Bloodborne - Series Strengths and Sequel Changes

[@elephantricity]

bloodborne was my first souls game. I found Cleric Beast easy, however Father Gascoigne was unlike anything I've ever faced. Extremely hard.

[@speeddemonji9547]

LOL it too was my first souls game but I’m basically the opposite of you. Having my nerves absolutely hammered traversing through Yharnam already had me stressed out enough before I even encountered the Cleric Beast, who I admittedly lost to far more than I did to Gascoigne solely thanks to panic and being stupidly greedy. Having the cleric beast test my mettle, I had already become a bit more accustomed to the combat system and was able to triumph over Gascoigne in about 1-2 tries (whereas a friend of mine *nearly* quit the game after failing almost a dozen times) thanks to abusing the environment like an omegabrain, being more cautious, already being better at dodging, and not getting too aggressive/greedy as I usually do in most games. Guess which of the two I love more as a boss?

[@sapphic_sophie]

That's really interesting!! I'd played DS1 many, many times first and had the complete opposite experience. Cleric beast took an eternity but I beat Gascoigne in a few attempts. I was using the cane, though, so that might have had something to do with it. Gascoigne staggers against its quick attacks easily but the cleric beast wasn't and was only taking like 20 dmg per hit.

[@willbrown9060]

I beat father Gascoigne on my 23 try

[@keyurpatel8595]

My first souls game too. I had so much trouble just getting past that crowd of yharnamites near the fire at the beginning of the level I stopped playing for a bit, but then went back. The cleric beast took me for a ride, and my god, Father Gasciogne was something else entirely! Bb'll always be one of my favourite stories and games.

[@drew8235]

Gas Coin is legitimately pretty tough for such an early boss.

[@mihirlavande]

Player: * enters nightmare lecture hall * PS4: *REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*

[@wanderingexo8689]

Accurate

[@nickgoat5227]

diaboli14s Clean it out with compressed air, it’s most likely dust build up in the console.

[@nickgoat5227]

diaboli14s Clean it out with compressed air, it’s most likely dust build up in the console.

[@Мөнхдөл]

@@nickgoat5227 pls shut up that was joke and also cleaning it does not make it silent smiley face

[@dickheadrecs]

kinda weird, it's the smallest area in the game - there's fuck all to load into memory

[@StratEdgyProductions]

Blood vials were much less common as you go further into the game and I would say once you get to the witches they become so rare that you end up having to grind for them to get your supply back up, especially if you ran into a boss that gave you trouble.

[@pretty_fly_for_a_jeskai]

I followed Saint Riots advice my first run and bought them up with most of the Central Yharnam echoes, besides getting my Vit to around 20. I had over 200 kinda backed up so my experience was veryvdifferent. I still had 163 stored by ths time I finished Amelia, and used false depth dungeons to farm 22% gems from enemies that drop 20k each, soending almost all of that on vials so my level isnt too inflated for the game. I never farmed vials.

[@rosaparks6479]

Just buy the vials

[@Toet_toet]

@@rosaparks6479 Yeahh spend all the spare echoes you have after leveling/upgradingweap on vials. Always. And you'll never run out :)

[@rosaparks6479]

@@Toet_toet I cant tell if you're being sarcastic but personally I do just spend 1 or 2 levels worth of echos on vials and Im good

[@Toet_toet]

@@rosaparks6479 haha no I was not sarcastic :) just sharing my method of buying vials

[@kalgore4906]

I think the reason why the first two bosses are designed the way they are is to teach souls veterans that hiding behind shields and staying far away in combat is not exactly the best strat in this game. I guess it boils down to 2 schools of thought: slow tactical combat vs fast paced heart pumping action combat. Neither are wrong its just up to your personal style of playing

[@goldenpants1239]

“Neither are wrong” *cough cough* h *cough* har *WHEEEEEZE* Harris *cough cough*

[@ВладимирКоролёв-х1м]

Souls veterans prefer hiding behind shields? Lol.

[@TheAxeliono]

Honestly all the friends I see who play the souls games and all the playthroughs I see online and such I feel I don't usually see people using shields but dodging and doing two handed

[@Thirteen13551355]

@@tempusername-l5d Yes exactly. I feel Miyazaki thought Souls players are in general careful. He didn't realise this fact.

[@Stevemastersreason]

The first to bosses are the perfect tutorial of what you can expect and how you need to deal with bosses that are coming. They teach you the 2 types of bosses and how to deal with them. First the big powerful beast type, that you cant parry and that will wreck if you do not prioritize to stay behind them all the time, with the beasts in the dlc being the only exception what makes them so difficult for a lot of players. The second type is the humanoid type that you can parry and easily stagger, which enforces you to fight relentlessly and prioritize the rally over the constant use of vials. Im a bit shocked most people dont recognize this and how rare it is pointed out that the first 2 bosses are very easy when you recognize what they try to teach you. They even show another aproach if you are willing to experiment: before the cleric beast you find lots of molotovs and oil urns, which make the cleric beast completely redundant, the same goes for cascoign and the music box, which is only available to you if you search the whole area. This continues with the blood starved beast and the blood cocktails additionaly to the antidotes you find in old yharnam.

[@Highlaw]

Holy shit this channel. Thanks for being a thing, subbed.

[@henrycrabs3497]

Ligma balls 5 years ago

[@junker154]

I played Dark Souls 1 and 2 for hundreds of hours but thought that BB was really tough. It was just extremely visceral and fast. Even if I always played light characters without shields in the past.

[@Dean444ful]

junker154 that's actually really interesting to hear. I played Demon's Souls and Dark Souls Souls 1 and 2 prior to Bloodborne yet I found the transition pretty easy and fun. Not just that but it changed the way I played Dark Souls 3. Before Bloodborne I used to always use a shield. After Bloodborne (DS3) I stopped using shields.

[@doctordungus7774]

I was honestly kind of insulted by how often he says that this game will be too easy for Souls veterans. I've played every Souls game including Demon's Souls and this game is so difficult for me.

[@jokerzwild00]

BB was by far the easiest game in the series for me. The insane health pool was the main reason. At times I felt immortal because of the rally mechanic and the rare times I needed a heal there were always drops of blood vials. They should have either done away with rally, or made vials similar to estus flasks. Having vials be a consumable plus the rally mechanic makes you overpowered imo. Also they made armour and stats almost irrelevant. As long as you level your weapon up you're fine. I'm not saying that makes BB a bad game, on the contrary I loved it, but it was for me the easiest by far.

[@FrightNFight]

I would say that the exploration and combat is much easier than Souls once you get the hang of it, at least that was my experience. Hitstun is very generous (both ways though), parry window is wider. It just more often puts you in group situations that severely punish brute forcing and prioritizing enemy kiting and positioning. The bosses were way harder for me though. Mostly just how I play, I am kind of a noob and try and get too many hits in.

[@chaosavy1]

The issue might be that depending on your gear/build choice the game's difficulty could be much different from one player to the next.

[@fdfg4795]

Bloodborne's only 'drawback' imo is that it's too damn short, even with the dlc I still feel we've barely scratched the surface of this phenomenal world.

[@EAZIIMAN]

Well if it leaves wanting more, that would be considered a good thing in most cases

[@fdfg4795]

@@EAZIIMAN True, but most games intentionally do that beacuse they have a sequel planned, as of today, we know nothing about a Bloodborne sequel, we don't even know I it will ever come.

[@lollipophugo]

I've been replaying it again recently, and I don't think it's too short. But I've also been alternating between playing the main story, and playing chalice dungeons, which add a lot of content, enemies, bosses and challenges to the game but a lot of people write them off because as far as level design goes they can be a bit dull. Personally, because I no-lifed this game back in the day and know all the enemy placements, bosses and everything in the campaign like I know how to tie my shoelaces, the chalice dungeons are a breath of fresh air. I have to be cautious again, because the harder dungeons and root chalices have very dangerous enemies and I don't know what or where they are.

