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    Bloodborne

    Game » consists of 5 releases. Released Mar 24, 2015

    An action role playing game by FromSoftware, marking the studio's debut on the PlayStation 4. It shares creative roots, as well as gameplay elements, with the Souls series.

    I Have Some Criticisms For Bloodborne.

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    Yummylee

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    I'm sure I'm not alone in strangely finding it much easier to write up about things I dislike as oppose to those I like, and writing out acres and acres of criticism just makes for a much easier time and the words tend to flow a little more naturally. It's not that I'm an especially negative person or anything either, but I'd like to think it's part of sheer human nature that (most) people always tend to have more to say when it's something negative... Which is unfortunate, because I fakking love Bloodborne! Which differs from my two previous criticism blogs, one of which focussed on GTAV and the other Dragon Age: Inquisition. I just recently achieved the platinum across four different characters (with a fifth that I brought into this world only yesterday. She's called Mary and has my eyes), which counts for more than enough investment for me to properly consider my thoughts on the game. Which is that it's fantastic and is quite possibly my favourite of the souls/these types of games!

    However

    For all of my love for Bloodborne there are a number of problems both big and small that can be hard to ignore, some of which seem as if Miyazaki and his ego wanted to pretend that Dark Souls II and all of its many improvements for these games never even occurred. That obviously can't be proven to be the case, and given that Bloodborne is technically a separate franchise then perhaps it could be seen as From's ''A Team'' simply wanting to start over from the ground up and expand with the inevitable sequels, if not patches or DLC. Or both! Patches-focussed DLC sounds rather intriguing... Nonetheless, despite the many inevitable comparisons to be made to its forebearers, I feel that Bloodborne still has some notable flaws ingrained within its own frame separate to its spiritual predecessors.

    From the top we start at the very bottom: Chalice Dungeons

    Perhaps what was one of the most intriguing aspects regarding the game, and is also thusly the most disappointing. The Chalice Dungeons represented the idea of twisting the Souls/Souls-like formula into something even more related to action-RPGs by introducing all of these supposedly random elements. That, and a more accessible and longform venue for coop play! However that's not quite how they ended up. While you do eventually start acquiring ''Root'' Chalices that are supposed to implement randomisation, the actual 'random' rewards barely felt worth the effort. More often than not you would simply just keep acquiring materials to then start making more chalice dungeons, which at a certain point feels like it's defeating its own purpose... Acquiring more blasted tomb mould while I'm already exploring the lowest depth available frankly seems like a serious flaw in the dungeon's design. Opening one of 'dem gaudy looking coffins only to be rewarded with ritual blood to have the chance to eventually open up more coffins to possibly acquire more ritual blood is like some sort of surreal self-serving insanity. Sure, there are two outfits and a unique weapon to attain, but amongst the sheer number of dungeons it feels a little thin. And the ''uncanny/lost'' variants of weapons also aren't especially rewarding, for reasons I'll elaborate on below. I suppose the primary pull of the dungeons is the gems, as it seems that many of the game's very best reside in there.

    Still, chalice dungeons quickly start to feel awfully monotonous. The environments are all wholly similar from dungeon to dungeon; different chalices feature their own aesthetic, but they're all largely the same. Exploring chalice dungeons often just isn't very interesting or enticing, and every time there's a side-door before you head to the boss battle I audibly groan. I know I'd be better off in just skipping it but I do it anyway because what if. What if this time I'll actually find a blood chunk even though I've only managed to find one amongst the dozens of hours I've put into these things alone. I'm definitely one that likes to make sure I've fully scoured each area, though I'm less so motivated now that I'm more fully aware to the fact that there's not really that much of worth -- and what actually is worthwhile have their odds of showing up firmly stacked against you. But for the longest time I would suffer through exploring every damn corner of these things.

    I do at least appreciate that there are a number of exclusive boss fights cordoned to the chalice dungeons, though there's only so many before you start encountering repeats. Worst of all is the boss patterns never change; facing Beast-Possessed Soul only now it has like 10x the health and can kill you in 1-2 hits isn't any more interesting than it was the first 18 times I fought that fucker. Boss repeats from the main game feel a tad lazy at that, especially since they're again simply the same boss but with more health. And in the case of Amydala and Rom are now in a much more enclosed space; Amydala can thusly sometimes result in the camera being filled with nothing but its arms as you try to make out what is even happening, and Rom tends to lead to an entire layer of spiders that cover the whole area with barely any room to get by without one of 'em leaping into the air and rocketing down on you from outside your vision. That you'll also occasionally encounter common enemies like a Brainsucker as a 'boss' seems like they were running a little thin coming up with enough bosses to pepper throughout these things.

    The multiplayer-related side of the dungeons also comes across as something less than an afterthought. Multiplayer in general is a tad undercooked, but I'll save for that later. For starters, that you actually need to find a blasted item just to be able to join people in coop is insane to me; you can at least forever use your Beckoning Bell to bring them to you, but to actually act as the summonee requires its own item. And it's not like you'll stumble upon it within the first series of chalice dungeons; oh no, this thing will require far more damned layer cleansing than should be necessary. It's likely because of such obtuseness as to why both coop and pvp is so damned rare in the dungeons. Having to actually first 'open' your dungeon can't be helping things, especially since the dungeons will more than gladly let you ring that beckoning bell regardless while they snigger from around the corner as you wait an eternity for players that literally can't join you in the first place. Furthermore, coop still functions much like it does in the main game, so whence a boss is beaten they're sent home in a flurry of gestures. Given that the chalice dungeons are so damn monotonous, the idea that you could at least go through an entire dungeon coop would help alleviate some of my grumblings.

    Coop at least has some success rate going for it, but pvp is seemingly non-existent. I mean it technically exists, but I've certainly had no luck with it. I once literally spent about an hour with my character searching to invade somebody (to which finally resulted in a server error and me getting kicked to the title screen), and all of my time playing through the 'Sinister' dungeons--wherein a bell lady is spawned into the dungeon--resulted in a grand total of zero pvp'ing.

    Frankly I think what is the biggest offender of the whole shebang is how there's basically no end reward. There is sort of an end boss, and a pretty good one at that, being Yharnam, the Pthumerian Queen. She's quite a toughie (she got nuttin on Loran Darkbeast, though. Only boss I couldn't beast solo) and the fight itself is an engaging one. Given all of the time and turmoil it took to reach the bloody woman, however, then surely there must be something real swell awaiting for you once it's all over? Oh sure! Upon beating her you acquire the mysterious Yharnam Stone, which you can use to do ABSOLUTELY FUCK ALL. Yeah, seriously. It has no purpose. It's seemingly supposed to function as a badge of honour, but I'd say the actual PSN trophy you get for beating her would be good enough. People were scrounging for an age to find out what it does, but according to the official guide its purpose is merely to laugh in your face at all of your hard work. No weapon, no armour, not even a blasted gem! You get nothing, you lose, good day sir.

    Insight

    You can't see 'em, but my character also has a four-leave clover glued to each nipple and a horseshoe belly piercing.
    You can't see 'em, but my character also has a four-leave clover glued to each nipple and a horseshoe belly piercing.

    That people for the longest time were feveriously trying to figure out just what the fuck does this doaptly summarises what it is about these games that brings such fervor. Puzzling it together and figuring it all out is part of the fun, but another part is also actually reaping the rewards, of which Insight barely has any. Initially Insight was believed that it makes the game progressively harder, which it does... somewhat. The most notary alteration is that it steadily decreases your Beasthood and Frenzy resistances, which besides a few occasional situations (fuckin' brains and their stupid singing shit) doesn't really count for much. Beasthood I often tend to forget even exists at all frankly. Insight also gives certain enemies some new attacks, and by certain enemies I mean, like, one? Those church guardians with the lamp can now shoot some orbs and unleash a radial explosion, but by and large I think that may be it.

    So, what other benefits/detriments does Insight incur? Well, er... you'll occasionally hear a baby crying? Those creepy laser-face spiders will now become visible earlier in the game? Well ain't that just dandy. I preferred Insight when it seemingly accounted for everything and anything and was full of mystery. Did you know that if you have 56.45 Insight and beat Shao Khan without taking damage, stay idle on the title screen for 7 months, take the disc out during the the opening cutscene and put in your copy of The Order 1886 you forgot to send back, then Shen Long will burst out of your anus and grant you the power of Greyskull?

    Insight primarily seems to exist merely as another form of currency; currency that I often only ever really use to buy the occasional armour sets that become available. Otherwise I will often have far more Insight than I know what to do with as it slowly accumulates. Amidst my pvp'ing I eventually amassed 99 Insight and have played most of the game as such, only to unfortunately confirm that it doesn't really change a whole lot. Certainly not enough to matter anyway. Which is a shame because the idea that Insight did in fact make the game harder, ala World Tendency from Demon's Souls and Bonfire Ascetics from Dark Souls II mixed with the Humanity concept of Dark Souls, sounds like a fine interpretation of those concepts. Considering the game is constantly awarding you with it you'd think it would thusly serve more of a purpose. Insight, more like OutofSight yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. Perhaps there's still more to be discovered regarding what effects Insight has, but whatever it is I can already confirm that it's so menial as to barely even register.

