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From Software Bloodborne - how good is this game?

nomask7

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For those who don't want to read through the huge and spoiler-ful thread... Without talking about spoilers, how good is it? How well does it compare with games like Dark Souls 2 or Demon's Souls? Or Dragon's Dogma for that matter?

Is it worth buying PS4 for?
 

DragoFireheart

all caps, rainbow colors, SOMETHING.
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I bought a PS4 for it and I think it's vastly superior to the previous souls games. (PvE), be it level design or aesthetics.

PvP seems primitive, reminds me of Demon's Souls. You use an item to look for someone to invade and that's it. No real covenants to level up with, no actual arena's to duel in.
 
Last edited:

nomask7

Arcane
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Messages
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I bought a PS4 for it and I think it's vastly superior to the previous souls games. (PvE), be it level design or aesthetics.

PvP seems primitive, reminds me of Demon's Souls. You use an item to look for someone to invade and that's it. No real covenants to level up with, no actual arena's to duel in.

So, this is the codex consensus? Better than Dark Souls??
 

Phage

Arcane
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No, Nomask, that is the opinion of one person.

Anyways, I think that Bloodborne is fan-fucking-tastic, but I'm still unsure if I'd rank it above Dark Souls 1. DS1 has a very special place for me due to the atmosphere, world and lore behind it coupled with its mechanics. Bloodborne also has extremely good atmosphere and lore, but it's not quite as coherantly god-tier as DS1. If you're somebody who didn't really understand or care about those things, then Bloodborne will likely be the better game for you. Either way, it completely shits on DS2, and is a fair deal better than Demon's Souls as well.
 

DragoFireheart

all caps, rainbow colors, SOMETHING.
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So, this is the codex consensus? Better than Dark Souls??

No, this is my opinion.

Anyways, I think that Bloodborne is fan-fucking-tastic, but I'm still unsure if I'd rank it above Dark Souls 1. DS1 has a very special place for me due to the atmosphere, world and lore behind it coupled with its mechanics. Bloodborne also has extremely good atmosphere and lore, but it's not quite as coherantly god-tier as DS1. If you're somebody who didn't really understand or care about those things, then Bloodborne will likely be the better game for you. Either way, it completely shits on DS2, and is a fair deal better than Demon's Souls as well.

I disagree about the lore/atmosphere not being a coherent as Dark Souls. Not only is it new ideas of the higher plane, it's also the grand lake of mud, hidden now, from sight.

No, we shall not abandon the dream.
 

Phage

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I mean, I like the Bloodborne lore a LOT. Like a lot a lot. Especially with all the insight stuff.

Having said that, the world of Dark Souls is insanely atmospheric. It's much quieter and more solemn than Bloodborne, allowing the player to take in the full extent of how much everything has decayed, and continues to decay. Bloodborne on the other hand is, at times, a bit too noisey for its own good - especially in the second half with the big twist.

Again, this is kind of me saying that Dark Souls is a 10/10 in atmosphere, while Bloodborne is a 9/10 in atmosphere.
 

nomask7

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Honestly, I'm not sure Dark Souls should have bosses you can't tank thru (Moonlight Butterfly) - kinda spoils the whole idea of character customisation. So if you have to get rid of variety to produce bosses that are less gimmicky, maybe that's a good thing.
 

Murk

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Jan 17, 2008
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Tank through? As in poise? BB has no poise, tho there is hyperarmor (or so it seems.)

It's not a good idea with bosses, necessarily, tho with lesser enemies face-tanking and r1ing can save the day given the hp leech mechanic.
 

nomask7

Arcane
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I meant shield mostly. In the Souls games, my feeling is if you have to start rolling to stay alive then something's not as it should be.
 

Murk

Arcane
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Ah, well... BB only has a shield as a joke. Tho I personally prefer non-shield play (I find the shield is boring and overly passive), but it's a stylistic choice for sure.
 

nomask7

Arcane
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Well, I wouldn't say shield is boring in the Souls games. After all, you don't have infinite stamina, so you still need skill and proaction (especially with bosses and multiple enemies, though not so much with single normies).
 

Murk

Arcane
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Well, it's a personal thing. I've done both obviously, but find I enjoy shieldless far more -- especially for DS 2, and doubly so for DS 2 PVP.
 

Ninjerk

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Honestly, I'm not sure Dark Souls should have bosses you can't tank thru (Moonlight Butterfly) - kinda spoils the whole idea of character customisation. So if you have to get rid of variety to produce bosses that are less gimmicky, maybe that's a good thing.
Isn't there a decently high magic-resisting shield before MB? IDR there being a 100%er and you'd have to meta.
 

Murk

Arcane
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The random wooden shields (circular ones, like the caduceus round shield) has like 65% or so resistance to magic.
 