[@scottschiess1440]

Chalice dungeons and multiplayer plus multiple playthroughs with different builds left me satisfied

[@fdfg4795]

@@scottschiess1440 I played through all the Chalice dungeons and found them to be lacking,definitely not something I want to touch again and the weakest part about the game by far, I also played the multiplayer a little bit before realizing how unpolished it is compared to souls' and never touched it again (although I have to say that was during 2016 so it might have gotten better idk),Still I would have still preferred it if they just got rid of both of them for more story areas.

[@cygnusx2112]

Bloodborne was my first game in the series and I definitely agree that the first 3 (I include Blood-Starved Beast) bosses were ridiculously hard and after that I became overpowered to where it only took me multiple tries on Rom and 2 tries for Ebrietas. I think your analysis is very fair and accurate and I love BB.

[@kalgore4906]

You must be new to the souls series, thats how its always been

[@Eddyoshi]

Um I dunno at least for me in DS1 the asylum demon, the taurus demon and maybe even the gargoyles were by far the easiest bosses in the whole game for me. Then when I went on to play bloodborne I was shocked at how difficult they made the first boss, I mean I still killed him in one go but I couldnt believe how much HP they gave the starting boss when asylum demon even with the dagger went down in only a few hits.

[@MrCoops35]

Bloodborne was also my first in the seris. Getting through Yharnam the first time was almost unbearable.

[@BLTspace]

but once you did :)

[@110000116699]

@@Eddyoshi all of ds1 is easy honestly

[@joebob327]

My favorite reviewer on KZbin. Keep up the good work!

[@abdirahmansaid2674]

watch superbunnyhop

[@evilagram]

Your notes on how the health systems all fit together are superb. You came up with insights about the blood vial system's advantages that had not occurred to me previously. Same for the rally system being similar to the life gem system. I took the simpler route and simply assumed it was there to tease players to attack, making themselves vulnerable to more damage than they were gaining back.

[@SlyBeast]

A little late in the video's life for fresh comments but I bought Bloodborne as a gift for a friend who had a mild interest in the Soulsborne series and had never played a single one. What you said about Cleric Beast and Gascoigne - spot on. He spent hours in Central Yharnam and then again with the first 2 bosses. Once he got over the hump, he loved it, but I thought we were going to lose him to the struggle.

[@craigfisher1937]

SlyBeast same here I hated the game up until I got past Gascoigne having never played a souls game before hand the game just felt unreasonably hard along with the pre patch loading times I wasn’t having a good time at all. Then everything clicked and it overnight became one of my favourite games ever

[@paweave9562]

Well... you are a good friend for sure :0

[@henrycrabs3497]

He should have given up, left you, and got a girlfriend

[@Zeal543]

you found ludwig, orphan, and laurence easier than the bosses in DaS and DaS2?

[@AshTheMohican]

He said he only covered the base game, not the DLC. And let's be honest, Laurence was trash. Phase 2 of Ludwig was the best fight in Bloodborne in my opinion. And Eileen. Such good fights.

[@0ffaI]

I Am The Law Isn't Eileen that npc with the crow armor? What makes fighting her so special?

[@ysbhw]

having an imagination and a sense of appreciation for the combat, or "Why Do You Like That Thing You Like?"

[@Kamishi845]

@@AshTheMohican I agree that the Eileen fight was surprisingly good for a hunter vs. hunter fight. I think the difference being that it was an obviously intended fight as a part of the story, whereas the random encounters just don't feel as good. Eileen has very obvious and telegraphed movesets which sets her apart a fair bit from the other random hunters (and Djura), and while the fight is difficult I never felt it was impossible and it was very rewarding overall. I also think the lore behind the fight helps to add meaning to the fight itself. I killed her fairly easily though, so I am surprised that a lot of people found her to be the most difficult hunter fight.

[@dickheadrecs]

Sam F her dialogue when she dies implies you're intended to fight her after beating the game at least once. It's a nice Easter egg that rewards you with a new weapon for a new playthrough

[@Ghost1170]

Maybe Im an idiot, but the game was insanely fun for me. Im a souls experienced fan, and I speed ran dark souls 1, and holy fuck, this game was PERFECT for my playstyle. I always played aggressively with a big sword, and bring able to get an insanely fast weapon early on WITH your two dodges, unlocked and locked, makes this game heart poundingly fucking awesome. I took on that giant square first go, barely surviving before realizing you could pull them like 2 at a time. I think if newer players and experienced players just rushed at mobs, they would get that insane adrenaline rush along with understanding how to play bloodborne. Ignore defence because your best defence is an insane offense. If they put in shields in bloodborne, I would have done nothing but sit back and use the shield like I did on my first play throughs of ds1 and ds2. 1h saw and pistol is literally the best way to play. When you get more than like 3, swap to 2h mode and cleave those mofos. Wish I had a ps4, borrowed my cousins for like 2 weeks to play the shit out of bloodborne, and fuck, it was the best 2 weeks of a souls like game Ive ever played. :( still missing it, and like it more than ds3 oddly enough

[@Ghost1170]

GiRayne Well, I mean, don't knock it till you try it mate. Download a demo or pirate a copy. If you like it, buy it. DS3 isn't DS2 by any stand liked DS1, you'll like DS3.

[@anthonydelfino6171]

Since you asked, Bloodborne was my first Souls game, and I would largely agree with your commentary regarding the level bosses. It took me a really long time to to work my way through Central Yarnham. This was because of two reasons: first, which isn't brought up, I didn't know to look for shortcuts. It took me a couple days of play to try to work my way through the citizen mob around the beast they burned at the stake since there were so many, and trying to lure out one or two at a time to kill them was always a challenge, but once I got comfortable navigating Yarnham, I'd say my next challenge wasn't so much Cleric Beast as it was Father Gascoigne. I completely agree that the game doesn't do much to help you learn how to fight him. Eventually he was beaten, but where I struggled for the longest time was actually Vicar Amelia, to the point that I quit playing, and it wasn't until a friend encouraged me to try again and offered some tips regarding how to beat her that I finally did, and then breezed through almost the entire rest of the game, with just a minor hiccup in Yahar'Gul, and even then only because the mechanics of how they expect you to advance through a level changed so much that finding certain bell maidens became a challenge.

[@underfire987]

I find bloodborne the best game they have made so far, I enjoyed it way more than dark souls 3, which I am really having a hard time staying in that game, just wanting to go back to bloodborne, the story is much better put together , the setting is so original the enemy types are so diverse and the theme is everything I could ever want in a game. sorry I just really prefer bloodborne over any of the other current from software games.

[@PatFagan]

I love bb but rom, the one reborn and micolash really make me sad bc the rest of the game is SO good. I also hate how you have a finite amount of healing items, but I can understand the argument for it. I do love this game but I'm so mentally scarred by micolash that I can't muster up the guts to fight him again. That one-shot explosion attack ruined my life. Micolash actually gave me nightmares... Plz help. But seriously I do love bb, it's special to me bc it was my first souls game

[@joshwalker2152]

couldn't agree more. I played DS1 and DS2 before bloodborne, and bloodborne is the best so far. In terms of story, combat, and universe, Bloodborne is superior. I don't even like H.P. Lovecraft, but I love bloodborne

[@ramantarasov715]

toxic megacunt hey , well said. I can't wait for e3 2017 for bloodborne 2 reveal.

[@Xxandrew01]

underfire987 I still say Dark Souls 1 was the best one. Simply because, the class system felt more diverse and felt like an actual RPG to me. Bloodborne felt like an action game. The other two Dark Souls games, Dark Souls 2 and Dark Souls 3 also felt like true RPG's. Issues with those two games though, they were milking Dark Souls.

[@MrAnonsos]

I still like to play that game today. I love this game so much.

