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Edge cover revealed: Bloodborne, the verdict (review available tomorrow)

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Drencrom

Member
"Bloodborne's world is a masterpiece"

"More coherent than Dark Souls"

In terms of the level design. They specifically compare it to Dark Souls. They say how the latter half Dark Souls lost some of that coherency, but in Bloodborne the design is intricate throughout.

"Bloodborne is Hidetaka Miyazaki's brutal riposte to the section of his playerbase that thinks it has seen it all before"


HYPE

"Gone is the dark fantasy, the faded crumbled majesty of the Souls series. Bloodborne is filthy, grisly, and very, very scary. It's a horror game."

SHIT

My god....
 

n0razi

Member
i might actually unwrap my sealed ps4 for this.... i bought the white destiny bundle for $350 during BF2014 but i havent had the time to actually open and play it yet :eek:
 

Primeau31

Member
Oops, got interrupted and lost my train of thought. Can i save anywhere/anytime like skyrim?

yes, but you can't make separate saves. its overwrites after every action you do basically. kill an NPC? you're stuck w that decision until your next play through. etc
 

Auctopus

Member
Blood Vials and Quicksilver Bullets have a maximum capacity but
any surplus pickups are automatically sent to a storage box back at Hunter's Dream. Die and your stocks will be topped up when you respawn.
That sounds forgiving? So
'esteem recharges' now have to be collected and aren't repeatedly given back to you upon death?





Edit: Is it against the rules to ask for a PM to scans?
 

Nino

*LOVES* Bob Marley
wait only half-a-dozen weapons in 40 hour playthrough??? are they half dozen weapon types or half dozen total weapons???

On the evidence of our 40 hours in Bloodborne, some of that longevity - that sense of almost infinite possibility - is gone. There is no class system as such; your starting stats are dictated by your choice of Trick Weapon. Even as far as we are in the game, we have just half-a-dozen weapons and the same number of guns in our inventory, and there is little for sale frome the game’s sole merchant - or at least the only one we’ve found so far - that we either don’t already have or that seems sufficienlty different to what we already own to justify another run through. Enemies no longer drop weapons and gear, only items. There are far fewer chests out in the world, and those that do exist will more likely contain an item than a new sword, gun or piece of armour.

The 'sole merchant' part bums me out.
 
Bloodstone Shards
plays the role of Titanite, used to upgrade weapons
Coldblood
plays the role of consumable Souls.

Blood Vials and Quicksilver Bullets have a maximum capacity but
any surplus pickups are automatically sent to a storage box back at Hunter's Dream. Die and your stocks will be topped up when you respawn.

Love the streamline of that.
Doesn't mean you can have an overabundance of one thing but also gives you the chance to bank it
. Plus
auto-restock is nice to just streamline while not detracting from difficulty
.
 
Because grinding Balder Knights over and over was so much fun.

I just like that you could dress yourself up as the enemies you fought

I also likes doing Loot Drop only no farming runs

Made for some interesting playthroughs

Dark Souls 2 definitely overdid it to the extreme since many weapons were basically clones and subsets

Still the armor drops were harmless. #ilovefashionsouls
 
My first run of Demons Souls didn't take close to 40 hours. Was more around 20-25. A very, very fulfilling 20-25.

If their first run is 40 hours? NICE
 
I'm very pleased if our games really have become popular, but we don't keep that in mind, and especially didn't when making Bloodborne. Also, I don't know if it's appropriate to say this, but I'm not a big fan of the market-driven approach personally. Our philosophy hasn't changed much since Demon's Souls.

Miyazaki, man.
 
Oops, got interrupted and lost my train of thought. Can i save anywhere/anytime like skyrim?

People are telling you no, but that is partially incorrect. If you quit the game it saves right where you left off. You don't have to only save at Bonfires/Lanterns. That's why I never understood the complaint with not having a pause function. There is only one save slot per character so you can't make multiple branching saves like in Skyrim.

I just like that you could dress yourself up as the enemies you fought

I also likes doing Loot Drop only no farming runs

Made for some interesting playthroughs

Dark Souls 2 definitely overdid it to the extreme since many weapons were basically clones and subsets

Still the armor drops were harmless. #ilovefashionsouls

I love fashion souls too, but we might be judging the armor variety too early. It would be weird if From took out the armor options since people loved doing cosplays in the other Souls games.
 

