I get your point and I do agree. It took me a while to get used to the new system in Bloodborne. Coming from Dark Souls, Bloodborne was quite a different game.
But these remarks are just different. What's wrong with being good at Dark Souls by choosing a legit playstyle provided by the game? Also, blocking still consume your stamina anyway so it's not that different with dodging. There's also many other examples such as the summoning topic. This elitist culture is why I hesitate to engage with the Souls community.
Meh, you always have a few people who think their preferred playstyle (no shield melee only) is the only one and true way to play, but I always ignore it.
I prefer melee myself, but magic (utility or otherwise), bows, thrown items, shields, all are fair game to help you overcome the odds.
I think the point that was being made here is (hopefully) not that playing Souls games with a shield means you are a bad Souls player, it just means that it might hinder you in Bloodborne since it can't work anymore.
Perhaps this is more your speed op.
This image will never not be funny. But I am getting alarmed that for the first time that I can see, some people are actually defending what it represents. Ick.
Can we please stop extrapolating new players' thoughs on the beginning of the game not guiding new players well enough so that they don't feel fustrated and/or confused, into that annoying git gud/"the beginning of the game is problematic because the Souls games are supposed to be harsh" mentality? I see that mocking picture with all those HUD elements and hints to where to go making the rounds a lot, but that doesn't solve my problems with the first hours of the game. I'm not asking for the game to tell me where to go or what to do, I'm asking for the game to explain its systems and to introduce me into how the mechanics work.
But it already does that. It tells you everything you need to know in the tutorial area, except for Insight which isn't
that essential to know about anyway.
Maybe it's time to accept that some of the complains about the first level are actually legitimate instead of you know, making it seem as if everyone who got a problem with it is a dummy who needs Skyward Sword's levels of hand holding, idk. Like I said, I loved the game, it was my first Souls game and I will play the rest of the franchise in the future, but Bloodborne's first level makes it hard for a newcomer to dive into the game by itself (that is, without asking on a forum for advice, looking up FAQ's on how to play Souls games and stuff like that).
*shrugs* I started with Demon's Souls, no FAQs no forum advice no nothing and it had way more obtuse mechanics than Bloodborne, which is incredibly streamlined. Honestly I wouldn't want Bloodborne to be more streamlined than it already is, I think it reached the limit before it starts veering into hand-holding territory. So, no thanks, keep those games pure, thanks.
The worst part of these games is the checkpoint locations and it's more egregious in the first area. It's ridiculously tedious. Bad, bad design.
Nah. It's ridiculously fun and engrossing and awesome and amazing design. Central Yharnam is one of the greatest opening level of any video game I've ever played. Maybe the greatest, or tied with Boletarian Palace 1-1.
Yeah but the shortcuts are so hidden and most importantly, everything of importance so far away from the lantern that you're gonna lose a lot of time going to the same places the first time you play the game.
People are really underestimating OP's concerns as a first time Bloodborne player.
You only have to dig up the OT and see how many of the git gud guys were about to cry at launch. Yes you know the game by now, but don't expect every guy to know the super hidden shortcut is /just about There/.
People are gonna lose progress, and people are gonna have to backtrack for hours, and it's honestly not worth it.
I just wish the checkpoint placement was better, that's it.
To you, maybe not. For many of us, it's what helps make the games great. Finding a hidden shortcut is always an amazing lightbulb (or sometimes a "oh thank you sweet Jesus!", even) moment. The fact that the next lantern or shortcut is so far away is the whole point of the challenge, to be able to proceed with the dread of the next danger lurking around, with perhaps your resources dwindling and your stakes (blood echoes/souls) rising. Just putting up more bonfires out there would ruin this delicate balance and remove the sense of risk.
Forbidden Woods is a great example. Huge level, possibly the largest, and only 1 lantern, but there's several shortcuts, 2 of which loop back to the first lamp, and it's an extremely rewarding sense of relief when you find them. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Some souls fans are so sensitive, they make me laugh.
Souls fans love those games for various reasons, but a common one is the challenge, lack of hand-holding, and rewarding sense of exploration and triumph over adversity. So, seeing people saying "this is terrible and it should change" will certainly make us frown, yes. That's not being "so sensitive" any more than saying "wah I die a lot this game sucks and is badly designed please change it" is.
This.
Also what instructions it does give you, in the form of the little sick patches on the floor, is such a shit way "teaching" the player.
Why? I think it's perfect. It tells you the basics, but doesn't hold your hand, and its optional granularity means you can skip any step you want and play at your own pace.
Just reading the first page reminds me why the DS/BB community is just the worst. And I love the games.
The beginning of BB is just bad design, plain and simple. Just because something is hard doesn't mean it's good.
Posts like these remind me why the DS/BB community is great, and outsiders who want to shit on us and our favourite games are "just the worst".
The beginning of BB is a beautiful, intricate, atmospheric, engrossing and tightly designed level and carefully balanced so that it is challenging for a newcomer and almost easy for a veteran (but never to the point where there's no more danger, as one moment of overconfidence or fuck-up can still get even the best player killed). That so many people shit on Central Yharnam level-design wise honestly boggle my mind. I can't think of many better opening levels in a game. And just because something isn't easy for you, doesn't mean it's "bad, plain and simple".