Why I give props to anyone who finds Bloodborne enjoyable

I'm a rather seasoned gamer, and love a good challenge. I hate when games are hand-holdy and let you somehow get away with challenges after a few tries. I generally play games on whatever the step is above normal (sometimes hard sometimes games have two ranks higher than normal, but I'm better than average in general but not amazing). I bought this today on a whim. Let me disclaim by saying I do not enjoy fantasy RPGs as I've posted earlier today, and Bloodborne seemed to be the most appealing to me in comparison to my other choices of Dragon Age Inquisition and Witcher III. Yes, I've heard it's notoriously hard but this is just simply unenjoyable...

Three hours of playing (not including my character design). And I am still stuck at, seemingly, the first area that leads to the first boss. I thoroughly understand the (albeit) clunky controls, healing process, weapons holsters and the basics of combat and feel in any other game I would have what I would consider a pretty solid understanding of how the game works. Hell, I even felt I was getting decent at the game for a bit and then BAM dead for 200th time on "chapter" one. The checkpoints system is idiotic to me. There is a line between challenging and downright obnoxious and off-putting for anyone that has any sort of real life obligations besides gaming. My title of this thread is not sarcasm. I genuinely condone anyone who succeeds at this game and somehow finds it enjoyable to die 100 times and spend hours on end on a miniscule portion of the map. "It's so rewarding to pass a hard part/boss" Bullshit. By that time if I hadn't beaten it, my foot would be through the tv. I heard the game was hard (and yes I'm a dark souls noob) but damn I just don't see the fun in making it through 30 mins of gameplay with hard combat and getting zero reward of a checkpoint or anything. And no pause screen? Really? What does that prove or achieve. Wow your'e so skilled at gaming you don't even need to stop the game to pee or run to the store or, idk, have a life. If you like that, you're crazy or have much more free time than I do to dedicate to rekilling the same 50 enemies I've killed to get to the one I'm actually having trouble with that's 20 minutes away from me now. This is going back to game stop tomorrow. I've tapped out. Call me a pussy or a whiner, I don't care. I utterly despise this game. Beautiful, great concept, no one is arguing that... but the learning curve and checkpoint/saving system have destroyed what could have been a truly great game. PS4... give the fantasy/RPGs a rest please

I once felt the same as you -- except for with Dark Souls. I was so put off by the game's difficulty that upon buying it day of release i decided to shelve it, and it remained shelved for over 3 years before I gave it another go and dedicated myself to it. Your experience falls in line with pretty much everyone's first Souls game experience, trust me. Stick with it and if you're really feeling ready to throw in the towel, look up a guide so you can get some momentum rolling. It's not an all too difficult game (save for the boss fights), it's just incredibly punishing when you do make a mistake. You'll learn strategies that have you handling areas your noob self would have gawked at, and the game will grow on you not soon after that.

I never really got into Dark Souls. I played a little bit of Dark Souls and it wasn't so much the difficulty that put me off, but it didn't feel right. I didn't care much for the combat and the movement was a little sluggish. One of these days I might go back and beat it, maybe. Is Bloodborne any different? Does it feel and move better than Dark Souls? Is it worth picking up if I didn't care much for it's predecessors?

I found the game to be much easier than Dark Souls. Sorry, but I just can't help but laugh when people talk about how good they are games, but get stuck in Souls games...

@JustPlainLucas: hey I said I would consider myself better than the average casual gamer but never claimed to be a video game master. It's not even so much how hard it is but the whole saving/no pausing/ no checkpoints thing that is just off putting to me. I don't find games like that rewarding, but as I stated I genuinely respect gamers who are good at and into this series. Personally, I just found the save style of "all or nothing" a waste of time. I can tell I would love this game if I had that kind of time to dedicate. I can only retry something so many times when I was 30 mins of gameplay away from it before it's just lost all it's appeal. This isn't a game for someone who may only have 30 mins- an hour to kill. Maybe I'll pick it up again in the future but frankly I'm ready to return it while I still have my 7 day return policy.

