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[TheVampire]

Oh and it's one of the few games I took to NG+++++++ and look forward to playing it even more after the DS3 DLC comes and goes.
Bloodborne 2, anyone? Maybe a teaser come E3? Can you hear our prayers?

so how many hours

 

[Aurongel]

Gaf, some help here. I LOVE the art direction of this game and I understand it's quite Lovecraftian wich is a huge plus. But I am hesitant due to the difficulty. I played some Demon's souls back in the day and I couldn't get into it. Or let me put it this way, it intrigued me but it was just too hard and oppressing and I gave up pretty fast. Is Bloodborne as hard for a Souls-newbie? Everything I see of this game makes me want to play it but I just can't stand punishing difficulty in games.

Compared to previous games in the series, the barrier to summoning is far lower. If you're really struggling at any point then I wouldn't be afraid to summon a friend for help.

 

[Manmademan]

Gaf, some help here. I LOVE the art direction of this game and I understand it's quite Lovecraftian wich is a huge plus. But I am hesitant due to the difficulty. I played some Demon's souls back in the day and I couldn't get into it. Or let me put it this way, it intrigued me but it was just too hard and oppressing and I gave up pretty fast. Is Bloodborne as hard for a Souls-newbie? Everything I see of this game makes me want to play it but I just can't stand punishing difficulty in games.

bloodborne is much harder than demon's souls is, if for no other reason than the lack of a "royal" type easy mode from the start. In fact offensive spells in general are fairly rare compared to the rest of the series, so "getting good" at melee and mastering parrying is a must, more or less.

 

[what-ok]

so how many hours

Yikes. I'm a little frightened to look.

 

[hertog]

Finished dark souls 3 and picked this up again after buying the dlc.

I forgot how much better this game is. The fights are so intense. Right now I'm lost again in the forbidden forest and loving it.

I'm actually looking up all the lore around the area's and bosses this time around.

I've finished bloodborne about a year ago, but I keep hearing the dlc will kick my ass. What's the recommended level for the dlc area's?

 

[jonjonaug]

Finished dark souls 3 and picked this up again after buying the dlc.

I forgot how much better this game is. The fights are so intense. Right now I'm lost again in the forbidden forest and loving it.

I'm actually looking up all the lore around the area's and bosses this time around.

I've finished bloodborne about a year ago, but I keep hearing the dlc will kick my ass. What's the recommended level for the dlc area's?

The DLC is intended to be played with an endgame build. It's a good idea to poke your head into the first area if you know you'll want a weapon from it, but it's best otherwise to save the DLC until you have at least a +9 weapon. I usually play the DLC after obtaining the main game's Blood Rock but before killing Mergo's Wet Nurse. You can play the DLC after killing the Wet Nurse, but you'll miss out on a few lines from the Doll after killing the next to last and last bosses of the DLC.

 

[Kolx]

The game relies on quality rather than quantity in many things unlike DS. That's why I consider it the best souls game and GOTG so far.

 

[Alej]

Bloodborne is surprisingly my favorite game of all time, hands down.
I didn't expect that, actually. I wouldn't imagine it beating every game I loved through the years, and I just realized that not so long ago, there is something in Bloodborne that combines art and videogames like never before. I feel like playing a masterpiece from the first minute to the end.

And then, there is an interesting statistics in the trophies. More than 5% have the platinum (close to 8% actually, IIRC), and I wonder if it says that the game is really easy or if a very good amount of buyers have been astonished by what they were playing.

 

[Ferr986]

Finished dark souls 3 and picked this up again after buying the dlc.

I forgot how much better this game is. The fights are so intense. Right now I'm lost again in the forbidden forest and loving it.

I'm actually looking up all the lore around the area's and bosses this time around.

I've finished bloodborne about a year ago, but I keep hearing the dlc will kick my ass. What's the recommended level for the dlc area's?

70-80 NG. Around 120 NG+

 

[Eric the Red]

Maybe Dark Souls 3 just prepared me for the faster pace or because I've played all of them, but I felt this was by far the easiest Souls game. No boss killed me more than twice except Ludwig.(7 times)

You beat Orphan of Kos in less than 3 tries?

 

[RespectThySole]

You beat Orphan of Kos in less than 3 tries?

I got him on my third try. He was one of the tougher bosses, but you can roll under his attacks and he's easy to stagger. I punished his jump attacks too. You have to watch out for his range though. His reach surprised me.

