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[VinFTW]

No, it does matter. People just choose to read/see what they want to see to promote an agenda. We can laugh about it all day, but in reality, it's pretty damn annoying.

Don't assume people are pushing an agenda after the year of 2014 in gaming...

"Early build" doesn't mean much these days.

Can't take it? Don't come here, theres a wide variety of people posting differing opinions. Some people think it doesn't look good, others just want another Miyazaki game and could care less because it'll be beautiful in it's own right.

Shoving off a bunch of people's opinions just because they disagree with you and then say the're "promoting an agenda" is a pretty ignorant thing to do.

The art style is amazing. How will the framerate hold up?

Looked way better than alpha in the vid, thinking it'll be a soilid 30 most of the time with dips to 25fps minimum.

 

[fuzzyreactor]

Alright, finally got around to watching the video uninterrupted on my TV. Good lawd.

Here are my thoughts on the actual game.



2.) This is the same hub system that is in Demons Souls, no doubt about it. When entering the Dream Refuge you can see 5-6 other tombstones that the character uses to warp into Yharnam. And when he unlocks Central Yharnam and reaches that checkpoint he is then able to warp to it ala 1-1, 1-2, 1-3 which worked the same way in Demons Souls. I couldn't be happier with this as getting trapped in a section in Dark Souls and really having no way to get to a more interesting area besides trudging through the current section or backtracking for awhile was downright frustrating. I loved just being able to hop around to different areas of Demons Souls if I got bored of one or got stuck or whatever.
.

Is this true? I hope not. One the areas that made Dark SOuls better was the metroidvania level design.

 

[aly]

I feel like there are a few humans left in the world, not sure if the ones in their houses count though.

What does interest me though is whether or not those characters can leave those places or if they have any sort of use at all. The first one IGN meets(forget his name) says he'll try to be of help but we dont know in what way.

I cant wait to not know what the hell im doing in a souls-like game again its the best part of the experience IMO.

It would be neat if they could leave. Or at least give little quests that allow you to help them. I felt so bad when he walked away from that poor door-woman asking if the hunter knew where a safe place was.

 

[Condom]

The art style is amazing. How will the framerate hold up?

 

[caleb1915]

Downgrade City...yikes. I was thinking of getting this game but if FROM doesn't care enough why should I??

The last thing I would accuse From Software when it comes to this series of games is not caring.

This really seems to be the case of video compression muddying up details, and time of day being completely different showing different lighting models, and casting different shadows

 

[ChrisInCali]

I'm getting the game regardless as I'm obsessed with that Souls gameplay, but IF this is the final product it's a huge disappointment, and obvious downgrade visually. Anyone saying it's not has to be trolling or is just lying to themselves.

 

[orochi91]

You're desperate.

No, but I await for official clarification with regards to how old the IGN footage is.

There's no conspiracy on my part.

 

[Laconic]

Downgrade City...yikes. I was thinking of getting this game but if FROM doesn't care enough why should I??

If the load times in the final build are anything like the PS3 version of Dark Souls 2, you'll have plenty of time to reflect upon this.

 

[Sojgat]

 

[eyeball_kid]

I haven't been interested in Bloodborne because I'm not real into the super-gore horror stuff, but...

- the detail on the levels is very nice, especially the foliage, despite the engine itself looking kinda PS3+/PS4-
- wish it had more complex DMC/Bayonetta combo-ing. combat feels a bit repetitive
- enemy AI feels kinda random, early build issue?
- UI feels dated, too many PC-esque menus, reminds me of Ninja Gaiden (OG Xbox)
- the boss is very impressive visually, though not necessarily an exciting fight as shown in the video. maybe the player just sucks?
- there's something really weird about the audio, especially the voiceovers of the characters. they feel detached from the game, and don't feel like they're actually coming from the characters, but just from loudspeakers somewhere in the gameworld
- the enemy design and weapon design is pretty cool. they definitely nailed a certain visual aesthetic that's familiar to the genre, but also unique
- it's amusing that the protagonist is releasing gallons of blood from bodies, yet his white shirt only gets a bit of splatter

 

[Haunted]

Also, free warping makes the interconnected nature of a Dark Souls style world obsolete. When you can just skip from point to point, there's no point in creating many different paths. Like in Dark Souls II, the structure gets mostly destroyed. I can only hope that the warp points in this video are outliers in their proximity, and that the game will play around with whether warping is possible or not (In DSII I was totally expecting the ability to warp to be taken away at some point or even multiple points, but that never happened).

I think free warping is fine in conjunction with better placed bonfires. But there were some bonfires that were flat-out ridiculous in DS2.

