Bloodborne is a game I went in with incredibly high expectations, "Miyazaki's magnum opus" is something I heard a lot. and I must say. It wasn't my favourite. But it is still incredibly great and holds up to that quote as I believ it is his best work yet in world, lore and Ideas. However, It suffered a little from me being so good at the game due to how much I played of the 3 prior souls games that I steamrolled the enemies. However, I say this through that lens, and I can definitely tell that had I struggled more and had that learning experience like I had through DS1 or 3 It could definitely be better than Dark souls 3.
Gameplay - To begin the game plays far more aggressive and promotes more increased activity in combat, in bosses mainly, thanks to their stagger meters which pomote breaking down to get stagger attacks. This change caused the opening hours to create some confusion to me, hwoever, once adapted and once tested this change is an incredible one, its use of hitting back to gain lost health is intuitive on a level I never expected. However, I must say that the Finite Blood Vials was an absolute pain for the majority of the tiem until deep into chalice dungeons where you gain so much Blood echoes that you can buy so many they become an non-issue. This however promotes a tedium of grinding and playing chalice dungeons if you don't want to (I did and really enjoyed them), which irks me quite a lot. The use of the 2 weapon styls was perfection and allows for incredible combos and creativity I haven't seen in a souls game yet. absolutely marvellous. 30FPS is the most glaring issue that can cause someone to quit if they can't get used to it, luckily I could but still, give us a remaster already.
World - The beautiful gothic gravitas open city mixed with the DS1 shortcut level system on a smller degree and multiple secret areas and bosses? Incredible. Best world in a soulsborne game ever, thanks to this. I absolutely love it, especially the way it changes time and looks as the game and your insight grow, showing you the true horrors, each district feeling unique and separate, as well as an absolutely superb DLC which just keeps this up. No flaws whatsoever, absolutely adore it.
Story - Arguably the most interesting single game story and deep lore, that even I can't completely wrap my head around despite countless YouTube videos I've watched dedicated to it. The beast slaying turning to eldritch horror was a perfect swivel and the vast knowledge in each area of the world makes DS1 look barebones, If this had a trilogy the world could be the Most interesting in video game history. The side ques/characters are all on Siegward/Solaire level consistently throughout with each choice having an impact on everything and most stories saw having a great start and ending. I saw a lot of stories play out and missed a lot, ahd a few prematurely ended but it still all felt like a mini narrative built in a grand narrative, including absolutely deep narrative for the damn chalice dungoens that I still can't wrap my head around, absolutely insanely good. Absolutely amazing.
Bosses - were consistently good with having generally no bad bosses aside from that damn Miccolash and Witches of Hemwic, which I understand were creative, but they were ultimately dreadful. however, when they had great bosses, they were impeccable, Lady Marie, the final boss, Martyr Logarius, Ludwig and the final DLC boss were impeccable. However, Like I said, I never really struggled, other than with logarius and I believe he was my favourite fight thanks to this, but that's not a game Issue as I know I am in an incredibly small minority thinking this.
Overall this game is absolutely impeccable and thanks to all of its Highs and really minor lows and a personal Low, this game is still one of the best Soulsborne games ever and deserves incredible praise and love. Give us the damn remaster and a sequel.
I am absolutely struggling between 9.25 and 9.5 for this rating, so I will air on the lower side at 9.25/10 but my god is it close
Buy this game now
Gameplay - To begin the game plays far more aggressive and promotes more increased activity in combat, in bosses mainly, thanks to their stagger meters which pomote breaking down to get stagger attacks. This change caused the opening hours to create some confusion to me, hwoever, once adapted and once tested this change is an incredible one, its use of hitting back to gain lost health is intuitive on a level I never expected. However, I must say that the Finite Blood Vials was an absolute pain for the majority of the tiem until deep into chalice dungeons where you gain so much Blood echoes that you can buy so many they become an non-issue. This however promotes a tedium of grinding and playing chalice dungeons if you don't want to (I did and really enjoyed them), which irks me quite a lot. The use of the 2 weapon styls was perfection and allows for incredible combos and creativity I haven't seen in a souls game yet. absolutely marvellous. 30FPS is the most glaring issue that can cause someone to quit if they can't get used to it, luckily I could but still, give us a remaster already.
World - The beautiful gothic gravitas open city mixed with the DS1 shortcut level system on a smller degree and multiple secret areas and bosses? Incredible. Best world in a soulsborne game ever, thanks to this. I absolutely love it, especially the way it changes time and looks as the game and your insight grow, showing you the true horrors, each district feeling unique and separate, as well as an absolutely superb DLC which just keeps this up. No flaws whatsoever, absolutely adore it.
Story - Arguably the most interesting single game story and deep lore, that even I can't completely wrap my head around despite countless YouTube videos I've watched dedicated to it. The beast slaying turning to eldritch horror was a perfect swivel and the vast knowledge in each area of the world makes DS1 look barebones, If this had a trilogy the world could be the Most interesting in video game history. The side ques/characters are all on Siegward/Solaire level consistently throughout with each choice having an impact on everything and most stories saw having a great start and ending. I saw a lot of stories play out and missed a lot, ahd a few prematurely ended but it still all felt like a mini narrative built in a grand narrative, including absolutely deep narrative for the damn chalice dungoens that I still can't wrap my head around, absolutely insanely good. Absolutely amazing.
Bosses - were consistently good with having generally no bad bosses aside from that damn Miccolash and Witches of Hemwic, which I understand were creative, but they were ultimately dreadful. however, when they had great bosses, they were impeccable, Lady Marie, the final boss, Martyr Logarius, Ludwig and the final DLC boss were impeccable. However, Like I said, I never really struggled, other than with logarius and I believe he was my favourite fight thanks to this, but that's not a game Issue as I know I am in an incredibly small minority thinking this.
Overall this game is absolutely impeccable and thanks to all of its Highs and really minor lows and a personal Low, this game is still one of the best Soulsborne games ever and deserves incredible praise and love. Give us the damn remaster and a sequel.
I am absolutely struggling between 9.25 and 9.5 for this rating, so I will air on the lower side at 9.25/10 but my god is it close
Buy this game now