 

[Bold One]

Forbidden Woods was traumatic for me, my paralysing fear of snakes made it almost impossible to beat that area....

 

[The God]

tfw I can't even get past the Cleric Beast

 

[Uthred]

The fact it handles its inspiration from the Cthulhu mythos/Lovecraftian horror so well in tandem with being a great game mechanically should make it my favourite Souls game. I think I still marginally prefer Demon Souls, but I do think Bloodborne is a better game. I really should go back to it and try the DLC.

 

[RespectThySole]

tfw you can't even get past the Cleric Beast

Dodge left and get behind him. Avoid his jump attacks. Don't get too greedy. Shoot his head or do charged R2s to open him up for a visceral. Molotovs work well on this boss as well.

 

[Sulik2]

I agree with OP best game of the generation so far. The combat in bloodborne is so perfect its hard to imagine a world where its combats don't become the standard for character action games. Perfect controls, perfect reward for aggression and brilliant weapon variety. Plus it plays that well at 30FPS. Its a masterpiece of a game.

The fact it handles its inspiration from the Cthulhu mythos/Lovecraftian horror so well in tandem with being a great game mechanically should make it my favourite Souls game. I think I still marginally prefer Demon Souls, but I do think Bloodborne is a better game. I really should go back to it and try the DLC.

Do it. The DLC is actually better then the base game.

 

[IAmAnAgnostic]

Chromatic Aberration

I will never stop wishing that they'd patch in an option to turn this off.

 

[RespectThySole]

Gaf, some help here. I LOVE the art direction of this game and I understand it's quite Lovecraftian wich is a huge plus. But I am hesitant due to the difficulty. I played some Demon's souls back in the day and I couldn't get into it. Or let me put it this way, it intrigued me but it was just too hard and oppressing and I gave up pretty fast. Is Bloodborne as hard for a Souls-newbie? Everything I see of this game makes me want to play it but I just can't stand punishing difficulty in games.

If you can get past the beginning area, you'll be fine
Parrying will make the early areas a lot easier for you. Be aggressive as the regain mechanic encourages it, but you also have to know when to have some patience. Make sure to upgrade your weapons at the Hunter's Dream. The community is still fairly active so just ask if you have any questions. There will be some growing pains since it's your first Souls game, but it will be all the more satisfying once you get through it!

 

[Cartho]

For as much misguided shit as From Software's gotten lately for fanservice, when they do make cross-game references they do them extremely well. The quasi-origin story for the Moonlight Greatsword in Bloodborne gave me legit goosebumps. The way the music drops out then steadily builds during the reveal is some masterful direction. The entire theme for that fight is among the best in any RPG ever, IMO. I can't really think of any other soundtracks that tread the line between horror and bombast quite like that.

Indeed, a truly sublime boss encounter: one of the few non WoW boss fights I've really been blown away by.

 

[RespectThySole]

For as much misguided shit as From Software's gotten lately for fanservice, when they do make cross-game references they do them extremely well. The quasi-origin story for the Moonlight Greatsword in Bloodborne gave me legit goosebumps. The way the music drops out then steadily builds during the reveal is some masterful direction. The entire theme for that fight is among the best in any RPG ever, IMO. I can't really think of any other soundtracks that tread the line between horror and bombast quite like that.

Indeed, a truly sublime boss encounter: one of the few non WoW boss fights I've really been blown away by.

Sogood.gif

I agree with OP best game of the generation so far. The combat in bloodborne is so perfect its hard to imagine a world where its combats don't become the standard for character action games. Perfect controls, perfect reward for aggression and brilliant weapon variety. Plus it plays that well at 30FPS. Its a masterpiece of a game.



Do it. The DLC is actually better then the base game.

I agree. The DLC has the 3 best bosses and awesome areas. It took the game up a notch for me.

 

[The God]

Dodge left and get behind him. Avoid his jump attacks. Don't get too greedy. Shoot his head or do charged R2s to open him up for a visceral. Molotovs work well on this boss as well.

He doesn't seem to react to being shot in the head lol

 

[RespectThySole]

He doesn't seem to react to being shot in the head lol

You have to time it right(just before he attacks, at a distance). Focus on avoiding his attacks and throwing in some charged R2s. The second boss is great for getting better at parrying. Are you still at base level? Maybe try leveling up a bit.

 

[MegaSackman]

Fantastic game, one of the best I've played.
Regarding difficulty it happens the other way to me, Dark Souls III was easier than expected, especially bosses. At least in Bloodborne they don't have only 100hp.