Qvoth

Member
weapon customization seems to be a bigger deal than past games? with bloodgems you can increase physical attack, add poison, increases damage against a certain type of enemies etc
 
I just like that you could dress yourself up as the enemies you fought

I also likes doing Loot Drop only no farming runs

Made for some interesting playthroughs

Dark Souls 2 definitely overdid it to the extreme since many weapons were basically clones and subsets

Still the armor drops were harmless. #ilovefashionsouls

I could see how this would be unsavory for the roleplayers out there.

It seems theyre really going back to basics a la Demon's where you didnt really get weapon/armor drops. Im okay with this. Less bloat more time for actual game.
 

Primeau31

Member
keep in mind they mentioned sole merchant that THEY were able to find so far. could be another out there somewhere.

also, yeah, with each weapon basically being two weapons in itself instantly multiplies the attack options each weapon has. quality has obviously outweighed quantity here. nothing more to take from that, really.

I think Miyazaki knows what he's doing, is all I'm saying.
 

cakely

Member
Oops, got interrupted and lost my train of thought. Can i save anywhere/anytime like skyrim?

Heh.

Not really. Souls games are constantly saving to disc, every time you die, pick up an item, kill a monster, etc.

Unlike Skyrim, you can't revert to an old save. Whatever you do goes onto your "permanent record" so to speak. Your actions have consequences.
 

Mandelbo

Member
I wonder if there'll be any secret, completely optional areas like there were in DS1 with the Great Hollow and the Painted World - they were a really good way of rewarding exploration and given Bloodborne's return to DS1's world structure I wouldn't be surprised if they made a return.
 
I could see how this would be unsavory for the roleplayers out there.

It seems theyre really going back to basics a la Demon's where you didnt really get weapon/armor drops. Im okay with this. Less bloat more time for actual game.

I agree

Its going to be amazing regardless
 

sploatee

formerly Oynox Slider
Heh.

Not really. Souls games are constantly saving to disc, every time you die, pick up an item, kill a monster, etc.

Unlike Skyrim, you can't revert to an old save. Whatever you do goes onto your "permanent record" so to speak. Your actions have consequences.

So don't attack any NPCs!
 

SargerusBR

I love Pokken!
Couple of questions from the Miyazaki interview:

EDGE - If someone plays the game alone, without ever connecting online, how much of the whole game do you think they are missing out on? In other words, how important is online play in terms of how you've designed the game?

Miyazaki - That is a tough question. Playing offline is your choice, and some players simply cannot play online for various reasons. So I wouldn't say theya re missing out, to be honest. It is true that we desgined the game to have a variety of unique online gaming experiences, but it is not like players are going to miss something critical if they don't play online. That said I'd like users to play the game online if they can.

EDGE - This is a much more attack-minded game. Did the shield-up, defensive approach many players took in the Souls games frustrate you?

Miyazaki - No, not at all. I love the defensive approach, that is why Demon's Souls was designed like that. Just because we took a different approach to this time, it doesn't mean that we disapprove of the player keeping his shield up. I don't get frustrated by any approach, except when someone is clearly trying to annoy others.
 
I remember reading not long after it was announced that there would be less weapons overall than the Souls games but that they would all be more equal/viable, and not every weapon would be transformable.
 

Qvoth

Member
seems like the hidden feature (probably beast mode) is connected to the multiplayer part of the game?
 

NAPK1NS

Member
"Bloodborne is filthy, grisly, and very, very scary. It's a horror game."
FUCK ME

They said they wanted to put the player under constant pressure and give the feeling that death could occur at any time. In a lot of ways, the games have always maintained the best qualities of a survival horror game. Lets do thisssss
 

Vire

Member
I love Edge, I love the way they write, I love the artistry of their covers...But they gave Dark Souls 2 a 9/10.

I need to hear it from someone else other than the publication that deemed Dark Souls the game of the generation.

Still though, hearing that "Bloodborne's world is a masterpiece" certainly brings a smile to my face.
 
I remember reading not long after it was announced that there would be less weapons overall than the Souls games but that they would all be more equal/viable, and not every weapon would be transformable.

I did like the weapon Variety in the first Dark Souls. Seemed like just the right amount and almost all unique

Plus many of them carried a story or were used by certain characters. It was roleplaying bliss.

Dark Souls 2 went to far with it. I am looking forward to the quality of items available in Bloodborne and I think the drops being items only will give Bloodborne a more Resident Evil 4 vibe to progression
 

Auctopus

Member
Couple of questions from the Miyazaki interview:

I think the reason he seems 'disappointed' with the idea of people playing offline is cause EDGE mention a game mechanic that they're forbidden to talk about that's integral to the game and it involves being online. He's probably trying to keep it secret.




