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[EU] Bloodborne Alpha Test

AlexisBrennt

Neo Member
Hey, played it just yesterday and loved every minute of it. But I forgot to test the "Foul Pill" or how it was called. Anyone knows what that item does? If not I will try it tomorrow.
 

aravuus

Member
Wow, no wonder so many people have problems with the Soul series. This guy swings wildly at every enemy he encounters.

I hate the elitistic "fking scrusb l2play" mentality a part of the Souls fandom seems to have but even I have to say, it was kind of painful to watch that lol
 
D

Deleted member 125677

Unconfirmed Member
The game looks good but they really need to fix the goddamn framerate but since the other Souls games also struggled to run at 30FPS i wouldn't hold my breath.

But then again this is a alpha build so we'll see.

Yeah, the only negative I pick up from the impression is this. FROM really sucks at maintaining decent frame rates in their console games.

But if they can get the final build to hold a locked 30, I guess that'll do. It's not like it's coming to PC anyway :p
 
Hey, played it just yesterday and loved every minute of it. But I forgot to test the "Foul Pill" or how it was called. Anyone knows what that item does? If not I will try it tomorrow.

It seemed to be the faster stamina recovery consumable (with the usual sound effect and a green aura).
 
One of the best thing I've seen are the combos you can pull of with transforming weapons. You can transform you're weapon mid combo, or mid roll as well.....man pvp is going to insane
 

Nibel

Member
Is the framerate capped at 30 or is it unlocked like DS2?

I'll say this: 30 FPS is the maximum I encountered. But I have played segments in sub-20 FPS that were shown in recent official videos with 30 FPS, so I'm not concerned. It's obviously an old build and not really good for technical analysis since so much can change until February.
 
This game.

Played every class in the alpha and thought the first two (scythe/blunderbuss and hunter axe/pistol) were the best suited for me; the other two felt incredible in their own right, but also felt like they take more skill to be played perfectly.

This truly feels like more of a Demon's Souls successor than a Dark Souls one despite similarities. You still double tap circle to backdodge or jump while running, you use items with square and every attack button is located on the shoulder buttons. The world feels very 'Castlevania'-ish with the amount of doors and such I've encountered. I was shocked when I saw another player just on the street fighting; I've helped him and thought it was a NPC at first, but soon realized that he was seamlessly integrated into my game world which felt very natural. I was confused by the small inventory and how 'different' the game felt to actually control, but the more you play the more you realized that this is a fantastically streamlined version of the souls games.

Having a heal function mapped on the triangle button is so much better than having to scroll though the item submenu, especially during combat. Being able to transform your weapon with one button outside or even during combat is a bless and opens up the possibility to do fast and stylish combo chain attacks that have not been seen in any of the previous Souls games. The interface consists of way less elements and feels less cluttered than the other ones and doesn't interfer with the beautiful presentation.

The realization of the setting they chose is astounding; yes, there are crazy framerate drops during some segments and not every texture is sharp as a knife, but seeing this in motion with the horsepower of the PS4 behind it is something else. The use of decent motion blur during movements, the reflection of moody light sources in water puddles scattered on the street, the cape physics and the unbelievable sense of scope that puts Anor Londo to shame create an ominous yet exciting atmosphere that many games wished to come close to. The amount of assets is levels above anything you've seen in the previous Souls games: the inside of houses look way more detailed, the streets are filled with abandoned carriages, coffins, boxes, barrels, statues with facial expressions you can recognize and walls and railings and roofs and doors and architectures that are filled with crinkum-crankum.. and then there are this perfect moments during combat where you dodge and you witness the interplay of lighting, bloody coats, motion blur and think "Holy shit". This game is a looker to me.

The truly best part of it that made me giggle over and over again is the combat, and I have no idea how I should enjoy Dark Souls 2's combat ever again since I have some DLCs to finish. Bloodborne is fast. Bloodborne is brutal. You fight completely different than in previous Souls games because instead of choosing between two actions - attack and block - you have to make more decisions and button presses. Blocking always meant that you were safe to a certain extent, and that's gone now. You have no real safe options during combat surrouned by enemies; you can't just raise a shield and look for a wall behind you. You have to zig-zag dash your way between multiple enemies, keep your eye on stamina, choose the right moment to either melee attack or to shoot (which allows you to stun enemies if timed right before an enemy attack), than dodge back and then dash right back into the crowd while targeting the best target. I didn't manage to beat the Cleric Beast, but this was the first time I had a blast to fight a Souls boss again (especially since there is no dumb MaxHP-penality anymore lol). You dash around enemies, shoot them, slash them and transform your weapon to have a wider range and slash the enemies surrounding you, then you dodge a bullet and try to dash towards its shooter while being followed by mutliple enemies and then try to slash another enemy on your way because you've been hit before and the regain system makes you gamble if you want to win health back or not and and and. This has potential to be something really special because it feels soooo fresh.