Villagkouras

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For those who don't want to read through the huge and spoiler-ful thread... Without talking about spoilers, how good is it? How well does it compare with games like Dark Souls 2 or Demon's Souls? Or Dragon's Dogma for that matter?

I'm not even halfway through, but I can assure you, that the game is stellar:

Great atmosphere, more in a horror film kind of way than the hopelessness that DS1 inflicts.
Fantastic, really inspired level design.
Fast, responsive gameplay.

I don't care for PVP currently, so I can't comment on that.

DS1 is the first game I've ever played in these series, so nothing can beat the feeling of it, but I cannot stress how close BB is to it.

Is it worth buying PS4 for?

It depends. Do you plan buying a console anytime soon? If so, then yes, it's worth buying PS4 for it.
If you want to buy a PS4 just for Bloodborne, I wouldn't recommend it due to cost, I'm sure you can find a friend and play it without giving 400$.
If money is not an issue but you never intended to buy a console, you can buy PS4 with BB, try some other stuff when you finish it and see if it fits for you as a console.
 

Declinator

Arbiter
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Apr 1, 2013
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So are there any bosses on the level of the very best of Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2 (i.e. Ornstein & Smough, Fume Knight, Artorias etc.)

Truthfully I have little interest in anything but the bosses at this point because I feel like I've had my fill of Souls games.
 

Castanova

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Before I give my opinion you should know that:
a) Demon's Souls is my favorite game of the series, I love Dark Souls but don't believe the game is perfect at all given the drop in quality after O&S, and I liked DS2 but thought it was clearly a tier below the other two games.
b) I don't play the Souls games for the boss fights. I like them for the tense "dungeon crawl" aspect and when I find a boss my goal is just to get it done ASAP and move on to a new area to dungeon crawl.
c) I've replayed DeS and DS1 like a million times.

Bloodborne:
- Mostly excellent level design which harkens back to Demon's Souls, although it once again gets worse as the game progresses.
- More world interconnectivity but not as well done as Dark Souls.
- Very dark and moody but a disappointing lack of visual design variety. Everything is dark grey.
- Stupid reversion to consumable healing items which may require farming.
- Forces the player into a melee + dodging playstyle which is a fun style but a huge bummer for replayability.
- You find fewer interesting items by far than in the Souls games. 90%+ of the items you find are just consumables.
- Some other minor annoyances like ridiculously long load times and the inability to change out your ring-equivalent items without returning to town.

For me:
DeS > DS > BB >> DS2
 

TheHeroOfTime

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I'm playing it. I think it is awesome but its stat system is very simplified respecting Souls games.

Poor PC players. :hero:
 
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http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidth...ritical-praise-is-gaming-journalisms-failure/

This article is dead on. I went to meta-critic, saw a really high score. Got excited. “wow i have to buy this, looks awesome”… spent $60 for the digital download. Spent 2 hours with the game, long load times, bad UI, horrid lock-on system, sluggish awkward controls, endless deaths. Said “F this this game sucks” searched for “bloodborne sucks” to see if I was the only one. Then saw the IGN article… “damn, wish i read that first.” But no, all I saw were tons of glowing ass kiss reviews about how great this game is.

Really? 1980s save game system is great? WTF? Has the gaming review industry gone mad? where are the standards? Just a bunch of “hardcore” people telling the “causals” that they suck and need to learn to play. Wow. That’s helpful… not.

FYI – I just re-read the Gamespot review. Not a single word about ridiculously hard the game is, how often you will die and that the game is vastly different from what most gamers will expect. This is the last time I rely on Gamespot for reviews.
 

DragoFireheart

all caps, rainbow colors, SOMETHING.
Joined
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Messages
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I mean, I like the Bloodborne lore a LOT. Like a lot a lot. Especially with all the insight stuff.

Having said that, the world of Dark Souls is insanely atmospheric. It's much quieter and more solemn than Bloodborne, allowing the player to take in the full extent of how much everything has decayed, and continues to decay. Bloodborne on the other hand is, at times, a bit too noisey for its own good - especially in the second half with the big twist.

Again, this is kind of me saying that Dark Souls is a 10/10 in atmosphere, while Bloodborne is a 9/10 in atmosphere.

I'll agree to disagree, but I think we can both agree that BB > Dsk2 (except maybe in PvP).

How about BB > Demon's Souls?
 

polo

Magister
Joined
Jul 8, 2014
Messages
1,737
http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidth...ritical-praise-is-gaming-journalisms-failure/

This article is dead on. I went to meta-critic, saw a really high score. Got excited. “wow i have to buy this, looks awesome”… spent $60 for the digital download. Spent 2 hours with the game, long load times, bad UI, horrid lock-on system, sluggish awkward controls, endless deaths. Said “F this this game sucks” searched for “bloodborne sucks” to see if I was the only one. Then saw the IGN article… “damn, wish i read that first.” But no, all I saw were tons of glowing ass kiss reviews about how great this game is.

