Bloodborne Press Preview Impressions (16/03/2015)

Pfft. Speak for yourself. :P
Think I managed to complete DS1 and DS2 in about 2 days each. (This is of course me playing them all day long when they came out due to no other commitments)

What? Do you mean just blitzing the main mode? You have to mean that which seems rather pointless with a game like this.
 
I'm looking at the Seagate 1TB SSHD. I assume that one's good.

I'm mainly looking to upgrade since I'm running out of space, not particularly for Bloodborne. I also would rather upgrade now rather then have to redownload Bloodborne later.
 
I remember when Gamespot named Demon's Souls their GOTY and I was like WTF is this shit? I had never even heard of it. Soon thereafter, I died.
 
I'm looking at the Seagate 1TB SSHD. I assume that one's good.

I'm mainly looking to upgrade since I'm running out of space, not particularly for Bloodborne. I also would rather upgrade now rather then have to redownload Bloodborne later.

That's the one I'm getting. I didn't know SSHD was so drastically less expensive than SSD. Lesson learned.
 
I'm kind of looking forward to having no shield. I'm terrified, certainly, but I sometimes had a habit in the Souls games of rushing after I died in an attempt to get back to where I was quickly. That usually wasn't a good idea. But here, it seems to be the best idea!
 
I'm kind of looking forward to having no shield. I'm terrified, certainly, but I sometimes had a habit in the Souls games of rushing after I died in an attempt to get back to where I was quickly. That usually wasn't a good idea. But here, it seems to be the best idea!

It won't be a good idea if something has taken your blood echoes

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I tried so hard to get into both Dark Souls 1 and 2, but just couldn't.

But I'm strangely excited for Bloodborne. I hope I can actually last more than an hour or so in.
 
I mistakenly thought today was review day from the initial misunderstanding. Still, I've seen enough with the preview impressions and game videos to put in my pre-order this morning. Looking forward to throwing obscenities at my TV.
 
I'm kind of looking forward to having no shield. I'm terrified, certainly, but I sometimes had a habit in the Souls games of rushing after I died in an attempt to get back to where I was quickly. That usually wasn't a good idea. But here, it seems to be the best idea!

From what i understand rushing by enemies in bloodborne does not work very well. I hear they follow you for a long time and are much quicker. Sounds like if you run by them you will lend up fighting a dozen enemies at once and end up dying again.
 
That's the one I'm getting. I didn't know SSHD was so drastically less expensive than SSD. Lesson learned.

That's because SSHD consist of small SSD, for caching, and a slow HDD. They work best when data can fit in the SSD portion for accessing. If it's not on the SSD portion and needs to be access on the HDD, it could be slow. For gaming, if you are accessing the same level and area, it should work great. For a linear game, like The Order 1886, performance probably wouldn't be good. While, a SSD would be fast all around.
 
From what i understand rushing by enemies in bloodborne does not work very well. I hear they follow you for a long time and are much quicker. Sounds like if you run by them you will lend up fighting a dozen enemies at once and end up dying again.

Rushing into mobs is still a bad idea. You still have to be strategic, but the health regain mechanic should be used. If you are surprised and an enemy takes a lot of your life, in Souls, you usually run away to heal, but in Bloodborne you should retaliate quickly to get your life back also bearing in mind that the enemy could attack again. That mechanic could save you numerous times but like most things in Bloodborne could also lead to your death very quickly.
 
I'm kind of looking forward to having no shield. I'm terrified, certainly, but I sometimes had a habit in the Souls games of rushing after I died in an attempt to get back to where I was quickly. That usually wasn't a good idea. But here, it seems to be the best idea!

I actually played like that for the first time with DS2 where I went with giant 2 handed weapons instead, I thought it was surprisingly easy to adapt.

...aside from that ending section with the mage enemies sniping you from afar.
 
That's because SSHD consist of small SSD, for caching, and a slow HDD. They work best when data can fit in the SSD portion for accessing. If it's not on the SSD portion and needs to be access on the HDD, it could be slow. For gaming, if you are accessing the same level and area, it should work great. For a linear game, like The Order 1886, performance probably wouldn't be good. While, a SSD would be fast all around.

I don't even remember loading times in The Order using SSHD. It has been great for everything I've played so far.
 
Are any journalists in here familiar with who to contact regarding From Software's games? Normally I would contact the publisher, but Sony Computer Entertainment doesn't appear to have any contact information other than their support team, and From Software made the mistake of using images for a lot of the text on their website that cannot be translated, and even if translated, isn't accurate enough to navigate.

