Hi all. I would like to tell you about my first encounter with the Souls Like genre. I would like to share my impressions and emotions.
If you don’t really like to read a lot, then I suggest watching my video.
I decided to start getting acquainted with the genre with a game like Bloodborn. Why Bloodborn? Simply because I had a disc with this game in my hands for a very long time, the completion of which I kept putting off. I put it off because I was afraid that Bloodborne would be too complex and incomprehensible for me. And I really don’t know how it happened, but I managed to overcome myself, find strength in myself, overcome my fear and try to play Bloodborn. And oh yes I did it. Therefore, I have something to tell you about my adventures.
My acquaintance with Bloodborn turned out to be something like this, that I tried my best to deny that I could like this game.
Denial stage.
Having installed Bloodborn, for some reason I decided that having some gaming experience in other games, for example, Ken: Bridge of Spirits, God of War, DMS 5, The Third Witcher, then I could quickly deal with enemies and bosses in Bloodborne without much difficulty. If many players manage to play Souls-Like games, and even manage to enjoy such games. Then everything will work out for me, the worse I am?) But how wrong I was, that everything would be so simple.
When I woke up in the very first location, without weapons, without any armor, without any idea of who I am and where I am. I didn’t even understand where to go and what to do now. And when a werewolf attacked me from around the corner of the room in the hospital, I was completely stunned. Fight a werewolf with your bare hands. It’s like in general? Just a few seconds ago I was still lying in bed after a blood transfusion, and then immediately there was a battle with a huge werewolf. Of course, I tried to fight with dignity, but as expected I lost. After which she plunged into the hunter’s dream and decided to try again to defeat the werewolf. Predictably, I failed again. I thought, well, I’ll probably need to fight the werewolf later and decided to just walk through the streets of Upper Yharnam in search of weapons. Of course, I was embarrassed that I didn’t have any weapons at all, but for some reason I thought this:. Yes, I’m doing everything right, this is probably how it should be, now I’ll find a cool sword somewhere. When this time I was killed by the already crazed residents of Yharnam, and I still didn’t find a cool sword. It dawned on me that things weren’t going to work that way. Life didn’t prepare me to fight with my bare hands in Bloodborne.
And after numerous deaths at the very beginning of the game, I was not immediately able to understand how such a strange game could be liked by someone. Does anyone really enjoy dying all the time?? Moreover, from the very beginning of the game, I seem to be a cool hunter of werewolves and other evil things, but in fact here the local peasants, like two fingers on the asphalt, put me on a pitchfork.
I tried my best to deny that I could like Bloodborne. There was a great desire to give up and not start playing Bloodborn again. I tried my best to deny that the game could open up like a beautiful flower after the rain, and really be able to surprise and hook me, you just need to give the game time. And most importantly, I did not want to accept the fact that first it is advisable to understand the rules of this game yourself, and not hastily complain about dangerous mobs, the not the most responsive camera in the game, and especially difficult bosses.
Therefore, my very first impressions of Bloodborn were far from positive. It took me a while to understand why and why many players love Bloodborn so much.
Duels in Bloodborn seemed to me somewhat similar to dancing with a partner. As if we are not fighting, but spinning in a whirlwind of a waltz.
Anger Stage.
This is one of my favorite stages. You know, in Bloodborne it’s basically hard not to bomb. This is especially true for boss battles. Here I am fighting one of the very first story Bosses – the hunter Gascoigne. There is just a little bit left until victory, well, literally one or two blows, and I feel that now I will crush the enemy, victory is close. But as luck would have it, Gascoigne dodges my final blow and kills me in a retaliatory attack. I think ok. A little unlucky, it doesn’t happen to anyone. Now I will return to the boss again and show him that my death was just an accident. I fight Gascoigne again and die again. And every time I fought him, I died differently. Somewhere at the very beginning of the battle, somewhere in the middle, and somewhere again, literally one or two hits were not enough for me to defeat the boss. And this happened to me all the time in Bloodborne. Dying from mob attacks, dying in battles with Bosses when you were just a little away from victory, and being bombed by all of this is absolutely normal. You just need to take it for granted, it didn’t work out this time, it will work out next time, or the next hundred times.