Really? 1980s save game system is great? WTF? Has the gaming review industry gone mad? where are the standards? Just a bunch of “hardcore” people telling the “causals” that they suck and need to learn to play. Wow. That’s helpful… not.

FYI – I just re-read the Gamespot review. Not a single word about ridiculously hard the game is, how often you will die and that the game is vastly different from what most gamers will expect. This is the last time I rely on Gamespot for reviews.
I asume you never played Demon Souls or Dark souls amirite?
I didn't read a single review, but i can't help but think that most of them must at least make a reference to BB predecessors.
 
Joined
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Glass Fields, Ruins of Old Iran
I asume you never played Demon Souls or Dark souls amirite?
I didn't read a single review, but i can't help but think that most of them must at least make a reference to BB predecessors.

I’ve been an avid gamer for 25 years, and Bloodborne was one of two games I purchased and immediately sold/returned (the other being Mortal Kombat: Mythologies featuring Sub Zero). As a non-Dark Souls player but someone who was intrigued by the game being labeled an action RPG that received critical acclaim, I immediately sought out the game and was excited.

Let me start off by saying that the game gets some things right. Graphically it’s impressive. The soundtrack (what I experienced of it) is incredible, as well. That’s where the praise ends for me.

I knew the game was hard going in. I’ve played hard games. Most hard games have a system in place where if failure is anticipated, a checkpoint is kindly placed nearby. This way you don’t have to replay 15 minutes of old content in order to (attempt to) experience something new. Bloodborne delights in having you fail, suffer through a 1 minute load screen, and then replay 5-10 minutes of content and kill respawned enemies to get the chance to see new content. Often times you’re forced to do this after being ambushed by a mob. The supposedly lesson is to remember next time that the mob is there -or- the enemy will do “that attack” after that cue. This isn’t fun. It’s learning to swim by drowning.

To add insult to injury, the game is devoid of any meaningful tutorial. It’s trial by fire. Which maybe worked when I was 8 years old and had tons of time, but the game seems to delight in alienating players new to the series.

I’m sure the game “makes sense” and is enjoyable to Dark Souls veterans. That’s awesome. Not every game should be for everyone. But the game does an unbelievably bad job at introducing new players to the core concepts of the game. It’s gaming caviar – delightful to some but an acquired taste for the majority of individuals.
 

DragoFireheart

all caps, rainbow colors, SOMETHING.
Joined
Jun 16, 2007
Messages
23,731
I asume you never played Demon Souls or Dark souls amirite?
I didn't read a single review, but i can't help but think that most of them must at least make a reference to BB predecessors.

I’ve been an avid gamer for 25 years, and Bloodborne was one of two games I purchased and immediately sold/returned (the other being Mortal Kombat: Mythologies featuring Sub Zero). As a non-Dark Souls player but someone who was intrigued by the game being labeled an action RPG that received critical acclaim, I immediately sought out the game and was excited.

Let me start off by saying that the game gets some things right. Graphically it’s impressive. The soundtrack (what I experienced of it) is incredible, as well. That’s where the praise ends for me.

I knew the game was hard going in. I’ve played hard games. Most hard games have a system in place where if failure is anticipated, a checkpoint is kindly placed nearby. This way you don’t have to replay 15 minutes of old content in order to (attempt to) experience something new. Bloodborne delights in having you fail, suffer through a 1 minute load screen, and then replay 5-10 minutes of content and kill respawned enemies to get the chance to see new content. Often times you’re forced to do this after being ambushed by a mob. The supposedly lesson is to remember next time that the mob is there -or- the enemy will do “that attack” after that cue. This isn’t fun. It’s learning to swim by drowning.

To add insult to injury, the game is devoid of any meaningful tutorial. It’s trial by fire. Which maybe worked when I was 8 years old and had tons of time, but the game seems to delight in alienating players new to the series.

I’m sure the game “makes sense” and is enjoyable to Dark Souls veterans. That’s awesome. Not every game should be for everyone. But the game does an unbelievably bad job at introducing new players to the core concepts of the game. It’s gaming caviar – delightful to some but an acquired taste for the majority of individuals.

I think RPG Codex is the wrong forum for you. I want you to re-read some of the pieces I highlighted.

They are working on a patch for the loading times (they are a bit much) but the loading times aren't crippling. It just seems so because at the moment you died it'll aggravate you even more.

As for "running back" to see more content, there are many "checkpoints" via shortcuts that get opened up. For over 2/3 of the bosses there's usually a shortcut that is just a 30-60 second run with minimal amounts of enemies in the way.

The game does have a tutorial: read the messages near the beginning. They tell you how to do some basic controls. Read the pdf game manual. I'm a little disappointed that I am explaining this basic stuff to a fellow Codexer.

rpgcodex.png
 

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