    Multiplayer

    The online portion of the game in general is flawed in most regards, so I'd say it's best I go down each element one at a time:

    Coop

    Helping people is fun! And gratifying! And sometimes erotic depending on how you choose to help. However I won't lie in that at least part of the appeal of coop is also gettin' a little sumin sumin on your end. In previous games of this 'ilk', helping someone out netted you some souls, an item of some sort, and would even revive you. Bloodborne is... similar, in that it of course rewards you with Souls Blood Echoes, but that's largely the beginning and end of it. There's no penalty for dying anymore (beyond the fact that you don't regain the blood vials/quicksilver bullets you've used up), so there's no revival incentive or anything like that. You will acquire a single digit of Insight, but as mentioned above we all know how beneficial that is. Again, coop for the sake of coop is certainly a fun time, but I do really wish there was more incentive beyond the base level of Jolly Cooperation.

    Sometimes simply trying to find your coop partner is an adventure all on its own. Because you now matchmake by jinga-linga-linging your bell, you're not guaranteed to actually spawn where the person summoning you is located. Because as the summoner your beckoning bell is perpetually beckoning after a single ring, you're pretty much always searching for those special someones. But again, as they travel around and pick up a hot bit of summoned assistance, chances are by the time you've arrived they're already on the other side of the location. It admittedly almost feels like detective work to try and find your summoner, following the corpses and bloodstains they've left like a more morbid interpretation of the breadcrumb method. But it can still prove to be a nuisance all the while. This is doubly so for the chalice dungeons when it actually manages to work, as at times it feels as if they're dropping you in the place at random like they were throwing darts at a dartboard while blindfolded.

    PvP

    You deserve your revenge, and I deserve to die.
    You deserve your revenge, and I deserve to die.

    Now, PvP... PvP is all kinds of fucked. Especially for me, because for the first time I actually genuinely quite enjoy it! I've certainly dallied in the past, mostly with Dark Souls II, however the crazy unbalance and latency issues constantly left me in a grump after so long. Bloodborne however excels primarily because of its vastly superior gameplay. The combat is so taut and fast-paced that fighting your fellow Hunter really makes for a lot of fun. The lack of customisation also funnily enough benefits the pvp for the sake of how balance is much more streamlined and so you're not going to wind up going against a magic user that can backstab you in the face with a sword made out of a kamehameha before you've even been invaded.

    However, despite this without a doubt being pvp at its most accessible, it can often feel like From really wanted to stick it to those filthy invaders. For starters, much like in coop, your health is cut down by like a third. Which, OK, sure. You're the invader, the enemies won't attack you, and you can heal, so it's fair game to give your health bar a slap on the wrist all the while. The tough sell for the pvp is regarding the bell ladies. See, you can only invade someone wherein a bell lady resides and is swinging that curvy pile of rust. The bell ladies only actually exist by default in, I think, three locations? That leaves an awful lot of areas bell lady-less. Yet you'll find that you can still invade areas you know are ordinarily lacking the distinct clanging of a lady's bell. And that's because when someone summons a friend in, they tend to let in one of those bell ladies and it just gets everywhere and all over the carpet and ugh. As such, more often than not when you're invading someone you'll be faced with two to three opposing players. You only need to kill the host to win, and the host's coop buddies have the same health nerf as you do. But still, fighting against three players at once is real nasty business - seemingly impossible in fact.

    Now, this acts as both a pro and a con. The con is that, well, you're very much outnumbered. The pro is that it thusly forces you to instead use guerilla tactics. You have to try and stay hidden, waiting for the right moment, and ideally butting in when they're scuffling against the enemy monsters and such. Using the enemy inhabitants to your advantage has always been there, but now it actually feels a little more even scaled to counteract what on the surface clearly leaves you with the overall advantage. The Unseen Village and its penchant for respawning enemies certainly makes for some rather entertaining back and forths. Almost sorta feels like a one-sided moba in some respects, only with the sound of angry people being exchanged for suffering through ''this town's finished...'' every five seconds.

    That isn't always the case, however. Three players all working together will usually be able to best most enemy encounters, and it's awfully demoralising to invade a world that's already been picked clean of potential frenemies to rely upon for help. Sometimes it'll simply involve all players just staring at each other from a distance, gesturing to and fro as neither one dares to budge. Everybody can heal as well, so if you're thusly cornered against three players on your lonesome, with less health than at least one of 'em, and if they're al more than willing to partake in a little blood from the vial, your chances of success are pretty slim.

    I can sort of understand why they went this route, at least partially. Because the Soul Memory thing didn't carry over from Dark Souls II, you could potentially run into the classic scenario of a Grade A Masterclass Bastard keeping their level real low and powering through to upgrade their weapon and, in this case, acquiring the sweetest of gems and runes. All for the aim to then invade some poor schmuck who's only just getting his/her feet damp in bloodstains. So, they make pvp real restrictive and for most barely even a thing that happens lalala happy happy happy.

    Then why the Hell isn't there at least some kind of pvp arena? I cherish the chance that I actually encounter someone on their own (which is only if they too are trying to invade someone, as all the while they get their own personal bell lady to throw the invasion back in their face. And carry your bags) that also abides by the golden rule of ''keep your fuckin' mitts off your blood vials!''. But I cherish those encounters specifically because of how rare they are.

    Also, latency is still a problem I run into. It's not quite backstab in the back even though from my perspective you're still like a mile in front of me, but that's only because you can't backstab in this game. Seriously, I've been killed from attacks that clearly didn't connect, and there has been many a time where you can very clearly see my attacks hitting them only to see their health bar poker face you in return and blow cigar smoke in your eyes. Sometimes if I have a fire weapon or what have you you can literally watch the flames engulf my opponent from an attack, only for no damage to occur. Hell, sometimes I'll even be able to get my health back from an attack while still not doing any damage!

    Covenants, if that's what you'd even call them

    I think the most disappointing aspect of the online overall are the covenants, or lack thereof. I mean what we have are barely worthy to be used in the same sentence. They seem to exist more so as an additional rune slot than as a way to incentivise and encourage online play in all its forms. So, as far as I know, we have:

    Hunter of Hunters

    The rune slightly hastens the speed by which you regain stamina, which is nice. Otherwise I have not a single clue what this one involves or does. The crowfeather armour set is pretty bitchin' at least.

    Vilebloods

    This one's rune makes it so you'll regenerate some health when you're nearing close to death. Hey, great! Oh, wait, it's a single damned digit of health and it's like per 10 seconds or something and only seems to last until your health is like a 1/16th regenerated? This rune fucking sucks. I had figured that it would at least serve to help stabilise the health drain that the Chikage places upon you when you've buffed it up with your own AB Negative, but no, it doesn't come close to stopping the tide. I guess you could try and stack it up with certain gems that provide their degree of regeneration, but still in relation to the other two runes I don't see why you'd have it equipped.

    Well, for the sake of the Vilebloods I guess, which is the one that actually somewhat resembles how the covenants originally operated. See, with the Vileblood rune equipped every enemy Hunter you kill--NPCs and players alike--you'll earn a blood dreg. These can then be handed to the Vileblood Queen, who in return allows you to play charades as you mime yourself feasting upon the sweet, sweet air. The dialogue she responds with, and that you of course are to hand these things in, implies there's different levels to it, but as far as I'm aware there's only basically two. First Level: hand in a single blood dreg to earn the Deep Respect gesture. Second Level: Hand in blood dregs for eternity for the sake of a fucking leaderboard with no other rewards.

    I've handed in about 115 overall with my pvp-centred character only to have no further rewards beyond that bloody (lul) gesture. It's a pretty sweet gesture, but I had hoped there would have been more down the line. Maybe another level to this Respect train that has me bow while also lying on my back. Or maybe a bow that shoots a giant blood geyser as I kneel, or a bow that has me bow with so much goddamn respect all the enemies and NPCs can do in response is salute with a single, shedding tear.

    As far as I can tell beyond the first gesture unlock there really is no more to it than merely climbing the leaderboard ladder. Which I suppose is fine for some, but I had hoped for something a little more tangible. Considering you can gain dregs from NPCs you could then potentially just keep farming them by helping people in the Unseen Village against those three chuckleheads in the chapel. So it's not like your position may entirely be founded by your skills in pure mano e mano combat anyway!

    Executioners

    The rune makes it so you gain a higher percentage of health per blood vial, which is real fuckin' mint boiiii. My favourite rune of the lot, and would potentially be my favourite 'covenant' if it actually worked. So, from what I'm to understand Executioners exist to hunt Vilebloods, so if a Vileblood summons you for assistance, you are then tasked with bleeding their ass dry. The idea of being summoned under the guise of a friend w/ kirkhammer only to then use the hammer to pummel them while they question their mistakes and sink into a deep depression from this betrayal is fantastic. It brings to mind the Undercover Cop mode from Kane & Lynch 2 in fact. However for myself at least this has never gone as planned. I've certainly tried enough times, but really because the Vileblood rune is without a doubt the worst of the three, why would anyone actually have it equipped anyway whilst they're about to engage in coop?