[@NatabenOo]

BB was my entry to the Souls/borne series and never felt like I had to farm blood vials tbh. Only time I farmed was when I really wanted a couple of extra lvls so I killed some blue guys in a chalice dungeon a couple of times. Cleric Beast and Gascoigne were certainly hard but I had more trouble with the later bosses.

[@extraspooky819]

I have to disagree. I thought the best moments of BB easily outmatched and were more plentiful than Ds2. Then again, I have a lot of problems with Ds2.

[@lukas753331]

To be fair IMO best moments of bloodborne are hard to top even by masterpieces like witcher 3 or mass effect 2 :D

[@dekarmeryalmar8774]

@@lukas753331 bruh

[@samuelabbottchannel]

@@lukas753331 bruh

[@brutalhellblazer]

@@lukas753331 bruh

[@J-Dizzle95]

I'm so happy I was hoping you would do a video about Bloodborne! Thank you for the quality content! :)

[@somethingdiscreet]

5:17 goddamit, how many times have I struggled with traversing that snake infested hellhole? And there was an elevator the whole time!!

[@Exigentable]

you're a smart cat, I value your perspective. thanks for all the hard work.

[@DumbOfAsh]

BB was my first souls game, and I didn't mind the horrible loading screens before the patch. It gave me time to actually think about what I did wrong and how I can do a better job instead of rushing to my death.

[@injeraenjoyer4570]

Exactly. I also always appreciate a break from a game when I can eat a chip or take a sip of water.

[@meathir4921]

If you want to take a break to think just… stop and take a break.

[@zach238]

I've watched every one of your videos (mainly), and after rewatching this for the second time it was the first time I've ever heard you stutter, ever. At 21:44. Just shows how much work you put in.

[@SenialHobo]

So I'm probably in one of the smallest groups that thought that Bloodborne was actually harder than the DaS, and I think it's definitely subjective. A big part of this is my play style - two handed axes, hit big, win big, or go home. Dodge bosses until you figure out their pattern, and go in for the kill. The flailing bosses in Bloodborne were not made for this playstyle, obviously, but I never managed to make the switch to all-out stunlock beast bosses before they stunlock you. I did end up beating the game, but compared to the breeze I had with DaS 3 about a year back, it was pretty grueling. I think a lot of this is when angry players start saying "BloodBorne is the most basic game in the series" but I'm not sure if that's right. I did enjoy it for its 'story' and atmosphere, which was far more unique, and the fact that it doesn't have copy paste dragon butts, but either I missed the gameplay bus or the bosses needed more tweeking. When you describe the bosses, it sounds like you agree to some degree. The only way they can be made harder is to make them one shot you, and give them more HP. It seems a lot different from the likes of Gundyr, which I liked, and a lot more like the flailing monster that jumps all around in Iudex's final phase. I think the biggest problem with this is less whether it is or isn't fair, but that it doesn't feel fair; either you win by getting lucky and staggering or not getting hit by the hard attacks, or you lose to something that seems unfair. Even the hardest bosses in Dark Souls one, like Ornstein and Smough, rarely feel unfair. Ignoring Twiggy and the Pit. INB4 git gud.

[@jeffreymaxson6216]

This was my first souls game and I understand completely what you said about Gascoyne.

[@kyro8559]

joseph: *complains about being able to spam attacks all the time* also joseph: *uses the best weapon in the game for pure staggering power*

[@jasper_the_ghost]

Right?! Old comment, but it’s like saying you are given too much heath in Dark Souls after putting on all of Havel’s armor and maxing vitality

[@ajpend]

It wouldn't make much sense to complain about something without some experience with it.

[@kyro8559]

@@ajpend yeah but this supposed flaw is player-made, not something inherent to the game

[@ajpend]

@@kyro8559 if it's available to a player within the game, it's inherent to the game.

[@kyro8559]

@@ajpend if he chooses to use the literal only weapon that has this problem, the fact that he complains about it like it’s an inherent flaw of the whole game is fucking ludicrous

[@tripwire5435]

Don't really agree about the part that BB doesn't match the top moments of dark souls and dark souls 2. I personally thought BB has far superior "Holy **** that's amazing" moments. Whether it was boss battles, lore, atmosphere, etc. I just don't think the previous games come close to BB.

[@iWillWakeYouUp]

+SZ S The cutscene after Rom was one such moment, or the moment I was kidnapped and explore Yahar'Gul befor the Blood Moon... the singing and the inhuman statues put a much more sinister atmosphere over the entire game. I realized that the statues in the Great Cathedral weren't there for shits and giggles. This was a theme, and probably because there really is something like that in this world. The entire part of the game after Rom was just mindblowing. Walking into Yahar'Gul and seeing the... "landscape" was just mindblowing for a moment. I know people like to hate on Micolash, but I really enjoyed that fight. It was something I had never done before in this franchise - a frantic chase, and the music matched what was going on on-screen.

[@chilly456]

Yeah, the other games don't have a "Ludwig moment".

[@SuzukiCabs]

@@chilly456 Gael?

[@faketoddhoward7280]

But the bad parts of bloodborne are waaaay worse than ds1,2

[@epicmarschmallow5049]

@@faketoddhoward7280 what part of Bloodborne is anywhere near as bad as lost izalith, blight town, black gulch or frigid outskirts?

[@nyramakani9091]

I'm playing Bloodborne right now as my first souls game, and to me the cleric beast was hell. I'm pretty UI blind, and I only defeated it with a friend sitting there looking out for my health bar xD Father Gascoigne was a breeze though. I had a good time with the first phases and only real struggled with the beast phase. I love this game so much though.

[@Wildlander]

Well researched, thoughtful, fair, and expertly written analysis. I can't wait to see what else you produce!

[@gabrielsaraiva9867]

bloodborne was my first game in the series. while watching your video, I was quite shocked when you described my first hours with this game. Central Yharnem took a solid 2h to complete, but Cleric Beast was easier, taking 3 tries. Started playing some days ago and I'm loving every bit of it now, after learning the rally system, the combat really shines. Thanks for the video, big fan :)

[@nathanwinsor7]

Spot on. Bloodborne was my first souls game. I was stuck in yarnam for hours, almost quit the game, eventually got passed it and the game got easier afterwards. On point commentary.

[@sebascruz7762]

I know this is an old video but fuck it, here's my story. I've finished Bloodborne about two weeks ago, it is the only FromSoft game i've ever played to this date, and i got to say, it's one of my favourites, but i'm not here to talk about that. My experience with the bosses was quite diferent than the one from other new players, i had a horrible time in Central Yharnam, almost every group of enemies killed me at least once, i was about to quit, but then, Cleric beast came, i killed him in my first try, i don't really know why, but that victory gave me the confidence to keep going, i knew Gascoigne was the next boss and i knew about his infamous difficult to new players, but, against all odds, i killed him in my second try, to this moment i felt like a god, and then, Amelia. She absolutely riped the shit out of me, i died to her at least 12 times, i was desperate again, my friend told me to kill the BSB first to learn the trick with the bosses in this game, preparation, and he was right, i my opinion, it is almost imposible to new players to kill the BSB without preparation (oil urns, molotovs, fire paper, antidotes), i learned this, killed the BSB at my 2 try and went back to the Grand Cathedral, now with the tools you need to kill Amelia, and guess what, first try and her hairy ass went down, that was an important lesson and i'll apply it in Dark Souls. When i finally get to play it of course.

[@AttackBacon]

Thanks for another great video Joseph. Ever since I stumbled across your channel around the time of your Dark Souls 2 analysis, I've really enjoyed the thought and effort you put in. I think you do an excellent job at cutting to the core design of a game and sidestepping more subjective analysis. It's a rare talent and a refreshing one. I wish more content creators were capable of being as self-aware and objective. Keep up the excellent work!