I'm also not sure what they would do if I sent them an email in English.
 
I'm looking at the Seagate 1TB SSHD. I assume that one's good.

I'm mainly looking to upgrade since I'm running out of space, not particularly for Bloodborne. I also would rather upgrade now rather then have to redownload Bloodborne later.

I upgraded my hard drive with that one a few months ago and it's been great.

There has definitely been an improvement I'm loading times, especially if you play the same game over and over so the drive stores more of the files In the cache.
 
I don't even remember loading times in The Order using SSHD. It has been great for everything I've played so far.

Did you randomly load and play different levels of the game? If straight from beginning to end, you won't notice it since the game was probably designed to hide loading even on the slow ass stock HDD.
 
I hope this faster, more offensive gameplay style doesnt hurt the Souls atmosphere. The slow pace design and thought-out, defensive approach was one of the main reasons the worlds in these games were so overwhelming.

Once you demand of players to be fast and accurate, you risk loosing some of the flavour as people start slipping into "efficiency mode".
 
Are any journalists in here familiar with who to contact regarding From Software's games? Normally I would contact the publisher, but Sony Computer Entertainment doesn't appear to have any contact information other than their support team, and From Software made the mistake of using images for a lot of the text on their website that cannot be translated, and even if translated, isn't accurate enough to navigate.

I'm also not sure what they would do if I sent them an email in English.

I would contact https://twitter.com/That_Kid_Chris/with_replies

He is the product manager for Bloodborne
 
I hope this faster, more offensive gameplay style doesnt hurt the Souls atmosphere. The slow pace design and thought-out, defensive approach was one of the main reasons the worlds in these games were so overwhelming.

Early players are saying that it actually helps - the faster pace of the fights combined with the more aggressive enemy A.I. apparently lends the game an oppressive feel that fits right in with the Souls-like atmosphere.
 
I hope this faster, more offensive gameplay style doesnt hurt the Souls atmosphere. The slow pace design and thought-out, defensive approach was one of the main reasons the worlds in these games were so overwhelming.

Based on the footage I have seen, you still have to take that careful approach and the world feels oppressive and dark as hell. You just can't sit there and block and time counter attacks the same. You have to be more crafty, as well as more mobile during some encounters. But make no mistake, that same kind of overall vibe and flow is very much present.
 
Early players are saying that it actually helps - the faster pace of the fights combined with the more aggressive enemy A.I. apparently lends the game an oppressive feel that fits right in with the Souls-like atmosphere.

Based on the footage I have seen, you still have to take that careful approach and the world feels oppressive and dark as hell. You just can't sit there and block and time counter attacks the same. You have to be more crafty, as well as more mobile during some encounters. But make no mistake, that same kind of overall vibe and flow is very much present.

Music to my ears :´)
 
I'm glad Souls games (including Bloodborne) are anything but "legit AAA experience"s. They basically do everything AAA games don't.
Good point! But it would still be nice to strike a happy balance bwtween FROM getting a tonne of money, and them having to cater to the masses.
Perhaps it is just me, and I am being an elitist jerk. How many gaming journalist reviews have you read that ever screamed out bad ass souls player?

I can't think of any.

The pen is not mightier than the sword in souls it would appear!
 
What? Do you mean just blitzing the main mode? You have to mean that which seems rather pointless with a game like this.

Wouldn't call it blitzing it. I just didn't stop playing. Unless people were using "Beat the game" to mean platinuming, in which case I think it took me 4 days to platinum DS1? Though I didn't platinum it till about a year after I finished the game.

For reference, I'm an unemployed graduate with literally nothing to do.
 
I just heard a Dualshockers interview with Yamagiwa that said we can
find and kill the Bell Maiden before she summons an invader.
Nice touch.
 
I just heard a Dualshockers interview with Yamagiwa that said we can
find and kill the Bell Maiden before she summons an invader.
Nice touch.

I like that Invaders are summoned when summoning an ally since 1 invader vs 2 or 3 is usually a more fair fight. The more invaders kept busy in that scenario the better.
 
A horror game is something like Amnesia or Outlast. Dark Souls has horror elements but to call it a flat out horror game is just wrong.

Sure, if you want to have such a narrow definition of what horror actually is and cling tightly to genre labels. That's your issue though, not mine. Survival Horror is also a single horror subgenre and does not make up the entirety of the horror genres. Next you'll be telling me that Alien Isolation is just a science fiction game and that Aliens is just an action movie.