    And this other stuff

    That Hunter outfit is so last season

    You forced me into this, Bloodborne. I've been left with no other options!
    You forced me into this, Bloodborne. I've been left with no other options!

    I'm a vain fucker. I always enjoy customising my characters to make them look how I want 'em, to roleplay and spend decades tinkering in character creators to prepare for the future when we can customise our own human-emulated dolls and oh I'm so lonely. The Souls game were no exception, and there's a reason why Dark Souls II in particular had a whole subset of a community dubbed ''Fashion Souls''. The variety of outfits allowed me free reign to customise and style my characters. Creating new characters often had me excited about what I was going to wear as much as how I was going to play. Cosmetics often always came before practicality, and if anyone were to watch any of the videos/screenshots I've uploaded would notice my characters are nearly always decked out in something different.

    However Bloodborne's clothing options are a little on the slim side. There's certainly variety, but not enough to satiate my Fashion Souls lust that has grown ever more when every new 'one of these games' comes around. The Dark Souls games in particular were really good about how virtually every bit of clothing you see someone wearing, chances were you too could get it yourself. One size fits all as well conveniently enough! That's most definitely not the case in Bloodborne. There's many a set of armour and crumpled top hat that is unattainable. Hell, they don't even give you Gehrman's badass Evil Magician outfit from his boss fight. Instead you're stuck with his old man attire that he's wearing when he's not trying to decapitate, bifurcate and generally eviscerate you. From what I can tell he's only wearing a slightly different version of the top hat and charred hunter's cape (a fine combination that is sure to turn heads if I do say so myself), so I don't see why they had to be so stingy about it. Although if they were willing to add the ''Old Dragonslayer'' armour set into Bloodborne after years of waiting for it to be attainable in Dark Souls II I think that'd be both grand and ridiculous enough that all would be forgiven and then some.

    You're a Wizard, Yummy. lol j/k get back in the cupboard

    I'm not usually one who gravitates towards magic in these games. I enjoy the melee combat, so I generally prefer to stick to being a boring ole sword-swinger. I've certainly 'experimented' and gone through a college faze as they say, but I always tend to go back to what I know. However after how crazily out of whack the magic was in Dark Souls II, I figured I'd pave my way to the wonderful world of shooting rainbow swords out of my ass dealing 99999 damage. Only what seems to pass for 'magic' in Bloodborne is more akin to cheap parlor tricks.

    It seems with every new Souls-esque game revision the way magic is handled is different each time. Demon's Souls had the OG tried & true mana bar, Dark Souls fucked that off in favour of limited spell uses per each spell, and now Bloodborne has everything governed by Quicksilver bullets. Less so Magneto offspring and more anti-werewolf fuel, Quicksilver bullets not only serve as by which you shoot at the things but also how you enact an all manner of malarkey. I don't see how bullets are related to shooting out Lovecraftian fanfiction out of your arm, but no matter. While all of the 'spells' look flashy and rather intimidating at first glance, most quite frankly haven't proven much use during my time. There's only a very small selection available overall at that - enough so I can list 'em one by one with my thoughts neatly tucked under each!

    Auger of Ebrietas

    Sort of like the 'training wheels' to officially becoming a bible-bashing nutjob of the Bloodborne world. It only uses one bullet, but the actual damage is negligible and you're just asking to get a Holy Blade up the rectum if you're using it in pvp. It has a 100% chance to knock an enemy over at least, although they're also invincible whilst they clamber back onto their feet/claws/amorphous slime body. As such, and what'll be a recurring theme for these things, dem bullets are best spent elsewhere. Like, in your gun.

    Old Hunter Bone

    What sounds like a punchline from a Judd Apatow movie is ''the art of quickening'', which temporarily turns your dashes into what looks like you're actually teleporting with the power of sand or something. The visual of it all is again engaging to look at, but the actual practicality of it doesn't ring as true. For starters it requires 5 bullets, which could potentially be a whole quarter right there, and the effect of the spell doesn't long especially long. It seems like something that is meant for pvp purposes really, and from my experience pvp bouts tend to last quite the semester. That, and again those bullets are far more valuable as a means to parry dem son'bitches while they healing.

    Empty Phantasm Shell

    An arcane enchantment, one that I haven't made much use of across my characters because it seems like nearly half of the weapons aren't even bloody applicable! If a weapon already comes with an enchantment packed in, such as the Chikage, Blades of Mercy, Wheel of Logarius ect., then no such additional enchantments can be administered. I don't even rightly know what arcane is good for anyway. Fire is good for burning all of that wavy beast hair, bolt seems efficient against extra-terrestials and general tentacle folk, so arcane is perhaps best against humanoid enemies? I dunno, never felt like I needed to make use of it in my time.

    Beast Roar

    One such spell that can actually prove to be useful at times. It doesn't do any damage by itself, but the knockback is good for disarming a horde, if not using it to knock a hapless player off the edge to their doomdom.

    Tiny Tonitrus

    And now we're right back to ''barely even worth acknowledging''. This greedy shit requires 6 bullets, and the damage never seems to make up for it. That's if it even hits as it only travels in a singular line, again making it nothing short of a deathwish in pvp.

    Executioner's Gloves

    Another waste of space, this will summon a trio of slowly hovering menstruation ghoulies that'll travel like 5 feet before calling it a day and sapping 3 bullets out of your pocket. Damage isn't especially impressive and again they barely even go anywhere before dissipating into a waste of air.

    Messenger's Gift

    This one's alright. Lets you live out your wildest fantasy of existing as a tiny grouping of ghostly burn victims to fool any would be attackers. Easy enough to distinguish should you pay enough attention, due to how they show up as messengers displaying a message even without you being in the vicinity, but at a glance they can prove efficient in fooling people. Plus only a single bullet! Just like the lovable little goblins to be so easy on the cost.

    Choir Bell

    As someone that enjoys playing the support role in multiplayer environments this certainly strikes as something worth my attention. However as you're to likely be playing with randoms, who are highly likely to down their blood vials almost instinctively whenever necessary, it'll often seem like a waste of 8 perfectly healthy blood bullets.

    Death By a Thousand Cuts

    I don't know how I did this, but that right there is the sort of power that demands to be harnessed.

    A Call Beyond

    What is supposed to function as the granddaddy wizard-meister spell that basically flattens all of existence, A Call Beyond is wholly disappointing. As with other spells there's a lot of sparkly shit going on to try and make you forget how useless it is. The damage it does is dependant on how many of the magic sperm hit their target, only they're just as bad at navigating as actual sperm as it turns out. Most often won't usually hit anything besides the floor and the damage dealt is typically a complete waste. I could shoot those 8 bullets into nothing and I would still feel that I got a better use out of 'em.

    So, yeah, most of the magic stuffs I find is kinda rubbish. Because of how damned Godlike the parry-with-bullets system is, your bullets are always infinitely more useful in saving for the guns they were meant to be loaded in.

    New Game Minus

    One of the greatest innovations Dark Souls II brought about the way it handled its New Game+ offerings. Most games, including the previous two Souls games, often have NG+ function as the same game only enemies hit harder. Rejigger with the damage and health modifiers and boom, you got yourself a NG+ mode. That's why I really appreciated DSII and how it would actually introduce whole new ways for you to die. Completely new enemies would be introduced, more black phantoms would arrive to ruin your day, boss designs would change, as would many also now have new drops such as rings and even additional boss souls.That part where The Duke's Dear Freja molested my mental health by clambering up the cliffside before I was even nearing her domain is one of the most effective jump leap scares in recent memory. Now technically speaking you could have already seen all what's new by using bonfire ascetics before you were to officially start a NG+ playthrough, but regardless it's a sight better than what Bloodborne decided to answer with.

    *guitar noises*
    *guitar noises*

    Unfortunately Bloodborne reverted back to the ways of ''MULTIPLY ALL ENEMY HEALTH BY A HUNDRED''. The only difference from one playthrough into the next is how much damage you and the enemies can withstand. There's quite literally nothing else to set them apart. No new drops, no additional secrets, nothing. That you'll still be picking up damned blood shards and having enemies drop level 1 gems despite also doing about the same damage as an attack from a first playthrough Gehrman seems somewhat misaligned. What's especially humorous, and by humorous i mean annoying, is how you'll even potentially unlock a new weapon! Only you more than likely won't be able to upgrade beyond level 6 for the longest time because of how weirdly stingy the game is with their blood chunks. That's also what makes acquiring all of those ''lost/uncanny'' weapon variants such a dry fart of a reward because of how you won't be able to upgrade them especially high anyway, lest you plan before hand.