[@gilgamesh310]

I can't say I agree much regarding the difficulty. But I do seem in the minority when it comes to how difficult I found Gascoine and The Cleric Beast to be. I found them very easy, and beat both on my first go. Conversely I ended up finding some of the later bosses, extremely challenging. Rom and Ebrietas being standouts. But I did find the game had the most balanced difficulty overall. That might be partially to do with how there's a lot less cheap moments. I'm glad you mentioned that. It's one of the reasons why I think it's the best game in the series. I find Dark Souls is still commonly referred to as the best game in the series, but Bloodborne is definitely the better overall experience. I look forward to the other parts.

[@johngun7418]

i think it's because of the intimidation factor when new players go against them that makes them harder. they give the boss too much respect and stay on the defensive running away mostly. that's how I was in the beginning because I didn't get to use a shield like from previous games.

[@eziospaghettiauditore8369]

@@johngun7418 exactly this. I was so scared and then I had to look online and be like oh you have to actually attack just like they are you have to Lunge at them and don't give them a chance to breathe

[@GoatJesus]

I think it's thematically important to mention how blood vials are obtained through addictive measures. You're pumping yourself with drugs and the way you take it from enemies is worth mentioning in regards to BB's overarching themes.

[@LightingEagle418]

You can roll off the ground to not get wombo-comboed when getting up after a knockdown for more invincibility frames.

[@meathir4921]

Depends on the knockdown

[@Koops2245]

Glad to see you return to discussing the "Soulsborne" series, that's how I stumbled upon your channel just the other day~ I'll be sure to come back to this video after I experience Bloodborne.

[@Xerazal]

I noticed you use Ludwig's holy blade a lot. When you brought up the stunlock thing, with how your attacks stunlock enemies easily, i remembered that LHB, even when in its base form, IS a stunlock weapon. Use other weapons, like the saw cutter, and that isn't as much of a thing. LHB is just... OP. My first playthrough I got it and never used any other weapons, but when I went into NG+ I tried using primarily the saw cutter, and saw that it wasn't anywhere near as good as LHB. Then I tried other weapons, and noticed that out of all the weapons available, LHB just sits at the top. It attacks reasonably fast, does a lot of damage for how fast it swings, and has a high rate of stunlocking enemies compared to other weapons, even other weapons that do similar damage or attack at a similar rate. If anything, I wish they had released a patch to nerf JUST LHB, because once its received its pretty much the best weapon in the game with regards to speed, damage output, and stunning capability.

[@cliftonsargent1572]

Your videos are so fu*king legit, I can’t thank you enough for the work you put into your channel, well done sir well done

[@Crazelord91]

A huge difference I find with BB than souls is the importance of stamina. In souls taking your time and choosing your attacks and parries is rewarded. In BB its all about fast reflexes. And I found on my second run the game was considerably easier once I started putting a lot more echoes into stamina. It allowed me to dance around my enemies while getting a ton of hits in

[@zakariamusa668]

Stamina and vitality

[@Crazelord91]

@@zakariamusa668 Sure, but if you're good enough then vitality isn't as important if you're not getting hit much or recover health quickly

[@Galaxy40k]

Oh man I'm so excited to see this video! Your content is really good and has only been getting better. You're already up there with the other best "essay style video" reviewers in my book.

[@sunnyta1990]

for me, the game had two difficulty spikes: 1) was at the very beginning of the game between the sickroom and cleric beast 2) was at ludwig those were the only two moments i hit a wall. i completely agree with you that the beginning is FAR too unforgiving and the game gets easier as it goes along. having so many villagers in the very first area of central yharnam is extremely strange considering the game rarely pulls this trick after the beginning. it's practically designed to be a beginner's trap - meant to frustrate newcomers and turn them off immediately. however, now that i'm much better at the game i kind of like it. like you said, it's a baptism by fire and it demands the player notice patterns and get good at the combat. i just spammed attacks and sometimes got out alive. i played DS1 for 2 hours before i got bloodborne, and in both of them i just spammed R1. this got me killed in DS1. i beat the game with bloodborne.

[@henrycrabs3497]

Oh my God, who cares

[@ElGalloUltimo]

Your commentary on the weapon mastery around 22:00 is convincing me that there could be some transferable skills and new experiences from repetitively killing the same enemies. I experienced this in Hollow Knight, which was arguably inspired by these games, so it makes sense.

[@KnightCrown]

Hey y'all. I've a crush on this Joseph guy.

[@JosephAndersonChannel]

:3

[@PatFagan]

dumb casual Funny thing is, he kind of is now. 7,000 to 100,000 subs from last summer to now. That's pretty good.

[@locustking6433]

Lol, you answered your question at the start:)

[@chrisjanzen7748]

I really enjoy your longer videos and your critiques. Really well put together and always fair and good points.

[@AlkisGD]

Bloodborne is my favorite in the series because of the atmosphere, lore, trick weapons, and the combat style. Even in souls games, I never use shields or strength builds, so BB and I were a perfect match. (I've also read pretty much everything Lovecraft has written, plus some Derleth, C.A. Smith, etc.) I hope Sony will finally release the game on PC and/or make a remaster/remake. (If they fix the bugs on Chikage, that's at least another 500hrs for me at least.)

[@AlkisGD]

@@BaldingSasquatch - That's me alright. Never leveled STR in my life. We'll see if my third Elden Ring character will change that 😛

[@AlkisGD]

@@BaldingSasquatch - Yup, that's me.

[@aaronsanchez2260]

You got it spot on. As someone who never played any souls games and I spent the first six hours just trying to get to the cleric beast. I usually like to play games without using any walkthroughs but I had to just to get past the first level.

[@ryanfrick2190]

i remember spending a week in Yharnam ... then I found out about the lock on.

[@iWillWakeYouUp]

Good lord, the Lady Maria soundtrack is just overwhelmingly beautiful and filled with drama. What a wondrous composition. It's one of my favourites out of the entire franchise's soundtracks. I especially like the bell that you hear throughout the track.

[@LordSkullkid]

Bullshit, I played all of the Souls prior to Bloodborne and I found Bloodborne to be waaay harder

[@_1More_]

agreed.

[@Sunwakka]

It was harder for me but it was more intense. Especially the hard dungeon bosses.

[@PlsDontReadThis123]

Bloodborne was the easiest and basic of the series. There is so little strategy involved on the game, just pick a weapon and spam attack and you get through every boss unfortunately, no equip load, only one true type of play style. I didnt have a slight problem until the DLC and thats only because they mixed rampaging no stamina spamming enemies and put like 5 in an area at the same time

[@pouihurmen]

Aj Uncaged eh, that strategy is only viable if you're comfortable with Bloodborne's pace and go glass cannon with buffs. If you can't at least dodge a little though, most bosses will definitely punish you. Also consider that dodges have shorter i-frames than in all the other games. Explain to me what other strategies than to dodge and pick your attacks there are in Souls, except for blocking which is not in Bloodborne for obvious reasons.

[@Sunwakka]

idkman Souls has lost most of it's variation imo. It's not that viable to block anymore unless you are using a low stamina use weapon and a lot of stamina. Rolling is too good and easy that there is no reason to be over 60% because armor doesn't even matter and blocking is just death. Almost no enemy has poise or hyperarmor and can easily be r1 spammed even in groups. Because of fast r1 spam small weapons are way better. All enemies has similar attack patterns. No variety in weapon use. You can use the same weapon through the whole game. There are no situations where you have to change weapons to accommodate to the enemy.

[@Ap0llyon]

Just found this and I have to say you are exactly spot on. Bloodborne was my first souls game and I pushed so painfully through the first bosses. Farming vials only to waste them and having to farm up again. When it got to the Blood Starved beast I tried 15+ times, having to farm up not only vials but also antidotes now too. I dropped the game and never came back to it at that point. Cut to 4 years later and I am comfortably making my way through DS3, beating bosses on my 2nd or 3rd time and not feeling any pressure of a failed run.

