melmer

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

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I knew I was playing this game wrong.

 

Once you see a real pro at work, you realize just how far you have to go. 

 

 

I've watched that Undead Giant one like 20 times and I get the giggles every single time. 

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I think it's November. At least in Japan...

 

I saw this news at the gym and let out an audible gasp. That trailer is amazing. A fucking buzz-saw? That looks like it turns into a shield/sword combo?! That's new. 

 

Seeing the combat reminded me how fast paced and aggressive BB is compared to the other souls games. Shit, I really should play it agian.

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That fucking buzzsaw looks sweet.  Unnnnnggghhhh, it sucks that I don't have a PS4 now, and no intentions of buying one anytime soon. 

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For $20 it better be quite substantial. From puts out good stuff so it probably will be, but I'm still suspicious of DLC in general. So much of it is a ripoff.

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The DLC for Dark Souls reused some stuff from the base game, but it gave it some interesting lore implications. It also had one of the best boss fights in the entire game. The Dark Souls II DLC is generally considered the best parts of that game.

 

It's quite a high bar they have set themselves, but I am a bit suspicious of the price tag.

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$20 seems fine to me. I doubt it's gonna be an hour-long thing.

 

You people are weird.

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Yeah, From has knocked it out of the park 4 times in a row now.  I think they probably deserve the benefit of the doubt. 

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$20 seems fine to me. I doubt it's gonna be an hour-long thing.

 

You people are weird.

Well, that's more than I pay for 99% of my games.

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I've got faith in From's ability to deliver DLC. DS1 and DS2 DLCs were both substantial and had some of my favourite parts of both games. They don't half ass it. 

 

Also - that bow-blade?! YES I WANT IT. 

 

I'm definitely restarting a new character for the DLC. I've been craving another play through as it is. Funnily enough I've been listening to the Bonfireside Chat Bloodborne episodes, and everything they say they don't like about it, is everything I love about it. Weird, because I agreed with pretty much everything they said about DS1 and 2.

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I've got faith in From's ability to deliver DLC. DS1 and DS2 DLCs were both substantial and had some of my favourite parts of both games. They don't half ass it. 

 

Also - that bow-blade?! YES I WANT IT. 

 

I'm definitely restarting a new character for the DLC. I've been craving another play through as it is. Funnily enough I've been listening to the Bonfireside Chat Bloodborne episodes, and everything they say they don't like about it, is everything I love about it. Weird, because I agreed with pretty much everything they said about DS1 and 2.

 

What is it they don't like about it? Aside form the blood gems being a little half baked and the difficulty being a little unbalanced I don't see a lot of problems with the game. Not compared to other souls games at least.

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Their biggest complaint is that "the bosses aren't anyone" meaning they're not important lore characters. I love the Bloodborne bosses because they're all so aggressive, and the lack of lore with some of the bosses seems a shitty complaint.

They also hate the lack of weapons/builds. I can understand that, but I don't agree.

I only ever play melee builds in souls. I think magic trivialises everything and I find it boring. Then there's the fact that all those different weapons in ds2 have the same move sets with slightly different stats. Each one of bloodborne's weapons feels entirely different from every other weapon. There's no overlap.

They also hate frenzy, but yeah, fuck frenzy.

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Sure, but there are loads of bosses in DaS1 that are also not lore relevant, so I don't agree with that point. I guess as a podcast about lore, it makes it a bit hard to talk about? I have yet to listen to bonfire side chat yet. I just found out about it recently. So I might be completely wrong in that regard.

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Yeah, that's definitely part of it. That also relates to their complaints about the lack of drops/weapons/etc, since there's then a lack of item text to mine for lore tidbits, which is a problem when a big part of your show is speculating about lore. (The lack of boss souls also makes the bosses far less lore-rich even if they aren't a huge part of the overall story)

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That all sounds a bit like someone complaining that In Rainbows doesn't sound enough like Kid A or something. And honestly I thought the lack of lore was kind of the point of the whole Lovecraftian horror thing myself.

 

I will agree that I did sort of miss the boss souls a bit but I'm not super bothered by it.

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They also hate the lack of weapons/builds. I can understand that, but I don't agree.

I only ever play melee builds in souls. I think magic trivialises everything and I find it boring. Then there's the fact that all those different weapons in ds2 have the same move sets with slightly different stats. Each one of bloodborne's weapons feels entirely different from every other weapon. There's no overlap.

The lack of loot is the main reason I stopped playing. Even though the mechanics are good it's a less interesting context for them to be in. When I start a Dark Souls playthrough I have a mental list of at least a dozen items I'll want to get, and from that I can make a plan and set goals for myself. It fits so well into the non-linear structure of the world. Conversely, I think the complete lack of useful pickups and item rewards in Bloodborn fits very poorly with the same structure, where so much is optional. It also leads to a poorer mechanical pacing. Getting Havel's Ring is rewarding each time you do it, not only because it's a tense fight, but because it has such a dramatic impact on your character. Bloodborne has the same, very incremental character progression as Dark Souls but without the gear progression and the latter was key to what made DkS work.

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I feel like I should make it clear that they still really like the game and it's generally a good podcast. Danielle was even on an episode!

 

Yeah, but the podcast has definitely felt much more down than the previous ones. The number of times I've heard "I don't like X" or "X is a bummer" I can count on one hand in the DS1 and DS2 seasons. I think the complaining surpassed both seasons combined in the very first Bloodborne cast. 

The reason I liked Bonfireside Chat was because they were speaking extremely highly of DS2, while so many people complain about it. 

 

The lack of loot is the main reason I stopped playing. Even though the mechanics are good it's a less interesting context for them to be in. When I start a Dark Souls playthrough I have a mental list of at least a dozen items I'll want to get, and from that I can make a plan and set goals for myself. It fits so well into the non-linear structure of the world. Conversely, I think the complete lack of useful pickups and item rewards in Bloodborn fits very poorly with the same structure, where so much is optional. It also leads to a poorer mechanical pacing. Getting Havel's Ring is rewarding each time you do it, not only because it's a tense fight, but because it has such a dramatic impact on your character. Bloodborne has the same, very incremental character progression as Dark Souls but without the gear progression and the latter was key to what made DkS work.

 

That's fair, I disagree though. I don't feel like items and loot I get are the reward in souls games. Getting Havel's ring feels good, but only because I killed Havel. I tend to find a weapon I like that fits my build, then I stick with it throughout the whole game. Bloodborne fits that play style better. 

 

I'm rewarded for sticking with one weapon, because it's got a much larger moveset and can fulfil multiple niches. I'm rewarded for exploration, not with gear progression, but with seeing more cool enemies and more tough bosses.

 

I play Souls games because I love exploring and fighting tough bosses, the lore is in 3rd place, but items don't really do anything for me. I like finding a new weapon or new armour, but 90% of the time, I don't even use it. 

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