Ever seen Pan's Labyrinth?

The more impressions I read stating "keeping your shield up and circle-strafing won't help you anymore" I'm honestly shocked that seemingly 90% of the people who played the Souls games seem to have an identical playstyle. There are so many ways to play and most people seem to stick with the first combo that works.

I think Bloodborne is going to be loads easier to manage without a shield than Souls was. People who are used to no shield playthroughs of Souls will probably be surprised.

I said something similar in the spoiler thread when some were claiming that Bloodborne has to be played "completely different" than the other Souls games and that you have to unlearn habits from them. Even the previewers mostly talked about a turtling playstyle. I said that anyone who had also played games like Bayonetta, Devil May Cry (4 especially), MGR:R, Ninja Gaiden and even God of War in conjunction with the Souls games would have skills that would carry over. That didn't go too well. Players that are used to hit and run tactics from those game (constant dodging) or simply playing a two-handed or dual wield style from the Souls games should feel right at home with Bloodborne. In Demon's and Dark, dodging was the better way to avoid damage most of the time anyway. Dark Souls 2 actually encouraged turtling (or learning to parry) until you wasted 30+ levels raising agility.

Playing Demons Souls I never once had the feeling of " horror " .........

dark fantasy maybe .. kind of ... but never horror.

LOL. Read the definition of dark fantasy that's right above your post. Here's the gist though:

Charles L. Grant is often cited as having coined the term "dark fantasy". Grant defined his brand of dark fantasy as "a type of horror story in which humanity is threatened by forces beyond human understanding".[3] He often used dark fantasy as an alternative to horror, as horror was increasingly associated with more visceral works.
 
Dark Souls 2 actually encouraged turtling (or learning to parry) until you wasted 30+ levels raising agility.

You don't need to bltiz agility. Shields are actually worse than they are in the other games at low levels, because stat requirements are higher for relatively low % block and stability, and it is harder to stack Stamina due to the vastly lower boost per point put in Endurance, and the generally worse poise (at SL1). All of the defensive abilities are nerfed at the SL1 compared to what they were in Dark Souls 1, not just i-Frames. If you want to the best roll invincibility, it is going to require a stat investment. If you want good roll distance, it requires a stat investment. If you want really good shielding, it will require a stat investment. If you want to take hits without staggering or taking much damage, it is going to require good armor that will require a greater equipment load, which requires a stat investment.

And I'd rather be dodging at low levels in Dark Souls 2 than I would be trying to tank things with a shield, personally. Just don't do the Pursuer as your 2nd boss. The game isn't linear, and there's, like, 8 or 9 bosses that could be "2nd". Pursuer is just the one where dodging is the best strategy but is hard to dodge effectively.

I played through the game three times, and at no point did I ever feel like the only way to progress was to have good i-frames on the roll. Hell, for most of the game, I found having a good roll distance from the improved weight mechanics to more fundamental to dodging effectively. People will sit down and analyze gifs of guys with wide sword archs (Pursuer or Old Knights) and act like that is the entire game, but it isn't.
 
I remember when Gamespot named Demon's Souls their GOTY and I was like WTF is this shit? I had never even heard of it. Soon thereafter, I died.

Gamespot did the game a great service by making it GOTY. I hadn't really heard of it before and it was only loosely interesting as an action rpg to me.

I think it had a big role in a second wave of new players to the game and set up Dark Souls for the big run it had.
 
You don't need to bltiz agility. Shields are actually worse than they are in the other games at low levels, because stat requirements are higher for relatively low % block and stability, and it is harder to stack Stamina due to the vastly lower boost per point put in Endurance, and the generally worse poise (at SL1). All of the defensive abilities are nerfed at the SL1 compared to what they were in Dark Souls 1, not just i-Frames. If you want to the best roll invincibility, it is going to require a stat investment. If you want good roll distance, it requires a stat investment. If you want really good shielding, it will require a stat investment. If you want to take hits without staggering or taking much damage, it is going to require good armor that will require a greater equipment load, which requires a stat investment.

And I'd rather be dodging at low levels in Dark Souls 2 than I would be trying to tank things with a shield, personally. Just don't do the Pursuer as your 2nd boss. The game isn't linear, and there's, like, 8 or 9 bosses that could be "2nd". Pursuer is just the one where dodging is the best strategy but is hard to dodge effectively.