[@jacket2038]

Interestingly enough, I think the exact opposite way about Bloodborne vs Dark Souls. I feel that Bloodborne isn't as consistently good, as it has a number of awful bosses, but at it's best moments it truly shines far brighter than any other From soft work. Dark souls 3 on the other hand is consistently good through and through but doesn't quite live up to the moments of Bloodborne.

[@servebotfrank4082]

Dark Souls 3 I think has my absolute favorite final boss of the series. Soul of Cinder was a fantastic way to end the series.

[@user-nm2vf3lq6x]

Excellent work, as always. I can't wait to see the bosses video.

[@danwash19]

Feels personally attacked when he stated Dark Souls I and II have a similar quality

[@dashman8499]

I feel like its more he thinks 2 is underrated than 1 overrated.

[@Violaphobia]

Joseph is entitled to his wrong opinion /s If you watch the DS1 videos, he makes some good points but is factually wrong on a number of points, and harps on the Helkite killing you at least 5 times. He feels the game after Anor Londo is bad, gives it an 8/10. If you watch his DS2 video, he basically says that the entire game is boring and poorly made and all the bosses are shit, then gives it a 7/10. He argues the DLC is the best, but doesnt mention that it makes many of the same mistakes as the base game and contains some of the worst parts of the entire series. He is very detailed at times, but can be inconsistent and misses things that seem easy to look up.

[@dashman8499]

@@Violaphobia I like hearing his thoughts, but i do think he cherry picks what to complain about, and half the shit he brings up is shit i dont even think about

[@Strafprozessordnung]

5-years-ago-Joseph: I know this video is long... (30 mins) Today-Joseph: Sooo I heard you like Peter Jackson Cut style videos

[@OG_McLovin]

Launch load times were obscene in BB. Embarrassingly bad. Good vid.

[@shahiranzaman2259]

Not really after the patch

[@breadordecide]

Meanwhile the loading in sotf is super fast.

[@Dextergec413]

they were so bad it actually made me stop playing the game.

[@GrimArchetype]

You don't upload often so when you do it's always a pleasant surprise.

[@Cri354]

I actually hate how much Bloodborne influenced Dark Souls III. They took the fast paced enemies and stunlocking with a slow paced movement and targeting system. Still being drowned in enemies and all sorts of attacks that require you split seconds to dodge (looking at you goat monsters). While the healing can cause some intense combat, the lack of it ruins it in dark souls III. I know you are reviewing Bloodborne and it's good on it's own, but they couldn't keep away from taking inspirations and Dark Souls III ended up as a weird mix, a sort of midlife crisis.

[@EldritchAugur]

+Cri354 Hmm? I'd disagree with that. I finished the game a few days ago and thought it had easily the best combat of the series. It goes back to the mostly one on one fighting style of the first game, and it's original Estus healing system but with Bloodborne's increased speed making the combat feel faster and more responsive, yet just as tactically demanding as the first. I think people like to overstate Bloodborne's influence on DS3. The animations are a tad faster and the game looks a lot like Bloodborne due to it running on the same engine but other than that it's absolutely a Dark Souls game instead of a sequel to Bloodborne.

[@Cri354]

***** "to the mostly one on one fighting style of the first game" but that's wrong and I guess I can't blame them, 1 v 1 is the easiest form and they wanted to still challenge the players so most fights are multiple, I know you can pull enemies and such, but there are situations where you can not avoid it. Lothric castle being a good example. It's weird because I saw dark souls II gameplay and it felt slow, but I see dark souls 1 and it still feels faster. I guess they have to get a mix between dark 1 and 3, too fast really ruins the game. Try parrying (on reaction) with a medium shield and you'll get my frustration, out of many.

[@EldritchAugur]

Cri354 I mean if you just run straight into enemies then yes, but just like Dark Souls 1 you obviously want to aggro one enemy at a time. If you do, then there are only a few times in the game that I felt like I was forced to fight multiple enemies at once. Oh and the parry timing is fucked up, same with Dark Souls 2. I don't think it has anything to do with the animations, instead I think they swapped up the timing and it just feels all wrong. Maybe it's because I'm so used to DS1 parrying but I've never been able to do it in DS2 or 3. It just doesn't feel right.

[@TH3P3ANUT]

Your commentary is insightful and well-written, and your analysis of a lot of these games is interesting. It makes your videos addictive, and it's rare for me to binge watch several long videos in a row, and even rarer for me leave a comment on a video. I'm eager to hear your thoughts on Dark Souls 3 if/when you play the game, and some other franchises like Bioshock. In other words, you're pretty rad Joe

[@shmovenub]

As a newcomer to Bloodborne and the souls series I was able to beat cleric on my first try and Gascoigne on my third.

[@eziospaghettiauditore8369]

Same cleric took me two because I dodged away too much

[@Radriar___9946]

Bloodborne was my first souls experience, as for what you mentioned about Gascoine and Cleric Beast being the hardest bosses relative to the player's level/skill, I killed Cleric Beast in 3 tries and Gascoine on my first. Each boss after those two I found to be progressively harder, all the way up to the Shadows of Yahrnam, which for me was the hardest fight of my first playthrough. Since beating the game, I have gone back and played the other souls games, and viewing it from your perspective I can see how you think this way. Great vid, love talking Bloodborne with people.

[@kingturboturtlednoc5722]

"This video is long" that didn't age well

[@elliekerstiens1916]

Bloodborne was my first game in the series. I’d say I loved the gascoigne fight. The way there wasn’t too annoying and allowed you to get some blood vials and it wasn’t that annoying. It also gave a good challenge that I didn’t expect and kept throwing myself at it until I beat it, and since I already put so much effort into a pretty fun boss I was excited to see what was next.

[@RAIZ0R1211]

Another great review, havent played the game because im not dumping cash for a ps4 just for it. Early thoughts on DAS3? its probably up next fro review right?

[@JosephAndersonChannel]

Dark Souls 3 is objectively the best Souls game. Not sure if it tops Bloodborne. Subjectively, however, it's my least favorite, because it's made me realize that I'm no longer FROM's target audience. The game was even easier than Bloodborne and I beat every boss and explored every area in less than 20 hours. For people who only play the games once or twice, then DaS3 will easily be the best in the series. I'm not going to be doing a huge video on DaS3 until all the DLC is out. I'll likely do a 30 minute-ish video on it in early May, then some small ones with each DLC, and then a big one when I can compare the entire game with the others.

[@RAIZ0R1211]

+Joseph Anderson cool ill look forward to it, i felt the same way about the difficulty of DAS3, unfortunately today FROM just did i giant softban wave to a ton of pc users and i got hit so i cant play online for a while, still fun though!

[@joacimtorneus]

+Joseph Anderson It's kind of funny you say that you're no longer the target audience for DS3. I feel similarly from the other side of the fence. Dark Souls combat was methodical and deliberately slow and I always took this as a way to give everyone a chance and to make it fit best with the slow, methodical exploration in the game. It was more about mentality than mastery of mechanics. I'm not someone who plays difficult games. I'm not and never will be a good player. I never thought I would be the target audience of Dark Souls because of that and hesitated to play it. Yet when I did do so I realized it's the exact opposite: Dark Souls' reputation as a hard for the sake of being hard game was completely wrong. It was never about quick reactions or even mechanical mastery at heart. I guess this might be why you feel alienated now. They're not going to keep massively raising the difficulty to accomodate for very high skilled players because that was never the point, and while self-created challenges always exist they'll never be quite as satisfying. While it is incredibly praiseworthy (I've decided to subscribe to your Patreon seeing your dedication and the consistent quality of the content), I can't help but feel that your analysis focused on objectivity ends up missing the, let's call it less objective parts of Souls. An experience is always a subjective thing and yet Dark Souls, reputation aside, was all about an experience. The game designers put in an immense amount of effort to craft that experience despite how many things about it are inevitably more or less subjective. And for me and many others, all their creativity and attention to detail paid off. It's in this way that I feel alienated by Dark Souls 3. There's been more focus on the combat, which is sharp and snappy and I'm sure top-notch quality. It's more polished. But there isn't the same amount of focus on "the experience". The game design isn't as holistic. The levels are big and interconnected yet bonfire spam and free warping remains. This is subjective yet that doesn't mean it isn't important. I don't know exactly how to articulate this issue but it's there and it was there for Dark Souls 2 as well (the DLC did a lot to bring it back). Bloodborne, though, seems to me like, despite the association and similarities, it's in a different category. I haven't played it but I checked out this video anyway. It seems to me like Bloodborne set out to create an experience that's dark, bloody, fast and visceral. It seems that it's a game aimed at a higher skilled audience. A game with a higher skill floor if you will, which is fine. Some things may be mechanically imperfect but still contribute to that experience. That's totally cool by me and even if you steer away from the subjective parts I imagine this holistic quality of the game may have contributed to you liking it so much.

