Bloodborne March 24th: Now I finally need a PS4

SNKNostalgia

Avid Neo-Expert
Joined
Jul 11, 2005
Posts
1,982
My spankin' new 2TB hdd arrived today. Installation and updating took less than 10 minutes. I'll have to leave the PS4 in rest mode overnight to redownload all my games. However, tomorrow after work...my adventure into Bloodborne shall begin.

Turns out that with the 2.50 update you can back-up everything from the internal HDD onto an external HDD, then transfer to the new HDD. Glad I have a 1TB external handy for this. I am getting a 1TB with 8GB NAND flash Solid State Hybrid for some quicker loading and doubled space this weekend, then maybe in a year or so they will make a bigger 2-4TB with 32-64GB NAND flash SSHD that is affordable. Then I will swap the 1 TB SSHD down to my PS3 or something. I am just going to get the retail $90 version for that 3 year warranty. I hear it is a bitch to return the OEM non-retail ones to the amazon sellers and Samsung won't take them back if something goes wrong. I really wish that Western Digital 120 GB SSD + 1TB HDD dual drive on Amazon would work on a PS4, but it works as if it were two separate drives.
 

greedostick

Obsessed Neo-Fan
15 Year Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2003
Posts
4,474
My spankin' new 2TB hdd arrived today. Installation and updating took less than 10 minutes. I'll have to leave the PS4 in rest mode overnight to redownload all my games. However, tomorrow after work...my adventure into Bloodborne shall begin.

I'm probably gonna start a new Katana build after my first playthrough. So I might be able to meet up with some of you guys.
 

Kid Panda

The Chinese Kid
Joined
Jun 13, 2010
Posts
12,514
So I started a new character as I felt I fudged up my first one, starting dumping points into strength and endurance, I literally waked through the first two bosses like they were a joke. Now I'm back where I was in like only an hour and a half. Hopefully this play will go better.
 

ThGame

Geese's Thug
Joined
Feb 6, 2015
Posts
270
The chalice dungeons are the true end game Of this, i hit a wall at lvl 145 and have to go back through more game to keep progressing. This would be a great part for multiplayer with a buddy if you had a couple of same level characters. Still need 1 more trophy for platinum!
 

neobuyer

Master of Disguise,
Joined
Oct 7, 2000
Posts
8,083
OK guys, I am totally down with starting a third hunter and coop-ing N-g.com style.

Let's seriously try to make this happen, I'm up for an arcane build this time.

This needs to happen!
 

roker

DOOM
20 Year Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2003
Posts
18,871
got my ass handed to me repeatedly until I made it to the first boss. Shit has gotten better. It's going to be a hell of a weekend playing this game.

One complaint about the PS4, no USB video playback?

wtf?

This was standard in 2006 (when the 360 came out, right?)

Kind of stupid if you ask me.

Ok, back to the game, I'm liking the fast paced gameplay, the game is hard as shit, but one thing it has over dark souls is you can massacre a bunch of enemies on screen all at once (though 9 times out of 10 you'll have to re-position to get the asshole who slipped behind you). It's not Dark Souls, it's hard for me to accept that, but it's still a ton of fun. It's part of the family, no doubt. I like it and look forward to sinking in more hours into it.

I'll probably buy Dark Souls II when it hits the budget bin. I'm missing the shield and calculated killings. I never played Demon Souls, but there's still no doubt in my mind that Dark Souls 1 will go down as one of the best of last gen.

I'm not sure where Bloodborne fits in, but I'm finally starting to get it.
 

Poonman

macebronian
15 Year Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2004
Posts
9,940
I don't even have a PS4 and I already like it more than DS2 (and its shitty fucking parrying)....that game forced me to play like a dull cunt hiding behind a shield, compared to where I'd just YOLOSWEG my way through DS1 with a rapier, a parrying dagger and the Dark Wood Grain Ring.
 

ThGame

Geese's Thug
Joined
Feb 6, 2015
Posts
270
I don't even have a PS4 and I already like it more than DS2 (and its shitty fucking parrying)....that game forced me to play like a dull cunt hiding behind a shield, compared to where I'd just YOLOSWEG my way through DS1 with a rapier, a parrying dagger and the Dark Wood Grain Ring.

This is exactly where bloodborne shines, it forces you in boss fights to engage face to face with the massive beast you're against and with the regain system often you must get right back in the bosses face after taking a big hit as opposed to running and hiding like a bitch. It forces you into uncomfortable positions and then rewards you for having the balls to take the boss head on
 
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greedostick

Obsessed Neo-Fan
15 Year Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2003
Posts
4,474
This is exactly where bloodborne shines, it forces you in boss fights to engage face to face with the massive beast you're against and with the regain system often you must get right back in the bosses face after taking a big hit as opposed to running and hiding like a bitch. It forces you into uncomfortable positions and then rewards you for having the balls to take the boss head on

I'm getting on now for 6 hours. I'm level 65, but could make a level one.