There's a shortcut you can open up in the Dragon Aerie that creates a neat link between the start and the very end of the area.... which is completely useless, since there's a bonfire basically right next to the end point of the shortcut. Like, literally 10 seconds of walking across a bridge. So of course, no one ever uses the neat shortcut because there never was a need to, you could just warp to the new bonfire instead. That's bad.


While the free warping unlocked from the start was definitely convenient and removed some of the backtracking and tedium from traversal in DS (which also had its advantages, like increased immersion and forcing the player to become more familiar with the areas...), I definitely agree that something was lost with its inclusion. There's a healthy balance to be found between the two systems, I feel.

 

[GorillaJu]

Is this true? I hope not. One the areas that made Dark SOuls better was the metroidvania level design.

Bb spoiler:

Spoiler

dont worry.

 

[Primethius]

The last thing I would accuse From Software when it comes to this series of games is not caring.

This really seems to be the case of video compression muddying up details, and time of day being completely different showing different lighting models, and casting different shadows

No point in replying to people with poor eye sight.

 

[Speevy]

From Software needs to stop showing things with lightning and night gameplay.

 

[cheesekao]

This confirms with absolute finality that healing items and bullets can only be gotten through drops, hand-placed in-world items or vendors. I think this is tragic, a huge step back from the near perfection of the Dark Souls systems for healing and spellcasting.

I would hardly call running around with 20 estus flasks or 99 health gems 'near perfection'. Also, the guns were never meant to replace spell casting. They are essentially crossbows with the ability to parry. The arcane stat shows that there might be some form of magic that has yet to be revealed.

The hub based world structure is strange as well if checkpoints will consistently be placed as close or nearly as close as the two seen in this footage; it'll be a near repeat of the pretty disastrous structure of Dark Souls II.

It's too soon to say as this is simply the beginning of the game. The first one is needed as you have to die to get your weapons and stuff and the second one is the first 'real' area of the game. Would you really want to walk all the way from firelink shrine to anor londo every single time you want to go there? Morover, it could be that we are only allowed to warp to specific bonfires like in DS1. We don't know how warping works yet and saying that it 'confirms your worst fears' is pretty silly..

 

[Vidpixel]

Is this true? I hope not. One the areas that made Dark SOuls better was the metroidvania level design.

Yeah, the interconnected world of Dark Souls provided for some truly amazing moments, particularly the first time you ride down the Undead Parish elevator for the first time, but I'll withhold judgement until more of the game is shown. I'd be pretty bummed if they returned to the structure of Demon Souls' hub, but it wouldn't be that big of a deal for me in the long run.

Edit: Never mind, I just read the post above.

 

[caleb1915]

No point in replying to people with poor eye sight.

Watching 1080p youtube videos makes us all have poor eye sight .

 

[Laurentius]

wkAWg

 

[Poimandres]

I really don't know what to think yet since I don't want to spoil myself by watching the video, but there's really no reason for me not to expect a downgrade after what happened with Dark Souls 2. From just isn't that great at optimizing. I was hoping Sony was helping them with that, though.

It's pretty silly to assume there will be a downgrade because the developers had ONE game that was downgraded. Early Dark Souls 2 footage was running on PC, and it clearly copped a downgrade because last gen consoles couldn't handle it. It sucks, but it makes sense.

Bloodborne has always been shown running on PS4 (as far as we know) and there is absolutely nothing to indicate there has been a downgrade. Why assume there will be a downgrade when there is nothing at all to support the idea?

 

[Imru’ al-Qays]

This confirms with absolute finality that healing items and bullets can only be gotten through drops, hand-placed in-world items or vendors. I think this is tragic, a huge step back from the near perfection of the Dark Souls systems for healing and spellcasting.

The hub based world structure is strange as well if checkpoints will consistently be placed as close or nearly as close as the two seen in this footage; it'll be a near repeat of the pretty disastrous structure of Dark Souls II.

This is a great example of what I mean. In Demon's Souls, the ability to warp freely works well because you're required to really work for every warp point - you're forced through a challenge to get to safety. This creates the higher level tension that these games thrive on, with the lower level tension being in the combat encounters themselves. Being forced through a challenge is inevitable (even in Demon's you're going to run out of options), and necessary. Players that go through Blighttown from the front in their first Dark Souls playthrough will likely have an unforgettable experience, and that experience wouldn't be possible without limitations on warping.