[@JosephAndersonChannel]

+Joacim Torneus > It was more about mentality than mastery of mechanics. I'm not someone who plays difficult games. I'm not and never will be a good player. I never thought I would be the target audience of Dark Souls because of that and hesitated to play it. Yet when I did do so I realized it's the exact opposite: Dark Souls' reputation as a hard for the sake of being hard game was completely wrong. It was never about quick reactions or even mechanical mastery at heart. I guess this might be why you feel alienated now. They're not going to keep massively raising the difficulty to accomodate for very high skilled players because that was never the point, and while self-created challenges always exist they'll never be quite as satisfying. This part of the game is something that I've briefly acknowledged but haven't gone into detail yet. I'm hoping to take it on in the Dark Souls 3 video later in the month. You can play the game in so many different ways and approach so much of it almost like a puzzle than with twitch reflexes. I think this is a fascinating part of the game but it can lead to some confusing moments when discussing it, especially in regards to challenge runs. > While it is incredibly praiseworthy (I've decided to subscribe to your Patreon seeing your dedication and the consistent quality of the content), I can't help but feel that your analysis focused on objectivity ends up missing the, let's call it less objective parts of Souls. An experience is always a subjective thing and yet Dark Souls, reputation aside, was all about an experience. The game designers put in an immense amount of effort to craft that experience despite how many things about it are inevitably more or less subjective. And for me and many others, all their creativity and attention to detail paid off. That means a hell of a lot to me. Thank you. While I've tried to put a lot of effort into these videos, there's always more to say that will have to come later. I think I need to rethink about how I approach some topics, or add some more lines to the script for things I'll come back to later. It's weird that the longer videos should, in theory, be easier to be exhaustive on the topic. But because of the length they tend to cover a lot of topics that all relate, which can lead to a lot more to say. And a lot that needs to be omitted for time. > It's in this way that I feel alienated by Dark Souls 3. There's been more focus on the combat, which is sharp and snappy and I'm sure top-notch quality. It's more polished. But there isn't the same amount of focus on "the experience". Now that's something I hadn't thought about yet. How much of the game doesn't cater to those who went through the first game in different ways. I'm not sure if I have time to think about that as much as it deserves for my first video on it but it's definitely worth looking into for the longer one when I do an in-depth critique after the DLC is out. Thank you for saying this. > There's been more focus on the combat, which is sharp and snappy and I'm sure top-notch quality. It's more polished. But there isn't the same amount of focus on "the experience". The game design isn't as holistic. The levels are big and interconnected yet bonfire spam and free warping remains. This is subjective yet that doesn't mean it isn't important. I don't know exactly how to articulate this issue but it's there and it was there for Dark Souls 2 as well (the DLC did a lot to bring it back). I think I know what you mean and I agree that it's difficult to properly explain. There's just something about Dark Souls One that feels better than everything else. Even Bloodborne. I have to wonder how much is lost by not having the intricately connected world. It really does feel like you're exploring this little slice of an entire planet. Bloodborne is just straight lines leading out a city. And Dark Souls 3... feels like Dark Souls 2 paths that have been better hidden by having them branch out from deeper levels rather than the first one. Which is superior to Dark Souls 2 imo but nowhere near as good as the first game. > It seems that it's a game aimed at a higher skilled audience. A game with a higher skill floor if you will, which is fine. Some things may be mechanically imperfect but still contribute to that experience. That's totally cool by me and even if you steer away from the subjective parts I imagine this holistic quality of the game may have contributed to you liking it so much. I'd agree about the higher skill floor. But I'd say it also has a lower skill ceiling--at least in the way that the game challenges you. In terms of moveset and options it's probably higher. It's a narrower band that unfortunately has the worst welcome for new players in the entire series. Which is only made worse by how blood vials are acquired. I think I say it toward the end of the DLC video for Bloodborne: I really want a game that combines all the best parts of every game. I think that the series is fantastic. It's one of my favorites. But there's something far better waiting to be made.

[@DashyDonut]

Bloodborne was my first game and I got past the first couple of enemy’s and the cleric beast but not father meet and beat. I went back to it after I beat the other souls games and then beat bloodborne and I can say it’s my favourite game ever made.

[@Takazatara]

The load times are a fatal flaw of Bloodborne.

[@SuperSonicSoundwave]

I played Bloodborne as my first Souls game, and while I can't remember the early bosses all that well, I know i had a lot of trouble with the mob of regular enemies standing around the fire.

[@MangoTangoFox]

I always saw the Estus shards as simply as more of the special glass/material. I don't really know, but just to create lore justification, you could say that the Estus liquid could only be contained by the special kind of glass, and getting these shards allows you to re-blow that glass into a larger and larger container. In DS3 you upgrade your flask specifically with a master blacksmith, the most qualified person you could imagine to melt down and reform the glass. It would have been interesting if they showed this change visually, at least on the little icon. Maybe a small vial or sphere shaped flask, that turns into the familiar shape, and them maybe into a larger one with a handle almost like a full jug. They could change the 3D model too, but that wouldn't really be necessary. I don't think I'll ever play through Bloodborne. I hate exclusivity, but it's made so much worse when the game is hindered so tremendously as this is. On top of that, excluding the music, I"m not a fan of the theme or visuals at all. A lot of the joy I got from DS1/2 was traversing worlds, seeing enemies I like, using weapons and armor I like... and that all falls a part when I like little to none of art in the game. It's greatly detailed and is surely impressive, but I'm just not into it.

[@JosephAndersonChannel]

See your version makes way more sense than mine just plugging up holes, haha.

[@asierblasier5509]

+MangoTangoFox Somebody who hasn't played Bloodborne and yet prefers, of all games, Dark Souls 2's art style. The same art style that looked like a PC RPG from 2006 when it released, and was scarcely improved on in SOFTS. I'm not saying you're not entitled to your opinion man, but BB is fucking beautiful, moreso than DS1 or 3 in some instances

[@browland1]

I dabbled in Dark Souls before playing Bloodborne, so I wasn't entirely new to the trials and tribulations that come with the series. Still, I agree that the early boss fights are some of the hardest. The Blood-Starved Beast is the one I struggled with the most, while some of the latter-game bosses were a cakewalk by comparison. I found it got easier the more I learned the mechanics and the more patience (that's the key word here) I applied. Love this game for so many reasons, and I would rank it among my top 10 of all time. Love your channel, BTW. Count me as a new follower :D

[@hyperdeath84]

Boss 18: Symmetry? Who the hell is that? I played through to the Moon presence ending and that's the end of the game. That boss isn't in a wiki list or anything. What the hell is Symmetry?

[@EpicHysteria]

If you're not being ironic, symmetry is the 18th hidden boss in the Nightmare of Mensis.

