Yep, same here.
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LTTP: Bloodborne > Dark Souls 3
- Thread starter Fahzgoolin
- Start date
Yep, same here.
Your main platform last gen was a 360 almost for sure.
All of my 360 owning friends that this gen got a ps4, all think bloodborne is a "bad" souls game.
JadedWriter
Member
Melchiah
Member
So, many people like it, and thus have a differing point of view, because it's supposedly dumbed down? Sounds pretty condescending to me.
KLoWn
Member
Or you know, it's simply because it's the better game?
It is simplified, to a point where the game design suffers with fewer roleplaying elements like how a lot of the maps are tiny and the hugely reduced number of covenants, but it's also a lot more enjoyable to me than Dark Souls was. Streamlining the experience provided stronger core essentials and Yharnam's Gothic Horror by way of Lovecraft aesthetic is way more striking and memorable to me than Dark Souls' decaying, dying fantasy world of tiny sewer corridors. More than that, I just like how fast the game is. I feel more involved when I'm darting around like a madman, desperately trying to avoid monsters, than I am when I just slowly plod forward with my shield raised.
Dark Souls has a massive world map that is packed to the brim with content; sidequests, weapons, armor, items, entirely optional areas, three different schools of magic, multiple merchants and teachers who each provide something different, weird NPCs who all have personal journeys that you played a part in and that all inevitably end in tragedy, and more than anything, Dark Souls exemplifies choice in a way that Bloodborne can't. You can play Dark Souls in any dozen ways, but Bloodborne is all about fast paced combat. Really, really good fast paced combat, mind, but there's not as much variety. See how magic was reduced to three different paths that were all massively different to a handful of items.
That said, Bloodborne may have its share of weak fights like Micolash and the Witch of Hemwick, but at least it never made us suffer through the fucking Bed of Chaos or Blighttown.
Dark Souls has a massive world map that is packed to the brim with content; sidequests, weapons, armor, items, entirely optional areas, three different schools of magic, multiple merchants and teachers who each provide something different, weird NPCs who all have personal journeys that you played a part in and that all inevitably end in tragedy, and more than anything, Dark Souls exemplifies choice in a way that Bloodborne can't. You can play Dark Souls in any dozen ways, but Bloodborne is all about fast paced combat. Really, really good fast paced combat, mind, but there's not as much variety. See how magic was reduced to three different paths that were all massively different to a handful of items.
That said, Bloodborne may have its share of weak fights like Micolash and the Witch of Hemwick, but at least it never made us suffer through the fucking Bed of Chaos or Blighttown.
RandomSeed
Member
Dark Souls 3: It's good
Bloodborne: So good
Bloodborne: So good
MysteryQuesadilla
Member
I really enjoyed DS3, but the appeal of tons of loot and goodies didn't grab me as much as I thought it would which is maybe why I enjoyed Bloodborne a little more.
DS3's linearity is very disappointing to me, but that's not the only point of variability I'm talking about FWIW.
Melchiah
Member
I liked both of them for the different mechanics they had, and Micolash also had an interesting dialogue. The first five boss battles in DS3 were very easy, but I liked Curse-rotted Greatwood as it was a bit different from the rest.
EDIT:
I was pointing more towards this comment:
Both of them use the same themes in many areas.
I know people love to talk in absolutes about which is the empirically superior game, but I think there's room for nuance. For example, I love the fluid and fast paced combat in Bloodborne -- I generally prefer dex builds with very little emphasis on swords (if used at all) in my Souls games anyway -- but feel like all the multiplayer options were greatly lacking, especially coming right off of Dark Souls 2 which has the best multiplayer in the series. One of the reasons I'm still not finished with DS3 is because I've been enjoying the PVP and co-op too much. (If only Blades of the Darkmoon were less broken.)