This is not "I keep my finger on the shield button and walk into the room and if a enemy attacks me there is a slight chance that his attack will fall into the shield radius and be blocked". This is "I walk through open areas and if a enemy attacks I better dodge quickly into a direction where he doesn't hit me". This is "I can't stand still in a level because there are actual patrols who attack me instantly". This creates a new exciting dynamic scenario in which you never feel quite safe if you haven't killed all the enemies. And I loved it.

There were some typical Souls engine symptons though: enemies do the weird "skip animations if too far away" thing, they don't follow you all the way and sometimes have pathfinding issues. There were some other technical issues, but hey: this is an alpha, this is mostly normal. I believe the final product will be better in some areas.

All in all, I know what I'll be playing February. This is a true PS4 killer app and you will love this. Miyazaki and his team have done it again, and I can't wait to get my hands on it the next time.

Wait, so multiplayer is kinda like Journey / Destiny ? People get into your game without you having to summon them ?
 

Yoshichan

And they made him a Lord of Cinder. Not for virtue, but for might. Such is a lord, I suppose. But here I ask. Do we have a sodding chance?
Nibel, what happened to your cute avatar?!
 

Sn4ke_911

If I ever post something in Japanese which I don't understand, please BAN me.
Seriously i can't stress it enough, a solid framerate (at least 30FPS) is sooo important especially for a game where you can die so fast.

I really really hope From Software gets it and listens to fan feedback because i'm pretty sure this will be the main complain about the alpha.
 
This is a proper souls game, everything you love is still there. It's just been taken to the next level.

It is so unfathomably amazing and I'm ridiculously happy that it is what it is.

Summoning/being summoned is pretty seamless.

Oh, and it is still fairly hard. About as hard as Demon's Souls I'd say.
 

Djin1979

Member
Is there any inventory, gear or stats ? I could not find them in the Alpha.
And no character creation, I guess it's because it's an Alpha...
 

Footos22

Member
Seriously i can't stress it enough, a solid framerate (at least 30FPS) is sooo important especially for a game where you can die so fast.

I really really hope From Software gets it and listens to fan feedback because i'm pretty sure this will be the main complain about the alpha.

if people complain about it they obv arent meant to be playing the alpha.

all this is is a server stress test. your not meant to be playing it to go damn the framerates iffy. holy shit where the aa etc.
 

Nibel

Member
Wait, so multiplayer is kinda like Journey / Destiny ? People get into your game without you having to summon them ?

I think so! There was no text box or whatsoever. He just came running across the corner and I was baffled. Like I said, at first I thought it was a NPC, but then I realized the irregular movements and use of gestures. Later on I encountered a true NPC and they behave differently. I'm not sure if they'll keep it this way, but man did it feel natural and just right.

Nibel, what happened to your cute avatar?!

MGSV hype currently too strong breh.

Seriously i can't stress it enough, a solid framerate (at least 30FPS) is sooo important especially for a game where you can die so fast.

I really really hope From Software gets it and listens to fan feedback because i'm pretty sure this will be the main complain about the alpha.

I think they will - or have to - fix it. This is supposed to be played fast and I sometimes encountered input lag issues in those sub-20 FPS segments.
 
Is there any inventory, gear or stats ? I could not find them in the Alpha.
And no character creation, I guess it's because it's an Alpha...

There seems to be a more limited inventory, what I could find was mapped to the touchpad.

There weren't any stats or item descriptions, it was only by
messing around with the bells
that I worked out how to summon/be summoned.

Oh, and if no one else has mentioned it those things on the ground with the little skeleton people reaching out are the messages/bloodstains.
 

Thrakier

Member
Seriously i can't stress it enough, a solid framerate (at least 30FPS) is sooo important especially for a game where you can die so fast.

I really really hope From Software gets it and listens to fan feedback because i'm pretty sure this will be the main complain about the alpha.

