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The start of Bloodborne and how it's freaking awful

greycolumbus

The success of others absolutely infuriates me.
I hate the pebbles in this game. It's simpler in most situations to pull enemies by hitting them and backstepping. Trying to wrangle enemies one by one always struck me as a bad move. It's also better to try to attack as many enemies as you can with every swing. Most of the trick weapons are optimized for crowd control with varying arcs.

Bottom line is that you have to be offensive. The rally system is there for that reason. You'll die continuously if you try to play this game like Dark Souls.
 

Macattk15

Member
Honestly just sounds like you're bad at the game and maybe it isn't for you.

While the game is unforgiving, nothing about those mobs you are fighting in that area is tough.
 

Wamb0wneD

Member
You're going the wrong way, if you kill those guys and the dogs, you will just get fucked up more by the two dog things on the bridge. Break the boxes near the door with the chatting woman.

Huh... You mean the woman that laughs like the crazy person she probably is? On the place with the well with the 3 crows on it, right before that mob with all the dogs?
 

Toni

Member
Brace yourself, you have dissed GAFs darling be prepared to take one on the chin for 3 pages

C6FHLbB.png
 

Rizific

Member
cant say i agree with op at all. it was my first souls game and while the beginning was pretty difficult, i thought it was also fair and not bad at all. i learned to pull single mobs with pebbles.
 
I feel bad for TC lol. there are two games in neogaf you can't criticize even though it's your opinion. Too many GAF users will get butthurt. Bloodborne and Zelda. Both I think is overrated on neogaf.

That said windwaker>botw and Nioh>bloodborne Imo of course.
 

Nose Master

Member
...You want to give up after seven attempts? You uh, sure you like souls games?

You can run past almost every encounter in the game pretty easily. Enemy leashes are really short.
 

Mr Moose

Member
Huh... You mean the woman that laughs like the crazy person she probably is? On the place with the well with the 3 crows on it, right before that mob with all the dogs?

Yeah, to the left of that door with the woman in break those boxes and jump down. There's some dogs, but you can ignore them.

Head straight from dropping down, turn left and enter the house, exit other door in the house, head up the stairs and unlock the shortcut.
 

Floody

Member
What weapon did you pick? If you're really struggling get the Hunter's Axe, makes fighting groups way easier with i's R2 spin to win attack.

Also BB is more about finding shortcuts than Lanterns, most areas only have 1 until you beat it's boss.
 
I wouldn't say it's any worse than the start of Dark Souls in terms of difficulty. Design-wise? Arguable, though I'd maybe give Dark Souls the slight edge. It's nowhere near the mess that Dark Souls 2's opening level is.

Edit: The atmosphere incredible.
 

Wamb0wneD

Member
I hate the pebbles in this game. It's simpler in most situations to pull enemies by hitting them and backstepping. Trying to wrangle enemies one by one always struck me as a bad move. It's also better to try to attack as many enemies as you can with every swing. Most of the trick weapons are optimized for crowd control with varying arcs.

Bottom line is that you have to be offensive. The rally system is there for that reason. You'll die continuously if you try to play this game like Dark Souls
.

Yeah i get a feeling the bolded is the case. And yeah staggering as many as possible is always a good move. Problem is sometimes the lock on switches to another enemy right before the swing because i moved the camera an inch and then the arc doesn't hit one of them and he gets a free hit because I'm still in the animation.

Honestly just sounds like you're bad at the game and maybe it isn't for you.

While the game is unforgiving, nothing about those mobs you are fighting in that area is tough.

Souls fans are so quick to blame everything on the player is hilarious. Yeah I played through DS in NG++ but I guess i just suck at souls games.

Yeah, to the left of that door with the woman in break those boxes and jump down. There's some dogs, but you can ignore them.

Head straight from dropping down, turn left and enter the house, exit other door in the house, head up the stairs and unlock the shortcut.

Thanks a bunch! Will try that tomorrow.
 
I feel bad for TC lol. there are two games in neogaf you can't criticize even though it's your opinion. Too many GAF users will get butthurt. Bloodborne and Zelda. Both I think is overrated on neogaf.

That said windwaker>botw and Nioh>bloodborne Imo of course.

But in this case there is no criticism. OP is literally "I keep dying so this game is bad."
 

