project343

Bloodborne is the worst Souls game. I'll agree to that. The build variety is a real bummer. By far the most disappointing aspect of the game, and is the game's key flaw. There's no point having archaic, deep RPG systems if they do not enable the build variety that the series is known for. What Bloodborne is, from an RPG standpoint, is an overly complicated mess of terminologies, stats and mechanics that amounts to absolutely nothing. It just adds complication for complication's sake.

I do not agree with the rest of your complaints. The only time that the art direction missteps is moving from Central Yharnam to the Cathedral Ward. There just isn't enough aesthetic variety between the two areas. I also do not agree with your weapon criticism. See, the advantage of using heavy weapons like Ludwig is the stagger. They have the most reliable stagger in the game. They attack frequently enough that you can basically stunlock most mobs in the game. Ludwig's can even stunlock the massive pigs and most small bosses. By contrast, the only reliable stagger that the axe has is it's R2; the extended form increases stagger chance, but is so unreliable that you should never gamble with it.

Even 'okay' Souls is still some of the best gaming out there. Honestly, I think the general feeling that I got from your post is that Miyazaki has spoiled you with his previous games (and Dark Souls 2).

Martyr Logarias, Ebrietas and the final boss (Gerhman) are all more difficult than Rom. Just poke at the spiders and dodge when he uses spells. When the spiders are dead, beat the shit out of him. Repeat.

On my first playthrough, I skipped the spiders entirely. I just beat the shit out of him while keeping the spiders on the other side of his body; he basically body-blocked them from me. I wouldn't recommend this strategy though. The positioning of the spiders and his use of spells is too unpredictable for this to work every time.

Not right now, but I'll definitely be picking this up at some point. I've been on such a Soulsian binge lately. I went through Dark Souls, most of Demon's Souls, Lords of the Fallen, and Bloodborne within a couple months. That said, Souls games are exhausting, and a dumb ARPG romp through Borderlands and Diablo 3 sounds like the perfect palette cleanser before revisiting Dark Souls 2.

I feel like their self-healing and stupidly large health bars make them artificially difficult in the laziest ways possible. They aren't fun, they don't add much, and I'd much rather bring back the phantoms from previous games.

Mercy Blade also has a B is scaling--same situation. If we're talking pure numbers, Ludwig's is much better for arcane users; obviously no one can dispute moveset preference.

A Call Beyond is way too unreliable, and the cost far outweighs the damage. More than that, the 40-point arcane requirement and being tucked away in one of the later portions of the game mimics a lot of the issues with arcane builds: they're only really viable at the end-game. At the very least, you can spend your 8 bullets and get a cool looking lightshow. Bedazzle the enemies with particle effects.

Burial Blade has a B scaling at +10. It's certainly an option, but Ludwig's is the only ideal weapon available for arcane users. And since spells themselves are underwhelming, you're stuck playing the game as a spellsword.

It's from just after you drop down the Healing Church Workshop. After you deal with your first Snatcher, you head right instead of left (left is toward the elevator into Grand Cathedral). There's a squid dude there, and he's hunched over the gem.

Ya. The hunter is starting to wake up from the dream, and the nightmares have less of an effect on him. Working as intentional.

No.

Why? Because Bloodborne is not designed for mage/spellsword characters in terms of item placement. The game is extremely linear in terms of progression, and arcane build-relevant items are locked away in the later third of the experience. The first elemental bloodgem that you can acquire is after Bloodstarved Beast (by the first tentacle head dude). Arcane is mostly useless up until that point, and then you're stuck with fire-based damage exclusively until the latest Nightmare portions of the game. The only truly worthwhile spell in the game is Augur of Ebrietas--located on the second floor of Lecture Building.

So lets break that down:

• Arcane #1: Fire Gem - After third boss
• Arcane #2: Bolt Gem - Nightmare Frontier (requires farming some of the highest level mobs)
• Arcane #3: Augur of Ebrietas - Lecture Building 2nd Floor (route into final area)
• Arcane #4: Arcane Gem - Mergo's Loft Middle (final area)
  • *Note: elemental gem with the best scaling potential with base weapons
• Arcane #5: Blood Rock - Mergo's Loft Middle (final area)
  • *Note: essential for Arcane build as it moves Ludwig from a B to an A scaling in arcane

So 4/5 of the essential arcane build items are locked away in the final stretch. The only items that really amplify damage in an arcane build (barring Ludwig's and its blood shard upgrades). The only item that can be fast-tracked is the bolt gem, and that's a sidegrade that prevents fire-resistant mobs from fucking you over. Honestly, I'm sitting in post-Wet Nurse territory and my damage is comparable to my physical run, but most of that damage came to me in this final stretch. I was poking stuff before Mergo's Loft.

Bloodborne may be a great game, but it's a horrible RPG.

ONE OF US. ONE OF US. :D