[@teehundeart]

EpicHysteria where the fuck is he?! How do i find him?

[@EpicHysteria]

Haha nah I was just playing around. That number 18. Symmetry was just included to make both sides of the page symmetrical. If it wasn't there, one side would show 9 bosses amd the other would show 8 - i.e not symmetrical.

[@vazeyo]

16:17 I can absolutely confirm this. Having first played Bloodborne in 2017 I was not able to defeat its first two bosses and moved on to other games back then. Now, that I have completed the Dark Souls Trilogy and now having completed Bloodborne just today (that's the reason I watch this video now, all these years later) I can certainly confirm that. They were really hard for me as a player who never has tried Soulsborne games to begin with.

[@sonichalo1527]

I know I am late, but BB was my first souls game, and while gascoigne is tough, the toughest boss in the base game is logarius in my opinion. (Of course the most B.S. is rom.) the cleric beast is not tough whatsoever. Of course then is the DLC with 3 of the toughest bosses. Ludwig, the orphan, and Laurence. Also Screw the final few chalice dungeons for that queen yharnam trophy.

[@thelordelric8424]

I also had the toughest time with Logarius. I lost count of how many times it took me before I looked up a video of the fight. but after watching a video of the fight the next time I fought him was one and done. haven't got around to buying the DLC yet, but I plan to. Bloodborne is too good not to get more of it

[@omarct]

Lol my toughest boss was Ebrietas for the base game, and Orphan for the DLC, Ludwig was pretty tough too.

[@alialmuhanna4938]

17:30 In my last session with Bloodborne, I noticed that enemies do re-spawn during play, you just have to go back & forth between areas; Central Yharnam to Catherdral Ward or the Forbidden Forest (or Woods ?)

[@wolfgangromine8341]

I'm at 24:33 and I wanted to make a comment: I'm enjoying the review immensely but I feel like you're undermining the difficulty and are letting your bias seep in too much. I've played every souls game blind and when they were released and I had a lot of difficulty in Bloodborne, and I loved it. Blood starved beast, Vicar Amelia, and Ebrietas, to name a few took me hours of trying to beat, and I loved it. It could be just that maybe you're way better than me, which is completely likely, but for players that haven't played this game yet they may be turned off by the comments of it being too easy and also easily spam able and exploitable. Still love the review! Not many people go so indepth with games (besides Mathewmatosis) and it's really interesting.

[@cameronpitcher6562]

Blood borne was my first souls game. Vicar Amelia is what broke me at first, but yeah after her I steam rolled through the forbidden forest.

[@AwesomeDeBawesome]

Wow hold on. You state that the lifegem system in DS2 effectively gives you unlimited healing, yet you don't mention that buying them wastes resources (souls) just like the blood vial system in Bloodborn. You then state that Bloodborne, on paper, makes you farm for healing items, something that Souls games never did, but I'd argue that DS2 made you farm those items as well, in the form of souls. Granted, playing through the game normally shouldn't make you run out of lifegems at any rate, but that's based on player skill of course.

[@JosephAndersonChannel]

The difference is that rank one life gems--which is the only type you need really, unless you want to invest in the bigger ones--cost next to nothing. Whereas blood vials keep getting more expensive as you progress.

[@AwesomeDeBawesome]

+Joseph Anderson Ah yes, I conpletely forgot that detail! Oh btw great video as always.

[@Sassy_Witch]

Vials are pretty cheap tho. If you save up enough you can easily buy +100 and are pretty much set for the majority of the game

[@omarct]

The vials will only go to 720 echoes max. I used all the echoes I got from chalice dungeons to buy them because I didnt want to over-level and very early on had 600 vials. Lifegems were 300 for the basics which heal next to nothing so you will have to pop 2 =600 souls. They are very comparable, the only difference being DS2 gave you estus flask as well, but bloodborne gives you a steady source of vials from creatures so at the end of the day they are more similar than I thought.

[@jockturner1547]

As someone who played bloodborne 1st, I have to say the two bosses I struggled with the most was Father G and Blood starved beast. In fact Father G was such a difficulty for me I stopped playing the game for about 6 months but eventually came back and completed it. Learning to match his aggression and parry was very much a learning curve. Oddly I killed Cleric beast in my second try with no hassle. Although I did only find cleric beast after I had beat Father G. Blood starved beast similarly took me a long time to beat and I believe i stopped playing for quite a period of time. The run from the lantern in Yarnham to father g became my go to blood vial farm when needed as it has quite a few enemies that drop vials. The game does get considerable easier, however a huge portion of this is your skill of the combat greatly improving. Either way one of my favourite games ever!

[@Dextergec413]

didn't use a single lifegem in DSII lol. I was so conditioned to Demon's Souls and Dark Souls that I did'nt even realize there were in the game.

[@FelixHaukeland]

Matt Quan DeS didn't have an estus system.

[@jokerzwild00]

You absolutely nailed this one. I realize that I'm essentially just saying you validated what I already thought, but you added to my thoughts as well, and presented them in a well organized way. Great video, thank you.

[@huzi990]

Have my babies.

[@voraminfantes5264]

So, Bloodborne was my first soulsborne game. My older brother and I have been playing games since we were little, and I've always had the opinion that I can't really do technical things. My brother plays fighters and does all these fancy schmancy combos. So, I watched my brother play all technically, and I figured that I would just run and smash everything. Given that, I guess I had an easier time than other new players because I made a committment to aggressively smashing everything if only to differentiate myself from my brother. Picking up the stake driver, my R1s always came faster than the enemy R1s, so I would get in and just mash until everything died. I learned parry timings, and that was it.

[@J-Dizzle95]

Dark souls 3 was strangely disappointing to me.... It just makes me keep wanting to go back to Bloodborne! But then I turn on Bloodborne and realize, oh, well I've done every single thing there is to do in this game about 500 timers. So I can't even play it anymore I wish that they would have just scrapped dark souls 3 if they were going to be so lazy and unoriginal about it and then kept working on Bloodborne!

[@J-Dizzle95]

* times

[@PatFagan]

I actually like Dark Souls 3 better, and for one reason: MICOLASH

[@N_Wah_]

i hated bloodborne, but I loved every other game.

[@PatFagan]

diggydugg care to explain your reasoning?

[@CritSupport]

I loved mikolash best character, that sexy beast howl tho

[@kieranduffy3434]

I have now watched all of your videos on the Soulsborne series. And I have enjoyed every single one of them massively, the effort you put into your videos and the knowledge and level of detail is simply fantastic and it makes your videos incredibly effective, interesting and reliable, you deffo must continue doing these videos far into the future. Just one question though, how would you rank all 5 games? From best to worst and why, just intrigued as even though I have heard you say that Bloodborne is your favorite, where would you rank the other games? (and just subscribed btw)

[@michaelprice5399]

Dude complains about being able to spam attacks while also having like 50 stamina 😂😂

[@gaffgarion]

I LOVE your videos, keep it up. You are the BEST reviewer/analysis on youtube. Yes I know the others, I know matt and watched him from DAY 1 of his channel (well month 1), but you are so amazing. My love for you started with your dark souls 2 videos, and solidified with the Diablo/Hearthstone ones, you explained better than I my issues with both games that I had.. especially hearthstones 7 layers of luck. REALLY hope you get huge man I am spreading the word. Cheers!!

[@JosephAndersonChannel]

Damn, thank you. That's some high praise. I still think there's a bunch of little things I could improve on but the video quality has come a long way since the first Dark Souls video.

[@mossa216]

I want to play this game, stupid exclusives.

[@J2HATMgoo]

If you use and Xbox. Mega doo doo. If you use any Nintendo console. Epic but no souls. an exclusive game is to bolster the game. It also allows the dev to put more time to focus it into one way rather than a multitude of consoles.