Moon_frogger
Member
Absolutely and I don't think that was ever in dispute, what with dark souls 3 being an intentional retread of the first game. That doesn't mean dark souls 3 is without its strong points though. The pvp and online in general is leagues better than blood borne imo, which basically uses it as help for bosses and not much else. There are certain mechanical issues I have with blood borne as well such as the blood vial farming and needless loading screens while trying to warp around. I've beaten dark souls 3 5 times and overall probably had more fun with it due to being simply more accessible even though I consider blood borne a creative masterpiece that distils the formula down to a science
I generally agree but I'll make a couple of counterpoints:
-Build variety. Everything in Bloodborne is essentially a DEX build, with maybe Bloodtinge and Arcane being *slightly* different on some bosses.
-Difficulty. Bloodborne's base game has a low difficulty compared to Dark Souls 3. This is fixed in the DLC, but none of the bosses in BB gave me much trouble. Some are downright clownish, like the Wet Nurse.
-Boss variety. The human bosses are all very similar. The beast bosses are all very similar. The large enemy bosses are most very similar.
-Framerate and frame pacing. This is more of a PC vs PS4 issue, but coming from a smooth 60 fps on the PC, Bloodborne felt a little lacking.
I do love Bloodborne. If I had to rate the series I'd go:
DaS > Bloodborne > DeS > DS3 > DS2
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
The lore of Bloodborne needs to be praised more. The moment when you come to realization that this isn't just a plague but the machinations of cosmic beings and the ambiguity of dream and reality is undone is executed so subtlety yet potently its remarkable. The only Soul game that even comes close to such a moment is Demons Souls, when you face Maiden Astraea and the notion of what a demon is becomes strikingly clear.
GIANKRATOS
Member
Best plot twist of the series, followed by the truth about God in Demon's.
Bloodborn was my first soulsborn game and I hated it. I didn't like the aggressive combat and I thought the story piggy backed off love craft too hard without doing anything unique to it at all. I'm glad I decided to try DS3 when it came out because it's leagues better! The combat was just the right speed and the story and world felt so alien in how everything functions and works.
Magic Mushroom
Member
This is not true, it actually does pretty clever things with it, like the way it reverses Lovecraft's trope of a small cult of believers in cosmic beings to the dominant religion in Bloodborne. I also appreciate how cleverly Bloodborne ties Lovecraftian tropes to its mechanics. It's the best representation of cosmic horror in games by far.
Super Bunnyhop did a great video on it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voMAx-lKfIw
Yeah, but they still worked like I'd expect them to. There's want any surprises with their abilities and effects on the world. Everything they did, even the beast stuff, just felt par for the course. Nothing really cool and out there like the stuff about humanity and linking the fire. They didn't feel different enough from how I would expect them to work
I wont directly compare them, I like both games so much for different reasons, BB takes me back to those old RE games, they feel like survival horror game because of the atmosphere, while DS3 serves as a fix for my medieval fantasy thirst, I recently finished BB and its really a great game, the verdict for DS3 compared to other Souls game is still pending for me.
What does piggy back off of Lovecraft mean when half the game is basically Van Hellsing where you're fighting werewolves and vampires? If anything its one of the more interesting Lovecraft themed pieces of entertainment we've gotten in years because it actually explored a lot of Lovecraft elements that most things gloss over in favor of giant tentacle faced monsters, which there are a few in BB. However I definitely think it did its own thing and hell, it tapped in Lovecraft's dream works which no one really does even in writing.
Well I think we have to agree to disagree. I didn't find the world of BB to be new and interesting. The world just wasn't unique or intriguing to me, or at least not nearly unique as the world of dark souls. The setting just felt kinda meh to me and didn't grab me as much.
You can like the Souls games more but they are hardly what I would call unique in terms of aesthetics, especially compared to BB. Dragons, warriors in elaborate suits of medieval armor, and other fantasy designs and so forth isn't exactly what I'd call a unique look. Lets not even get into how much is damn near lifted from stuff like Berserk and other sources of fantasy imagery.
Magic Mushroom
Member
What did you expect? I thought the way higher Insight revealed more of the world but made you more susceptible to crazyness was pretty clever and how the main staples of the plot (blood administration, gaining insight) were actual gameplay mechanics as well, instead of just plot devices.
I thought the lore was brilliant too. I've read The Paleblood Hunt two times and still regularly think about it.
I guess cosmic horror scratches an itch that dark fantasy doesn't for me.
