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Bloodborne (Dark Souls 2 successor (Dark Souls successor (Demon's Souls successor)))

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My digital pre-order has pooled 5GB of Bloodborne on my PS4, and if my clock-reading abilities are correct, it unlocks at midnight on the east coast (10 PM local).

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I'm so going to end up buying this tomorrow.  I was going to resist, going to wait until I had more time.  Then I just took a little break from work and found myself browsing about 20 minutes worth of Bloodborne stuff without even thinking about it.  Dammit. 

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Just realised this isn't out in the UK until Friday. Fuuuuuuck.

 

This will be my first "souls" game so I'm kind of glad for that three day wait, a chance to realize what I am getting into (or run away scared and cancel my pre-order). 

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I am soooooo jealous. Harrumph

 

Fingers crossed for a PC release! *cries*

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The Friday release in the UK is killing me. Especially as I have a super busy weekend. BLARGH! SOULS! BLOOD! I DON'T EVEN

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Yep, fantastic reviews so far, it seems like the first game of PS4/XB1 gen that's universally praised.

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I have a really important question.

 

If you hit the PS button while playing, does that act as a makeshift pause? I really hate that you can't pause Souls games. 

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I really hate that you can't pause Souls games. 

 

gitgud

 

(I actually love games that don't let you pause)

 

 

Fuck, scanning these reviews and not-reviews is killing me. 

 

"Bloodborne is the best game I’ve played since I first played Demon’s Souls."

 

"elegant, precise and irresistible"

 

"There's no reliable, powerful ranged attacks or magic to speak of, and no shields — effective shields, rather — to hide behind. It's just you, a trick weapon, a puny firearm and your opponent"

 

I do not get this hyped for fucking games anymore...dammit...

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When you get splattered with blood or slog through a waterway, the residue is persistent until you die or use the bonfire equivalent. If you've been at it for a while your clothing gets a slick red sheen that looks pretty cool.

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I feel like a kid again having to wait to play. I had to go to town for a dental appointment and bought it on my way in, now I'm sitting in the waiting room just chomping at the bit to get hone.

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Woop woop, there's apparently a Bloodborne bundle here in Europe. I can probably hook a PS4 up to a 16:10 monitor, right?

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I'm having a lot of fun, though it's taking me a bit to get used to how fast-paced everything is. My fallback in Dark Souls was to crank up my Endurance, get a good shield, and wait out enemy attacks. The Regain system makes it a bit easier, but figuring out dodge timing and darting in and out seems to be my main hurdle. What's nice is that gear doesn't seem to have any weight, so balancing armor vs mobility isn't a consideration you have to make (at least so far). There's also just not a lot of gear. I've found a weapon, bought a couple more, and found a few sets of clothing, all of which had similar stats to what I've been wearing, just shuffled around a bit.

 

You can upgrade weapons, as usual, but fortification is more of a gem socketing affair. There's also something to do with equipping runes on your character, but the item you need to do so is protected by a boss (I'm on my way to kill that one next).

 

I like the changes to the summoning system. You get a Beckoning Bell early on, and you can spend a point of Insight (sort of like Humanity) to ring it, and then the game searches for others in the area who have used their Small Resonant Bell and pulls them in. Of course, it also opens you up to those who have used a Sinister Resonant Bell to invade. From also incorporated the DS2 Name-engraved Ring right into the Network menu, and you can input a password to limit matchmaking to those using the same password.

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So, basic questions -

 

I know there isn't blocking, but is there any kind of parry/countering in this game or is it all dodging?

 

Hunter's Dream seems to be your home base, so to speak, and I'm guessing it's a safe place to retreat to when I want to walk away from the game. Is this true?

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So, basic questions -

 

I know there isn't blocking, but is there any kind of parry/countering in this game or is it all dodging?

 

Hunter's Dream seems to be your home base, so to speak, and I'm guessing it's a safe place to retreat to when I want to walk away from the game. Is this true?

 

The gun basically works like the shield did before, except you can't stand still and block everything. Shooting enemies will often interrupt them, and if you hit them at the right moment (just before their attack hits you) you'll stagger them, which leaves them open for a counterattack/riposte.

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The gun basically works like the shield did before, except you can't stand still and block everything. Shooting enemies will often interrupt them, and if you hit them at the right moment (just before their attack hits you) you'll stagger them, which leaves them open for a counterattack/riposte.

 

Yep. Of course, figuring out the timing/whether or not something can be stunned is still an adventure.