Surprisingly, Father Gascoigne turned out to be not as difficult as it seemed to me at the beginning of the game. After about the fifth or sixth attempt he was finished. Although you can’t tell from this shot)
Bargaining stage.
This is the stage when I tried to blame the game for all failures. It seemed to me that it wasn’t my fault that I evaded the enemy’s attack at the wrong time, that I chose the wrong distance for a powerful attack with an ax, or that it wasn’t my fault that I didn’t catch the timing for the Boss’s counter-attack, which is why I died. And it’s all the game’s fault. It’s not me who doesn’t play by Bloodborn’s rules, but the game with me that doesn’t play by my rules. It’s Bloodborn’s fault that there are so many incomprehensible things about her, which is why it was so difficult at the beginning of the game.
Therefore, I decided to bargain with the game, as if telling it, well, okay Bloodborn, it’s difficult for me to play, simply because I haven’t leveled up well. I understood what’s wrong. Now I’ll upgrade correctly and everything will be fine. All difficulty will disappear, you just need to pump up your weapons, stock up on healing potions and level up your character. Here are literally two or three more levels of pumping. As soon as I do this, you will become a little easier, right Bloodborn?
In the end I upgraded, and you know what?? Somehow this did not change the picture of the world much. I still died quite often in battles with ordinary mobs, not to mention boss fights.
But the whole point is that if you play only by your own rules, relying on the gaming experience of other games, just properly leveling up your character, having a large number of healing potions, upgrading your weapons in a timely manner – all this will not be enough. Because the game required me to constantly study. I learned to catch timings, dodge and counterattack in time. The game required me to memorize the terrain, the movesets of ordinary enemies and, of course, bosses.
As soon as I abandoned my own rules, which worked in other games, but did not work in Bloodborn, everything began to work out in an amazing way. It turns out that if you choose the right distance for a powerful attack, you can literally defeat almost any mob with one or two hits. If you know that on the way to the boss you shouldn’t farm, because most likely when you reach the boss, after an unsuccessful battle with him, you will lose everything you got. This knowledge will greatly save time and nerve cells. Just run past the mobs and run to the boss. And if you can also open a shortcut, the shortest path, then you can get to the boss very quickly.
And the more I agreed with the rules of the game, the easier Bloodborn became for me. It’s even more correct to say not simpler, but clearer.
Stage of depression.
This stage really surprised me. Because as soon as I accepted the rules of the game, and I seemed to be able to defeat the very first bosses, I was able to destroy the mobs of Upper Yharnam without much difficulty, I was even happy. I think that’s it. I figured it out, I learned. Mobs are easy to defeat, bosses are not so difficult to complete, I figured out your secret Bloodborn. You’re not such a difficult game. And then I met the boss – Shadows of Yharnam. More precisely, this is not one, but three Bosses. Each of which attacked me in different ways. And with each unsuccessful attempt I became more and more upset. Why did I defeat bosses quite easily before?? But here I can’t do it. And this happened not only with the shadows of Yharnam, but also with some other bosses. It seemed to me that I already realized that I knew the rules of this game, but every time the game gave me something new. Moreover, Bloodborn managed to throw difficult bosses or mobs at me at such a moment when I felt that the game was no longer particularly difficult for me.
Acceptance stage.
To be honest, I didn’t immediately realize it. When I began to notice that mobs no longer posed a big threat to me, bosses didn’t seem like something impassable, and the local world was no longer a labyrinth, that’s when I realized and accepted that now in Bloodbourne, I’m like a fish in water. Now for me defeating any boss is just a matter of time.
I can still easily die by stupidly stepping on a trap, I can fall from the height of the castle and break myself. But with all this, I was able to understand who I am in the world of Bloodborne, how this world works, and what I need to do to defeat any enemy. Bloodborn is far from perfect and the game has some problems. For example, problems with the camera. It doesn’t always lock onto the enemy when I press R3. Because of this, hits against mobs or bosses are not always registered. Or when the game does not allow me to cancel the animation of my attack, when I want to interrupt such an attack, for example, to do a roll. But over time, I stopped paying attention to such things, because even with such shortcomings, I began to enjoy Bloodborn.