    Medium Travel

    Why can't I fast travel to different areas via the lamp rather than having to keep heading back to the Hunter's Dream? Like, comon now.

    Micolash

    Just...

    A lack of mystery

    I'd say a lot of what I've written can ultimately be amounted to how the game comes across as surprisingly small scale in relation to its forebearers. That I was able attain all the weapons, spells, and armour pieces amidst a single playthrough makes me feel all weird inside. All of the speculation surrounding certain mechanics kinda erupted into a puff of smoke, and in a weird way to put it Bloodborne is most certainly a much easier game to understand than any games of this type have come before it.

    This blog's finished...

    It goes both ways, though. Bloodborne's overall accessibility acts as a boon to many certain elements such as weapon customisation. Allowing you the freedom to easily switch a variety of gems in and out as you please makes it so it's less punishing for experimentation and lets you try things at your own pace. Though it's just a bloody shame the actual weapon upgrades system wasn't as lenient.

    In any case with this being a criticism blog obviously it's all death, pain and miseries, but I see it merely as the toughest of love. And believe me, I love this game. As mentioned earlier I've platinumed this sucker, yet I'm still playing. I've completed it on NG+, and yet that isn't enough to stop me. Even those wretched chalice dungeons aren't enough to hold me back as I moan my way through layer after layer in the hopes of getting me some motherfuckin bling. The gameplay is such an incredible leap from the games past that it's suddenly made the Demon's and Dark before it feel weirdly slow and sluggish in relation. Don't get me wrong, though, I can and have been enjoying my time with Dark Souls II: Scholar of The First Sin all the while. They're different sorts of games basically. Bloodborne is much more action-y and a bit more reliant on reflexes than it is as much as methodically differing between offense & defence. Stamina management isn't as much of a concern as you can practically cartwheel across all of Yharnam without breaking a sweat.

    ...don't ask.
    ...don't ask.

    I'm not usually one that tends to get drawn into the lore of theses games, but Bloodborne has even managed to seduce me in that regard as well. I'm not about to write up my own synopsis of what the fuck I think is going on, but I'm intrigued enough that I'm always paying attention per playthrough so as to make sure I catch any little deets I may have missed in a previous one. Bloodborne is one of those games that I feel impassioned by, that I frankly want any reason whatsoever to keep playing; whatever you're selling, Bloodborne, I'll be buying! And it's what has made me such a tough critic, because I want to see it to improve. I don't want this blog to be viewed as me whining about everybody's favourite werewolf x tentacle fanfic, but as a fan that only wants to see this series improve in certain areas that I feel could do with a little.

    Still love you, BB! xoxo

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    Steadying

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    I have a lot of the same criticisms you have. I thought the game had a terrific story and world, but the game it surrounded was kinda....meh. Not terrible, but I personally find it worse than Dark Souls II in pretty much every way.

    Also, aside from Gehrman A.K.A. Big Boss VS The Boss 2.0 I thought most of the bosses were boring and samey.

    And I'm really bothered that I used my starter weapon throughout the whole game and didn't find anything better. Then again I kinda did the same with DS II.

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    MooseyMcMan

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    The game definitely has its flaws, as you laid out, but I'm glad you still liked it a lot! As did I, of course.

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    HellBrendy

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    I get the feeling From Software games can't be complained about. I've tried to voice some criticism around the web, but all I get back is "it's supposed to be that way", "it's a part of the mystery", "you just suck" and "well, this isn't a normal game!"

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    Sarumarine

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    #4  Edited By Sarumarine

    That's a pretty good Bloodborne write up right there, yes sir. I especially agree with magic/arcane moves which feels like the most useless system in the game. What are those for? Why do they exist? Beast Roar can stay, I guess. But those others make no sense when you can just shoot a guy for a parry.

    It's a fun game (well, as fun as these games can be) but there's still so much weird design choices that's becoming less and less endearing as they make more of them. As a minor practical menu item, I was super disappointed (but not terribly surprised) that they removed the counter that told you how many souls you needed to level up like in Dark Souls 2 when you're looking at your stats. I know they included it with the Doll... but you still have to talk to her. And mash through all that repetitive dialogue just to check it. Dark Souls wins as far as convenience features. At least I didn't have to talk to the bonfire when I wanted to get something done stat wise. That part always kills me, even when Maiden in Black was a thing.

    And Micolash... is just... I just don't know, man. After Rom the Vacuous Spider the boss pacing just takes a nosedive. Outside two fantastic fights with the Wet Nurse and Gehrman everyone else is bizarrely dumb. Even the true final boss is just an exercise in how fast you can figure out its gimmick. I've yet to see a final boss in these types of games that are anywhere as hard as two or more assholes teaming up on you. Maybe that's my personal pitfall with the Souls/Borne series. All I'm saying is that the Capra Demon could take the Moon Presence any day of the week. No contest.

    But yeah, despite it's flaws and everything, I'm still playing it and messing around with the trick weapons. It still has its moments. The Bagmen and Lecture Hall come to mind. And I'm glad it exists, but there's always room for improvement.

    The lack of a proper fisticuffs weapons is kind of a shame. Punching everything to death in Dark Souls II was a blast. I suppose the Stake Driver sorta of fills that slot. I have to say probably the most fun I had with Bloodborne was killing Vicar Amelia with that weapon. Those primed charge attacks are so satisfying. Put some fire on that and you have yourself a party. A very short range party, but a party none the less.

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    militantfreudian

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    So when I first opened your thread, it seemed like a pretty lengthy write-up, but before I knew it, I was reading your final thoughts on the game. Obviously, what I'm trying to say is that I really enjoyed it.

    Anyway, I basically agree with most of the the points you raise, except for the one regarding Insight... I guess. I mean, I do wish it did more, but the fact that it changed quite a few different things in rather interesting ways was enough for me to distinguish it from Humanity. Also, the fact that it was more closely tied to the lore made it more interesting, in my opinion.

    I found Empty Phantasm Shell to be a decent weapon buff. I think there are enough enemies weak against ARC in both the main game and the Chalice Dungeons to make it worthwhile. However, the two offensive Hunter Tools I used so far have been extremely underwhelming, so it's good to know that I shouldn't invest more points into ARC to get A Call Beyond (although now I wish there was a way to respec).

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    GunstarRed

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    #6  Edited By GunstarRed

    I dunno about you, but I keep all of my ritual blood and tomb mould in large, intricately crafted chests.

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    GERALTITUDE

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    Great blog yummy! This was a really good read.

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    Jaktajj

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    Great write up, dude. Bloodborne could easily be up there with my favorite games evah but I think it's safe to say most people understand criticisms thrown it's way. It just makes me wonder what they'll do with the DLC plans.

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    golguin

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    I'm curious to know if you did PVP in HIZZNGR3. For those that don't know that is the glyph name for the Chalice Dungeon that provides the unofficial PVP arena for the game, but you're in the know right?

    People make pretty good use of the spells in HIZZNGR3 (Executioner's Gloves and the Old Hunter Bone are seen quite a bit) and they were definitely made for PVP.

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    Fredchuckdave

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    #10  Edited By Fredchuckdave

    Ritual Blood and Tomb Mold are worth a shitload of souls.

    I'm not entirely sure how good the Witcher 3 has to be to be better than Bloodborne, but it'll have to be pretty damn good.

    @sarumarine: Moon Presence is a very good/challenging fight it just doesn't have high enough stats on NG so most people won't realize it; fight it on the higher NG+s or while naked and report back.

    Since you complained about Loran Darkbeast I'm obligated to post this again (Bloodletting is harder at least when cursed, though that's mostly due to weird hitboxes and such):

    Loading Video...

    Edit: 7000th post apparently.

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    Karkarov

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    I get the feeling From Software games can't be complained about. I've tried to voice some criticism around the web, but all I get back is "it's supposed to be that way", "it's a part of the mystery", "you just suck" and "well, this isn't a normal game!"

    Hahahaha why am I not surprised. I love from soft RPG's but these souls newbies who never knew From existed before Dark Souls will defend even the most obvious flaw to death.

    Nice write up Yummy. I agree with all your points except that I think this game is far weaker than basically any of the other three. Bloodborne starts really hard for some reason then turns into easy mode except for the occasional cheap death to brain raper stun spam or getting hosed by bad camera fighting three werewolves or something. I don't know what my final death count was but I do know it was easily lower than any of the other games on my first playthrough by a long shot.

    Also Hunter of Hunter rune in Coop makes it so you randomly are the enemy of the person who summons you. So they summon you to help them but the game decides NOPE he is one them crazy hunters you gots to kill em. Also Corruption rune is the same, it makes you enemy of any Executioner who summons you. Also yes, the "covenants" of this game are a giant joke.

    @fredchuckdave Sorry Fred but the odds of Witcher 3 not being a better game are just about non existent. Bloodborne is good, don't get me wrong, but it's still a major disappointment and should have been considerably better. This is coming from a guy who only needs to grind a little more chalice hell to get the platinum and has beaten it on two different characters.