I played through the game three times
, and at no point did I ever feel like the only way to progress was to have good i-frames on the roll. Hell, for most of the game, I found having a good roll distance from the improved weight mechanics to more fundamental to dodging effectively. People will sit down and analyze gifs of guys with wide sword archs (Pursuer or Old Knights) and act like that is the entire game, but it isn't.

Hurray for your three times? Anyway, the Small Leather Shield, Large Leather Shield, Drangleic Shield and Kite Shield were the best forms of damage mitigation (aside from simply backing off while enemies finish attack routines) through the early to mid levels unless you focused a lot on raising agility (which actually hurts a lot more in the lower levels because STR, DEX and VIT are much more important). In fact, learning how to parry made a lot of the early fights and one boss in particular pretty easy. You aren't wrong about how everything takes such an investment in Dark Souls 2 compared to the previous games, but this just makes turtling encouraged even more due to how effective it is at a lower investment compared to meeting dodge distance breakpoints or i-frame breakpoints.

Also, I didn't need to analyze gifs of the Old Knights or Pursuer to know that hitboxes were fucked in Dark Souls 2. I was complaining about them from day one and was basically told what amounts to "git gud" because not as many people were noticing it yet.

In case you missed them: http://www.reddit.com/r/DarkSouls2/comments/264t6s/the_actual_truth_about_hitboxes
 
Even more rare is those who platinum it.

The first game I plat'd was Uncharted, because I happened to be playing (and loving it) when trophies were born and they got patched in. I never bothered again...

till Demon's Souls. I plat'd that happily, which then caused me to start getting them for more games. But Demon's Souls is one of the few that deserved that level of attention. Rarity of Pure Bladestone was terrible though.
 
You aren't wrong about how everything takes such an investment in Dark Souls 2 compared to the previous games, but this just makes turtling encouraged even more due to how effective it is at a lower investment compared to meeting dodge distance breakpoints or i-frame breakpoints.

There aren't dodge distance breakpoints other than the discontinuity at 70% for the fat roll. Lower weight is better distance, period.

EDIT: I'm not calling it linear at all. That wouldn't even make sense.
 
Wouldn't call it blitzing it. I just didn't stop playing. Unless people were using "Beat the game" to mean platinuming, in which case I think it took me 4 days to platinum DS1? Though I didn't platinum it till about a year after I finished the game.

For reference, I'm an unemployed graduate with literally nothing to do.

At least you get to put this on your resume.
 
There aren't dodge distance breakpoints other than the discontinuity at 70% for the fat roll. Lower weight is better distance, period.

Yes there are. 30%, 50% and 70% all have drastically different distances and effect stamina regeneration too. 0 - 30% has a much less noticeable difference than 30% - 50%. Even if the decrease in distance is gradual, it's not completely linear.
 
Sure, if you want to have such a narrow definition of what horror actually is and cling tightly to genre labels. That's your issue though, not mine. Survival Horror is also a single horror subgenre and does not make up the entirety of the horror genres. Next you'll be telling me that Alien Isolation is just a science fiction game and that Aliens is just an action movie.

Ever seen Pan's Labyrinth?

[..]

LOL. Read the definition of dark fantasy that's right above your post. Here's the gist though:


Why do people go into semantics for the simple reason of arguing? Is it a superiority complex? This whole thing started with a person that said he/she doesn't like horror games and is worried that this new direction in Bloodborne might retract from his/her pleasure of playing the game. You felt the need to correct and specify that the previous Souls games were horror games as well. Yet I find it extremely difficult to believe that you didn't understand what that person meant. Hell, everybody else got it to the point where that same user said let it be, " didn't mean dampen the excitement, still can't wait for this game...". But you just couldn't let it go... You had to do one of the most condescending things a person could do...quote a definition. The definition of a fucking feeling. Which I guess overcomes a person through a whole range of games...from Mario to Zelda to Metal Gear to Uncharted, etc. There's a difference between a game's emphasis or main focus and the elements that build that game. See, Pokemon had these ghost levels that were supposed to be scary (it had horror influenced elements like music and design), but that didn't make it a horror game. Same with Mario.

And what the hell was it about Pan's Labyrinth? Was that kind of the sequel to posting the definition of a noun? The next step..."Have you even heard of X or Y?" At least bring better examples mate. Not even imdb considers that a horror film and that website has pretty much every genre stated at every film.

Get off your high horse.
 
