Comments on: Review: Bloodborne

By: Mel

Mel — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 00:20:23 +0000

I’ve moved on from DS2 enough to have cut myself off from most of the updates and news surrounding the game. I know there have been some good and problematic patches to fix the inherent hit detection issues that game has. There’s also been DLC campaigns that I’ve not given a single look.

So I’m not too interested in the PS4 port/remaster/whatever it’s called. Even if they fix some of the many technical issues, the game still has no sense of self and the environments aren’t very fun or exciting when I think back on them. I played through the game twice, and I’m very happy leaving it at that.

By: Lusipurr

Lusipurr — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 04:00:24 +0000

@Mel: What are your opinions on the DS2 PS4 re-release? I understand it is a significant improvement upon the original.

By: Ethos

Ethos — Wed, 08 Apr 2015 16:41:17 +0000

@Mel – <3 <3

By: Mel

Mel — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 23:13:36 +0000

@RabidKitten: Yeah, as I’ve said before, DS2 has only looked worse and worse as time has gone on. I did honestly enjoy myself while playing through the game for the first time (although in hindsight that may have had something to do with the painkillers I was on at the time while recovering from multiple surgeries…).

Anyway, Bloodborne is a fine progression of the Souls formula. It picks up the slack in all the right places, although it does narrow itself down in the process. The game is much less flexible than its predecessors, and I think the Chalice Dungeons might have been an attempt to keep this change from biting into replayability. I don’t know how successful that attempt will be, as they haven’t really interested me much. But Bloodborne is still fresh, I’ll give it some time to settle in my mind and to replay it a few times before I give a “post mortem” look at the game and its long-term impact – things that can’t be accurately assessed soon after release.

By: RabidKitten

RabidKitten — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 04:02:40 +0000

I once commented on Mel’s Editorial about his disappointment with Dark Souls 2. At the time I posted, U was hopeful that I would enjoy the game and that it would live up to my expectations. It did not. Which is sad consider how much of a souls fan I am. That said, I really do hope Bloodborne fills the gap left by Dark Souls 2.

By: SiliconNooB

SiliconNooB — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 20:15:34 +0000

“The fidelity of the game is also a fair target of criticism, as the graphical leap over previous games is marginal at most.”

I really can’t agree with this at all, unless the game suddenly becomes much uglier upon leaving Central Yharnam…

By: Mel

Mel — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 20:14:54 +0000

@Java: The load times do fade into the background as an annoyance, but before that happens they’re a rather prominent fault of the game or some aspect of its development. I now find myself checking my phone in the minutes I spend resurrecting my corpse—a convenient fix for the issue, but not one I’m thrilled about having to make.

By: Mel

Mel — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 20:10:49 +0000

@SN: I can’t shake the feeling that it’s partly a reaction to the direction DS2 was taking as Miyazaki would have been involved in its production, which likely started before Bloodborne’s. The germ of his idea may have been tempered somewhat by it, but I don’t think he’s outright said as such in any interviews.

@Wolfe: High praise, and I thank you for it! Also, I shall not amend your comment. There shouldn’t be typos in the finished product, and it is fair game to point them out. Far be it from our readers to also have to be our editors!

By: Java

Java — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 20:08:38 +0000

“Further lending itself to the psychological horror roots of the plot, Insight is also tied to a debuff called Frenzy that attacks the mind by overwhelming it about Truths apparently lethal to learn.” Just like real life!

Honestly, this game looks ridiculously daunting, but in a good way. I WANT to be schooled by it, knowing that I stand the chance of stepping through its trials by fire having learned something about how a truly challenging game should play and feel. So long as that is going on and I am being entertained with what looks to be stunning visuals the rest of the time, I can deal with longer load screens, since Rome itself was not built in a day, either. Make my hardware work, if you must, but deliver a game worth playing. It sound like Bloodborne says “it will be done,” in response to that request.

By: Wolfe

Wolfe — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 20:07:21 +0000

This is hands down the most thorough, well-written review of Bloodborne I’ve read. Well done Mel, you hit every point dead and and in articulate fashion.

I especially liked your description of the aesthetic which -is- detailed to such a degree as to give me a headache several times, or leave me confused at the maze-like nature of it all. Living sewer summed it all up nicely. There’s very little that doesn’t look diseased or like a tetanus shot waiting to happen.

By: SiliconNooB

SiliconNooB — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 19:52:58 +0000

What blows me away about Bloodborne is the way that its environments [or at least the opening environment] are massive, while at the same time being very, very small. Also, I don't know to what extent DS2 could have informed Bloodborne's development, as at least part of their development cycles would have been concurrent, and the aesthetics and lore of a game are usually the first things to be set in stone. IMO DS2 turned out the way it did because it had the B-team working on it.

By: Lusipurr

Lusipurr — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 17:20:47 +0000

A fantastic, thorough review of a fantastic, thoroughly well-designed game. I want the time to play Bloodborne. It is sitting on my shelf, beckoning to me. Soon. Soon.