Tenrius

Member
I don't know what a Point of Insight or a Cleric beast is. I know that I'd like to level up after fighting 40 enemies.

A point of insight is something you get for seeing bosses or certain events for the first time and for defeating them. Basically like humanity in DS1. You need to gain a single point of that and the easiest way is to get to the Cleric Beast, an optional boss easily reached from the first lantern.

The bolded part sounds irrational, though. As if you want to level up for the sake of it happening and also expect it to happen as a natural consequence of beating 40 enemies.

Actual advice: the mob is absolutely optional, you can run past everything. Stick to the right edge of the square, killing the few guys camping up there with guns (might take a bit of practice). When you reach the right-hand tunnel (it's closed), jump down to the big gate. You should be just outside the field of vision of the big mob next to the big fire. Quickly ran across the square and through the tunnel — some of them will give chase, but most will almost always give up once you get out the tunnel. You'll be at a big square with the giant barging at the door. Somewhere around there is a shorcut to your lantern that allows you to never do the whole thing again. I don't really remember how to unlock it, just look it up in a guide.

And the mob is not THAT tough to beat once you figure out the combat. I think it took me a couple hours of trying to be able to reliably do that, but I did that just for fun — it was a completely optional self-imposed challenge.
 

GonzoCR

Member
I feel bad for TC lol. there are two games in neogaf you can't criticize even though it's your opinion. Too many GAF users will get butthurt. Bloodborne and Zelda. Both I think is overrated on neogaf.

That said windwaker>botw and Nioh>bloodborne Imo of course.

I swear in most threads there are more people complaining about people being butthurt than people actually being butthurt.

And anyway most people here agree on Bloodborne's actual issues, like performance, blood vials, bullshit hitboxes like Watchdog of the Old Lords, etc. But most of the OP sounds like the game is simply too hard for them, people are obviously going to disagree on it being an objective flaw of the game.
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
OP leveling up will not make the game that much easier, if at all. Levels are more about what weapons you can use at the beginning and then later on focusing on what kind of play style you want. You can't just power level and stomp on things. That said I'm not sure what you're doing but many of the issues yo have, like pulling mobs are not ones most people have. Either use pebbles or shot them if you need to and you should be able to pull a few enemies at a time. That or of course just run past them.

I feel bad for TC lol. there are two games in neogaf you can't criticize even though it's your opinion. Too many GAF users will get butthurt. Bloodborne and Zelda. Both I think is overrated on neogaf.

That said windwaker>botw and Nioh>bloodborne Imo of course.

Thanks for this insightful on topic post no one has ever heard before.
 
You need to learn to adapt, that's all.

As a wise NPC once said:

''You are not a skilled hunter.
Stubborn, fragile, be tired with blood.....as the worst hunters are.
Which is why we must stop you
from giving up like a freaking casual.
''
 

Memento

Member
There is not other answer to this thread than the famous "get gud"...

Bloodborne starting area is by far the best designed area in the entire Soulsborne series. Central Yharnam is god-like level design, enemy placement and combat pacing. It is literally perfect.

You just need to get the philosophy behind Bloodborne's combat and understands how fundamentally different than Dark Souls you have to make your approach on enemies. Basically, get the hang of the combat. Being aggressive is rewarded. You are much faster here than in Souls. Use it to your advantage.
 

zma1013

Member
There will be an adjustment period here as you have to deal with faster, more aggressive, and more numerous enemies than past souls games. The bosses are also much quicker and more aggressive, (think Manus and Artorias on crack). The game gives you everything you need to deal with all of this in the form of faster movement, faster attack speed, faster stamina recharge, quicker and easier parrying, and a health regain system.

That being said, either proceed very slowly and pull enemies or pick and choose your battles wisely. Maybe don't try and fight 20 villagers at once in the town square in the beginning.

You'll adjust. In the meantime, look for secret pathways hidden behind breakable objects like boxes. Progress is measured in more ways than just leveling up.

Also, if you don't know, you can quick dash by locking on and doing a dodge move. It's faster and better than a simple roll and is the intended way to evade attacks.
 

Wamb0wneD

Member
But in this case there is no criticism. OP is literally "I keep dying so this game is bad."

Can you show me where I said the game is bad? I'm specifically talking about the tarting area and some people who played trhough the agme seem to agree with me. The fact you read that as me saying the whole game sucks just proves the point the poster you quoted tried to make.
 