Also, free warping makes the interconnected nature of a Dark Souls style world obsolete. When you can just skip from point to point, there's no point in creating many different paths. Like in Dark Souls II, the structure gets mostly destroyed. I can only hope that the warp points in this video are outliers in their proximity, and that the game will play around with whether warping is possible or not (In DSII I was totally expecting the ability to warp to be taken away at some point or even multiple points, but that never happened).

Not to mention that tying leveling to the hub in DSII was nothing but an annoyance. Here's hoping they don't do that again here.

Having some of my worst fears confirmed has made me pretty nervous. I hate to see this game fall just short of perfection.

I agree with your concerns, especially with regard to the blood vials. Potentially unlimited but non-regenerating farmable health items are the worst. I don't understand why Miyazaki would have backtracked in this regard.

With regard to the warping I'm somewhat more optimistic. While I'd prefer a Dark 1 style totally interconnected world I don't feel that the Demon's Souls system is inherently bad so long as they do it right: warp points should be few and far between, we should be reliant on shortcuts to get around more than warping. I think the close proximity of the first two lanterns is a function of the fact that this is the very beginning of the game more than something we should expect to be a constant: it certainly seems that the Central Yharnam lantern is going to see a lot of use.

A Dark 2 system where the world design is incoherent, checkpoints are everywhere, and shortcuts are basically useless is obviously the nightmare scenario. I have confidence that Miyazaki knows to avoid it.

I would hardly call running around with 20 estus flasks or 99 health gems 'near perfection'. Also, the guns were never meant to replace spell casting. They are essentially crossbows with the ability to parry. The arcane stat shows that there might be some form of magic that has yet to be revealed.


This is simply the beginning of the game. The first one is needed as you have to die to get your weapons and stuff and the second one is the first 'real' area of the game. Would you really want to walk all the way from firelink shrine to anor londo every single time you want to go there?

Having 20 estus in Dark 1 was a major miscalculation on the devs' part, but the health system was overall close to perfect until you got the rite of kindling: 5 estus from bonfires, 10 if you use two of a scarce resource that can also be used as emergency healing in battle if absolutely necessary.

Your thoughts mirror mine on the nature of the closely-placed lanterns, though. I really doubt these two lanterns are representative of average lantern spacing in Bloodborne.

 

[RedAssedApe]

I haven't been interested in Bloodborne because I'm not real into the super-gore horror stuff, but...

- the detail on the levels is very nice, especially the foliage, despite the engine itself looking kinda PS3+/PS4-
- wish it had more complex DMC/Bayonetta combo-ing. combat feels a bit repetitive
- enemy AI feels kinda random, early build issue?
- UI feels dated, too many PC-esque menus, reminds me of Ninja Gaiden (OG Xbox)
- the boss is very impressive visually, though not necessarily an exciting fight as shown in the video. maybe the player just sucks?
- there's something really weird about the audio, especially the voiceovers of the characters. they feel detached from the game, and don't feel like they're actually coming from the characters, but just from loudspeakers somewhere in the gameworld
- the enemy design and weapon design is pretty cool. they definitely nailed a certain visual aesthetic that's familiar to the genre, but also unique
- it's amusing that the protagonist is releasing gallons of blood from bodies, yet his white shirt only gets a bit of splatter

just out of curiosity...first souls game? they aren't action games in the vein of DMC, Bayonetta, GOW

 

[Wereroku]

I'm getting the game regardless as I'm obsessed with that Souls gameplay, but IF this is the final product it's a huge disappointment, and obvious downgrade visually. Anyone saying it's not has to be trolling or is just lying to themselves.

I am not trolling or lying and I don't see a downgrade. Can you post some gameplay where it looks better.

 

[Oscar]

Don't understand the hate towards the graphics.

Atmosphere/art direction and gameplay look solid, still a purchase for me.

 

[Primethius]

Watching 1080p youtube videos makes us all have poor eye sight .

Even with youtube compression, calling a different TOD a "downgrade" is pathetic.

 

[swazzyswess]

- wish it had more complex DMC/Bayonetta combo-ing. combat feels a bit repetitive

that's funny since a common fear of Souls fans was BB going too far in that direction.

 

[RedAssedApe]

the downgrade stuff reminds me of when Ass: unity released a patch and people started pointing fingers that they downgraded. ended up being different lighting from when you visited the assassin's den at different times of the day...all people who had never played the game too...smh

 

[Stratosphere]

When FromSoft makes one, little old change to the time of day, well then everyone loses their minds!

 

[nawwafh]

Can any1 confirm if this has a fully fledged campaign coop mode?
Or how does the coop work in this?

 

[GorillaJu]

I agree with your concerns, especially with regard to the blood vials. Potentially unlimited but non-regenerating farmable health items are the worst. I don't understand why Miyazaki would have backtracked in this regard.