Every new boss now no longer scares https://hippozinocasino.co.uk/ me, but on the contrary, arouses genuine interest. I firmly know that I will pass any boss. Maybe not on the first try, maybe not on the second try, but I’ll definitely pass. I will pass as soon as I understand what the weaknesses of such an opponent are.
I liked Bloodborn not only because it gave me difficulties that were interesting to overcome. I also liked this game because it gave me a unique gaming experience, unlike anything else. Here, not only does each boss require a different approach, here even the mobs have different attacks and movesets. The game constantly forced me to think, observe and remember, like the same enemy attacks, or different boss phases.
Bloodborn was motivated to explore the area, for example, to find the shortest path to the boss, or to find items to improve weapons.
And when I figured out all these things, I really enjoyed the game. I especially liked the weapon impact in Bloodborne. Before this game, I completed DMS 5, and there I didn’t get nearly the same pleasure from weapons that I got in Bloodborn. In this game you need to adapt to the situation. You need to be able to feel the moment when you need to make a strong blow, and at what moment it is better to strike a regular blow. You need to understand in what situation it is better to use a one-handed weapon, and in what situation a two-handed weapon is better suited. And with all this, it is also advisable to correctly calculate the distance to the enemy, so that if something happens, there is an opportunity to dodge or somersault to the side in time. And so many things I constantly kept in my head. And when I could already keep all these nuances in my head as if automatically, all the battles began to resemble a dance. I danced with the enemy as if I were memorizing every step of my partner.
I was also hooked by the overall visuals of the game. The world of Bloodborne is dark and reminiscent of Victorian England. Where on my way I kept coming across various Gothic castles and buildings. I was very interested in exploring them. And what is hidden there in this passage, which is very easy to miss, because it is littered with barrels and boxes. Where does that staircase lead?? What interesting things will I find if I jump into the river canal right now?. The game didn’t lead me by the hand, no questions or tags, no world map like in most games. I decided where to go and what to do.
The game managed to give me the spirit of a pioneer. That made me doubly pleased when I was able to find something interesting, without any hints. For example, in one of the initial Bloodborn locations, I noticed a hidden passage where one character was waiting for me. With whom you could talk and receive an interesting quest, or you could immediately engage in battle with him. And there were plenty of such interesting situations in the game.
Here is one such NPC from whom you can get an interesting quest. Or you can fight him, although it will be very difficult to defeat him)
Bloodborn is also a very atmospheric game. Thanks to which I was able to really immerse myself in it. As if I were the one who now found myself in Yharnam. In addition to bright and memorable boss battles, I was interested in learning about their history. What happened to Gascoigne? What happened to his family? Who are the shadows of Yharnam? Who is this? What is this? It was interesting to learn about the lore of the game, finding various notes, receiving information from a few NPCs. When hunters killed me, I made sure to say hello to “Anna the doll”)
And after I played Bloodborn, it seems to me that I understood why many players like the Souls Luck genre so much. Players fell in love with this genre not only for the presence of difficulties and their subsequent overcoming in the process of passing, but also for the fact that such games have interesting gameplay, bright and memorable boss fights, and far from the most passable plot. And all this harmoniously combines with each other. Not to mention the lore of such games, where in the same Bloodborn it is quite deep and interesting.
To me, Bloodborn isn’t trying to be a game for everyone. The game has its own rules, and for the sake of the player the game will not change them.
If you are not ready to accept such rules, that’s okay. You can always play something else, something simpler and clearer. This happened to me too when I made a choice in favor of other games. Because I was afraid of all the difficulties that exist in Bloodborne and other Souls Like games. But when I matured, overcame my fear and decided to play Bloodborne, the game gave me a lot of new impressions and sensations that other games had not given me for a long time. I’m sure that meeting Bloodborne on my gaming journey is just the beginning. And in other souls-like games I can also find something that can hook me and give me unique emotions and impressions.