Besides that 30FPS is still pretty bad even when locked down (it's 2014 on a nextgen console, 2nd console into HD gaming), I don't believe that they care. Why should they. Demons and Dark Souls had bad framerates and they got worse over the course of the series, not better. But the fan and media feedback as well as the sales got better and better. That leads to only one logical conclusion: Framerate does not matter in any context. Even with a bad framerate you can get:

- great fan feedback, with people praising graphics being MUCH more vocal than those caring for playablitiy and low latency
- great, amazing reviews, completly ignoring the playability with journalists who seemingly don't even know the concept of framerate and latency and how it impacts a gaming experience (no wonder, if they are gaming on console for the last decade only, how should they know)
- great sales

So why change anything? I know it's just an Alpha, but then again, it's a testatement to the design priorities of From Software. I would be very surprised if those change fundamentally. I expect the opposite: Even more eye candy, even worse framerates. Insomniac Games, a former fundamentalist when it came to 60FPS gaming (for reasons), decided to go sub 30FPS with their newest games, because they believe the added eye candy will net them more money. Expect others to follow, it works for From Software as well.
 
Seriously i can't stress it enough, a solid framerate (at least 30FPS) is sooo important especially for a game where you can die so fast.

I really really hope From Software gets it and listens to fan feedback because i'm pretty sure this will be the main complain about the alpha.
I don't like to say it, but I can genuinely see a visual downgrade to fix the FPS. The frame issues in DS2's network test weren't half as bad as this, and that game got a huge downgrade. I think From are just incompetent on a technical level.
 
I always laugh when I see people talking about how "this game is so different from anything in Souls combat, you have to know how to dodge" and all that because that's how I've played Souls games from day 1. No shield, l2dodge.
 

Ferr986

Member
I don't like to say it, but I can genuinely see a visual downgrade to fix the FPS. The frame issues in DS2's network test weren't half as bad as this, and that game got a huge downgrade. I think From are just incompetent on a technical level.

I dont think they're gonna downgrade. I mean, this game is the complete oposite of Dark Souls 2, Bloodborne got a big graphical upgrade coming from Project Beast. If they did that its because they were confident with it, if not they would just leave it as how P.B. looked.
That doesnt mean this game is going to be rock-solid 30 FPS, I dont think it will. Atleast I hope they can make it more stable in the final build.
 
I don't like to say it, but I can genuinely see a visual downgrade to fix the FPS. The frame issues in DS2's network test weren't half as bad as this, and that game got a huge downgrade. I think From are just incompetent on a technical level.

I didn't participate in the DaS2 test but what I've played of Bloodborne so far says it has a better frame rate than DaS2 final game.

Maybe people who didn't get into the alpha and are really mad. Or people who don't have a PS4 and are jelly. I dunno.

Probably a mix of both, people be mad jelly lolz.
 

Mafro

Member
Wait, so multiplayer is kinda like Journey / Destiny ? People get into your game without you having to summon them ?
You still have to summon people but when I did it there was no notification that they had joined my game. I rang the summoning bell and a minute or so later I saw someone ahead of me taking on a group of enemies.
 
Wait, so multiplayer is kinda like Journey / Destiny ? People get into your game without you having to summon them ?

No you have to use a summonning bell to go to co-op.
However , if you don't THEN you'll see other people "ghosts" ( that are players playing in the same area as you at the same moment )
 
if people complain about it they obv arent meant to be playing the alpha.

all this is is a server stress test. your not meant to be playing it to go damn the framerates iffy. holy shit where the aa etc.

This is From though, they have a history of shocking framerate issues. I think it's understandable that people are concerned the framerate won't be much better in the final release.
 

cheesekao

Member
This is From though, they have a history of shocking framerate issues. I think it's understandable that people are concerned the framerate won't be much better in the final release.

If the TGS gameplay footage is anything to go by, the frame rate issues in the area have already been ironed out. On the other hand, I'd say that those weird things on the floor affects the frame rate, seeing as to how I saw the frame rate of a stream tank when the player got to an area where shitloads of those things were on the ground.
 

Koozek

Member
Jeeesus, I could watch the cloth/cape moving around all day :D
This game looks stunning. Can't wait to play a faster version of D(e)S. I can see not being able to hold your shield all the time really making it more dynamic and make you feel unsafe.
 

RazorUK

Pilot, your Titan is ready, prepare for Titanbombs
Aren't we supposed to not talk about this?

I think someone mentioned that the testers are able to discuss it with other alpha testers.
So yeah... anyone not in the alpha needs to stop reading this topic!
 

Markitron

Is currently staging a hunger strike outside Gearbox HQ while trying to hate them to death
Can someone that has played it tell me if this game would be suitable for non-souls fans? I really liked Demon's Souls but stopped playing after a few hours in 2010. Have not been able to get back into it.

This thread is getting me hyped for this game though
 

AlexisBrennt

Neo Member
Can someone that has played it tell me if this game would be suitable for non-souls fans? I really liked Demon's Souls but stopped playing after a few hours in 2010. Have not been able to get back into it.