That's why I've stayed clear of the Souls games and this game. I just know I would find it too frustrating to be fun. Maybe if I really put the time into it I could learn its mechanics well enough to get through the game, but it just hasn't been something I've felt the need to try. I don't mind a decent challenge every once in a while, but if the checkpoint system is as punishing as you say, then I'll probably continue to steer clear. There's not much in gaming I hate more than having to re-do large chunks of progress multiple times.

Sad part is Souls games can be some of the easiest games out there to beat, you just have to slow down, patience is key. Stop fighting more than one enemy at a time, learn to parry(thats the point of the shotgun, stun the enemy), and most importantly, learn to dodge. Every enemy has a tell, they always do the exact same thing, and they're always in the exact same spot, you can literally run up to an enemy, and turn around once you're in his range, he'll swing and miss and then you stab him in the face, it's super simple. I would also recommend sticking to the quicker weapons, heavy weapons require better timing, more knowledge of the enemies, use the saw blade and you should be fine.

I copied this a while back and I like to paste it in situations like these:

"Dark Souls takes so long to play because it refuses to tell you its basic ground rules, then kills you over and over again for failing to understand them." - Michael Thompson

There are checkpoints. Please tell me you haven't been overlooking them. They're lanterns, with little ghoulies reaching up from the ground around them. The reason why there's no pause is also because it's an online connected game (I'll grant you it's stupid that you can't pause when offline), so you can be invaded by other gamers at the drop of the dime. You lack patience for the game, which is a shame, because if you'd just commit yourself, you'd see it's a fantastic game.

You can't just brute force your way through the game. Sure, being OP helps, but if you can't figure out the enemy timings, know where to dodge, know how to counter, etc., not even the best gear and weapons can save you. This game does require skill, if anything a different skill set, because the TC is still struggling in the first area several hours later while someone somewhere can beat the entire game with no leveling and no gear. It's as difficult as you make it to be.

@JustPlainLucas:

"Sure, being OP helps, but if you can't figure out the enemy timings, know where to dodge, know how to counter, etc."

LoL thats child's play.... Every single gamer goes into Dark Souls knowing how to dodge and Block.

"not even the best gear and weapons can save you."

I don't know about you but one shotting enemies with my Lightning Halberd and Chaos Fury sword did more than just save me..... it bored the living crap out of me.... the game was much more interesting when I was dying with my puny long sword.

"TC is still struggling in the first area several hours later while someone somewhere can beat the entire game with no leveling and no gear. It's as difficult as you make it to be."

You do remember the part I said about Retarded AI that practically defeats its self right ? Run past all the enemies.... exploit the stupidy of all the enemies that you can't run from..... and then use items on the rest.... thats your precious Dark Souls in a nutshell.....

LoL you beat the very first boss by circle strafing it and chucking firebombs at it...... you think thats a skill ? Sorry but I refuse to dick ride Miyazaki's nuts just based on that. Kudos to everybody who thinks thats a skill let alone a challenge.

@Lulu_Lulu: Why is it every thread I find your comments in they are always so negative and pretentious? You bash every game I've ever seen you commenting on in a post. I wasn't even into this game, but indirectly calling someone an idiot for going about a game in a different style than you do is just childish. Healthy debate and disagreement is fine. I didn't like this game and @JustPlainLucas did and that's fine we can discuss it like adults. I've accepted that I'm not the type of gamer that is good at patiently studying enemies and slowly going through tediously long levels, and that's that. He suggested some ways I could go about it and I agree with him that with some patience I could have stuck it out. I'm sorry to call you out, but I just consistently see you posting so condescendingly and I find it uncalled for

@mdk12345: Well then, what do you suggest? We seem to be somewhat on the same page

@amyh7292:

LoL..... you obviously haven't been to every thread I posted in....

I only bash Shitty games..... they have it coming.