We see far far more fantasy games, dark or otherwise, than we do stuff heavily inspired Lovecraft, let alone stuff like Dreamquest of the Unknown Kadath. That's actually what I really loved about it. We get a lot of games that just lift the surface imagery of Lovecraft and call it a day but it looks like Miyazaki or a group of people at FS are big Lovecraft or at least that style of weird fiction and actually went and used the ideas of Lovecraft not only in the visual but the gameplay with the above mentioned insight revealing more about the world. I actually wish they went even "crazier" with stuff like Insight but maybe that's for a sequel.
The
Orphan of Kos
Magic Mushroom
Member
Yeah, along with Ludwig and Lady Maria. Old Hunters has awesome bosses, though Lawrence gave me a bit of a headache on NG++.
I'm in the same camp. I tried Demon's Souls, Dark Souls 1 and 2 and I just find myself bored - bored with the combat, bored with the world... typically fantasy is my jam.
Once again falling victim to the Internet's goddamn "but this one is more accessible than the last" lies, I picked up Bloodborne on a sale for about $25.
It did take two tries to get into it - I initially gave it the "ol' Souls try", a handful of hours before I accept these games are not for me - but something caused me to give it one more go before writing it off forever, and I found myself staying up late to keep playing. I had believed accessibility was my problem with the Souls series, turns out it was the combat and setting.
I finished the game a few weeks ago, and find myself thinking about it every single day. I had no idea what those tombstones were for until the game threw me in to NG after the ending sequence and I was a little irked I couldn't just wander around so I started playing with them again. I try to keep my head in the sand with most games (discovery and exploration are a big part of my game experience). HOLY CRAP THIS GAME HAS RANDOM DUNGEONS? I've since put another 30 hours into just checking them out (I don't get the hate for them) AND... and I still don't have the DLC... which everyone swears is worth every penny and more, so it's only a matter of time before I pick it up.
It's a damn shame we didn't get a BB2 announcement at E3 2016
Once again falling victim to the Internet's goddamn "but this one is more accessible than the last" lies, I picked up Bloodborne on a sale for about $25.
It did take two tries to get into it - I initially gave it the "ol' Souls try", a handful of hours before I accept these games are not for me - but something caused me to give it one more go before writing it off forever, and I found myself staying up late to keep playing. I had believed accessibility was my problem with the Souls series, turns out it was the combat and setting.
I finished the game a few weeks ago, and find myself thinking about it every single day. I had no idea what those tombstones were for until the game threw me in to NG after the ending sequence and I was a little irked I couldn't just wander around so I started playing with them again. I try to keep my head in the sand with most games (discovery and exploration are a big part of my game experience). HOLY CRAP THIS GAME HAS RANDOM DUNGEONS? I've since put another 30 hours into just checking them out (I don't get the hate for them) AND... and I still don't have the DLC... which everyone swears is worth every penny and more, so it's only a matter of time before I pick it up.
It's a damn shame we didn't get a BB2 announcement at E3 2016
toastyToast
Member
Depends on how good the DS3 DLC turns out because as good as Bloodborne is it's a bit lacking without The Old Hunters. As they both stand now I prefer Bloodborne by a fair margin. The amount of weapons in DS3 doesn't make up for how much less interesting they are than trick weapons. The whip > all. Plus magic in DS3 is kind of wack so it isn't even as big a factor over Bloodborne as it should be
It's a damn shame we didn't get a BB2 announcement at E3 2016
I wouldn't expect an announcement for a sequel, if there is ever going to be one, to happen until next years E3. Maybe at PSX later this year but again, not even sure if they're working on a direct sequel but I would not doubt Sony would want to do another game of any kind with them to build on the success they had with BB.
And again I disagree. You're more than welcome to have a differing opinion.
Fixed2BeBroken
Member
I disagree with this. There are certain straight swords that are Way more "noob" friendly...or makes the game alot easier to manage....
But most weapons have a different play style and makes the game fun to play through using that style...it just sucks you gotta level towards that particular weapon for it to be as good.
For instance, I think anyone would agree ludwigs is the most noob friendly weapon. Complete opposite of playstyle than with the saw cleaver. but my god, if you level for saw clever, that thing becomes amazing.
and Chikage, while a sword, playstyle is completely different than both of those.