Throughout the entire game I received great aesthetic pleasure from the environment, the appearance of the main character and weapons)
Thank you very much to everyone who spent their precious time and decided to read this article. I hope that you really enjoyed reading all this, which means it was not in vain that I shared my impressions and emotions from the game.
I will be very glad if here in the comments you share with me your opinion about Bloodborn and other Souls Like games. Bye everyone and see you at Stopgame 🙂
Best comments
Hello . I realized that this feature) Although at first it was really unusual. She carried out the blow at the wrong time, stood too close to the enemy, decided to heal, bam and the leech had already sucked out almost his entire life. I like that Bloodborn can be played in different ways. You can use a parry, fire a musket to interrupt an enemy attack. Or you can even call someone for help if it’s too difficult. I was able to play without parrying. There is a feeling that I began to understand and feel the game, as if my intuition turns on, and I move away from the enemy’s attack in time, I roll at the right time. And of course the style is awesome in the game. The gloomy, Victorian style fascinated me, and the bosses are also memorable. Some are dexterous and look like a human, while others are really big, slow but very strong and have a lot of health. As I found out today, from Bloodborn Froma they began to add attack phases to bosses)
Or when the game does not allow me to cancel the animation of my attack, when I want to interrupt such an attack, for example, to do a roll.
This is not a bug, this is a feature. Continuous animations are one of the pillars of the genre, without which soulsliking is not soulsliking. You need to think when to hit, when to roll, and not spam the attack or roll buttons when necessary. If you roll at the wrong time, you’ll rake. You attack when you need to roll, you rake.
Glad you like my blog. As they say, different games are important, different games are needed). In my case, Souls like games turned out to be a breath of fresh air. Although I have played quite a lot of different games this year. The main thing is to try to understand the rules of Souls and then you can get a lot of pleasure from them.
Probably the additional magic of souls games is history. After all, we can find out the full story of the boss later or realize his place in this world. Then on NG+ we will fight again, but without the rage as in the first game, but with respect and regret. Dedicated to Father Gascoigne, Ludwig and many others who fought against darkness and could not resist it… I will take revenge and fix everything, and if not, then there will be a hero who will intoxicate me and you.
The plot in Bloodborn hooked me, even though it doesn’t lie on the surface. I liked that the plot in the game is a kind of separate investigation. What kind of thicket, what kind of occultists, who is the doll Anna, to whom the hunters ask to say hello) If you are interested, be kind enough to dive into the lore, be attentive. And of course, the game’s replay value is also good. You can miss a lot of things the first time and not notice them.
Yes a masterpiece game. What’s more painful is that it still hasn’t been ported to PC.
Like for a wonderful blog.And as for this subgenre… Here the whole herd told me how cool it is to “learn the game through pain and suffering”, which made my mane take a vertical position because I was firmly convinced that they sit down to play to relax their mind and body.Well, in game life, as in real life, you have to try everything.Well, or strive for it.I downloaded the first Dark Souls I came across, or rather the 2nd one, launched it, killed myself on the first mob 10 times and threw it in the trash.Maybe I’m a masochist, but damn, not to the same extent.I didn’t even have the desire to cheat.
IMHO, for me, the most tragic moment of the entire souls series is when in the first dark you completed the expansion, and after that you need to fight Sif in the main plot – that rare heartbreaking case when neither you want to kill the boss, nor the boss you, but everything is already predetermined.
1. Most locations are narrow, dull corridors/shafts and all that. This is especially pleasing in the tower of Latria. This is obviously caused by limitations of the PS3, but it wasn’t fixed in the remake. There’s no smell of any particularly interesting level design in the game. There is no connection between the locations of the game world – you get to the locations by teleporting from the nexus, which seems to be outside the world (well, that is, in lore it is so, but this is just a narrative explanation of technical limitations) (hello DS3, they found something to copy from old games, by God). Many locations in future games are repeated, but made better.
2. Although the bosses often have an original design (let’s pretend that the Huge Spider Boss does not exist), they have a very meager moveset that is quick to learn and easy to dodge. This is somewhat offset by a fairly large number of so-called puzzle bosses, when you need not so much to learn how to roll from blows, but to understand what tactics to use and where to hit them. It’s interesting to fight with such bosses, but not all bosses are like that.