Maybe I'm too passive, yeah. The thing is whenever I'm at the same spot the enemies sometimes don't notice me and sometimes just run to me guns blazing, all of them. Sometimes even when I try to lure someone with a pebble to single them out. It's just really inconsistent in my experience.

I don't have a problem dying a lot. What i do have a problem with is dying a lot with the huge ass corridor with 15 or so enemies in it between me and my next objective. DS 2 got rightfully critizised for that stuff and just because the corridor is wider and there are more enemies in it doesn't mean it's better all of a sudden.

I guess I don't really remember there being any inconsistencies in that regard. I feel like once I got to know an area really well, I was able to clear it in almost the same way every time.
 

kikiribu

Member
Yeah i get a feeling the bolded is the case.



Souls fans are so quick to blame everything on the player is hilarious. Yeah I played through DS in NG++ but I guess i just suck at souls games.
If you played through DS on NG++ and can't get past the first area in Bloodborne, then this really just confirms that you're playing the game in a way that is too similar to Souls. Don't forget Bloodborne is a lot more footsies-based and aggressive. The moment you get corned in this game you'll die. Don't allow it, and try to make use of the Rally mechanic.

Also, have you noticed that you can one shot kill a lot of those mobs in the first area with one charged R2 attack?
 

Apathy

Member
so you've played dark souls but the start of BB is kicking your butt? Stop thinking like Dark Souls where you are going to be on the defensive. BB is about being aggressive and rewarding you for the change of gameplay.

Put it to you this way. Bloodborne was my first toe into Souls games for more than an hour. I got through it with no issues, went back to Souls and finished them but found them so boring by comparison.

Change to the game.
 

poodaddy

Member
Stop now bro. Seriously, I ain't talking shit but you need to know that's one of the easiest parts of the game; there's no chance that you'll enjoy the rest of the game if the intro is beating you this hard.
 
Time to use the ax. Two hand it, use the fully charged heavy attack. Even those big assholes will be sent flying, and it'll refill most rally instantly.
 

Anura

Member
Honestly, the difficulty curve of bloodborne is pretty funky. The beginning is just so much harder than most/all of the base game, and it's kinda weird. Not only are you underpowered, but you're also outnumbered and unable to buy supplies or level. Papa G is also the first mandatory boss and I don't think he does a good job at teaching the basics. He even does things that you will never see again until the DLC (such as reading people's panic rolls after they get knocked down). He is crazy easy to burst down/parry but will kill you in only a few hits. Rush/lucky parry him before he can do anything super dangerous and you will win without any understanding of the fight at al. He teaches offense at the expense of all else and not much else. Personally, I feel that's not a good lesson to teach newbie and it comes back to bite people towards the end. Compared to the slower and easier intros of other souls games it's just kind of jarring.

Bloodborne is one of my favorite games of all time but it needs to work on that difficulty curve.
 
You can't really avoid that path to the cleric beast unless you go to the sewers and if he goes there he will get a madman item or encounter the second boss. I was just trying to tell him how to unlocking leveling quickly.

You can easily take out all enemies near the bonfire. Its not super easy but if you take it slow you can kill them all.

OP:

If you are walking towards the bonfire hit the ridge/stairs on the right next to some carriage where a gun toting enemy is sleeping. If you carry on that ledge you will have to fight about three enemies. While doing that a smaller group near the bonfire will start to walk to the big guy with the axe in the beginning, so you can ignore them.

Then jump down and kill the dogs behind the carriages. Then run up to the guy on top of the wall, who is shooting at you. Kill him.

When you get to the area where the big guy is banging on the wall, go straight ahead and roll through some breakable boxes. You will jump down and be near a few dogs, kill them. Go left and run towards a house with a single door. Open it and go outside the next door straight ahead. Go up the stairs and unlock the shortcut to the lantern.

Then just take it from there. If you go back into the dark house, go up the stairs and hang left. Run past the three crows and one big guy and there is your insight. After doing that you can lvl up.

I hope if you follow this advice you can get past this first part.

General tips:

-Your dodges have invincibility frames, use them wisely.

-Attacking an enemy after losing health gives you back some health.

-Shoot an enemy just before an attack hits you to make them stagger, stand very close to them and hit R1 for a visceral attack.

