Bloodborne is an excellent game in many ways - especially combat and atmosphere.
No other Souls game forces you to be so aggressive and it's honestly a very refreshing take on the already established formula. The various levels are amazing in structure and nail the gothic aesthetic, also I love how they used the connected level design instead of linear progression, really makes unlocking shortcuts feel satisfying. The weapons have some really unique gimmicks and definitely offer a playstyle for each individual player.
Something I really liked about Bloodborne is how I actually could piece together the story after just one playthrough - I was never able to do this in a Souls game before! And the background lore is actually great, Fromsoft did a fantastic job with the worldbuilding here.
Now, my only flaws with this game would be the vial system and some bosses. While the latter point is somewhat subjective, vial farming can be an absolute chore (without using chalice dungeons) if you're stuck on a part and definitely puts the pacing to a halt. Also it's very easy to just outheal bosses if you just spam some of the twenty vials you're given - not the most optimal solution, but it somehow works most of the time anyways.
My final verdict? This is a definitive must-play if you just so happen to own a Playstation. Hoping for everyone it will be freed from the PSN shackles one day. Until then, fear the old blood.
No other Souls game forces you to be so aggressive and it's honestly a very refreshing take on the already established formula. The various levels are amazing in structure and nail the gothic aesthetic, also I love how they used the connected level design instead of linear progression, really makes unlocking shortcuts feel satisfying. The weapons have some really unique gimmicks and definitely offer a playstyle for each individual player.
Something I really liked about Bloodborne is how I actually could piece together the story after just one playthrough - I was never able to do this in a Souls game before! And the background lore is actually great, Fromsoft did a fantastic job with the worldbuilding here.
Now, my only flaws with this game would be the vial system and some bosses. While the latter point is somewhat subjective, vial farming can be an absolute chore (without using chalice dungeons) if you're stuck on a part and definitely puts the pacing to a halt. Also it's very easy to just outheal bosses if you just spam some of the twenty vials you're given - not the most optimal solution, but it somehow works most of the time anyways.
My final verdict? This is a definitive must-play if you just so happen to own a Playstation. Hoping for everyone it will be freed from the PSN shackles one day. Until then, fear the old blood.
8 Comments
Great review
I should write a full length review when I replay this again...maybe sometime this month hmmm
@NOWITSREYNTIME17 Thanks! Ironically our conversation yesterday is what prompted me to write this review :p
Also replaying the spooky Souls game in October doesn't sound too bad now, does it?
Also replaying the spooky Souls game in October doesn't sound too bad now, does it?
oh thats pretty awesome lol, yeah I was thinking about making this a yearly tradition game too cuz it isnt long at all. Might just do that now!
Really enjoyed the review, but I do want to discuss something with you and would love to hear a reply back! You said the vial system and some bosses were flaws, but then you say you don't consider them flaws because they are "subjective" Having blood vials be a consumable resource that you have to replenish is a flaw because healing is so important in these kinds of games, it really hurts pacing to be exploring or fighting a boss only to run out of healing, and either grind blood echoes, or farm mobs that drop them before returning to what you were doing. Games after this that FromSoft has made do away with this kind of system because it's intrusive to the experience rather than having a consistent source of healing. You could argue not everyone is going to run out of healing vials for sure, but the issue isn't "who" it's going to effect, the issue is "how" it's designed fundamentally.
@QuentTheSlayer Valid point! I've thought about that too for a bit, but I can't really see the 'limited resources' part as a flaw when the cummmfpk chalice dungeon exists, where you can easily stock up on enough vials for the entire game (same for the bullets). However if you don't want to resort to what's essentially cheating, it can really grow tiresome when you're dying again and again and I can definitely see where you're coming from in that regard.
@Lemonstrade Great response, and I entirely agree with you. There are ways to essentially remove the "limited resource" aspect of them with the chalices. It is a shame that if you aren't online, you cannot use this method. I also don't necessarily consider it cheating unless the chalice dungeon was somehow altered in a way the game doesn't intend. If the game naturally created these chalice dungeons in this way, it's more of an oversight than cheating. But anyways, thanks for the great response, really appreciate it!
principality01
7 months ago