Blades of mercy is considered one of the best pvp weapons and thats not a straight sword.
I could go on and on. but yea, I disagree, tho I will say that certain straight swords are "easier"
BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO
Junior Member
Eh, they are different IMO. BB sacrifices depth, replay value and it isn't seeing DS3 OST wise. I can't remember anything from BN outside of the opening and title loop(both fantastic). Deacons of the deep and vordt blew me away. DS3 also has a goat tier title loop.
Dr.Sanchez
Neo Member
yep. I think I just got a bit burned out during my DS3 playthrough, but Bloodborne was more fun and exiting to play overall. DLC was outstanding; music, bosses, environments, enemies, and weapons are all superb.
DaciaJC
Gold Member
They were talking about straight swords outclassing everything else in Dark Souls III.
BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO
Junior Member
The whining about straight swords will never get old. Some of the funniest shit I have seen on the internet.
HyperCroutons
Member
Even though Bloodborne is in my top 10 games of all time it probably be in the top 3 next to Metroid Prime if it ran a 60 fps. That amazing combat would look GORGEOUS in 60 fps! One of the other small problems I had with the game, maybe a re-release will happen on the NEO to up that fps but I doubt it.
That song which starts is so fucking good, the rising choir when he finds the sword to the full blown orchestra is just simply amazing. Especially if Ludwig decides to start with the magic swipes the song and his attacks line up pretty well at that point.
Kuro Madoushi
Unconfirmed Member
- I've read people think it's too hard.
- It has unique weapons and armour sets instead generic sword 1 and generic sword 2. Armor isn't as varied but the focus is more on aesthetics than function.
- CA I was never really bothered by it but eh.
- CDs I didn't really like either.
- NPC quests were lacking compared to DS
- Covenants were pretty lame but multiplayer was a lot of fun
- the DLC could've been rushed. We'll never know.
You talk about DS DNA but it's not a DS game. It shares a few mechanics but what I loved about it was the design, the aggressiveness, the movement, and the systems.
Can't please everyone I guess.
For myself, I hated what I saw in the trailers. A friend convinced me to get it and I did and I got frustrated and had my ass handed to me by father G. Additionally, the first area is super unforgiving for someone used to blocking. I watched some videos and went back to test a few things and everything clicked. I got some co op in and everything went into high gear after that. It's the only game I've ever platinumed and it still resonates with me.
I kinda wish I'd gotten some of those prints (the Maria one especially) though...
The thing I have to hand it to Dark Souls for is simply the variation in items that you can loot from mobs. Bloodborne was vials or bullets or blue fluid 90% of the time.
I want to pick up more than bullets from a ritual-induced manifestation of the daydreams of a million year old cosmic god.
I want to pick up more than bullets from a ritual-induced manifestation of the daydreams of a million year old cosmic god.
I'm having sorta the opposite feeling from you. Bloodborne has a great atmosphere, and the setting is probably the best out of all the Souls games, but some of the changes are really driving me crazy.
Why the grind? The blood vial system makes it so you can breeze through areas w/o much trouble, but then when you get to a tough spot, the fact that you can run out have to re-grind for them wears me thin. I just want to continue going forward, and this dude with the gun on the top of the tower has cleaned me out of vials and echoes. Now I have to farm for more echoes and deal with stupid drop rates to get anymore. The only time I ever farmed in other Souls games was for rare items/covenant items, and I really don't want a game full of this. The blood vial drops seem kinda generous, but it is definitely possible you'll run into a patch of enemies where you get nothing out of them and it all feels like a waste.
This game is kinda unplayable for my friend. He could never beat a Souls game on his own, he co-op'd the entirety of DS3 with randos. He never ran out of embers, but now he has ran out of insight and apparently has no way to get more reliably? We both sorta agree that the combat system, while fun on it's own doesn't really feel as satisfactory as DS1/3, and the lack of weapons, armor, and build variety I'm hearing from others isn't making my outlook on the game much better. I also don't understand why the regression on the checkpoint system? Lanterns don't regenerate your health, but traveling to Hunter's Dream does (I think?). And you can't warp between lanterns unless you get that ability later like in DS1, but why does Bloodborne continue this tradition? It's not like you can't return to the Hunter's Dream then choose another location, seems un-intuitive to me.