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    emfromthesea

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    #12  Edited By emfromthesea

    Bloodborne is most likely cemented as my favourite game of the year, but I do agree with a lot of your points, Yummy. Especially the NG+ criticism. I loved the way Dark Souls 2 changed in NG+, both in a gameplay and lore perspective. It meant that I would spend the first playthrough building a character, to then test them out in NG+. To have that element gone in Bloodborne was rather disappointing.

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    Fredchuckdave

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    #13  Edited By Fredchuckdave

    Wait if Dark Souls 2 was the worst game ever made but yet added new NG+ mechanics and Dark (or Demon's) Souls is the best game ever made but didn't have them, doesn't that mean those NG+ mechanics are terrible? /dumblogic I'm sure @sterling will appreciate.

    Note this isn't necessarily directed at the people in this thread but it's a very common Bloodborne criticism that was never present for Demon's Souls or Dark Souls despite the supposedly negative perception of Dark Souls II.

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    Sarumarine

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    @fredchuckdave: Sure NG+ is harder and I'll take your word for it, but Yummylee already put it pretty well why I find New Game Plus unappealing in these games. Simply adjusting some damage and defense sliders isn't interesting to me. Making it so you have to hit bosses a hundred more times when they only have to hit you twice doesn't make it any more entertaining or compelling.

    I'm way more into the Ninja Gaiden Black and Bayonetta school of thought where they remix enemy placements so you have to deal with different scenarios or fight harder enemies earlier. That feels way fresher than making it so the Cleric Beast can Goomba stomp you in one hit or the Moon Presence finally deals threatening damage. Dark Souls II was the only game that got close to something like that.

    I'm not saying people looking for more unforgiving fights in New Game Plus is wrong. If you want it to be harder sure, but I'd rather just start a new game and play with different stats or weapons.

    Also why would I fight any boss naked in this game? Fashionborne all day every day! Haha.

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    Fredchuckdave

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    @sarumarine: Just wait for Bloodborne: Scholar of the First Blood

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    golguin

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    Ritual Blood and Tomb Mold are worth a shitload of souls.

    I'm not entirely sure how good the Witcher 3 has to be to be better than Bloodborne, but it'll have to be pretty damn good.

    @sarumarine: Moon Presence is a very good/challenging fight it just doesn't have high enough stats on NG so most people won't realize it; fight it on the higher NG+s or while naked and report back.

    Since you complained about Loran Darkbeast I'm obligated to post this again (Bloodletting is harder at least when cursed, though that's mostly due to weird hitboxes and such):

    Loading Video...

    Edit: 7000th post apparently.

    I haven't fought Moon Presence yet (saving it for the Platinum pop), but it's a bit sad to know that they didn't beef it up so that people can experience the fight as it should be. I guess I should take off my gems and runes before I fight it then if it's as weak as you are making it sound.

    I recently killed Pthumerian Descendant at depth 5 and had no idea it was such a joke the first time you encounter it in the starting Chalice Dungeon. I record everything so I saw that I killed him with 2 visceral attacks and never got to see his duel wielding 2nd phase. The depth 5 version put me through the ringer for about an hour because I NEVER had to think twice about his mixups with the 3-5 hit combo. The fact that I can't stagger him with my transformed Chikage is something that I had to adapt to during the fight. I never even figured out how to reliably dodge the double boomerang attack.

    I truly believe that your stats have to be appropriately set for any given boss fight to have a fun experience. If you never have to fear a certain move or combo because the damage you'll take means nothing then the fight will mean nothing.

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    Yummylee

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    @steadying said:

    I have a lot of the same criticisms you have. I thought the game had a terrific story and world, but the game it surrounded was kinda....meh. Not terrible, but I personally find it worse than Dark Souls II in pretty much every way.

    Also, aside from Gehrman A.K.A. Big Boss VS The Boss 2.0 I thought most of the bosses were boring and samey.

    And I'm really bothered that I used my starter weapon throughout the whole game and didn't find anything better. Then again I kinda did the same with DS II.

    Hmm, I of course think Bloodborne certainly trips up in spots, but damn it all if I also don't think is has the best combat 'these sorts of games' have seen! As I mentioned in the blog I've also been playing DS2: SoTFS and the combat just isn't as engaging nor do I feel it controls as well, even if it does have a lot more on offer in terms of playstyles. Bloodborne's combat is so tight and fluid that it borders on rivaling character-action games even.

    The weapon thing is weird, though. I like how each weapon now basically represents its own type, instead of having a number of swords, axes, halberds ect. that, while each will have something the other doesn't, are all extremely similar. Though what this also means in Bloodborne's case is that you could very easily stick with one of the three starting weapons and you're golden. That they give you the Hunting Axe, one of the most effective and not to mention versatile weapons in the game, right at the get go is kinda crazy! Still, that's what's made playing through again so enticing, for me to then try out different weapons. The Burial Blade is also the reason why I bothered to give the game a NG+ run at that, because Holy balls is that weapon just the greatest thing.

    The game definitely has its flaws, as you laid out, but I'm glad you still liked it a lot! As did I, of course.

    A lot of people did I'm sure :P Though throughout my time playing BB I intentionally kept myself in the dark and didn't engage in much conversation or read what people were saying to help make my playthrough feel purer, if ya get what I mean.

    I get the feeling From Software games can't be complained about. I've tried to voice some criticism around the web, but all I get back is "it's supposed to be that way", "it's a part of the mystery", "you just suck" and "well, this isn't a normal game!"

    While this was definitely the case for Dark Souls, which is likely still viewed as some sort of video game messiah, Dark Souls II from what I saw was actually pretty divisive. People loved it within the first week or so but there was a major backlash that followed shortly thereafter. I've always liked DSII personally and think that it does a good handful of things better than its predecessors.

    And Micolash... is just... I just don't know, man. After Rom the Vacuous Spider the boss pacing just takes a nosedive. Outside two fantastic fights with the Wet Nurse and Gehrman everyone else is bizarrely dumb. Even the true final boss is just an exercise in how fast you can figure out its gimmick. I've yet to see a final boss in these types of games that are anywhere as hard as two or more assholes teaming up on you. Maybe that's my personal pitfall with the Souls/Borne series. All I'm saying is that the Capra Demon could take the Moon Presence any day of the week. No contest.

    The lack of a proper fisticuffs weapons is kind of a shame. Punching everything to death in Dark Souls II was a blast. I suppose the Stake Driver sorta of fills that slot. I have to say probably the most fun I had with Bloodborne was killing Vicar Amelia with that weapon. Those primed charge attacks are so satisfying. Put some fire on that and you have yourself a party. A very short range party, but a party none the less.

    I guess Micholash is supposed to function as a lore boss...? Sorta like King Allant in Demon's Souls maybe. The fight itself isn't really the point of it and you're supposed to focus on the batshit that's coming out of his mouth. Though it would be nice if he didn't keep repeating it all every 5 seconds. Kos, or some say Kosm -- WILL YOU SHUT UP I'M TRYING TO PICK UP THIS ITEM GEEZ.

    My very first encounter with the Capra Demon boss was a cakewalk, but that's because I had accidentally skipped it so by the time I found him he went down like a rock :P That boss is pretty bullshit, though, as is any boss when its challenge is derived from crowding you in a small environment with multiple enemies. Facing Rom in the Chalice Dungeons was no fun, though I personally didn't have too much trouble with the regular Rom fight. Gehrman is pretty fantastic, as is Father Gascoigne! I really enjoy the Shadows of Yharnam fight as well, especially in coop. I've always preferred fighting the more humanoid bosses as opposed to towering behemoths in these games, especially since they can sometimes completely anal fuck the camera. I do hope that for the inevitable DLC they'll include another Hunter Boss character. Would love to face against Ludwig somehow.

    And it never occurred to me that there isn't a proper fist weapon, or something that'll help buff up your karate chops so they don't do like 2 damage. I guess the Beast Claws are the closest you have. Still haven't messed around with those yet, though I'm planning to with my fifth character that I created to specialise with the Stake Driver. That thing's pretty awesome, and that charge attack is just swell. Real ''fuck you'' sorta punch to it as you send 'em toppling across the floor. Could make for a funny way to spring a trap on an unsuspecting player, though nailing the timing would undoubtedly be super difficult. Its one downside is how it's practically impossible to hit those worms with it because of its small reach... Brings back memories to the Souls games and how damned finicky it could be in actually trying to get a hit on the crystal lizards. Really glad they made their BB equivalent so much less of a headache.

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    Humanity

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    @sarumarine: Just wait for Bloodborne: Scholar of the First Blood

    Also if you're a normal person and just level up as you play then NG+ really isn't different at all than the base game. You start out with weapons and health that are x10 stronger than a new game - and all the enemies have x10 more health and hit for x10 more (roughly speaking of course). So basically you're just raising everything by a factor of 10 - the bars are longer, the numbers are bigger, but it's the exact same thing.