And when did I call anybody an idiot ?

Are you sure you don't have me confused with someone else ?

Different strokes for different folks, haven't played much of Bloodbourne, but Demons Souls and Dark Souls 1 are excellent, as is DS2 but I haven't quite finished it yet

@Lulu_Lulu: I said indirectly calling others that by condescendingly answering everything I've read you post. Your tone is just always unnecessarily rude and "know-it-all", but maybe that's just how it comes off anyway. And so far GTA V and Bloodborne are shitty to you which is kind of ridiculous. I didn't even like Bloodborne and I can acknowledge it's a good game. My point is that going into a forum to tell people games are shitty and easy because you're so good at games apparently is just off putting. Why even comment then? Anyway, not here to argue just saying there's a respectful way to talk to others without the constant snide

You sure as shit are condescending. It really is growing very tiresome. "I only bash shitty games... they have it coming." Yeah, and Bloodborne with a 92 Metacritic rating is a shitty game...

@amyh7292:

I reserve my oppinion about blood Borne and GTA V is the samething all over again. I don't think I've called either of those games shitty.... not outloud anyways. I've called Rockstar and From Software developers and their design methods shitty.... that I can remember.

One thing you need to remember is I do most of my bashing in System Wars..... If I'm being rude its because being nice is pointless.... that plus somepeople who I know are intelligent just suddenly get all stupid whenever a Souls game gets mentioned.... suddenly everything they know to be bad game design is good design just because its Souls game and their allowed to do stupid shit.... hell they get GOTY's for their shittyness. I can't be nice to such people. And you know whats ironic.... they call me rude while they play a game where you can invade someone online for no other purpose than to piss them off and ruin their experience. LoL the Hypocrisy.

Glad the realism in RPGs has stepped up. Props to Bloodborne for still using combat reminescent of Ocarina Of Time with considerably shittier controls.

I love Souls games, and I will agree with you that not being able to pause or have check points before bosses is bad game design, but obviously myself and millions of others are able to forgive the game's shortcomings and appreciate it for what it is. I'm sorry if you think that we need to turn to MC to think for us, because we don't. We just happen to agree with the consensus, and whenever someone quotes that number, it's not because they can't think for themselves; it's because they're throwing a number at you to prove that your opinion is just that: opinion. You aren't the authority of what makes a good game, you know.

So when you start spouting off the mouth with your opinion trying to pass it off as fact when it clearly isn't, that's when you start becoming condescending. All you really need to do is start framing your opinions as opinions, such as "I think Dark Souls is a shitty game", and maybe you won't be rubbing people the wrong way. Don't you get tired of being so fucking cynical? I mean, it's even gotten to the point where a mod told you to knock it off. Are we going to find "Lulu hates Dark Souls" on your tombstone?

@JustPlainLucas:

I can't speak about Bloodborne but Dark Soul's short commings go way beyond just the the save system....... its also the combat... the level design..... the multiplayer...... even the damn lore has a few holes in it. Dark Souls doesn't have shortcomings that you can just overlook because the entire game came up short in almost every single aspect of its design..... which I would be happy to go over with anyone level by level if thats what it takes to prove my point.

You know whats worse than being the dude that spouts off about hating Dark Souls ? .......

Its being the dude that lies about it being good in the first place...... but hey... thats just my oppinion. Happy ?

I really like games like Dark Souls because when people like Lu Lu complain about the game's difficulty, it reminds me of when my dad tries to play Call of Duty. Some people just don't have hand-eye coordination. Makes me feel young, energetic, and elite.

I didn't find the game to be exceedingly challenging, but I only enjoyed the first half or so of the game and haven't finished it yet.

I put the game on the shelf whilst i finish up Batman, once that's done i'll be back to finish it off.