 

 

Hunter's Dream seems to be your home base, so to speak, and I'm guessing it's a safe place to retreat to when I want to walk away from the game. Is this true?

 

Yes, as far as I know.

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The gun basically works like the shield did before, except you can't stand still and block everything. Shooting enemies will often interrupt them, and if you hit them at the right moment (just before their attack hits you) you'll stagger them, which leaves them open for a counterattack/riposte.

 

Holy shit, bloodborne sounds incredibly hard.

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It's definitely hard. Really fast paced and it seems like they're more willing to throw fast guys at you right from the beginning. Just experienced my first instance of a lot of momentum cut short by two big black wolf creatures in what felt like the hind end of the first zone. Those guys are so fast and while I tried to aggro only one, the second one came in when I least expected it and I could help but be stagger juggled to death.

 

That said, this game feels really good. The end of every fight feels a lot more like a victory than the trash mobs in Dark Souls did. It also feels nice to know that I probably don't have a vast wealth of FAQs and forum threads to explain the game to me, which makes me feel invigorated to figure out things for myself.

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This is my first Souls game ever, but so far I'm having fun. I haven't fully clicked with the game yet, but the more I play the more I understand the appeal of these games. I spent two hours yesterday playing in the first area, and after FINALLY finishing a section with a ton of enemies I chickened out, doubled back, and bought some new armor.

 

I'm looking forward to exploring the levels and trying to figure stuff out. The combat systems alone should keep me busy trying to get a hold on them and deciphering the attacks and patterns of the enemy types. I anticipate my first boss battle is going to be a rough experience, but I'm still excited to play more!

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It's definitely hard. Really fast paced and it seems like they're more willing to throw fast guys at you right from the beginning. Just experienced my first instance of a lot of momentum cut short by two big black wolf creatures in what felt like the hind end of the first zone. Those guys are so fast and while I tried to aggro only one, the second one came in when I least expected it and I could help but be stagger juggled to death.

 

Those guys are bastards. There's another side path off that bridge that you can get to without aggro-ing them. I recommend exploring down there a bit and coming back when you've got some more items and such to use.

 

 

I'm looking forward to exploring the levels and trying to figure stuff out. The combat systems alone should keep me busy trying to get a hold on them and deciphering the attacks and patterns of the enemy types. I anticipate my first boss battle is going to be a rough experience, but I'm still excited to play more!

 

The first boss is the hardest out of the four I've fought so far. Just don't make the same mistake I did and use the Beckoning Bell. At that point, almost nobody is going to have the item required to be summoned, so it's just a waste of Insight. Also, the game doesn't give you the ability to level up until your first encounter with it, which is a bit of a weird choice.

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Some scattered, general thoughts:

 

Those two black beasts are in fact right bastards.  

 

And yeah, this is definitely feeling more challenging than any other Souls game, at least in the first area.  I honestly think I've died more getting to the first boss than I have through the same period of time than in the other games.  Though I'm really liking the balance between needing to attack aggressively without crossing the line into being reckless.  On my later playthrough in both all three souls games, I steadily became more and more aggressive, often going with shieldless builds.  So having this game just be built for that from the get go is nice. 

 

This first area feels way more confusing to me than any area in the previous games.  I keep having the nagging feeling that I've missed a branch, or forgot to follow up on some ladder or door.  I just haven't got the mental map of it. 

 

Overall I'm very impressed with the combat.  Everything feels so smooth, the animations, how combos flow together, dodging. 

 

The camera, as expected, completely blows.  It definitely would have earned several assists if the game tracked exactly what killed you. 

 

I like the trick weapons.  I ran through a couple of hours each with the sword cane and the axe on different characters.  I ultimately felt like the axe is the superior weapon, but I'm really fascinated with the cane/whip. 

 

I'm sure I've missed something, but I'm not initially seeing good ways to sequence break for later playthroughs?  DS2 was designed to be sequence broken, you could do some really neat shit out of order. 

 

I finished tonight though losing a bloodstain worth about 8K, which still feels like a bunch of souls to me at this point.  I was about done, just pushing forward a bit more, sure I had to find another lamp eventually, and died to two of the half-changed beast things.  I was tired and ended up dying again within 30 seconds of the leaving the lamp to two enemies I had never had a problem with.  :(

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I think what's most exciting for me (aside from everything) is how the stat system has been simplified to the point that it's actually understandable again. DS2 was incredibly obtuse with how it split stats up, and I never really knew what to put points in to. 

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