This thread is getting me hyped for this game though

I think it's not so much about being a Souls fan than being ok with redoing stuff till you get it. Like dying over and over to the same enemy and then realize how to deal with it.
 
I must have played a different Alpha or different Souls games because I have a hard time understanding sentiments like „Souls combat is fun again“ or „I could never play DS2 again“, as expressed by several posters here. The lack of shields does make a difference but it is not that different that you could enjoy one but not the other (and if you're a good Souls player you know that dodging is much better than blocking anyway, only casuals use their shield all the time. Havel's set, heavy shield always raised, that's how you recognize a filthy Souls casual. :p). This game might as well be called Blood Souls, it's a Souls game through and through and feels way too similar to really justify a different name imo. I also didn't notice any increased speed in the gameplay. I played a few minutes of DS2 after reading the Alpha impressions last night to see if I misremembered my time with that game but no, DS2 even felt a little faster, especially running and dodging. That is probably due to my light character build, but still Bloodborne didn't feel any faster to me.
Don't get me wrong, I'm only commenting on the comparisons to the Souls games. I loved what I played, it feels fresh (though not that much) and familiar at the same time, they struck a good balance, and it's a lot of fun.

As for the difficulty: after getting used to having no shield and to the weapon transformations, I found the game was a bit easier than the Souls games, mostly because damaging enemies heals you and the blood vials, this game's estus flasks, had a fairly high drop rate. The gameplay itself is still fairly challenging. Again, they struck a good balance here.

The area where I wish the game didn't feel like Souls is the frame rate. I played mostly Wii U games lately, most of which are 60fps, and going from that to sub 30fps with drops takes some getting used to. It was not very pleasant to my eyes. You'd think that with a much more powerful system you could expect games to have at least half the framerate and be stable. The game is not fast paced, it's not an over top action game with huge set pieces, it's on fairly powerful hardware, its exclusive, which should make optimization easier, so it's not that unreasonable to expect stable 30 fps. I didn't expect any better from DS2 because of the ancient hardware, but this is on the PS4. Come on, From, try a little harder.

I have some more minor complaints like the color palette, it wouldn't hurt to have a few more shades of color there. It was sometimes hard to see the grey enemies in front of the grey backgrounds.
Enemy AI seems a bit simple at times, „aggro range“ is quite small.
The camera needs some work, it was my biggest enemy during the boss fight.
I also think I might miss magic a bit in the final release, for game that is almost 100% combat I'd like to have more options than just melee weapons to give me more variety in how I fight enemies. I always liked switching between magic and melee in Souls, so I hope I won't get bored of only having one of those options here. Call it alchemy and it would fit in the game world just fine with the medieval feel and the plague masks.

All in all, I greatly enjoyed it. Gameplay, atmosphere, music, art direction, graphics are all great. I'm sure the game will be amazing and I'm looking forward to playing it again. My only big gripe is the frame rate, I really hope they fix that. The rest are just minor nitpicks.
 
I must have played a different Alpha or different Souls games because I have a hard time understanding sentiments like „Souls combat is fun again“ or „I could never play DS2 again“, as expressed by several posters here. The lack of shields does make a difference but it is not that different that you could enjoy one but not the other (and if you're a good Souls player you know that dodging is much better than blocking anyway, only casuals use their shield all the time. Havel's set, heavy shield always raised, that's how you recognize a filthy Souls casual. :p). This game might as well be called Blood Souls, it's a Souls game through and through and feels way too similar to really justify a different name imo. I also didn't notice any increased speed in the gameplay. I played a few minutes of DS2 after reading the Alpha impressions last night to see if I misremembered my time with that game but no, DS2 even felt a little faster, especially running and dodging. That is probably due to my light character build, but still Bloodborne didn't feel any faster to me.
Don't get me wrong, I'm only commenting on the comparisons to the Souls games. I loved what I played, it feels fresh (though not that much) and familiar at the same time, they struck a good balance, and it's a lot of fun.

As for the difficulty: after getting used to having no shield and to the weapon transformations, I found the game was a bit easier than the Souls games, mostly because damaging enemies heals you and the blood vials, this game's estus flasks, had a fairly high drop rate. The gameplay itself is still fairly challenging. Again, they struck a good balance here.