PSN = Jforrest1980
 

Gentlegamer

Sakura's Bank Manager
10 Year Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2014
Posts
728
I don't even have a PS4 and I already like it more than DS2 (and its shitty fucking parrying)....that game forced me to play like a dull cunt hiding behind a shield, compared to where I'd just YOLOSWEG my way through DS1 with a rapier, a parrying dagger and the Dark Wood Grain Ring.

That's my style in Dark Souls, Wanderer two handing Falchion with Grass Crest Shield on back, rolling around like Sonic.

Much prefer the ability to be aggressive and fast.
 

Gentlegamer

Sakura's Bank Manager
10 Year Member
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Dec 7, 2014
Posts
728
Most of the time going through Dark Souls 2 I wasn't defensive.

The jankiness of the animations, damage frames, iframes, enemy 360 tracking, and weapon durability completely altered how I played Dark Souls II.

I didn't like it.
 

Poonman

macebronian
15 Year Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2004
Posts
9,940
Most of the time going through Dark Souls 2 I wasn't defensive.

*Ahem*

Old Iron King DLC/NG+9/Iron Passage = Shittily placed enemies + Red phantoms fucking EVERYWHERE and you have yourself a tedious, shitty game where you're "pulling" enemies all over the place or whittling them down with a million poison arrows.

Obviously you can just fuck shit up in the main game with OP magic or a 2h hammer weapon + stone ring....but parrying and playing with finesse and skill just wasn't worth learning because parries sucked fucking cock.
 

Magician

A simple man who simply loves gaming.
20 Year Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2002
Posts
10,336
Fired it up, died repeatedly, but atleast I feel as though I'm making progress.

Game looks and sounds better than I thought it would.

Will be back for more over the weekend.
 

neobuyer

Master of Disguise,
Joined
Oct 7, 2000
Posts
8,083
Anyone can add me on PSN: defact0x

Have a lvl 100-ish and a lvl 69

Starting a new character soon, i.e.: lvl 1-25

Fairly skilled player, but haven't played much past the pthumeru root chalice, on hinterlands now I believe.
 

Poison Sama

The Hentai Christ
20 Year Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2002
Posts
6,631
I'm almost done with my first playthrough. The only bosses I have left to clear are the final one, the TLB, and a handful of the chalice dungeon ones. Aside from that, I unknowingly screwed myself out of some covenants/sub-quests, so I'll be sure to experience all that in NG+.

Overall, I'd say this is the easiest "Souls" game I've played so far, and the only one I haven't played yet is Dark Souls 2. I decided to stop leveling up once I hit 60, and yet I still feel like I'm over-leveled. The apparent difficulty is neither good nor bad really; on one hand a higher level of challenge would feel more rewarding and add a bit more length to the game, but on the other it makes it less of a drag to experiment with new builds and makes the game more fun to replay. Maybe it would be better if the bosses were a bit more challenging to fight, since the majority of them are push-overs which I've cleared on the first try, and the harder ones only take a few retries (only to become mostly push-overs themselves once their attacks are figured out). And no, I did not use guides to help me with the bosses, nor did I summon co-op partners.

While I feel that some of the design changes are a step back (not being able to rest at lamps, vials instead of estus, co-op/PvP system), there are also a good number of new things I prefer (guns instead of shields, dashing while locked-on, more streamlined upgrade system, charge attacks). I also like that armor is more cosmetic, so now I can just wear what I like, instead of stuff with good stats but unappealing looks. Although the multiplayer matchmaking system is definitely less than optimal, the gameplay changes/additions make the PvP matches themselves a lot more fun to engage in imo (though I've only played 6 matches so far). To elaborate on the estus vs vials issue, I wouldn't say that estus is necessarily better, rather that it merely "sucks less". To be honest, I don't think any Souls game has done it right for my liking. I would much rather have all major healing items disabled during PvP matches. Speaking for myself, players being able to use healing items during PvP just causes the matches to drag on for way too long.

A couple of other things: this game has a lot of optional content, and most of it feels really easy to miss. Related to that, I know I mentioned that I missed out on some covenants and NPC sub-plots, but the NPCs in Bloodborne felt much more empty and boring than in other Souls games. My opinion on the latter might change after NG+, but it felt like the characters in other Souls games had way more personality and were easier to find/talk to, which added a lot to the story/lore of the settings.

Overall though, I'm enjoying Bloodborne a lot. But Dark Souls is still my favorite Souls game so far, mainly because it's the one that reminds me the most of King's Field.
 

ThGame

Geese's Thug
Joined
Feb 6, 2015
Posts
270
I'm almost done with my first playthrough. The only bosses I have left to clear are the final one, the TLB, and a handful of the chalice dungeon ones. Aside from that, I unknowingly screwed myself out of some covenants/sub-quests, so I'll be sure to experience all that in NG+.

Overall, I'd say this is the easiest "Souls" game I've played so far, and the only one I haven't played yet is Dark Souls 2. I decided to stop leveling up once I hit 60, and yet I still feel like I'm over-leveled. The apparent difficulty is neither good nor bad really; on one hand a higher level of challenge would feel more rewarding and add a bit more length to the game, but on the other it makes it less of a drag to experiment with new builds and makes the game more fun to replay. Maybe it would be better if the bosses were a bit more challenging to fight, since the majority of them are push-overs which I've cleared on the first try, and the harder ones only take a few retries (only to become mostly push-overs themselves once their attacks are figured out). And no, I did not use guides to help me with the bosses, nor did I summon co-op partners.