 

[Psychoward]

Such a wonderful game. The DLC bosses were amazing, as was Father G and the final boss.

As far as Fashion Souls go, it could be better but I'm happy with how my main turned out

 

[Super_Cobra]

Bloodborne is easily the best pa4 game available.

 

[Sulik2]

Such a wonderful game. The DLC bosses were amazing, as was Father G and the final boss.

As far as Fashion Souls go, it could be better but I'm happy with how my main turned out

I was a glowing blue fungi for most of the game wearing tattered rags. Fashion souls is overrated.

 

[jaaz]

I love these threads, because it reminds me of what an amazing experience BB was. I remember all of the BB bosses, their names and how they fought me. I can't say that for any of the other Souls games, except perhaps Demon's Souls. So for me, it's BB > Demon Souls > DS3 > DS1 > DS2

 

[Eudaemonium]

Fashion Souls is weaker here.

Have at thee!!

Agreed on all other points, though.

 

[jaaz]

Agreed that Lady Maria fight was amazing. I loved the fights with all of the hunters actually, particularly the one that took place inside the castle before you fight Rom. All speed, close quarters, visceral action.

 

[Blinck]

Best Souls game and one of my favorites of all time.

The sotry/world-building is pretty much one of the best ever. Gothic horror + Cosmic horror? fucking incredible.

The DLC is also amazing....the research labs are side by side with Tower of Latria from DS as one of the most disturbing and creepy levels I've played. It's absolutely intense and you just want to get out of there asap!

I think this is videogames at it's finest. This is good story and world building. Most games try to imitate movies when it comes to telling a story, but Bloodborne ( and to a lesser extent the other Souls games) just does it much better, IMO.

When you start to slowly uncover the truth behind everything..just WOW. The moment you enter the cathedral and you see those alien-esque statues at the entrance and you realize there's much more to this than just your typical "werewolf-gothic-horror"....man what a fucking amazing moment.

 

[Psychoward]

Agreed that Lady Maria fight was amazing. I loved the fights with all of the hunters actually, particularly the one that took place inside the castle before you fight Rom. All speed, close quarters, visceral action.

Or the final one for Eileen, which was a bitch and a half. I think I ended up cheesing that one actually.

 

[Bold One]

when it comes to the story telling part of the game, I have to hold the praise, BB is a fine game, I enjoyed my time with it, but I had to go watch a shit ton of lore videos just to understand what the fuck was happening.

If I have one complaint that would be it, but with that I retire now to watch my post get swarmed with pissed off fans

 

[RespectThySole]

Fantastic game, one of the best I've played.
Regarding difficulty it happens the other way to me, Dark Souls III was easier than expected, especially bosses. At least in Bloodborne they don't have only 100hp.

DS3 had more than a few gimmick bosses so yeah I can see that, but a couple bosses kicked my ass the first time through. Nameless King and Pontiff Sulyvahn(without parrying) are two of the toughest Souls bosses. I thought DS3's areas were a bit more difficult too. Pontiff would fit right in, in Bloodborne tbh. He's relentless.

 

[LifeBrandRobot]

Gaf, some help here. I LOVE the art direction of this game and I understand it's quite Lovecraftian wich is a huge plus. But I am hesitant due to the difficulty. I played some Demon's souls back in the day and I couldn't get into it. Or let me put it this way, it intrigued me but it was just too hard and oppressing and I gave up pretty fast. Is Bloodborne as hard for a Souls-newbie? Everything I see of this game makes me want to play it but I just can't stand punishing difficulty in games.

If all else fails, just grind. Everytime you level up your defense does to. Run to the first boss to witness him and after just clear the first area till you feel good with what you have. Combat felt so good to me that I didn't mind grinding for items when I had to.

 

[oRuin]

Bloodborne is my favorite game of the last few years. I just love everything about it. The setting itself really draws me in. Make sure you do the Chalice Dungeons as soon as you get the chalices. Don't leave them all to the end like I did on my first play through!

Glad to hear you are enjoying it!

I pray one day, this game will get some type of sequel. It deserves it.

Edit : I see many people on GAF complain about having to farm Blood Vials. There is no need! Don't use all your Blood Echos to level up, save some and buy some Blood Vials and build them up over time. Helps a lot end game!

 

[Deku Tree]

I purchased a PS4 just prior to Uncharted 4's release along with UC4 & Bloodborne. Uncharted 4 was a decent game, but largely a disappointment due to it's pacing issues and some odd design decisions. On the other hand, Bloodborne made me wonder why I hadn't bought one sooner. I'm a big Souls fan and they all have their strengths and weaknesses, but I feel like Bloodborne is peak-Miyazaki.

