made some wonderful, great games. There’s an opportunity to expose those great games to a wider audience and recognise the economics of game development, which are not always straightforward. The cost of making games goes up with each cycle, as the calibre of the IP has improved. Also, our ease of making it available to non-console owners has grown. So it’s a fairly straightforward decision for us to make.

This is following on from your publishing Horizon Zero Dawn on PC in August last year. How did that go?

We assessed the exercise in two ways. Firstly, in terms of the straightforward success of the activity of publishing the game on PC, people liked it and they bought it. We also looked at it through the lens of what the PlayStation community thought about it. There was no massive adverse reaction to it. So we will continue to take mission steps in this direction.
 

LESS T_T

Arcane
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
13,582
Codex 2014
Well, BB (and DeS remake) is no brainer when Souls games are selling millions on Steam.

(I personally hope they also bring smaller games like Gravity Rush, The Last Guardian, and Shadow of the Colossus remake.)
 

Jaedar

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Aug 5, 2009
Messages
10,116
Project: Eternity Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pathfinder: Kingmaker
What people want: Bloodborne

What they're getting: another open world zombie game lol
In b4 sony thinks open world zombie game doing poorly means there isn't actually any interest and stops making ports.

Also: console games confirmed for being shit and unworthy of touching the pc before the end of the ps4 cycle.
 

cruel

Prophet
Joined
Sep 17, 2014
Messages
1,027
For all of you guys complaining about Bloodborne not being on PC and still waiting, wanting to play it, explain me one thing. Why don't you just buy a cheap, used PS4, get Bloodborne (and maybe God of War, or bunch of other games), play it, and then sell PS4 for the same price you got it? It's such a simple process, and instead you whine and complain for the last 6 FREAKING YEARS! The game was released on: 3/24/2015. You could have played it 10 or more times by this point. I just don't get it.
 

Perkel

Arcane
Joined
Mar 28, 2014
Messages
16,236
After thinking hard on this i think we might never see BB on PC.

I previously was hopeful but i forgot one important thing. From Software is not Sony studio and they have history of finishing game and moving on other than some small patches. Which means that Sony would have to rehire From to do PC port which seems unlikely.

There is also Sony Japan studios which helped a bit in BB production so maybe there is a hope.
 

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