While I feel that some of the design changes are a step back (not being able to rest at lamps, vials instead of estus, co-op/PvP system), there are also a good number of new things I prefer (guns instead of shields, dashing while locked-on, more streamlined upgrade system, charge attacks). I also like that armor is more cosmetic, so now I can just wear what I like, instead of stuff with good stats but unappealing looks. Although the multiplayer matchmaking system is definitely less than optimal, the gameplay changes/additions make the PvP matches themselves a lot more fun to engage in imo (though I've only played 6 matches so far). To elaborate on the estus vs vials issue, I wouldn't say that estus is necessarily better, rather that it merely "sucks less". To be honest, I don't think any Souls game has done it right for my liking. I would much rather have all major healing items disabled during PvP matches. Speaking for myself, players being able to use healing items during PvP just causes the matches to drag on for way too long.

A couple of other things: this game has a lot of optional content, and most of it feels really easy to miss. Related to that, I know I mentioned that I missed out on some covenants and NPC sub-plots, but the NPCs in Bloodborne felt much more empty and boring than in other Souls games. My opinion on the latter might change after NG+, but it felt like the characters in other Souls games had way more personality and were easier to find/talk to, which added a lot to the story/lore of the settings.

Overall though, I'm enjoying Bloodborne a lot. But Dark Souls is still my favorite Souls game so far, mainly because it's the one that reminds me the most of King's Field.

Pretty much agree with everything you said. Dark souls 2 is easier than demon souls and dark souls 1 but bloodborne is easier. Im at the end of my ng+ run and it is kinda a bore, im just doing it to get the platinum trophy basically. Thats one thing dark souls did so well was extra equipment and builds and such only achived through multiple playthroughs. The chalice dungeons actually get very difficult i think you should spend more time on that as i hit a wall at the end of my first playthrough in the dungeons where i finally decided id be better off just starting a ng+ gaining levels and such and working on other things while i get stronger. At about lvl 130 or so and while ng+ is a breeze i still expect a challence in the lower chalice levels.
 

Poonman

macebronian
15 Year Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2004
Posts
9,940
There was a guy on twitch who tore through the game, made it up to NG+17, hit the soft level cap of 50 for every stat and basically told the stream that there was nothing left to do and just turned it off.


Pretty mindblowing since it's barely been out a week and people are already running out of shit to do with it.
That in itself is pretty crazy because I'm hearing these challice dungeons get pretty fucking nuts towards the end in terms of difficulty.


On the other hand I wonder how many hours I pissed away on stupid shit like getting pure bladestone to drop?

Maybe Bloodborne placed more emphasis on the experience, rather than the grind and [holistically] it might be better game for simply giving the gamers what they want instead of fucking us around with timewasting, RNG bullshit.
 
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greedostick

Obsessed Neo-Fan
15 Year Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2003
Posts
4,474
I'm almost done too, level 79 and all I think I have left is the prison, and the last stage. I pretty much agree with the 2 posts above. This game is really hard at first, but much easier after level 1. I just got my blades of mercy up to level 9 and I'm wrecking everything in my path. Still loving the game for sure, but the depth of the previous souls games isn't there. I just started doing the chalice dungeons. Figure I will get through as many of these as I can before beating the game. One of my brothers is over level 150 and he says they get to be hard even at his level.

If you want a REAL boss fight, do Eileen the Crows side Quest and fight the Katana NPC hunter. He is a total dick.
 

Fritz

Annex Florida Coalition, Goodwill Ambassador,
15 Year Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2009
Posts
3,434
Fuck this stupid game.

Haha, what part are you stuck on? I have had several "fuck this shit" moments so far, notably with a few of the bosses. I ended up having to co-op them.
 

greedostick

Obsessed Neo-Fan
15 Year Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2003
Posts
4,474
Fuck this stupid game.

Yeah, if you never played a souls game you're gonna suck. So use Co op help. After the first playthrough the game will be easy.

What level are you? And where are you?

My usual suggestion is spend all your souls and then RUN till you can run to the end without dying, and come back to explore after gaining some skill.

Or, if it's a boss get Co op help till you get better, or use some buffs. Like fire paper, or oil and molotov.
 

Tron

Test
15 Year Member
Joined
May 20, 2004
Posts
8,135
Yeah, if you never played a souls game you're gonna suck. So use Co op help. After the first playthrough the game will be easy.

What level are you? And where are you?

My usual suggestion is spend all your souls and then RUN till you can run to the end without dying, and come back to explore after gaining some skill.

Or, if it's a boss get Co op help till you get better, or use some buffs. Like fire paper, or oil and molotov.
This far as advice go's for on bloodborne ;)
 

Spike Spiegel

Onigami Isle Castaway
20 Year Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2001
Posts
13,681
You'll have to forgive me. Like an idiot I sold my cane in favor of the kirkhammer and struggled for 30 minutes before I bought a saw blade and said "fuck it." Gonna grind like hell and get past father what's his face.
 
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