I adore the trick weapons. I've upgraded 3 to +10 so far and tried out several others.(Saw Cleaver, Ludwig's Holy Blade, Whirligig Saw) The Saw Cleaver is probably one of my all time favorite video game weapons. The moveset is fantastic, both forms are very useful. It has speed, but it still has decent range. The Rakuyo and HMGS also seem pretty fun to use. I'm actually okay with less weapons since most of them are pretty unique.

My favorite areas are Forbidden Woods, Research Hall, Fishing Hamlet and Cainhurst Castle.

Forbidden Woods - The level design is really impressive and the atmosphere is so eerie. It's such a large area, but FROM made it work with only one lamp. I almost got lost in this area. The deeper you go into this area, the weirder it gets. There's even a cave with a rainbow lake that connects back to Iosefka's Clinic.

Cainhurst Castle - This area really stands out in comparison to the other ones in the base game. It looks gorgeous and although there wasn't much enemy variety, the ones that were there give it a strong sense of character. The boss and Queen Annalise are cool too

Research Hall - I could go on and on about this area, but the most important thing is the Lady Maria fight. That was definitely my favorite fight in the game. Bloodborne went full on DMC3 here, shades of Dante vs Vergil.

Fishing Hamlet - Art design was awesome including the enemies themselves. Those giant sharks dudes can fuck off though. The two in the well killed me more than any boss in the game did except Ludwig! It gets major points for having a ton of blood chunks and a blood rock!

My favorite bosses aside from Lady Maria are Orphan of Kos, Ludwig, Cleric Beast and Darkbeast Paarl. The sound design is ridiculously good. Ngl the crows in Central Yharnam creeped me out the first time I saw them even though they're weak as fuck. The soundtrack didn't blow me away, but it definitely has it's high points. A few standouts are Cleric Beast theme, First Hunter theme and the music that plays in Hypergean Gaol. (pre-Rom)

Minor nitpicks:

Framepacing is very noticeable in certain areas especially Old Yharnam and Nightmare Frontier.

Chromatic Aberration

Byrgenwerth was a misstep. I was expecting a lot more from such a big lore area. It was really tiny.

Unseen Village (post-Rom) was a gank fest. I liked it much more the first time around.

Nightmare Frontier was pretty small and didn't have anything particularly useful in it. Boss was a total pushover as well. It's good for PvP at least.

I didn't like Witches of Hemwick, Celestial Emmisary, Living Failures or Amygdala The first three are like an even easier Deacons of the Deep which I didn't think was possible. You can pretty much just ignore the adds in the first two. Living Failures fight was kind of dope visually with the meteor showers though. Amygdala was just a chump.

I didn't like Rom either because it was such a tedious fight. Maybe I would've enjoyed it more if I was using a weapon with more reach at the time though. I loved the arena at least.

Early chalice dungeons are incredibly boring. However, I've only done Depth 1&2 ones so far. I've heard that the Depth 5 ones are more engaging.

Fashion Souls is weaker here.

No teleportation from lamps or healing at lamps. We have to go through that damn loading screen.


Maybe Dark Souls 3 just prepared me for the faster pace or because I've played all of them, but I felt this was by far the easiest Souls game. No boss killed me more than twice except Ludwig.(7 times)

---

Overall, I greatly enjoyed Bloodborne and it was well worth buying a PS4 in order to play it. It's the best Souls game and my second favorite game this gen after TW3. 10/10.

That is the most perplexing thing about Bloodborne. Why no healing at lamps or teleporting to other locations?

 

[The God]

You have to time it right(just before he attacks, at a distance). Focus on avoiding his attacks and throwing in some charged R2s. The second boss is great for getting better at parrying. Are you still at base level? Maybe try leveling up a bit.

I literally just defeated him (without upgrading). Greatest feeling ever.

 

[GIANKRATOS]

Forbidden Woods more like

Hahaha

 

[RespectThySole]

I literally just defeated him (without upgrading). Greatest feeling ever.

That's awesome. Congrats!

 

[Uthred]

when it comes to the story telling part of the game, I have to hold the praise, BB is a fine game, I enjoyed my time with it, but I had to go watch a shit ton of lore videos just to understand what the fuck was happening.