    If you underlevel yourself then I dunno, no point in playing NG+ at all. I mean if you're already placing arbitrary restrictions on your playstyle then just stop ever using heals and use your fists only. I guarantee the game will be much harder.

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    Yummylee

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    So when I first opened your thread, it seemed like a pretty lengthy write-up, but before I knew it, I was reading your final thoughts on the game. Obviously, what I'm trying to say is that I really enjoyed it.

    Anyway, I basically agree with most of the the points you raise, except for the one regarding Insight... I guess. I mean, I do wish it did more, but the fact that it changed quite a few different things in rather interesting ways was enough for me to distinguish it from Humanity. Also, the fact that it was more closely tied to the lore made it more interesting, in my opinion.

    I found Empty Phantasm Shell to be a decent weapon buff. I think there are enough enemies weak against ARC in both the main game and the Chalice Dungeons to make it worthwhile. However, the two offensive Hunter Tools I used so far have been extremely underwhelming, so it's good to know that I shouldn't invest more points into ARC to get A Call Beyond (although now I wish there was a way to respec).

    Hey, thanks. That genuinely means a lot. Certainly took me long enough to write this all up!

    I'll take your Empty Phantasm Shell recommendation into consideration! For as much I dislike them, with every new character I still end up going through at least some of the Chalice Dungeons... Damned gems, I just can't resist. I want to make the numbers go as high as possible!

    As for Insight, I like some of the stuff it can do to the world in theory, there just wasn't enough of it nor was it drastic enough. Insight sounds like the perfect method to tuck away so many crazy secrets, like altering the appearance of certain enemies/environments maybe or revealing additional treasure chests. Instead the most notable difference it brings about is the Amydala things will be revealed earlier than usual, which is kinda meh. I mean it's always there, that Insight counter is always prominently displayed below your echoes, so you'd think its effects would be a little more substantial.

    I dunno about you, but I keep all of my ritual blood and tomb mould in large, intricately crafted chests.

    I do like how in certain dungeons the coffin is surrounded by all kinds of jewelry and artifacts and shit, and it's a bunch of mould that's been stored inside the coffin that looks like it was made to house the corpse of Riff Raff or something.

    Great blog yummy! This was a really good read.

    Thanks!

    @el_tajij said:

    Great write up, dude. Bloodborne could easily be up there with my favorite games evah but I think it's safe to say most people understand criticisms thrown it's way. It just makes me wonder what they'll do with the DLC plans.

    Cheers! And despite this blog Bloodborne is certainly my favourite game of the generation thus far, though not like it's had much in the way of any particularly strong competition :P Don't take that to mean that I haven't been enjoying any games of the past couple of years, but none have left me quite as transfixed as Bloodborne has. As for DLC I'm hoping they'll give it the expansion treatment much like Dark Souls II got with those three DLC add ons. Though whatever it is I'm sure to buy it! Even if they were to nickel & dime weapons and outfits I'd probably be willing >_>

    @golguin said:

    I'm curious to know if you did PVP in HIZZNGR3. For those that don't know that is the glyph name for the Chalice Dungeon that provides the unofficial PVP arena for the game, but you're in the know right?

    People make pretty good use of the spells in HIZZNGR3 (Executioner's Gloves and the Old Hunter Bone are seen quite a bit) and they were definitely made for PVP.

    I have not. Most of my pvp'ing has been spent in the Forbidden Woods, Unseen Village and the two Nightmare locations.

    Ritual Blood and Tomb Mold are worth a shitload of souls.

    I'm not entirely sure how good the Witcher 3 has to be to be better than Bloodborne, but it'll have to be pretty damn good.

    @sarumarine: Moon Presence is a very good/challenging fight it just doesn't have high enough stats on NG so most people won't realize it; fight it on the higher NG+s or while naked and report back.

    Since you complained about Loran Darkbeast I'm obligated to post this again (Bloodletting is harder at least when cursed, though that's mostly due to weird hitboxes and such):

    Loading Video...

    Edit: 7000th post apparently.

    Eh, echoes are rarely an issue. I tend to have so many that it seems it would be awfully easy to overlevel yourself. Most are usually spent on buying up as many supplies as I can. And by the time I'm exploring the depth 5 dungeons I especially don't want to be finding yet even more mould and ritual blood given I'm already at what is basically the 'end game' of the dungeons. I recorded my Loran Darkbeast fight, too. Funny how the guy I summoned also happened to be wearing the full Henryk set!

    Loading Video...

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    Fredchuckdave

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    #20  Edited By Fredchuckdave

    @yummylee: I'm still trying to parse just how lucky I got to get as many Bloodborne views as I did, no clue really. Maybe because I did a bunch of Helldivers (and posted them on reddit) videos beforehand? That or no one used the Wheel before I did.

    The initial part of the knockdown can be Visceral Attacked, it's just a very tight window.

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    Yummylee

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    @karkarov said:

    Nice write up Yummy. I agree with all your points except that I think this game is far weaker than basically any of the other three. Bloodborne starts really hard for some reason then turns into easy mode except for the occasional cheap death to brain raper stun spam or getting hosed by bad camera fighting three werewolves or something. I don't know what my final death count was but I do know it was easily lower than any of the other games on my first playthrough by a long shot.

    Also Hunter of Hunter rune in Coop makes it so you randomly are the enemy of the person who summons you. So they summon you to help them but the game decides NOPE he is one them crazy hunters you gots to kill em. Also Corruption rune is the same, it makes you enemy of any Executioner who summons you. Also yes, the "covenants" of this game are a giant joke.

    Thanks. Honestly in spite of its flaws I think Bloodborne might just be my favourite of the bunch. The camera is something I forgot to add, though, but then that's a problem that's always plagued these games to some degree. Thanks for the info about Hunter of Hunters. Seems that it's the exact same as Executioners then? Only they don't even need to be equipped with the Vileblood rune?

    I'm really disappointed that there's no cooperative-centric covenant equivalent at all in this; the Sun Covenant has always been my favourite in the Dark Souls games. Even for as half-assed as the pvp covenants are they're at least still in there in some form.

    Bloodborne is most likely cemented as my favourite game of the year, but I do agree with a lot of your points, Yummy. Especially the NG+ criticism. I loved the way Dark Souls 2 changed in NG+, both in a gameplay and lore perspective. It meant that I would spend the first playthrough building a character, to then test them out in NG+. To have that element gone in Bloodborne was rather disappointing.

    Yup, I think its piecemeal NG+ is perhaps my biggest problem with it overall, followed very closely by the Chalice Dungeons. And yet I'm certain this'll likely score pretty highly as one of my favourite games of the year!

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    musubi

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    Yeah, I really think Bloodborne is a flawed game that got a little more praise than it deserved because it had that new gen exclusivity and shine to it. There are just entire systems and segments of this game that are just bad. The entire package mind you isn't bad but all in all I think any one of the previous gen "Souls" games out does Bloodborne by miles. I'm sticking to my guns that Dark Souls 2 is the best of the series. Hoping Scholar of the First Sin goes on sale at some point so I can try that out.

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    @yummylee said:
    @militantfreudian said:

    So when I first opened your thread, it seemed like a pretty lengthy write-up, but before I knew it, I was reading your final thoughts on the game. Obviously, what I'm trying to say is that I really enjoyed it.

    Anyway, I basically agree with most of the the points you raise, except for the one regarding Insight... I guess. I mean, I do wish it did more, but the fact that it changed quite a few different things in rather interesting ways was enough for me to distinguish it from Humanity. Also, the fact that it was more closely tied to the lore made it more interesting, in my opinion.

    I found Empty Phantasm Shell to be a decent weapon buff. I think there are enough enemies weak against ARC in both the main game and the Chalice Dungeons to make it worthwhile. However, the two offensive Hunter Tools I used so far have been extremely underwhelming, so it's good to know that I shouldn't invest more points into ARC to get A Call Beyond (although now I wish there was a way to respec).

    Hey, thanks. That genuinely means a lot. Certainly took me long enough to write this all up!

    I'll take your Empty Phantasm Shell recommendation into consideration! For as much I dislike them, with every new character I still end up going through at least some of the Chalice Dungeons... Damned gems, I just can't resist. I want to make the numbers go as high as possible!

    As for Insight, I like some of the stuff it can do to the world in theory, there just wasn't enough of it nor was it drastic enough. Insight sounds like the perfect method to tuck away so many crazy secrets, like altering the appearance of certain enemies/environments maybe or revealing additional treasure chests. Instead the most notable difference it brings about is the Amydala things will be revealed earlier than usual, which is kinda meh. I mean it's always there, that Insight counter is always prominently displayed below your echoes, so you'd think its effects would be a little more substantial.

    @gunstarred said:

    I dunno about you, but I keep all of my ritual blood and tomb mould in large, intricately crafted chests.

    I do like how in certain dungeons the coffin is surrounded by all kinds of jewelry and artifacts and shit, and it's a bunch of mould that's been stored inside the coffin that looks like it was made to house the corpse of Riff Raff or something.

