Bloodborne review

[dataDave]

I like it how the night progresses the further into the game you get. It's law for me to love any and all games that do that.

[J0e Musashi]

Wow, NG+ is super-difficult. If only because the enemies take ages to kill. Soul farming is deffo needed. I think having 99 insight is affecting the game too. It seems to have a black and white tendency effect like Demon's. I think. Father G is giving me a lot of trouble.

[Shozuki]

3hrs in and still not beat the first boss...bridge is too narrow for my haphazard dodging style and I get smashed!

Decided to grind a few levels of HP. If you miss opening the gate before tackling him its a bit harsh too...

Enjoying it so far though, despite my lack of skill.

Couple of tips:

1. when he glows red you can shoot/parry him and follow up with an attack that does big damage.
2. oil urn followed by a molotov cocktail also deals huge damage.
3. don't dodge as soon as he jumps away as he'll target and hit you, wait a half second after he jumps then dodge
4. you can dodge under his right arm, and pummel him from the back
5. He will rage, at certain points during the battle. Don't attack him use the bridges length to dash backward and keep your distance.

Hope that helps...

[Neon Ignition]

Literally first impressions as I've just had my first go.

So, I've only ever lasted a few hours with each Souls games due to several issues with them that are the same with each game, things that just stop me enjoying them. On a face to face first impression basis, Bloodborne is so much better. It seems to have all the aspects that make the series initially appealing but it plays so much better.

The only real thing that I'm struggling with, and it's purely a personal thing, is that when you die you have to redo the area you just did with all the enemies back. It's not the difficulty of doing so that grates, more the boredom of replaying the same section repeatedly. That said, shortcuts mitigate this a little. The faster, dodge combat focus is so much better than the slow crawl unresponsive feeling of Souls. In Souls I never felt that death was entirely down to skill, the underdeveloped combat always felt like half the battle. In this though there's no such feeling, it's responsive and your approach to a battle is key. I think that's the real reason it feels a bit easier, because the players ability is more of a factor than adapting to dated and clunky mechanics.

I'm very early on though and regardless it's going to take me some perseverance to stick the game out. I'm still at the bridge due to the cramped area and werewolves, but totally missed the other turn that will sort that. Oddly, I find the bonfire area and enemy behind the gate easy to deal with so hopefully it's a good sign that I'll be able to at least brace myself further in this time than in previous games.

Definitely withholding judgement, but so far, it's the step forward I've been waiting for FROM to make for ages.

[Uli]

Joe, as far as i understood NG+ is designed to just halt your progress as their is supposedly not much replay value in the game. which would be a shame though. how much hours did it take you to complete?

3hrs in and still not beat the first boss...bridge is too narrow for my haphazard dodging style and I get smashed!

good luck with the end level boss then, his instant kill combo made me nearly giving up on the game.

my tip: take it slowly, try to dodge his attacks and stay behind him close to his right leg. if you back off to heal and he jumps roll towards him to be safe.

[BaronSqwelch]

Cheers Shozuki....it almost helped. But in the end I got the NPC to help

Gascoigne however I did second try, more room to move. I managed to visceral hit him just before he changed so he was nearly dead before he could do much!

[Shozuki]

Cheers Shozuki....it almost helped. But in the end I got the NPC to help

Gascoigne however I did second try, more room to move. I managed to visceral hit him just before he changed so he was nearly dead before he could do much!

Awesome! Well I'm glad you got through it!

[J0e Musashi]

Uli, my first run took me around ten hours. However, I know I missed out a fair portion of the game, and an NPC was bugged, which is working fine now. I can run through Demon's in around three hours, so I'm hoping to get my time right down. I'd say you need to play it at least four times to get the platinum. NG+ seems to open up a bit more after Father G. It just took me eight goes to beat him, but now I can do it without taking a single hit. I'm going to do more exploring this time.

I'm working on +10 weapons now. It seems you can do one per run, given the last material needed.

[neoboy259]

All this talk regarding the first boss' difficulty, and I managed to take him down first go, and I'm hardly a skilled gamer.

Good game, not a patch on Demon's Souls but better than both Dark Souls' games.

[gambit6613]

All this talk regarding the first boss' difficulty, and I managed to take him down first go, and I'm hardly a skilled gamer.

Good game, not a patch on Demon's Souls but better than both Dark Souls' games.

Yeah funny how people are finding the 1st boss to be difficult. Normally im ****e at any boss in most games but this one I took down on first attempt. My method was to use Molotov cocktails, coupled with rolling all over the place and attacking when I could and I used up about 5 health potions. Though for me its more luck than skill but at my age I will take that lol.

[J0e Musashi]

I'm overpowered again, which is good. I'm taking it much slower this time. Well I'm not, as I've already killed five bosses, but I'm exploring the areas much more. I've found quite a few secret areas in Cathedral Ward. That place seems to be the most important in the first half of the game as it leads to three areas.

There seems to be a cap of sorts at level 25. Stats progress very slowly from then on. I'm currently working towards all stats at level 30. Skipping the fourth boss until after the sixth boss seems to be a sensible option. Beating it only opens up an NPC side mission, and nothing else.

[dataDave]

Good lord, don't mention anything about easy bosses over on RLLMUK. :/

A lot of them so far really have been just a matter of spamming roll whilst rolling the hell away for a couple of potions if you do manage to get hit.

[J0e Musashi]

That's pretty much it though.

If anybody is stuck on Blood-starved Beast, just roll towards him to his left side (your right). You can get in a good three to five hits depending on your stamina. Keep him in front of you at all times. Rinse and repeat, and he'll go down easily.

Lots of people seem to be stuck there, but I find it the easiest boss in the whole game.

Oh, and the lower your insight is, the easier the game is. I'm sticking to 11 at all times at the moment.

[Tobal]

BSB can be stunned easily during his rampage mode at lower HP, using the dodge to his left(your right) and shooting if he uses the continuous combo will usually stun him to his knees for 5/6 secs of free whacking.

[J0e Musashi]

A patch to up the difficulty of certain bosses is inevitable. The boss fights are the main part of the game after all. Out of the nine I've fought so far, only two are somewhat difficult. Father G can be destroyed with riposte. Vicar Amelia can be destroyed with Fire Paper, and you can swerve her entirely if you kill the first NPC as soon as you meet her. All of the others fall easily if you have advanced dodging skills and patience. Definitely 100% fight Gherman on the first game. He seems invincible at first, but it's just Father G x2. He could be mega frustrating on NG+, if only because of the slow camera.

I'm almost onto NG++ now. I got a little bored earlier, but once you've beaten the witch boss, it's plain sailing to the end game IMO.