Damnit, now you got me wanting to play BB again OP! ;)

Also, yeah this aint your grandpa's Dark Souls ^_^
 
I had a similar problem to be honest, coming off of beating DS1, DS2, Demon's Souls, DS3 in that order (over a year+). But I stuck with it and began to understand the game. Now I would say it is piss easy compared to the others, except Demon's Souls.

Bloodborne has the most interesting lore to me as well...
 
OP, BB is far less invested in build variety than DS. As such, the first area is designed to force you to slam your head against the wall until you grasp the necessary mechanics. Frankly, I recommend you don't even try to coddle your way through the intro by tricking enemies. Either bolt your way through the opening straight to the boss (which is very doable) or fight your way straight through so as to help yourself understand the mechanics. The latter is the best approach, but if you can't get past this whole thing, BB might not be the game for you.
 

Wamb0wneD

Member
A point of insight is something you get for seeing bosses or certain events for the first time and for defeating them. Basically like humanity in DS1. You need to gain a single point of that and the easiest way is to get to the Cleric Beast, an optional boss easily reached from the first lantern.

The bolded part sounds irrational, though. As if you want to level up for the sake of it happening and also expect it to happen as a natural consequence of beating 40 enemies.

Actual advice: the mob is absolutely optional, you can run past everything. Stick to the right edge of the square, killing the few guys camping up there with guns (might take a bit of practice). When you reach the right-hand tunnel (it's closed), jump down to the big gate. You should be just outside the field of vision of the big mob next to the big fire. Quickly ran across the square and through the tunnel — some of them will give chase, but most will almost always give up once you get out the tunnel. You'll be at a big square with the giant barging at the door. Somewhere around there is a shorcut to your lantern that allows you to never do the whole thing again. I don't really remember how to unlock it, just look it up in a guide.

And the mob is not THAT tough to beat once you figure out the combat. I think it took me a couple hours of trying to be able to reliably do that, but I did that just for fun — it was a completely optional self-imposed challenge.

It's just compared to the start in DS you have to go through all that bs. In DS you either go down the catacombs and learn that that's not the way to go or land at the Undead Burg anyway. And there you fight some scarcely, remotely well paced/placed enemies until you get to the first Bonfire there, and if it's too hard because you're new or something you can just go to the first bonfire again and level up once after a few fights.

That corrdior in BB is just offputting af with it's 15 people, roaming, hiding or standing there but totally seeing you from miles away even when you're on high ground and trying to get past them without being seen. At least 3 of them chase me up there no matter where I walk. It's tedious af compared to DS, and the fact so many here advise me to just run past everything and get an item from an optional boss so i can invest the xp "in a quick way" is kinda telling. Thanks for ther advice though, appreciate the effort.

OP, BB is far less invested in build variety than DS. As such, the first area is designed to force you to slam your head against the wall until you grasp the necessary mechanics. Frankly, I recommend you don't even try to coddle your way through the intro by tricking enemies. Either bolt your way through the opening straight to the boss (which is very doable) or fight your way straight through so as to help yourself understand the mechanics. The latter is the best approach, but if you can't get past this whole thing, BB might not be the game for you.

I mean I managed to fight the damn wolf thing at the beginning barehanded and beat the crap out of it. It's just that the starting area is unusually tedious stuff for a Miyazaki game and I'm surprised how offputting it is for me.
 
Bloodborne was my first Souls game and I didn't die until Gascoigne. I don't know man...wasnt too hard for me.

Try and go up the right side maybe?
 
A good tip for you OP, try to fight one of them at a time. Doesn't matter how many you aggro'd, just attack one at a time. Never step into two or more enemies' attacking range, you are not ready for that. You only see people do that because they are good.

Bloodborne's combat (and Souls combat) isn't about what you can see, it's about what you can't see. Such as the attack range of the enemy and the timing of your dodge. If you can ''see'' them then you can pretty much overcome all of the challenge in the game.

Remember, NEVER attack recklessly, think before you do.
Practice a bit with your weapons, memorize the R1 and the R2 attacks of both transformed and untransformed mode (you can press L1 to transform your weapon) of your favorite weapon. Compare them, what attack you want to use and what disadvantage it'll have in different situation?