With regard to the warping I'm somewhat more optimistic. While I'd prefer a Dark 1 style totally interconnected world I don't feel that the Demon's Souls system is inherently bad so long as they do it right: warp points should be few and far between, we should be reliant on shortcuts to get around more than warping. I think the close proximity of the first two lanterns is a function of the fact that this is the very beginning of the game more than something we should expect to be a constant: it certainly seems that the Central Yharnam lantern is going to see a lot of use.

A Dark 2 system where the world design is incoherent, checkpoints are everywhere, and shortcuts are basically useless is obviously the nightmare scenario. I have confidence that Miyazaki knows to avoid it.

I have heard that the blood vial vs Estus thing was a decision that Miyazaki deliberated hard over for a long time. Ultimately he went with blood vials because he thought it was the best decision for this game's design. Trust in his thinking, I suppose.

 

[eyeball_kid]

just out of curiosity...first souls game? they aren't action games in the vein of DMC, Bayonetta, GOW

I know it's a spiritual cousin of the Souls games, but watching this I feel differently because of the aesthetic. I want more over-the-top combo action. Subjective opinion.

 

[Speevy]

What a huge UPGRADE to the graphics. From Software has finally set the high watermark, blowing even the best looking PC games out of the water.

I can't believe the PS4 was able to accomplish this feat, but if any developer knows how to set the bar for best graphics in the world, it's From Software.

Of course, I can't say I'm too surprised, since the Souls series has always been a kind of tech demo for gamers. When developers want to see the future of graphics achievement, they look no further than Dark/Demon's Souls.

Graphics are what are important to me, so I'm totally satisfied.

 

[Servbot24]

I don't know what you're talking about, both those shots look identical to me!

Some users just enjoy stirring drama, and shouting "Downgrade!" is the easiest way to do it (despite the fact that a theoretical downgrade would be perfectly harmless). Unfortunately it always works.

80% of the time the perceived difference is due to different lighting in the game (night scenes usually look better than day scenes).

 

[Primethius]

Can any1 confirm if this has a fully fledged campaign coop mode?
Or how does the coop work in this?

Same as Dark Souls.

 

[njean777]

the downgrade stuff reminds me of when Ass: unity released a patch and people started pointing fingers that they downgraded. ended up being different lighting from when you visited the assassin's den at different times of the day...all people who had never played the game too...smh

Yeah this downgrade nonsense is getting old, games look different in development than when they ship, nothing to see her people move on.

 

[nawwafh]

Same as Dark Souls.

Never played any of the Souls games

 

[Mikel1015]

Wow, honestly I haven't followed threads for bloodborne, infamous, or uncharted, but this is just as bad as people claiming downgrade for Xenoblade X and Zelda U Youtube off-screen alpha footage

 

[caleb1915]

Can any1 confirm if this has a fully fledged campaign coop mode?
Or how does the coop work in this?

I dont think they've officially said anything about the summoning/invasion aspect of this game yet.

But I've seen some ideas thrown around that other hunters can join your world and help you, whether for limited amounts of time I'm not sure, but the invasion aspect might involve a sort of corruption type of mechanic that is measured in the blood(souls) making you more beast like. Which makes me think that normal hunters can invade other more beastly hunters worlds to hunt them.

That's entirely speculation, and also info that might have already been explained proving what I just said false.

 

[HeWhoWalks]

Don't assume people are pushing an agenda after the year of 2014 in gaming...

"Early build" doesn't mean much these days.

Can't take it? Don't come here, theres a wide variety of people posting differing opinions. Some people think it doesn't look good, others just want another Miyazaki game and could care less because it'll be beautiful in it's own right.

Shoving off a bunch of people's opinions just because they disagree with you and then say the're "promoting an agenda" is a pretty ignorant thing to do.



Looked way better than alpha in the vid, thinking it'll be a soilid 30 most of the time with dips to 25fps minimum.

Last time I checked, two 2014 games received a lot of flak pre-release (Second Son and DRIVECLUB). What was the lesson there - let the product finish being made before concluding that downgrades happened. I didn't say every naysayer had an agenda, but some folks here clearly do.

 

[Inuhanyou]

I guess this is what happens when people run out of things to talk about....

 

[Servbot24]

Never played any of the Souls games

When you're playing you will sometimes see summon symbols on the ground. These are dropped by other players. If you activate them they will enter your game and help you.

 

[Speevy]

Never played any of the Souls games

You summon people to aid you in specific parts of the game, like the path leading up a boss. When the boss is beaten, they usually disappear.