Pretty much how I feel, my first souls experience was when a friend kept telling me how brutal Dark Souls was, took me 3 weeks to catch up to his 6 months of work, he stopped playing games shortly after that. lol Honestly though, at first I kept telling myself the game was shit too, because I started out as a depraved with no weapon, once I got a real weapon and read up how to beat the first boss my attitude towards the game changed. These guys wouldn't have made it out of the first room in Dark Souls.

I really like reading Lulu's Dark Souls posts. For whatever reason, people have it in their heads that video game reviews are objective and that if they don't like a game, there must be something wrong with them, not the game. Comments like "I didn't even like Bloodborne and I can acknowledge it's a good game" just confuse me. It doesn't really work that way. If I don't like a game, it's because I don't think it's a good game. Some of the things Lulu says about these games are too far over the top, but these games do feature an opaque grindfest of a leveling system, level design that ranges from really good to some of the worst I've ever encountered, a combat system that forces you to backpedal and regain your stamina after you swing a couple of times, enemy AI that is worse than what is found in most zombie games, and gear that is always at the same location, which you typically can't even wear after finding it without grinding for a couple of hours.

Most people who criticize the game criticize the save system and the difficulty. I actually think they got that right. I think that most people who criticize the game stop there because they don't get far enough to see just how bad it really is.

@PurpleMan5000:

I should make a thread about how much I loved Mark of the Ninja because of how different it is from Souls Games yet still remains to be both challenging and interesting without being annoying...... its the best. :)

@PurpleMan5000: I think it personally makes a lot of sense to say something can be good but not my cup of tea. And perhaps I didn't get far enough to realize it isn't a good game, very valid point. However, not liking a game does not equate it to being "bad". I don't get how that's confusing. While I agree that I'm not qualified to call it good or bad, I'm just saying if you've personally never played a game that had great mechanics, good story, and beautifully done but just wasn't for you, then that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Obviously if I don't like it, it isn't "good" to me, but that doesn't mean the game sucks... right? I personally loved, for instance, The Last of Us, but if someone were to say "The zombie theme is so over done and the gameplay got boring at times" I could see their point of view, even if I completely disagree with it. That's all I was saying.

And @Lulu_Lulu you seem to have a lot of insight and played a lot of games, I honestly just don't see the need for the constant chiming in on a thread with a condescending attitude. Like literally every thread I've seen you comment on which is at least 10-15. And while I agree with you that numbers aren't everything with ratings, if you disagree with thousands of people rating a game 90+, even if you HATED it, it's obviously a good game to whatever extent that means in the gaming world. That doesn't mean everyone in the world will love it, but come on. It seems sometimes you are just argumentative for the sake of disagreeing. With that, I'm done with this thread. At least we can agree that neither of us liked Bloodborne lol. To each his/her own, just maybe chill on the pretentious comments a bit. You seem to game a lot, but I just am so off put by your tone always

@amyh7292:

"I think it personally makes a lot of sense to say something can be good but not my cup of tea. "

Now that I get...... it just doesn't apply to every scenario where someone doesn't like something or are willing to argue Alien's Colonial Marines is just not someones cup of tea.......

I have no compunction about disagreeing with thousands of critics and fans....... I literally do not care about numbers no matter how they come..... it only takes one decent logical point take get me to change my tune. Remember.... there was a time when the majority thought the world was flat...... but even that point of, although wrong, did make sense given the circumstances...... Dark Souls on the other hand doesn't even have that in its favour.....

And what threads are you talking about ? I've been scarce to gamespot lately...... and haven't seen me on threads about Co-Op games ? I'm sorry but its disingenuous for you to claim I'm always negative and constantly bashing.... my repuation on this site has got two sides like a Coin.... Lulu hates RPGs... And Lulu is a total whore for Local Co-Op Games. You obviously haven't been to all the threads I have if you only believe the former.

@amyh7292: just ignore Lu right now, you are being trolled. This is what is called a circular internet slap fight of get the last word in, it's a trap. The only way you win is by not responding. Lu does this in these threads because people respond, the second people give Lu no attention, it will end. Silence will encourage Lu to find a more positive way of getting the attention she desperately needs.

