Skip to main content

Weekend Replay: Finally! I’ve Got the Bloodborne Plague



Bloodborne was the first Souls-like game that I’ve played. I really enjoyed what I’ve played during its initial release, but I wasn’t prepared for what Bloodborne had in store for my frustration level. Outside of combat, everything triggered me. Squaring up with a simple enemy I’ve encountered multiple times to then just died was unforgivably frustrating. If I had a great run with an abundance of Blood Echoes my first goal was to cash in those Echoes, however looking for a laturn (checkpoint) can be tricky as they are hidden in curtain areas of the map and the only way to get back to The Hunter’s Dream to redeem the echoes. These frustrating elements co-mingling was just a nightmare.

However, last week I wanted to finish something in my backlog and for some reason Bloodborne came to mind. Loading in for the first time in almost a year, I decided to create a new playthrough. After the first 3 hours, I thought to myself “Wow, how come this didn’t click with me before?” I knew why, it was the mindset I had before playing the first time. I had to stop thinking about this game as a third-person action game like Crackdown, Horizon Zero Dawn, and The Witcher 3 and start thinking about it as an JRPG with unforgiving combat. Understanding that exploration will grant access to more abilities, loot, and other passages really helped me wrap my head around the progressing system which I had no clue going in to the first time I started.

The combat system was fun from the get-go. The weapons were what really interested me, switching from a nimble sword to a slow but powerful great sword was different from the other From Software games in this ilk. Though there isn’t much weapon verity compared to the Dark Souls series the weapons in Bloodborne feel more diverse. One thing I’ve notice after playing Bloodborne is how much faster it is compared to Dark Souls. The dodging takes less stamina, the weapon attacks are quicker, and healing animation is faster. Every action is sped up and you can feel it when switching from either game (especially during boss fights).


Dark Souls and Bloodborne has the From Software touch with cryptic lore and items that don’t 100% tell you what it does. This is one of the things that made me bounce off the first time, but after the first few items you can read between the lines and have a better idea of what that item does. I’m enthralled by the enemy designs from the simple open world enemies to the bosses that made my stomach turn, but one thing I was always wondering about is “how did this person? creature? Turnout this way? What was their journey?” Overall more lore that is explanatory and not just hidden objects with obscure texts.

One aspect of the game that I didn’t put much time into was the Chalice Dungeons. These are optional dungeons that are room-to-room encounters until you reach the boss. There are multiple sets of floors that must be completed before moving on to a new dungeon. These Dungeons are smaller bite-sized encounters compared to the open world. I’ve only completed the first dungeon, it was incredibly easy, but the size and difficulty of the dungeons might change the more you unlock other dungeons. These dungeons are presented to you early, but I consider doing this after completing the game. You would be over leveled and will blow through the dungeons.

--

I knew Bloodborne was this master piece but trashing my head against the controller wasn’t the way I wanted to experience one of the best PS4 exclusive to date. But I’m glad I came back to it and had a blast slaying monsters/hunter, that’s something I don’t think I would be saying if I forced my way through during initial release. The combat was always fun, and I knew that whatever I hated the moment to moment combat was something that would lead me away from the negative aspects of the game.

After finishing the game, I was surprised at how the world grabbed me, everything from the Victorian esthetic to the gruesome, horrific, enemies to the Chalice Dungeons. I’m glad I came back to Bloodborne just a month after it’s PS Plus freebie. I can finally talk to people about Bloodborne.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mario Tennis Aces “Swing Mode” is Really Disappointing

Mario Tennis Aces is the latest entry to the Mario Tennis series. This time around Nintendo did no wrong with their tennis series giving us an adventure mode where you move from level to level to complete a series of challenges, a fun online/offline tournament, and exciting local play. I haven’t played the Mario Tennis series since the GameCube days, but I’m having as much fun as I did back then, expect for one mode that made me hate motion controls. During the lead up to launch I had questions about full motion controls, if they would support it for full matches? Can it be an alternative? and will it be like Wii Sports or will it have depth will in the base game? These questions were answered just a couple of days before launch and I was disappointed in how Nintendo implemented the motion controls. Coming from the developers of Wii Sports and how well the motion controls worked with the tennis mini-game gave me hope that Nintendo could do something great with motion ...
Post a Comment
Read more

My Game of the Year (2017) – Destiny 2 #3

There was a lot of excitement for the Bungie ’s second go around with Destiny 2 . There was a lot of controversy over what was changed and what didn’t return from the first Destiny .  At first the changes were for the better, it allowed new players to finally wrap their head around the system that was difficult to process in original Destiny.   Rising reputation with an NPC is one change that was assessable newcomers. In Destiny 1 it always felt like a chore, because of the bounty system. This system made it a more difficult task due to the action associated with the bounty – this can range from headshots with a sniper in PvP to complete 3 strikes. With Destiny 2 , the reputation is more streamline with turn-in tokens. Earning these tokens are common and I great resource of gear/weapons when you’re first starting out. These tokens are associated with each planet. Its great Bungie is listening to the players and in doing so, made an assessable loot shooter for the ca...
Post a Comment
Read more

My 2016 Game of the Year: # 5 Firewatch

#5 Firewatch When I first saw early builds of Firewatch I thought it was a different and new approach in an engaging narrative. The way you can interact with objects and the small clues you can find within the environment provides more life to the world. Firewatch was the first game I played in the genre, but there are other games that have the same kind of first-person narrative. Gone Home is one of the recent and well-received first-person narrative game. The two games are similar in gameplay, you walk from objective to objective trying to put the pieces together in the world. Gone Home is set in a house, and in Firewatch’s case, you’re in an open forest. Campo Santo are the developers of Firewatch and was formed by former Telltales: The Walking Dead developers. Once I knew about Campo Santo and the developers that were working on the game I had a sense of what to expect. Character Building Makes You Sympathize with Henry The game starts strong with a se...
Post a Comment
Read more