Bloodborne review

[boxhead]

Jesus dude, just let the guy enjoy his game. It doesn't have to be all about completing a game as fast as possible.

[J0e Musashi]

We are discussing the merits of playing in my way or playing in everybody else's way. Nobody is stopping anybody from enjoying their game. I can critique this game because I can compare it against From's previous efforts, and having worked out how it has been put together I can explain it to the others. It appears that everyone is playing it as though it is a Souls game. So it doesn't really matter what I say anyway.

[dataDave]

Bloodborne is like a slightly more grown up version of Bayonetta.

I don't agree that they should be compared. They are two totally different genres. Bayonetta is pure stylish action with a wide open combat system where virtually anything is possible, to the point where everything else in the game is throw-away. Bloodborne is Castlevania 2000, with Monster Hunter style gameplay.

About the only thing they have in common is the camera angle.

[J0e Musashi]

Bloodborne is about aggressive play to the point that everything else is throw-away. That's what I was getting at in terms of Bayonetta. Elements, collectibles, NPC quests, anything you care to mention is second to killing everything you see until you get to the boss. Nothing else really matters. You don't need anything else apart from your two weapons to complete the game. They could have totally stripped out all of the RPG-style stuff and the game would be no different.

There is only one way to play this game. The starting classes don't even need to be in there either. It's not like you can choose to be a tank, ninja, ranged or magician like in the Souls games. You are a guy with a blade and a gun. The gun isn't even a proper gun. There's little skill involved. All you need do is land the first hit EVERY single time on EVERY single enemy and you literally cannot die. The only reason it's difficult is because enemy attacks take off a lot of energy. The X button grants you pseudo invincibility and the riposte may as well rain down nuclear missiles on your victim.

Now you may think I dislike Bloodborne. I do not. It's enjoyable to play. It just isn't anywhere near the Souls games in terms of quality and nobody should be comparing them. All they have in common is that they're all from From.

[dataDave]

Ah, okay.

I read somewhere prior to release that the enemies in Bloodborne would follow you across the entire area. That isn't the case at all because they give up chase after a few yards spent outside of their patrols, making dashing runs like yours possible.

I'll usually fully clear out a zone the first time, for the atmosphere and that, but each time after that it's a sprint. If I die I'll kill everything again because that's how I make it more tense for myself. It's a good farm anyway, so nothing lost.

[Uli]

yes Joe, unfourtunately Bloodborne isn't as deep as any Souls game. i already found the progression and upgrade system far inferior. but in terms of atmosphere and world design i think there is much in common with the Souls games. however, as long as everyone enjoys the game for some reason it's all fine.

as far as Lords of the Fallen is concerned, i recommend every one who considers himself a fan of the Souls games to check it out. i've posted my mostly positive impressions in the respective first play thread.

[J0e Musashi]

Thanks for letting me know about it. I'll make that next on my list once I'm done with DS2 later this month. I'll check out your post.

[Jei]

I'm another that's given up after 6 hours. Whilst the sense of accomplishment is there whenever you do 'finally' get past a certain bit I'm just not finding it fun.

What is it about this game?!? I had it all ready to trade then thought about the damn thing at work most of the day. The level design, routes, exploration I did.......needless to say it's now back installed

[BaronSqwelch]

Made good progress today...found a good farming spot so hit that for a bit...then beat Vicar A and the Witches before calling it a day.

Speaking of speed runs...guy on reddit put up his stream...did it in 3hr15...of which 2hr44 was game and the rest loading screens!

[Goemon]

Sorry for the noob question but can someone tell me what insight does?
I've a number of madmans knowledge collectibles and I have no idea what they do.

[Shozuki]

Apologies lads, not on the current tangent but:

If I may ask, whats the best way to farm bullets in the game?

->Open Spoiler<-

I'm in the Cathedral, so not too far in...

Thanks

[boxhead]

Mad mans knowledge increases insight and the higher your insight - the harder the enemies become. The monsters start using new attacks and are more aggressive.

[Goemon]

Mad mans knowledge increases insight and the higher your insight - the harder the enemies become. The monsters start using new attacks and are more aggressive.

Okay, this game is hard enough for me why would I want to make things harder?

[Neon Ignition]

I'm opting out, I made the mistake of playing something else to give my mind a break from the game and realised my fun factor was much higher with other games than this.

Don't get me wrong, I think From deserve to be commended with what there is here with Bloodborne. As someone who really disliked quite a lot about the Souls games I kind of expected the worst but hoped the fresh ip etc would allow them room to play about and update the design and in some ways they have.

I definitely prefer the aggressive faster gameplay of Bloodborne to Souls, it honestly feels like you're much more in control of the situations you face even if you're not entirely all the time.

I like the styling of the game, the victorian dark aesthetic is much more appealing to me than Souls dark fantasy.

It's more generous with how it deals with player death and avoiding it too, it's not so much the difficulty as not overly penalising the player for the common act of having to restart.

Some of the things I just can't get on board with though are the repopulating enemies, despite it being deeply rooted as part of the design. Shortcuts, evading and general skill improvements mitigate some of it but ultimately there's still a lot of retreading and I find the wait for a reload to lantern and trawl back to the boss a very boring pattern. It's not that it takes long to get back to where you were, more the frequency of doing it. I won't pretend that I was deep into the game but I was sick of seeing the same lantern regardless of how many shortcuts linked back to it.

I liked that I got to a point whereby few enemies would hit me, I started to find navigating and exploring quite fun and at times pretty easy. It was a little windowed insight into the appeal of the games that I hadn't really gotten into before.

I still find the bosses in these games to be very weak and, in this game, the area in which the Souls weaknesses most commonly crop up. I died a few times against the bosses I faced but I rarely did so feeling it was through player error. Some parts of the locations are too narrow for what you're fighting and the camera completely loses its mind at times, at a time when one mistake can easily see you back at that blasted lantern. You're effectively playing the same combat system as Zelda but with a stagger ability, yet it some encounters never feel as intuitive as such an old system should be.

For me, the game is like glimmers of enjoyment and waves of tedium. You're holding out for that brief moment you get past a section where you feel far from a lantern and stumble across it, that solid run of progression or getting past an enemy that's made your attention span weary. I can completely see now how a Souls fan could get so obsessive about the games, but at the same time it's re-enforced my view that such fans really refuse to acknowledge the limits and shortcomings of the games, the 10's etc still seem... generous.

Still, though I'm hanging up my hood, if i ever get ponderous I still have DS1 and 2 on Steam and I come out of Bloodborne thinking better of the games and of From than I went in so in the end, a victory for them.

[dataDave]

Okay, this game is hard enough for me why would I want to make things harder?

Because the shop unlocks with more stuff. It's all relative.