At least exploration looks to be relatively similar to other Souls games. If a Bloodborne 2 or similar Souls-esque game were to come about, I literally hope it follows the original series more closely. Bloodborne's setting combined with traditional Souls mechanics/equipment and DS3 combat would be the best game. I think Bloodborne is fine without shields though, if that was confusing. I'm not that far in, like I said earlier, but early-game DS3 is beating the crap out of early game Bloodborne. I'm still enjoying myself though.
Why the grind? The blood vial system makes it so you can breeze through areas w/o much trouble, but then when you get to a tough spot, the fact that you can run out have to re-grind for them wears me thin. I just want to continue going forward, and this dude with the gun on the top of the tower has cleaned me out of vials and echoes. Now I have to farm for more echoes and deal with stupid drop rates to get anymore. The only time I ever farmed in other Souls games was for rare items/covenant items, and I really don't want a game full of this. The blood vial drops seem kinda generous, but it is definitely possible you'll run into a patch of enemies where you get nothing out of them and it all feels like a waste.
This game is kinda unplayable for my friend. He could never beat a Souls game on his own, he co-op'd the entirety of DS3 with randos. He never ran out of embers, but now he has ran out of insight and apparently has no way to get more reliably? We both sorta agree that the combat system, while fun on it's own doesn't really feel as satisfactory as DS1/3, and the lack of weapons, armor, and build variety I'm hearing from others isn't making my outlook on the game much better. I also don't understand why the regression on the checkpoint system? Lanterns don't regenerate your health, but traveling to Hunter's Dream does (I think?). And you can't warp between lanterns unless you get that ability later like in DS1, but why does Bloodborne continue this tradition? It's not like you can't return to the Hunter's Dream then choose another location, seems un-intuitive to me.
At least exploration looks to be relatively similar to other Souls games. If a Bloodborne 2 or similar Souls-esque game were to come about, I literally hope it follows the original series more closely. Bloodborne's setting combined with traditional Souls mechanics/equipment and DS3 combat would be the best game. I think Bloodborne is fine without shields though, if that was confusing. I'm not that far in, like I said earlier, but early-game DS3 is beating the crap out of early game Bloodborne. I'm still enjoying myself though.
Melchiah
Member
Funnily enough, I've played through BB thrice, and have no urge to replay DS3. As for the soundtracks, BB continues to bring me back there as well, whereas DS3 doesn't have that many songs I'd care to listen to separately. Different strokes for different folks.
Bloodborne is the only souls game I haven't completed 100%. I got bored in the DLC, I got bored with chalice dungeons and I only played through the main game twice.
I disagree with the setting being the best, but that's completely subjective. Knights in armour fighting dragons and daemons is more interesting to me than victorian blokes fighting werewolves and ancient aliens.
I disagree with the setting being the best, but that's completely subjective. Knights in armour fighting dragons and daemons is more interesting to me than victorian blokes fighting werewolves and ancient aliens.
Melchiah
Member
It's better to use echoes to stock up vials. If you do that regularly, using spare echoes from levelling up, you'll never run out of them.
BlitzerRadic
Member
Although I prefer BB over DS3, I felt that the trick weapons were a little gimicky. They were cool and all but usually you would stay in one mode most of the time because it was clearly far better than the other. The exception to that would be the chikage for obvious reasons.
Hopefully for BB2 they can balance out the modes.. maybe give the inferior mode a weapon art like DS3.
Hopefully for BB2 they can balance out the modes.. maybe give the inferior mode a weapon art like DS3.
Melchiah
Member
The Cane's whip form was very useful against mobs and beast bosses, and in the later chalices, particularly Defiled and Ihyll. Anything that had a long reach was better to handle with the whip.
EDIT: And I never want to see the Ashen Estus Flask mechanic in a possible sequel. It was the reason I didn't bother with using the weapon skills, and played DS3 through without them.