    @geraltitude said:

    Great blog yummy! This was a really good read.

    Thanks!

    @el_tajij said:

    Great write up, dude. Bloodborne could easily be up there with my favorite games evah but I think it's safe to say most people understand criticisms thrown it's way. It just makes me wonder what they'll do with the DLC plans.

    Cheers! And despite this blog Bloodborne is certainly my favourite game of the generation thus far, though not like it's had much in the way of any particularly strong competition :P Don't take that to mean that I haven't been enjoying any games of the past couple of years, but none have left me quite as transfixed as Bloodborne has. As for DLC I'm hoping they'll give it the expansion treatment much like Dark Souls II got with those three DLC add ons. Though whatever it is I'm sure to buy it! Even if they were to nickel & dime weapons and outfits I'd probably be willing >_>

    @golguin said:

    I'm curious to know if you did PVP in HIZZNGR3. For those that don't know that is the glyph name for the Chalice Dungeon that provides the unofficial PVP arena for the game, but you're in the know right?

    People make pretty good use of the spells in HIZZNGR3 (Executioner's Gloves and the Old Hunter Bone are seen quite a bit) and they were definitely made for PVP.

    I have not. Most of my pvp'ing has been spent in the Forbidden Woods, Unseen Village and the two Nightmare locations.

    @fredchuckdave said:

    Ritual Blood and Tomb Mold are worth a shitload of souls.

    I'm not entirely sure how good the Witcher 3 has to be to be better than Bloodborne, but it'll have to be pretty damn good.

    @sarumarine: Moon Presence is a very good/challenging fight it just doesn't have high enough stats on NG so most people won't realize it; fight it on the higher NG+s or while naked and report back.

    Since you complained about Loran Darkbeast I'm obligated to post this again (Bloodletting is harder at least when cursed, though that's mostly due to weird hitboxes and such):

    Loading Video...

    Edit: 7000th post apparently.

    Eh, echoes are rarely an issue. I tend to have so many that it seems it would be awfully easy to overlevel yourself. Most are usually spent on buying up as many supplies as I can. And by the time I'm exploring the depth 5 dungeons I especially don't want to be finding yet even more mould and ritual blood given I'm already at what is basically the 'end game' of the dungeons. I recorded my Loran Darkbeast fight, too. Funny how the guy I summoned also happened to be wearing the full Henryk set!

    Loading Video...
    Loading Video...

    If we are sharing our Loran Darkbeast fights then I'm getting in on this. I just killed it a few hours ago solo and then quickly moved on to the Queen and took care of her as well. It was a pretty dirty fight with lots of misses due to my Chikage's moveset with vertical slashes and trying to move the camera into a position where I can see what I'm swinging at.


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    Fredchuckdave

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    #24  Edited By Fredchuckdave

    At least with non cursed Loran Darkbeast if your weapon doesn't have a lot of range the best strategy is just get in and beat the crap out of him when he does his boom, the boom will not kill you with a decent amount of lightning resistance and there's a good chance you'll stagger him as well. With cursed it gets different, you absolutely need a weapon that hits off of dashes (i.e. a vertical swing) no matter where you are under his body. Other than that always forward dash everything. Scythe works well:

    Loading Video...

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    Yummylee

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    Yeah, I really think Bloodborne is a flawed game that got a little more praise than it deserved because it had that new gen exclusivity and shine to it. There are just entire systems and segments of this game that are just bad. The entire package mind you isn't bad but all in all I think any one of the previous gen "Souls" games out does Bloodborne by miles. I'm sticking to my guns that Dark Souls 2 is the best of the series. Hoping Scholar of the First Sin goes on sale at some point so I can try that out.

    What specific segments did you think were bad?

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    @yummylee: The forest and the Nightmare Realm w/ the Brains I thought were bad. Also, I think the Chalice Dungeons are just kind of bland and not really engaging. I'm also not really a fan of them forcefully pushing everyone into more or less the same kind of playstyle. The thing that made the previous Souls games so engaging is that there were so many builds, so many viable ways to tackle something. In Bloodborne most boss tactics revolve around using a bosses momentum against them and dashing towards them or stunning them with a gun and viceral attacking. The limited amount of viable builds is a huge bummer to me. Also the invasion stuff just seems so incredibly gimped in this game. I always liked the risk/reward of having the Human/Undead thing.

    Which is kind of another gripe. There is no real punishment for dying in Bloodborne. It makes dying much less of a thing to be afraid of. Also, I think the variety of locations and general art design is much poorer than that of the Dark Souls games. Way more variety of scenery and locales. Lot of grey stone blocks and Victorian architecture.

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    Yummylee

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    @yummylee: The forest and the Nightmare Realm w/ the Brains I thought were bad. Also, I think the Chalice Dungeons are just kind of bland and not really engaging. I'm also not really a fan of them forcefully pushing everyone into more or less the same kind of playstyle. The thing that made the previous Souls games so engaging is that there were so many builds, so many viable ways to tackle something. In Bloodborne most boss tactics revolve around using a bosses momentum against them and dashing towards them or stunning them with a gun and viceral attacking. The limited amount of viable builds is a huge bummer to me. Also the invasion stuff just seems so incredibly gimped in this game. I always liked the risk/reward of having the Human/Undead thing.

    Which is kind of another gripe. There is no real punishment for dying in Bloodborne. It makes dying much less of a thing to be afraid of. Also, I think the variety of locations and general art design is much poorer than that of the Dark Souls games. Way more variety of scenery and locales. Lot of grey stone blocks and Victorian architecture.

    I'm with you on Nightmare Frontier, that place sucks. Not the worst poison swamp level these games have seen (Valley of Defilement can forever go fuck itself), but it's still bleh. The forest however is one of my favourite locations in the game. It's huge and sprawling, with all kinds of different paths to circumvent areas paved with enemies, those goddamned snake clusters are creepy as Hell, and the guys who have snakes burst out of their head like a pinata first brought to mind RE4. That, and as mentioned earlier I think the Shadow of Yharnam boss is real fun. It's one of my favourite locations for pvp and coop.

    However I can't disagree with most else of what you've said. In fact I'd say it's nigh impossible to dispute the idea that Bloodborne lacks much of the playstyle variety the previous Souls games tauted. I think because this is largely how I'd play anyway (aka pure melee and a focus on rolling/dashing) I'm OK in that that's basically the only way I can play this game. The combat may lack the versatility of previous games, but it's at least without a doubt the best melee combat these games have seen thus far. Well, I haven't played Lords of The Fallen so I can't speak to that. No penalty for dying is a bit strange, that is besides your finite amount of bullets and vials I suppose. It did occasionally force me to grind a little to be able to purchase some more vials, though that's definitely not the case anymore as I've improved and dying basically holds no real detriment beyond wasted time I suppose.

    Honestly I wish there was more Victorian Gothic architecture and the like personally, so I can't agree there. A real sucker for such an aesthetic I am.

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    @yummylee said:

    As for Insight, I like some of the stuff it can do to the world in theory, there just wasn't enough of it nor was it drastic enough. Insight sounds like the perfect method to tuck away so many crazy secrets, like altering the appearance of certain enemies/environments maybe or revealing additional treasure chests. Instead the most notable difference it brings about is the Amydala things will be revealed earlier than usual, which is kinda meh. I mean it's always there, that Insight counter is always prominently displayed below your echoes, so you'd think its effects would be a little more substantial.

    The Amygdala thing shocked me the first time I walked into the Cathedral Ward in NG+. You know, I'm surprised there isn't a weapon or an elemental damage that scales off of Insight. I personally think it would've been perfect if Insight had more subtle effects similar to hearing the baby crying. Also, I think I should've mentioned that the Empty Phantasm Shell is more worthwhile while you're in NG rather than NG+ since it's just a flat damage increase.

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    #29  Edited By Giant_Gamer

    That was a great read yummy, my gripe with this game is that it feels like a gimped souls game. Don't get me wrong, i really like how fast the game is, how cool the guns are (too bad they are only useful to parry) and how interesting Yharnam and the npcs are but i'm kind of disappointed because the game feels lacking in comparison with demon's souls, not to mention the latter games in the series.

    P.S. I would love to know what you think about the guns in this game.

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    Very nice write-up, I agree with many of your thoughts about the game. Having finally beaten NG and now working towards getting the platinum, I think that overall the game is great and in terms of where I'd place it in the ranks of the souls games, I'd rank it below Dark Souls but ahead of DS2 and Demon's Souls. I really enjoy the atmosphere of the game the most out of the series, it has a good mixture of horror and sadness that I find really appealing. I also enjoy the more streamlined approach to character management and combat. Going into Scholar after playing this was a huge reminder of just how much stuff you had to keep track of constantly (armor degradation, equip load, humanity/effigies, etc.). I'm holding off getting back into that game until I finish getting the platinum... it requires a big change in mindset that I'm not quite ready for yet.