Why do people go into semantics for the simple reason of arguing? Is it a superiority complex? This whole thing started with a person that said he/she doesn't like horror games and is worried that this new direction in Bloodborne might retract from his/her pleasure of playing the game. You felt the need to correct and specify that the previous Souls games were horror games as well. Yet I find it extremely difficult to believe that you didn't understand what that person meant. Hell, everybody else got it to the point where that same user said let it be, " didn't mean dampen the excitement, still can't wait for this game...". But you just couldn't let it go... You had to do one of the most condescending things a person could do...quote a definition. The definition of a fucking feeling. Which I guess overcomes a person through a whole range of games...from Mario to Zelda to Metal Gear to Uncharted, etc. There's a difference between a game's emphasis or main focus and the elements that build that game. See, Pokemon had these ghost levels that were supposed to be scary (it had horror influenced elements like music and design), but that didn't make it a horror game. Same with Mario.

And what the hell was it about Pan's Labyrinth? Was that kind of the sequel to posting the definition of a noun? The next step..."Have you even heard of X or Y?" At least bring better examples mate. Not even imdb considers that a horror film and that website has pretty much every genre stated at every film.

Get off your high horse.

So now we have the high horse police riding in highly on their own horse? Good times. Besides, it's not the first time someone has said that the Souls series were not "horror" when they are. Bloodborne has a more typical "gothic" horror that has specific creature types or architecture associated with it, but so what? He simply mentioned not liking horror, yet said he liked the Souls games; which have a whole lot of horror in them. More than just one area or boss. Your diatribe aside, a lot of people in this thread can't even decide what horror is or isn't in the first place, and a few are even citing "dark fantasy", which is just an alternative horror label anyway.
 
Gamespot did the game a great service by making it GOTY. I hadn't really heard of it before and it was only loosely interesting as an action rpg to me.

I think it had a big role in a second wave of new players to the game and set up Dark Souls for the big run it had.

Who would have thought we'd go from Demon's Souls getting GOTY at that outlet to ZombiU getting trashed in such a short span of time...

Anyway, nice to see everyone playing nice lol. Review thread is going to be fun.
 
I'm starting to think maybe it is a con that Bloodborne essentially forces people away from the choice to sword and board. Not sure I'm onboard completely with the idea of less options being better. I'll love it anyway probably, but this particular feature is now starting to sound like a step in the wrong direction.
 
I'm starting to think maybe it is a con that Bloodborne essentially forces people away from the choice to sword and board. Not sure I'm onboard completely with the idea of less options being better. I'll love it anyway probably, but this particular feature is now starting to sound like a step in the wrong direction.

Uh huh that is why this is bloodborne and not dark souls 3.

If they kept the same sword and shield play from the souls game then why bother with a new game? I am glad for a new ip they are changing things up.
 
I'm starting to think maybe it is a con that Bloodborne essentially forces people away from the choice to sword and board. Not sure I'm onboard completely with the idea of less options being better. I'll love it anyway probably, but this particular feature is now starting to sound like a step in the wrong direction.

That's probably why they did'nt name it Dark Souls 3. This isn't less options, just different ones that fit more the atmosphere they are creating. Besides we have had 3 sword and board games already.
 
I'm starting to think maybe it is a con that Bloodborne essentially forces people away from the choice to sword and board. Not sure I'm onboard completely with the idea of less options being better. I'll love it anyway probably, but this particular feature is now starting to sound like a step in the wrong direction.

I disagree. Early players have been really positive about the high intensity combat in Bloodborne over previous Souls games. If there were shields, the battle would be less about fluid movement and aggressive attack and more about turtling, which sort of undermines the new design perspective. More choice doesn't necessarily equal more build/playstyle diversity, either - if shields were included, perhaps most players would feel that shields are so good that they have to use them to compete. They'd also have to balance the game around the possibility of turtling playstyles.
 
Glad they are focusing on more aggressive faster pace with Bloodborne. It's how I play all the Souls games now, 2 handing my weapon, fast roll, hit and run, dodging, staggering, combo's, unlocked play. Much more fun than sticking to the safe, slow and always locked on sword and board style that most people employ in Souls games.

When you get good at the games and learn enemy positions and attacks, then you don't really need to block that much, you roll fast, move fast, and attack 2 handed for more damage and stagger.

Glad Miyazaki and From are moving the entire audience to that style of play, even if they have to drag them along begrudgingly, it's for the best. 3 games with similar combat is enough, and Bloodborne isn't specifically Souls, so they needed a change of pace.
 
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