There's a reason why they give each weapon TWO R1 attacks and TWO R2 attacks (transformed and untransformed.), they have functions, it's not just for show, each attack has its strength and weakness. Find out what works the best for you.

If you use the R1 combo of the folded Saw Cleaver on the mobs, then it's gonna deliever very good DPS (damage per second) on a single enemy, however, it won't hit multiple enemies as it has very limited range. So that means you should only use that attack when you are facing enemy 1 on 1, never use it on multiple opponents because it won't be effective at all and would likely get you killed.

Same goes to the two handed L2 of the Hunter's Axe, it's has good range and decent damage but once you miss the enemy you leave yourself exposed for a second, so that means you might not want to use it against something that's fast and vicious.

Last, practice with the timing of your dodge. Bloodborne only have 2 shields in the game and they are completely shit against physical attacks, so dodging is your best defense.

Tip: Dodge at the last second, ususally right before the enemy is about to hit you. Never panic dodge, if you dodge as soon as the enemy is about to attack then you will get hit pretty much 99% of the time. (Unless they miss for some reason)

jptjiqweksichkvu4n8g.gif


As you can see in this gif, the player dodge to the left just right before the beast hit him, and the invincible frame allows the player to pass right through the claw of the beast without taking any damage.

Also, if you press R1 right after dodging to the left, right or back when locked on to an enemy, It will perform a different attack than your usual R1. This is called the ''dodging R1'', which your character will automatically steps forward more than usual during the attack animation, as shown in the gif right after the left dodge.

This attack is very useful but it can also get you killed, as you are literally walking into enemy's attack range, so try to use it smartly.

I suggest you find a single mob enemy to test this out, lock on to him and then dodge to the left, right or back, and then press R1 right after the dodge. Try to get the feel of it.
 

Aranath

Member
The story is shit too. Forget about it. It wasn't made to make sense and the way it's presented is terrible. I needed a guide to comprehend what I was supposed to understand.

So because you didn't understand it, it's shit? The story was perfectly understandable and brilliant. As a Lovecraft fan, I was in my element the whole way through.

Anyway, when I got to the street with all the enemies, I also had the same oh shit moment, but realised running was an option. I hate running through, I just practised and pulled them one by one and eventually made my way through. Quite early for such a strong 'git gud' moment but I felt like a freaking champ once I could get through more easily and dealt with the Cleric Beast on my first attempt. Just gotta stick it out because the game really is deserving of all the praise it gets and is well worth the initial difficulty.
 

Bulzeeb

Member
what bothered me about Bloodborne was that the whole world map felt too similar to each other when compared to dark souls (specially 1, that world map is a masterpiece) I know that the idea was to set up the mood and stuff but it really bored me. I admit that the faster combat was nice but in term of everall enjoyment I rank it bellow the souls games and I think is far from the master pice gaf whant you to think it is.
 
In truth the first slice of Bloodborne is pretty punishing for what it is, you can't level up until you beat the first boss (and you can easily end up taking a turn to the second boss instead before even meeting this guy) and it throws a lot more enemies at you than any Dark Souls intro complete with mobs'n'dogs and sniper joe over there taking rather potent potshots.

Add in the "I keep dying" frustration mistakes and you've got yourself the recipe for getting killed a fair amount, especially if you're coming from a Dark Souls title where the idea of being more passive in the early goings is probably ingrained into some players.
 

Wamb0wneD

Member
I had a similar problem to be honest, coming off of beating DS1, DS2, Demon's Souls, DS3 in that order (over a year+). But I stuck with it and began to understand the game. Now I would say it is piss easy compared to the others, except Demon's Souls.

Bloodborne has the most interesting lore to me as well...

Yeah it seems that I have problems to adapt because I played DS way too much. I only played through 1 though.

In truth the first slice of Bloodborne is pretty punishing for what it is, you can't level up until you beat the first boss (and you can easily end up taking a turn to the second boss instead before even meeting this guy) and it throws a lot more enemies at you than any Dark Souls intro complete with mobs'n'dogs and sniper joe over there taking rather potent potshots.

Add in the "I keep dying" frustration mistakes and you've got yourself the recipe for getting killed a fair amount, especially if you're coming from a Dark Souls title where the idea of being more passive in the early goings is probably ingrained into some players.

Seems lie I found at least some understanding people that don't just throw git gud at me. Thanks!
 
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