The area where I wish the game didn't feel like Souls is the frame rate. I played mostly Wii U games lately, most of which are 60fps, and going from that to sub 30fps with drops takes some getting used to. It was not very pleasant to my eyes. You'd think that with a much more powerful system you could expect games to have at least half the framerate and be stable. The game is not fast paced, it's not an over top action game with huge set pieces, it's on fairly powerful hardware, its exclusive, which should make optimization easier, so it's not that unreasonable to expect stable 30 fps. I didn't expect any better from DS2 because of the ancient hardware, but this is on the PS4. Come on, From, try a little harder.

I have some more minor complaints like the color palette, it wouldn't hurt to have a few more shades of color there. It was sometimes hard to see the grey enemies in front of the grey backgrounds.
Enemy AI seems a bit simple at times, „aggro range“ is quite small.
The camera needs some work, it was my biggest enemy during the boss fight.
I also think I might miss magic a bit in the final release, for game that is almost 100% combat I'd like to have more options than just melee weapons to give me more variety in how I fight enemies. I always liked switching between magic and melee in Souls, so I hope I won't get bored of only having one of those options here. Call it alchemy and it would fit in the game world just fine with the medieval feel and the plague masks.

All in all, I greatly enjoyed it. Gameplay, atmosphere, music, art direction, graphics are all great. I'm sure the game will be amazing and I'm looking forward to playing it again. My only big gripe is the frame rate, I really hope they fix that. The rest are just minor nitpicks.

It's a few months til release so I'm sure they sort out framerate issues as much as they can. Good post. Sums up nicely what my friends have been saying too.
 

Wendler

Banned
I must have played a different Alpha or different Souls games because I have a hard time understanding sentiments like „Souls combat is fun again“ or „I could never play DS2 again“, as expressed by several posters here. The lack of shields does make a difference but it is not that different that you could enjoy one but not the other (and if you're a good Souls player you know that dodging is much better than blocking anyway, only casuals use their shield all the time. Havel's set, heavy shield always raised, that's how you recognize a filthy Souls casual. :p). This game might as well be called Blood Souls, it's a Souls game through and through and feels way too similar to really justify a different name imo. I also didn't notice any increased speed in the gameplay. I played a few minutes of DS2 after reading the Alpha impressions last night to see if I misremembered my time with that game but no, DS2 even felt a little faster, especially running and dodging. That is probably due to my light character build, but still Bloodborne didn't feel any faster to me.
Don't get me wrong, I'm only commenting on the comparisons to the Souls games. I loved what I played, it feels fresh (though not that much) and familiar at the same time, they struck a good balance, and it's a lot of fun.

As for the difficulty: after getting used to having no shield and to the weapon transformations, I found the game was a bit easier than the Souls games, mostly because damaging enemies heals you and the blood vials, this game's estus flasks, had a fairly high drop rate. The gameplay itself is still fairly challenging. Again, they struck a good balance here.

The area where I wish the game didn't feel like Souls is the frame rate. I played mostly Wii U games lately, most of which are 60fps, and going from that to sub 30fps with drops takes some getting used to. It was not very pleasant to my eyes. You'd think that with a much more powerful system you could expect games to have at least half the framerate and be stable. The game is not fast paced, it's not an over top action game with huge set pieces, it's on fairly powerful hardware, its exclusive, which should make optimization easier, so it's not that unreasonable to expect stable 30 fps. I didn't expect any better from DS2 because of the ancient hardware, but this is on the PS4. Come on, From, try a little harder.

I have some more minor complaints like the color palette, it wouldn't hurt to have a few more shades of color there. It was sometimes hard to see the grey enemies in front of the grey backgrounds.
Enemy AI seems a bit simple at times, „aggro range“ is quite small.
The camera needs some work, it was my biggest enemy during the boss fight.
I also think I might miss magic a bit in the final release, for game that is almost 100% combat I'd like to have more options than just melee weapons to give me more variety in how I fight enemies. I always liked switching between magic and melee in Souls, so I hope I won't get bored of only having one of those options here. Call it alchemy and it would fit in the game world just fine with the medieval feel and the plague masks.

All in all, I greatly enjoyed it. Gameplay, atmosphere, music, art direction, graphics are all great. I'm sure the game will be amazing and I'm looking forward to playing it again. My only big gripe is the frame rate, I really hope they fix that. The rest are just minor nitpicks.

Yeah, it's basically a Souls game with a different name and a somewhat different setting, though not completely different.
 

Audioboxer

Member
Wish we could still play the demo offline :)

Can anyone make my avatar transparent for me? (remove the white background) Thanks
 

vg260

Member
This game looks like it's finally the one that will get me to jump into the Souls series, as I love the aesthetic. (even though it's only spiritual successor). However, if they can't iron out the technical issues and get this running at a solid 30, it's gonna be a rental for me.
 
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