Hey DeepO, it's been awhile mate. Mind if I ask for you to elaborate on what you didn't like about Bloodborne? I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts. I haven't played it myself, but my good ol' DSII co-op friend from the days of
yore has and enjoyed it quite a bit.
Sup
.
What I didn´t like:
a) action
- overreliance on big camera-fuck bosses
- game generally rewarding spam over finesse (stamina being abundant resource, parrying) leading to homogenized pacing across playstyles
- limited combat options in general which ties into c)
b) exploration
- unique loot too rare, no drops from enemies besides consumables and upgrade materials
- highly linear main quest progression (nothing like Firelink loop or DS2´s 4 souls, though there is a fair amount of optional content branching out of the main path)
- formulaic shortcuts
- lacking environmental variety, the game lacks contrast
- lack of interesting level design setups (like The Gutter or Sunken King, for example)
- warping between lamps requiring warping twice
c) RPG, aka the main sticking point
- character building lacking depth + breadth (no poise, almost no equipment weight considerations, small amount of not very well balanced main stats + weapon types being limited to either left or right hand therefore no freeform combos)
- tied to the above, small pool of weaponry (I think there are about 15 right hand equips and 8-9 left hand ones, mostly guns, and the somewhat expanded movesets on those 15 just don´t cut it especially since many are functionally similar anyway)
- very limited amount of magic equivalent
- all in all, with a bit of hyperbole I´d say there´s just one class in this game - the hunter
d) story-ish stuff
- due to lack of items a lack of backstories/tidbits
- less talking than in DS1 or DS2 + no memorable characters
- featureless "nexus"
e) other
- chalice dungeons which feature few cool bosses and exclusive enemies, but are otherwise repetitive and play out more-or-less like Diablo
without its loot aspect - I really wish the effort went into PvE areas and/or covenants and/or NG+ instead
- badly thought out online + almost non-existent covenants
- blood vials - likely forces newcomers to this style of game to farm, while on the other hand it´s way too beneficial to others, not to mention the healed amount is percentage based which gives vitality stat way too much edge; should´ve gone with estus-like system instead
- no changes in NG+ besides HP stuff
- no helpful NPC summons beyond the early areas
I liked the audiovisuals, appreciated the overall artistic coherence, the existence of sizeable fairly well hidden areas and secret ending, dug the setting twist and sort of enjoyed the combat (tight controls, some good bosses) for a while.
There were also some things I liked but felt like they´re underutilized, mainly the insight stat (I could imagine this potentially leading to world tendency feature done right, but that didn´t happen) and a possibility to make a boss fight easier via exploration.
Overall, the game felt like Dark Souls-lite, with homogenous pool of playstyles, barebones RPG aspect and lack of variety in general, obviously not particularly concerned about having long legs. There´s also not the same sense of adventure both Dark Souls game come with, partially due to less environmental/level variety and content (especially when compared to DS2) and partially due to not coming with DS1´s postponed warping feature (which I think could´ve been beneficial for this game, given its structure).
All in all, not really the kind of "soulslike" game I´m hoping DS3 will be.