 

[RedAssedApe]

I know it's a spiritual cousin of the Souls games, but watching this I feel differently because of the aesthetic. I want more over-the-top combo action. Subjective opinion.

which is fine. just saying this might not be your cup of tea. but it sounds like you're already figured that out.

 

[Imru’ al-Qays]

I have heard that the blood vial vs Estus thing was a decision that Miyazaki deliberated hard over for a long time. Ultimately he went with blood vials because he thought it was the best decision for this game's design. Trust in his thinking, I suppose.

I'd like to, but I'm pretty suspicious. Do you remember where you read that?

 

[VinFTW]

Last time I checked, two 2014 games received a lot of flak pre-release (Second Son and DRIVECLUB). What was the lesson there - let the product finish being made before concluding that downgrades happened. I didn't say every naysayer had an agenda, but some folks here clearly do.

I was referring to examples like MCC, "early build" isn't a valid excuse anymore.

 

[tcrunch]

Same as Dark Souls.

No because in Bloodborne there are no summon signs.

 

[RexNovis]

Looks fantastic.

Do you think those loading times are really that short, or ign edited out the loads for their video?

Hard to believe they could be that quick.

SO much this. After DkSII it would be absolute heaven to have sub 2 second load times. Can anyone confirm if the load times were edited or not?

 

[DoubleTake]

This confirms with absolute finality that healing items and bullets can only be gotten through drops, hand-placed in-world items or vendors. I think this is tragic, a huge step back from the near perfection of the Dark Souls systems for healing and spellcasting.

The hub based world structure is strange as well if checkpoints will consistently be placed as close or nearly as close as the two seen in this footage; it'll be a near repeat of the pretty disastrous structure of Dark Souls II.

This is a great example of what I mean. In Demon's Souls, the ability to warp freely works well because you're required to really work for every warp point - you're forced through a challenge to get to safety. This creates the higher level tension that these games thrive on, with the lower level tension being in the combat encounters themselves. Being forced through a challenge is inevitable (even in Demon's you're going to run out of options), and necessary. Players that go through Blighttown from the front in their first Dark Souls playthrough will likely have an unforgettable experience, and that experience wouldn't be possible without limitations on warping.

Also, free warping makes the interconnected nature of a Dark Souls style world obsolete. When you can just skip from point to point, there's no point in creating many different paths. Like in Dark Souls II, the structure gets mostly destroyed. I can only hope that the warp points in this video are outliers in their proximity, and that the game will play around with whether warping is possible or not (In DSII I was totally expecting the ability to warp to be taken away at some point or even multiple points, but that never happened).

Not to mention that tying leveling to the hub in DSII was nothing but an annoyance. Here's hoping they don't do that again here.

Having some of my worst fears confirmed has made me pretty nervous. I hate to see this game fall just short of perfection.

I agree with you on the healing items bit. I do wish it was more DaS in its approach than Demon's however they did show a way to purchase blood vials and bullets in Dream Refuge with Blood Echoes. The abundance of that particular currency is yet to be seen.

The level design I really feel will be very Demon's esque where you fight hard to get through and open a huge shortcut back to an already lit lamp. At least I hope its that way, but the footage so far theyve shown doesnt lead me to believe it will have many checkpoints like DS2 just by how the world is built to wrap around on itself.

About the placement of the Clinic lamp and the lamp in Central Yharnam. I feel like the clinic is a much larger place than what was shown in the video. My assumption is comming from this photo and the fact that it has its own lamp.

The biggest thing about the warping that I find makes it okay is that you seem to not be able to warp from lamplight to lamplight. You must first get to one then go back to the Refuge then choose where you want to go.

 

[xxracerxx]

SO much this. After DkSII it would be absolute heaven to have sub 2 second load times. Can anyone confirm if the load times were edited or not?

Someone said they were edited in the video.

 

[mintylurb]

The last thing I would accuse From Software when it comes to this series of games is not caring.

This really seems to be the case of video compression muddying up details, and time of day being completely different showing different lighting models, and casting different shadows

Watching the 1.1gig mp4, it doesn't seem like the video compression is muddying up details.
I think combination of what looks like to be some form of temporal AA and chromatic aberration effect seems to making the game look rather blurry.
I understand From Soft isn't exactly known for making graphically impressive games, though I was impressed with PS1 AC1 and Metal Wolf,
but this new bloodborne footage is quite underwhelming in terms of graphics.

 

[GorillaJu]

I'd like to, but I'm pretty suspicious. Do you remember where you read that?

I didn't read it, I am friends with several people on the Bb team (I've also played the latest builds, but obv I can't break NDA on that)