    But I do think this game is the easiest of the series and suffers mostly from a lack of content. Also most of the NPCs aren't very interesting, and I'm not a fan of how buried the PvP is. But I doubt any other game will top this in 2015. I was really hyped for MK X, but it didn't live up to my expectations. I am looking forward to Arkham Knight, but I have my doubts about that game. Maybe if Tekken 7 makes it to consoles this year...

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    OP, great critical write up. I pretty much agree on all of those points.

    This is a game that I've really come to love in terms of setting and atmosphere. I like the pace of the combat and will happily gobble up any new Bloodborne content that reviews well. However, it's lacking in item variety IMO and that leads to a lack in build variety. Also the lack of faction variety was a bit of a letdown compared to DS and DS2.

    It's definitely healthy to constructively criticize something you love and I hope From delivers more quality content for this game.

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    #32  Edited By weazzlflink

    great write man. really enjoyed it. can understand your arguments, but most of them dont bother me much...

    just wanted to say that i kinda like the arcane stuff, sure its not that powerful, but nice gimmicks, and i love my fire saw spear...and tiny tonitrus helped me to finally bring down fckin rom in lower ptumerian dungeon yesterday. for fights like this, where you cant parry the enemy, the "spells" can be quite helpful, imo...

    just makes no sense that it uses bullets, i think they should have implemented something like the limited uses like in the dark souls games that refreshes when you come back from hunters dream or something...

    sorry for my bad english, not my language

    (just found out that you can switch to black background on this page...really nice, my eyes hurt so much after a while with white background...)

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    @yummylee said:

    As for Insight, I like some of the stuff it can do to the world in theory, there just wasn't enough of it nor was it drastic enough. Insight sounds like the perfect method to tuck away so many crazy secrets, like altering the appearance of certain enemies/environments maybe or revealing additional treasure chests. Instead the most notable difference it brings about is the Amydala things will be revealed earlier than usual, which is kinda meh. I mean it's always there, that Insight counter is always prominently displayed below your echoes, so you'd think its effects would be a little more substantial.

    The Amygdala thing shocked me the first time I walked into the Cathedral Ward in NG+. You know, I'm surprised there isn't a weapon or an elemental damage that scales off of Insight. I personally think it would've been perfect if Insight had more subtle effects similar to hearing the baby crying. Also, I think I should've mentioned that the Empty Phantasm Shell is more worthwhile while you're in NG rather than NG+ since it's just a flat damage increase.

    See, that's a great idea! Though in turn Insight would have to be much more difficult to acquire and/or prone to getting lost, given how easy it can be to reach 99 Insight and keep it there. But it's still far more interesting than what it currently does.

    That was a great read yummy, my gripe with this game is that it feels like a gimped souls game. Don't get me wrong, i really like how fast the game is, how cool the guns are (too bad they are only useful to parry) and how interesting Yharnam and the npcs are but i'm kind of disappointed because the game feels lacking in comparison with demon's souls, not to mention the latter games in the series.

    P.S. I would love to know what you think about the guns in this game.

    Thanks! And yes, the game as a whole is definitely much smaller scale in relation to everything that was available in Dark Souls II. Hell, starting a new character in Dark Souls II can sometimes feel a little overwhelming in planning out how I'm going to be building my character and which routes to take first. I guess that's another small thing that sticks out to me, the linearity of Bloodborne. Dark Souls II in particular allowed you to largely form your own path up until Drangleic castle, whereas Bloodborne is primarily a straight line for the most part. There are diversions, such as Nightmare Frontier and Castle Cainhurst, but in relation to previous games it does feel a little narrow.

    As for guns, I really enjoy them! Especially since they (for better or worse) allow someone such as myself that is usually awful at parrying to be as comfortable in knowing when to fire my pistol as when to swing my melee weapon. Though the parry's overall accessibility can definitely make certain bosses rather trivial, but then that can be said of certain builds in the previous games, like how Gwyn goes down like a rock after a few easy magic attacks. While they can't usually lead the offence on their own, I find they can still provide some additional damage in the grand scheme, especially when paired with those ash bullets. A level 10 cannon with an ash bullet is truly a beautiful thing...

    Very nice write-up, I agree with many of your thoughts about the game. Having finally beaten NG and now working towards getting the platinum, I think that overall the game is great and in terms of where I'd place it in the ranks of the souls games, I'd rank it below Dark Souls but ahead of DS2 and Demon's Souls. I really enjoy the atmosphere of the game the most out of the series, it has a good mixture of horror and sadness that I find really appealing. I also enjoy the more streamlined approach to character management and combat. Going into Scholar after playing this was a huge reminder of just how much stuff you had to keep track of constantly (armor degradation, equip load, humanity/effigies, etc.). I'm holding off getting back into that game until I finish getting the platinum... it requires a big change in mindset that I'm not quite ready for yet.

    But I do think this game is the easiest of the series and suffers mostly from a lack of content. Also most of the NPCs aren't very interesting, and I'm not a fan of how buried the PvP is. But I doubt any other game will top this in 2015. I was really hyped for MK X, but it didn't live up to my expectations. I am looking forward to Arkham Knight, but I have my doubts about that game. Maybe if Tekken 7 makes it to consoles this year...

    Ta very much! I think from a sheer combat perspective Bloodborne is without a doubt my favourite, however in overall terms I don't quite know where I'd put it. And yeah, Bloodborne is much easier to pick up and just play, which for some is of course part of the problem. The RPG of this action-RPG definitely feels like it's been trimmed down and as a result starts to resemble something akin to a straight action game in relation to its spiritual predecessors. Which while it has gravely limited playstyles and available weapons, it has at least lead to gameplay that is as slick and smooth as any character action game.

    Weirdly enough I personally found BB to be more difficult than Dark Souls II, though that's also down to how relatively easy DSII was in general. Then again I'm also someone who found Dark Souls to be much harder than Demon's Souls :o

    @maluvin said:

    OP, great critical write up. I pretty much agree on all of those points.

    This is a game that I've really come to love in terms of setting and atmosphere. I like the pace of the combat and will happily gobble up any new Bloodborne content that reviews well. However, it's lacking in item variety IMO and that leads to a lack in build variety. Also the lack of faction variety was a bit of a letdown compared to DS and DS2.

    It's definitely healthy to constructively criticize something you love and I hope From delivers more quality content for this game.

    Cheers! And yes, I'm really looking forward to seeing where From'll take this game in the future. I'm hoping they'll aim for more locations with their own bosses and obtainable weapons/armour, rather than, say, more Chalice Dungeon variants...

    great write man. really enjoyed it. can understand your arguments, but most of them dont bother me much...

    just wanted to say that i kinda like the arcane stuff, sure its not that powerful, but nice gimmicks, and i love my fire saw spear...and tiny tonitrus helped me to finally bring down fckin rom in lower ptumerian dungeon yesterday. for fights like this, where you cant parry the enemy, the "spells" can be quite helpful, imo...

    just makes no sense that it uses bullets, i think they should have implemented something like the limited uses like in the dark souls games that refreshes when you come back from hunters dream or something...

    sorry for my bad english, not my language

    (just found out that you can switch to black background on this page...really nice, my eyes hurt so much after a while with white background...)

    You make a good point regarding bosses that can't be parried, but even then for certain characters I'd much rather save those bullets for my cannon :P And yes I agree, the spells would be more appealing if they at least wouldn't eat away at your bullets at all. And your English is fine!

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    weazzlflink

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    #34  Edited By weazzlflink

    thx i try my bestt :) just takes some time to write as correct as possible

    yeah im really looking forward to when the char i started to use the cannon is ready for it, but he/she (forgot what gender i created) is not far in the game.

    atm i mostly play my skill/arcane build with blade of mercy/fire saw spear and some spells. i use the dmg-spells only for enemys that cant be parried/i have problems with parrying. beast roar and augur are nice to get some time to heal or so. also i like that molotovs have arc-scaling for some ok ranged dmg even without oil urns.

    flamesprayer is kinda meh, never had a situation where it was very useful so far and rosmarinus i´ve yet to try out

    havin a great time with this build...dont know how its like for pvp, since i never liked pvp in any game and try to avoid it...i´d like to have an option to jolly-coop without invasions, but at least you can be save from it by killing them bell-bitchez

    ...man i love this game. even more than demons and ds1, i think where i loved the shit out of :). at least i will def. have more playtime on it since i have already played it almost 200 hours with 4 characters and not even played ng+ very far, only half of the chalice dungeons and want to try the weapons i´ve not played with yet, what ill do mostly with fresh chars i think.

    as for ds2, for me it was a pain in the arse with its artificial difficulty (enemies instantly turning around while mid-swing when you roll behind them, black gulch and many other such things), but on the other hand the bosses were mostly a cakewalk, bad world design (some cool levels though, but the overall world-design is really bad compared to demons and dark 1...earthen peak to iron keep, lol)...strange game. only did 1 full playthru and started 2 other chars but it soon lost its appeal to me. didnt play the dlcs and dont plan to do so...

    was really obvious that it was made by the "b-team"

    cheers

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