Gameplay impressions & General discussion

[Lady Blanc]

I thought I'd start this thread to discuss what I and other people see to be the high/low points of Bloodborne. I'd prefer to not have trophy list discussion on this thread (we have one for that already), just gameplay & general discussion. Now to start with what I see as some of the pros & cons;

 

Pros

• Visually pleasing: This title is clearly a large step ahead of it's predecessors in terms of visuals, even the fact that the protagonist slowly becomes soaked in blood as they fight and the blood trail left after an attack is an improvement. Locales are well rendered & lend the game an extremely eerie & unsettling, yet awe-inspiring atmosphere.
• Fluid combat mechanics: Combat feels much smoother in comparison to the Souls series, even being able to switch between your Trick Weapon's form mid-combo, or quickly fire off your gun after an attack. The addition of the quickstep is a nice touch too, especially with it's responsiveness.
• More responsive A.I.: Unlike in the Souls series, enemies in Bloodborne are much more receptive to sound, to the point where they can be distracted by a well-placed pebble throw, or alerted by gunfire, making it more challenging.
• Easier way to access to Offline Mode: I see this as a plus, as I'm not overly fond of playing games with randoms, it's also good if you want to do a purely solo playthrough as well.
• Better customisation options: This is a huge plus for me (especially after Dark Souls II's lackluster customisation), as I like customising every little detail in these sorts of games, I wonder why they only just now decided to allow players to make their character have heterochromia (two different eye colours) though. 

Cons

 

• Loading times: Although they aren't too bad, they get a little annoying when you die frequently (like I was at first).This is supposedly being addressed in an upcoming patch though.
• Lack of a fine-aim button: I find it rather odd that a game with guns as a prominent combat mechanic has no form of a fine-aim mode, instead requiring the player to lock onto an enemy instead to ensure the shot hits it's target.
• Much slower running: In comparison to the running speed in Dark Souls II (if you aren't equipped with a lot of heavy gear), Bloodborne's running speed is quite slow, it's more of a jog than a run.
• Poorly planned out jumping method (again): Just like in Dark Souls II, the player is only able to jump while running, meaning a jump timed that little bit too late, can result in you slipping to your doom. That stupid automatic roll after landing from a jump is just as bad.
• Lack of character classes: Unlike in the Souls series, there are no classes to choose from to determine your starting stats & equipment, instead you choose your origin to dictate your stats & starting amount of Blood Echoes (Currency & means of levelling up), with all origins having the exact same starting gear.

Overall, it is a vast improvement over the Souls series in my opinion (Demon's Souls in particular), and like every other game, it is not perfect & has it's flaws. I think it is a definite must-buy for fans of the Souls series, or those that just love to be pushed to their limits. Bloodborne is far less forgiving than it's predecessors, and in my view, that is a good thing.

[victor_714]

GOTY definitely. The only problem i had so far was the loadings screens and near severe frame issues at the beggining of Old Yharnam. Sometimes when i help people in there lag+frame issues makes that area unplayable for me.

[InverseSquared]

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Edited March 15, 2017 by SeanStrange

[Monk746]

Cons (imo)

• Too easy, by comparison with souls games
• Loading times when not going to the hunters dream is oddly long
• I've tried summoning others on bosses that have killed me once, but I usually end up giving up after about 10 minutes of waiting. (Idk, and doubt, that it would make a difference if attempted before dying)
• Insight is annoying me. I have 51 atm, and nothing worthwhile to use it on, and the only differences I've noticed with it are minimal. I haven't used any of my many Madman items yet because I'm unsure if it would even do anything worthwhile (more of a personal one, but it's annoying me)
• Several laggy moments
• Gear and weapon customization is either extremely limited and linear, or non-existent.
• No actual magic/miracle skills

 

Pros (imo)

• Pretty much loving everything else

[MMDE]

• Lack of character classes: Unlike in the Souls series, there are no classes to choose from to determine your starting stats & equipment, instead you choose your origin to dictate your stats & starting amount of Blood Echoes (Currency & means of levelling up), with all origins having the exact same starting gear.

 

Don't you get to choose the starter weapon after the werewolf kills you???

 

 

Overall, it is a vast improvement over the Souls series in my opinion (Demon's Souls in particular), and like every other game, it is not perfect & has it's flaws. I think it is a definite must-buy for fans of the Souls series, or those that just love to be pushed to their limits. Bloodborne is far less forgiving than it's predecessors, and in my view, that is a good thing.

 

 

Personally, I prefer Demon's Souls...

[GRITTY_PITTY]

I have never played the Souls series at all but i have Bloodborne on the way, it looks like the standout rpg for PS4 with Diablo 3 ROS and Dragon Age Inquisition.

[Monk746]

Bloodborne is far less forgiving than it's predecessors, and in my view, that is a good thing.

 

Am I seriously the only one finding this game the easiest of all the souls games?

I mean, most bosses here I beat on my 1st try, and the enemies are all extremely easy to dodge.

Dark Souls was a struggle for me compared to Bloodborne, and Demon Souls is somewhere in the middle.

[Lady Blanc]

Am I seriously the only one finding this game the easiest of all the souls games?

I mean, most bosses here I beat on my 1st try, and the enemies are all extremely easy to dodge.

Dark Souls was a struggle for me compared to Bloodborne, and Demon Souls is somewhere in the middle.

It must be different for everyone, my order of perceived difficulty for the Souls games & Bloodborne is from hardest to easiest;

1. Bloodborne
2. Demon's Souls
3. Dark Souls 
4. Dark Souls II

[Aexuz]

Am I seriously the only one finding this game the easiest of all the souls games?

I mean, most bosses here I beat on my 1st try, and the enemies are all extremely easy to dodge.

Dark Souls was a struggle for me compared to Bloodborne, and Demon Souls is somewhere in the middle.

 

I agree with you Bloodborne being the easiest from all the FromSoft games.

From easiest to hardest:

 

Bloodborne

Demon's Souls

Dark Souls II

Dark Souls

[BhekifaZ]

I've never played a Souls game before so this was my first game by From Software. From what I've played so far (about 10 hours in) its been really good. I thought it would be a bit harder based on how notorious these games are for being difficult but I breezed through the first few bosses. Then I got kidnapped by one of those guys that carry the sack on their back and the difficulty spiked quite a bit. The Darkbeast Paarl boss is way more difficult than the previous 3 I faced.

 

The game looks fantastic. I love the macabre style of this game, and the audio is very well done. At first I was disappointed by how few weapons there are but after fooling around with the ones I have and seeing how different each weapon is my opinion has changed. I rather like not having to grind and search around for a million different weapons to see which one is the best. I noticed that the armours are all very similar in stats and don't really offer much difference other than how they look. Of course, that could just be because I've only come across 4 or 5 different armour sets.

 

Maybe I'll edit this post and offer more thoughts as I progress through the game a bit more.

[Z1MZUM]

Well I'm getting a bit bored of this game now and I haven't even finished it. It's a little bit samey in scenery, I like it but it's hasn't become exciting yet at all. Rom is the only boss that has taken several try's to kill,,,,,,,,,

 

Idk, it's good but,,