There's certainly a few things I'm hesitant about in the verdict but I'm glad I've read it. It's reeled in my expectations for seeing more parallels between the Souls games than there actually is. It's going to be important to view this as an entirely separate IP as the verdict has told me that a lot of my favourite things about the Souls games are gone.
 

tcrunch

Member
  • Playthrough did not involve Chalice Dungeon or multiplayer.
  • This is not an official review/no score, despite the cover of the game saying "THE VERDICT"
  • "Bloodborne is Hidetaka Miyazaki's brutal riposte to the section of his playerbase that thinks it has seen it all before."
  • Merchant sells a clip-on lantern (hello Demon's Souls augite).
  • "Yharnam spends the game in the grip of a perpetual night...that can only be brought to an end by the player finding and finishing off the source of the scourge of beasts." (this could be referring short term like...defeat a major boss, get some daytime, or overall, I guess)
  • Description on the first shield they found: Shields are nice, but not if they engender passivity.
  • Some enemies in the game can use spells
  • Confirmed Bloodtinge stat governs bullet damage
  • Transforming strikes and their follow-up attacks give you a way of reaching enemies that in other Souls games might be out of reach because they were pushed back by your earlier attacks - they say stamina management is a more diverse process in Bloodborne than in the earlier games
  • Clothes found in the world or from a merchant whose catalog expands when you defeat bosses
  • Bloodstone shards = titanite, coldblood = portable souls, most common items are blood vials (healing) and quicksilver bullets, but stocks can grow low later in the game
  • Surplus items are automatically sent to a storage box, and if you die your items are replenished from the box automatically
  • They say your starting stats are dictated by the trick weapon you choose, which runs counter to the origins shown in the character creator...
  • Only found 6 or so weapons and 6 or so guns in 40 hours
  • Very few chests, almost all have something good inside
  • Enemies only drop upgrade mats and items
  • Bloodgems are an upgrade item that allows you to change the attributes of a weapon, ex. increasing physical attack power, adding poison damage, or increasing scaling - all the weapons in the game are customizable with bloodgems
  • Did not beat the game but they feel like it is less replayable than its predecessors (this does not count the Chalice Dungeon or multiplayer components)
  • You can keep up to 5 dungeon configurations in your Chalice Dungeon stock
  • Lantern checkpoints are not "overabundant" like the bonfires of Dark Souls II, you open shortcuts rather than getting new bonfires (ala Demon's Souls), interconnectivity approaches Firelink Shrine type numbers of access and departure points in a few places
  • "Discrete areas flow together to create a believable world" - separating the hub from the main gameworld allows the world itself to be more coherent
  • They say in Souls you are frequently scared of dying, but in Bloodborne you are also scared of what is coming to kill you - "There is a moment in Dark Souls that we will never forget: down in the Depths, picking up an item from a corpse and a slime dropping onto our head. We spent the rest of the level panning the camera endlessly for unseen threats, no longer scared of dying, but of moving. Imagine a whole game of that." - For this reason they think taking the replayability factor to CD makes more sense.
  • Torch may be very important for newcomers/first playthroughs
  • There is a new mechanic they are not allowed to discuss
  • "If you thought From Software was going soft, Hidetaka Miyazaki is about to put you brutally back in your place. And if you've been watching this generation from the sidelines, unmoved by the remasters and rush jobs while you wait for the first true essential to arrive, now's the time. As if there was ever any doubt, Miyazaki and his team have done it all over again."

There's a Q&A about Miyazaki's ideas and philosophy regarding the game at the end.
 
I love Edge, I love the way they write, I love the artistry of their covers...But they gave Dark Souls 2 a 9/10.

I need to hear it from someone else other than the publication that deemed Dark Souls the game of the generation.

Still though, hearing that "Bloodborne's world is a masterpiece" certainly brings a smile to my face.

Well whoever did this review definitely acknowledged some of DaS2s flaws so I think its still valid.

The 'sole merchant' part bums me out.

Only 1 merchant found in 40 hours of play? They definitely missed some stuff.
 
The hype is uncontainable. I'm ready to hear the whole soundtrack. I hope there are moments like Maiden Astraea and Gwyn where the music takes over and gives the scene a ridiculous amount of emotional resonance.
 
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