3. Management is darkness. Locking is terrible, often with the movement of the locked enemy, the position of the camera changes, and with it the direction of your movement changes. Nightmare. In such a situation, accidentally rolling into the abyss is a piece of cake. On some narrow bridges, using a lock is completely contraindicated; with a 99% chance you will fly into the abyss. That blow, which in the dark was a kick (that is, simultaneously pressing the stick forward and hitting) works here with some kind of manic constancy, it would seem that you just move the stick forward and press the blow, but this useless garbage with jumping back works, which I never had the desire to use consciously, and often when you do this you also rake in additional.
4. Some of the from mechanics in this game have not yet been invented, so here, for example, treatment occurs with consumable herbs that need to be purchased or found (mostly purchased, herbs drop rarely and mainly in the first locations), there is no estus. Compared to even the first dark, the player’s moveset is quite short – there is no impact in the fall.
There is no infinite inventory, the game takes into account not only the weight of the clothes and guns that you are wearing, but also those that you carry in your inventory, so you won’t be able to carry different weapons with you, if you want to change something, please return to the nexus. All this was redone in later games and made better and more convenient there.
5. Lore and plot – just forget it. There are few secondary characters with their own questlines and they are not particularly interesting. The exception is Mephistopheles, Ostrava and, conditionally, Yuria, but only because she is cute ^_^ .
6. Tendencies are a terrible mess and I absolutely didn’t want to deal with them, and newcomers will howl at the unfairness of the situation: either you play with half your HP or every death of yours denigrates the trend and it becomes even more difficult for you.
All of these issues have been either fixed or at least improved to be less catastrophic in future games.
I’m not saying demons are a bad game. Many things in it surprised me and posed non-trivial tasks (the section with the dragon flying along the bridge, for example). But most aspects of the game are a cut above already in the first dark, not to mention bloodborn and darks 2-3. And starting to get acquainted with the series with this game is a bad idea – it may seem that other games are also full of similar problems. Now demons are such a tribute to the origins of the genre that you want to play it more for educational purposes than because you really want to play it.
I really liked Bloodborn. Demon Souls is in the subscription, I’ll play it too. But anyway, after Bloodborne the next game won’t be Souls. I don’t want the genre to become boring) There is an opportunity to play Elden, but many say that it’s really stifling. Spawning under 100 hours .
The same thing can be done with soulslicks.Only the names are different.Even in Dark Soul there is “pain and suffering”, even in Elden Ring.Recently I watched a stream of a girl getting killed by crystal bastards for 30 minutes.Maybe more but I didn’t have the patience for it.
Everything remains, everything is in place, everything works as in the original, as far as I know, nothing has changed. The remake has received criticism more than once for this.
Get acquainted with soulslicks starting with Bloodborn… Consider yourself lucky that you liked it, if this is true. I would certainly recommend Demon’s Souls to start with. Not because it is the easiest, but precisely because it was the first – the origin of the genre.
Don’t know. Starting with demons is an almost 100% guarantee of discouraging the desire to play gophers ever again. I played the remake of demons after I had played all the From soulslices and a bunch of other soulslices, and even the remake is a crooked and outdated game that can’t be saved by the new beautiful graphonium wrapper. And if you play the original, it’s generally an ass.
They probably won’t respond to my comment, but I’ll write anyway 🙂 Based on posts like this, I’m becoming more and more convinced that “souls likes” and souls themselves are not my thing. I don’t accept these rules. I honestly tried to play, but after a series of deaths I always deleted the game. That is, I deliberately closed this genre for myself. And basically I think I did the right thing.
But I’m glad he has so many fans. That’s cool.
This is all Souls. Victory through pain, suffering and overcoming. I didn’t find Bloodborne difficult. Probably because Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls 1-2 passed before him.
Yes I mean? What is crooked or outdated – just for example??
Thank you for such a detailed answer. It could have been shorter.
I just didn’t understand one thing, in the remake of demons they kept the trend of the world.
Do not lead me into temptation for it is sin. )))) It all ends with me reading and that’s the end.