If I have one complaint that would be it, but with that I retire now to watch my post get swarmed with pissed off fans

I never found the lore of the other souls games particularly appealing because while obtuse once discovered was what it was, however with Bloodborne the lore is explicitly unconfirmable so I found interpreting it much more appealing. It also made the lore videos about it next to useless as I disagreed with a lot of them

 

[Nev]

It started as one of my favorite games but a few months after beating it I'm comfortable saying that I think it's the best game ever made.

I honestly wish Bloodborne was a human so I could engage in sexual intercourse with it.

 

[RespectThySole]

I forgot to say that Bloodborne has the best lore in the series!

 

[RespectThySole]

Bloodborne is my favorite game of the last few years. I just love everything about it. The setting itself really draws me in. Make sure you do the Chalice Dungeons as soon as you get the chalices. Don't leave them all to the end like I did on my first play through!

Glad to hear you are enjoying it!

I pray one day, this game will get some type of sequel. It deserves it.

Edit : I see many people on GAF complain about having to farm Blood Vials. There is no need! Don't use all your Blood Echos to level up, save some and buy some Blood Vials and build them up over time. Helps a lot end game!

Farming vials didn't really bother me because I usually had a big storage. If I needed to farm them(or any other item) after a boss fight, one or two runs at Bygenwerth would get me what I needed. Later on and for the DLC, I switched to Mergo's Base with the 3 monsters. 3750 a piece with the moon rune.

 

[Kaako]

BB is by far the best Souls game I've played. It is absolutely fantastic and we NEED a 1080P super solid 60fps NEO version ASAP!

Shit, I'd be tempted to buy a NEO alone for that and UC4 at 60fps.

 

[Joei]

bloodborne is much harder than demon's souls is, if for no other reason than the lack of a "royal" type easy mode from the start. In fact offensive spells in general are fairly rare compared to the rest of the series, so "getting good" at melee and mastering parrying is a must, more or less.

I've always thought Bloodborne is what you would get if you took a Souls game and made it purely an action game and increased the speed of the game like 3x. I also found it much easier than the other games after muscling through those first few bosses and getting the controls down.

Oh, and the chalice dungeons become really fun when you get further in, however, it does take a long, long time to get there. I was never totally turned off to the chalice dungeons, although I did find them tedious at first. The depth 5 ones and the chalice you get from

Spoiler

Ebrietas

I thought were awesome

 

[DaciaJC]

when it comes to the story telling part of the game, I have to hold the praise, BB is a fine game, I enjoyed my time with it, but I had to go watch a shit ton of lore videos just to understand what the fuck was happening.

If I have one complaint that would be it, but with that I retire now to watch my post get swarmed with pissed off fans

I've never read any Lovecraft, so I didn't get much out of Bloodborne's story, either. I prefer the lore of Demon's Souls and the Dark Souls games, feels more "grand," but I'm happy for those who found BB's to be interesting.

 

[RespectThySole]

Looks like you and I picked up a ps4 around same time, respect.

Current my getting my ass handed to me in ng+ tho. Holy shit.

Also, my biggest problem is I don't experiment enough. I have 40 hours into the game and have only stuck to hunters axe 9 onky

Have you played the DLC yet? And in regards to getting them to +10:

There's a blood rock

Spoiler

in Nightmare of Mensis, one in Fishing Hamlet(DLC) and you can buy one for 60 insight from the insight shop.

 

[Newtype-001]

It started as one of my favorite games but a few months after beating it I'm comfortable saying that I think it's the best game ever made.

I honestly wish Bloodborne was a human so I could engage in sexual intercourse with it.

Relatable

 

[RespectThySole]

Yikes. I'm a little frightened to look.

How do you check hours played on PS4?

 

[Necron]

Best Souls game and one of my favorites of all time.

The sotry/world-building is pretty much one of the best ever. Gothic horror + Cosmic horror? fucking incredible.

The DLC is also amazing....the research labs are side by side with Tower of Latria from DS as one of the most disturbing and creepy levels I've played. It's absolutely intense and you just want to get out of there asap!

I think this is videogames at it's finest. This is good story and world building. Most games try to imitate movies when it comes to telling a story, but Bloodborne ( and to a lesser extent the other Souls games) just does it much better, IMO.

When you start to slowly uncover the truth behind everything..just WOW. The moment you enter the cathedral and you see those alien-esque statues at the entrance and you realize there's much more to this than just your typical "werewolf-gothic-horror"....man what a fucking amazing moment.

I agree with everything here... one of the best games I've ever played.