Pros: A fresh take on the Souls series, fantastic and satisfying combat, well-developed Gothic aesthetic, cool take/direction on weapons, DLCPros: A fresh take on the Souls series, fantastic and satisfying combat, well-developed Gothic aesthetic, cool take/direction on weapons, DLC
Cons: Vial/Bullet system (farming), chalice dungeons, low frame rates, long loading times (fixed for the most part)
Thoughts: As someone who has played all of the Dark Souls series, I was eager to play Bloodborne - a Souls-like game (created by From software) with a twist. For the most part I wasn't disappointed. Bloodborne felt fresh without really changing up the Souls formula too much. However what It did change worked really well mostly.
The setting of the game - Yharnam - is fantastic, dark, and Gothic Victorian-era like, and the enemies fit that theme very well. Everything still has that dark, dreaded felling like the Souls series, but Bloodborne really indulges in this more so.
The combat is the star of the show. Everything is faster, parrying is now more important that ever and the health system where you can get back lost health by attacking really changes the style of combat from the Souls series in a good, fresh way. The weapons with their two mode play style (default - less damage, faster and mode 2 - more damage, slower) also adds an element of thought and tactics to each encounter as well. The DLC like all fromsoft titles builds upon the game and adds new bosses, enemies, weapons that improve on the base game's foundations.
Whilst I did enjoy the changes there were some things/experiences that brought the game down a bit in my opinion. For one, while the vial/bullet system works well and plays in to the game's fast nature, the having to farm these items when they've run out to continue the game - especially when stuck on a boss - is very time-consuming, boring and annoying. It also wrecks the flow of the gameplay; one minute you are fighting a boss and getting to know it's moves, the next you're forced to go and farm for vials/bullets which really ruins the experience.
The game itself can also affect the quality of gameplay. Long loading times on menu screens after you've died (thankfully fixed in updates) as well as stuttering framerates when much is going on (which happens quite a bit) are a problem sometimes but overall don't really inhibit the players experience.
The worst part of the game are the chalice dungeons. Chalice dungeons are separate to the main game, and are this Zelda-like areas which players battle through. These chalice dungeons are soul crushing. They are so boring, mainly due to the same environments/level design elements popping up again and again and agains. The only thing worth punishing yourself for is that fact that there are chalice dungeon bosses which aren't in the main game/story mode, and getting easy money. Otherwise these dungeons are terrible.
Overall Bloodborne is a good game. Do I prefer it over any of the souls games? No, however it appears to be just a matter of opinion and preference, as I can see why most people who play this game give it rave reviews, but the negatives of the game really affected my time in the game more than I though they would.… Expand