I've given up with it, I'm just not good enough at games to play it

The game isn't hard. Battletoads was hard, Bloodborne is just annoying. That's why you don't enjoy it.

PS: I should clarify that I do not miss those "NES difficulty" days. I had multiple games that I never managed to finish and I hated it.

Bloodborne felt easier and more forgiving than the Demon's- and Dark Souls games IMO.

Edit: If you want to trade it in, trade it for The Witcher 3, you won't be disappointed.

I still have not tried any of the souls games and I hear they are so difficult. I have beat Ninja Gaiden on xbox on the hardest difficulty and NG2 on 360 on the hardest difficulty or maybe it was just the one above regular. Are these games harder then NG?

I loved it and still do on NG+. I can understand some peoples' frustration but the first boss doesn't take that long to get to and nor is it particually hard to defeat. Once that one is out of the way and the game open up to levelling and upgrading equipment that's when the fun starts. My character is 130+ and can still be nearly one shotted by a werewolf with a rake though.

You can start leveling up even if you don't manage to kill the first boss.

I was stuck with the two werewolves on that bridge, until somebody here told me to just run past em and go into that house. I ran straight to Cleric Beast instead, got killed and there I was.

I've read so many stupid sh*t coming from you but that must be some of the most stupid sh*t I've read in a while... congrats lulu. You're comparing something that was proven with scientific facts with something that can only be subjective... stfu lulu. You embarass yourself over and over. Thats just not trolling thats just sad.

You say you dont care about numbers or others opinions but its pretty obvious by now the fact Souls/Bloodborne get high praise not only from gamers but critics alike rubs you in the wrong way. Sorry but it is just obvious

That means sh*t. If I show you my PSN or steam profiles you'll see I've played a fvckin LOT of games myself (let alone previous generations) and I can tell you the Souls games are one of the few franchises that still gives me pleasure of playing. An opinion is still an opinion regardless of experience. lulu tries to sound insightful but completely fails at it when he tries (and completely fails) to pass his opinion as fact. That actually just shows he's actually intellectually inferior than he thinks he is if he cant acknowledge such a simple concept

Yeah I did just that being the coward I am :D

Bloodborne to me comes off as a chore instead of an enjoyable gameplay experience, I think I would enjoy it had it been constructed a bit differently but I do not like the way the checkpoint system functions either, it's asinine and requires you to do what you've already done repeatedly. It's also annoying how stupid and predictable the AI in the game is, they always do the same thing so once you learn their tell you just exploit it, it's unrewarding and feels like a fighting game where you keep executing a cheap attack, you can also literally run past 50 enemies and if you get far enough away they just discontinue pursuit as if you were never there. There's no feeling of forward progression even if you are making it due to how much you have to repeat large segments of the game if you screw up.

I can see why it's rated as high as it is, there's a good concept here, but it's poorly executed and suffers from stupid or rather flat out annoying game design in multiple areas. I find myself making it through sections of the game without too much effort but I get to a boss, die and have to repeat 30 minutes of nonsense I already completed just to get back to the boss and die again. I don't even play it anymore, I don't have the time or the want to continue playing it, it's like they took what should be an 8 hour game and designed it in such a way that it takes 35 hours to complete, it's just stupid.

I just bought this game along a PS4 two weeks ago and it is the first time play a game like this and it is pretty hard. What I find wierds the lack of "story" element, it is just you murdering everything for whatever.

I'm currently stuck at Father Gascoigne. I always manage to get it to half his health but everytimes he kills me aa moment my caracter is too slow to heal, dodge and shoot that Motherfucker to do a viceral attack.

Use your pistol. He took me 2 attempts. He's still in the tutorial as it were.

Also I hear people going on about check points. There are none. You open short cuts along the way. When you find these and open them you're never more than 1 minute from the boss encounter at the start of the level.

Or you go down the steps, shimmy along the wall and they dive into the sewers like muppets.