[@mossa216]

@@J2HATMgoo ... it's not consumer friendly and in the long run, makes them less money since they get fewer games sold, it's only for the benefit of said console makers and not for the developers or the customers. Wery customer unfriendly practices.

[@Captain_Arrows]

You nailed your analysis of the difficulty level of Bloodborne! Bloodborne was my first game of the Soulsborne series and Yharnam was by far the most frustrating part of the whole game! The moment that it clicked and i understood when to go agressive and when to play cautious the rest of the game was way easier. Only some of the bosses like Ludwig, some of the hunters and Orphan took a couple of tries but the moment you get used to the movesets of them they aren't a real challenge anymore. A friend of mine (Soulsborne first timer as well) actually never made it past the first group of enemies at the bonfire in central Yharnam and resold the game utterly frustrated.

[@FranzFerdinand76]

Dark Souls 2 was not disappointing for everyone. In fact I like it better than DS1 in almost every way (the Softs edition that is).

[@N_Wah_]

i almost like 2 better because the overall gameplay change was just so amazing.

[@GameMovieVault]

Yeah before the patch, the loading screens were absurdly long and it didn't show any of the item descriptions like it does now. Just waiting 50-60 seconds each time you died staring at a black screen with Bloodborne on it.

[@jamesmullins1102]

Dodges have never had to be frame perfect. Its called " I frames" not a frame.

[@jamesbailey6257]

the concept he's referring to is when specifically to dodge, dodges only have i frames for a handful of frames, usually just long enough to get through an attack right as it hits you, you can't just dodge before you see an attack coming, some enemies in this games have the damage fram happen so close to telegraph that it can be really difficult to judge, nothing is actually frame perfect in BB but you unless you have precognition you do actually have to press dodge when you see an attack coming, so, theoretically, if the damage frames on an attack happened soon enough after the telegraph you would have to be frame perfect for when you press dodge

[@UnableToFindName]

I've heard you speak of running past enemies in the Soulsborne games before but when you mentioned it at 12:04 I realized that I really don't find it to be a problem at all. Whenever I've cleared an area and made it to a boss, nothing else matters terribly much to me. Getting to and defeating the boss is #1 on my list at that point. I understand that part of the appeal of these games is obtaining a sense of mastery and that if you fail at a boss the devs probably want you kill the enemies again, but whenever I feel confident enough to run past them, i gain a sense of mastery from that.

[@oldcowbb]

defending soulborne is easy. what ever people say, just reply "gitgud"

[@MiceHendrickson]

Bloodborne was my first game of the series, and I definitely agree with what you said about the difficulty of the early game. Although, I was actually pleased and refreshed with how little the game held your hand compared to other modern games, and used the difficulty as fuel to push on, and now it is one of my favorite games of all time, easily.

[@funguslicker]

grass in DeS is practically unlimited but you concider humanity a limited resouce?! wat?

[@JosephAndersonChannel]

Of course I do. Humanity is far more rare than grass in DeS. It drops all over the place in that game. You collect so many different types of it too for an even bigger collection, and healing in smaller chunks instead of a whole life bar. Usable item humanity (not the +1 you can randomly get from killing enemies sometimes) is exceedingly rare in comparison. It's also used as a resource for other functions in the game. A new player might not even realize humanity is a full heal since they're likely to use it right after a bonfire to kindle it or to restore their humanity. Either way, I think it's more than a fair statement.

[@funguslicker]

Co-op is a source for humanity from the get-go in DkS. In DeS, low-tier grass is useless fast. And top-tier grass isn't easier to obtain then humanity.

[@JosephAndersonChannel]

So you haven't played Demon's Souls. Why do people make comments like this? You acquire so much grass just naturally playing that game. There's no Co-op hoops to jump through, potentially spending the resource you're trying to farm as you do, for something that is dramatically easier to farm in DeS. You can purchase unlimited quantities of all the grass types. Think about the comparison you're making here.

[@funguslicker]

+Joseph Anderson i have played DeS. very, very much so. look up my psn if you must. my point isn't that (good) grass is rare tho. my point is that humanity isn't as rare as you make it out to be.

[@JosephAndersonChannel]

> my point isn't that (good) grass is rare tho. my point is that humanity isn't as rare as you make it out to be. Compared to: > top-tier grass isn't easier to obtain then humanity. I don't want to be rude but you're just wrong. The humanity you can get reliably from co-op just increases your counter, right? You can't use that for healing. Like I said in my first reply to you, it has to be the item version for the heal. The rare-ish drops you can get from some mobs for it don't compare to the often guaranteed drops of grass in Demon's Souls--many of which drop multiple grass at the same time. Even if you did get item-type humanity from all that co-op, that's still a massive amount more trouble to go through compared to all the grass from regular mobs in Demon's Souls. Or, y'know, purchasing it from a vendor in unlimited quantities. You should know this if you played Demon's Souls. Has it been a while since you went through it or something?

[@ultikintil]

Dude, you're channel's so good

[@gabelarsen9457]

"this video is long" regularly posts videos that are and long at minimum

[@evilagram]

Timing a frame-perfect dodge isn't a matter of reaction time, it's a matter of just timing, reading the animation's tempo for the point at which it accelerates and will hit you. Since all enemy attack animations are much longer than a quarter of a second (average human reaction time), they are generally not a reaction test to simply perform an action as soon as possible, they are a timing test, giving you enough space to see the attack coming in, read the tempo, and predict where to press the button during your perceptual blind spot (reaction time is effectively a blind spot on our perception, our brain corrects this post-hoc so it look like we perceive in real-time). That said, I don't believe there are any frame perfect dodges required of you in bloodborne, even with the 30fps limitation. Some might be a bit too inconsistent though, you presented decent evidence of that.

[@HeelPower200]

Dark Souls 1 & 2 are near the same quality ? That seriously made me reconsider whether I should continue watching any of these analysis videos...Damn.

[@CringeMaster6420]

HeelPower200 bye

[@servebotfrank4082]

I think I understand what he means. Dark Souls 1 has a fucking awesome first half followed by a pretty bad 2nd half (Duke's Archives is good and New Londo is cool but that's it. Demon Ruins is garbage and Fallen Giants feels unfinished). The DLC is fucking awesome though. Dark Souls 2 is like playing a slightly better 2nd half of Dark Souls 1. The quality is more consistent but still not as good as before and you get the feeling like something is missing. What saves it is the DLC which I feel is some of the best in the series though it still falls behind Old Hunters in my opinion. Comparing the first half of Dark Souls 1 to Dark Souls 2 and 1 wins no questions asked. Compare the 2nd half to 2 and holy fuck, 2 wins by a country mile. Altogether they're sort of tied.

[@BFedie518]

If you watch the DS2 video, he explains why.

[@sealmeatisbestmeat1241]

HeelPower200 Yeah same here. That one comment made me realize that this guy isn't that great of a reviewer, check out matthewmitosis, I'm pretty sure that's where this guy got the idea to make these long form analysis. He was the first to do it. To me dark souls 2 is objectively bad.

[@omgraggy5358]

Just becose you dont agree with his reviews dont make him a bad reviewer.

[@Soupy_man]

Bloodborne was my first game in the series and I feel like the two bosses in central yharnahm set the tone for the rest of the game perfectly. I didn’t think either of them were extremely hard but they taught me well about the two main types of bosses in the game. The hardest boss in the main game for me easily was Ebrietas.

[@tysonasaurus6392]

This was my first soulsborne and the beginning was so hard for me I kept dying and then gave up but then I decided a few months later I’d try again and I got good I got really good then I struggled again with the first two bosses but then I figured out how I was supposed to approach the fights. I really love how hard it was in the beginning after I got over that learning hump

[@gabrielgroenendaal3007]

Honestly, I wish "Insight" had acted as the in-game difficulty meter. The more insane you are, the more difficulty enemies are to face, and perhaps some enemies even begin getting swapped out with more difficult variants (i.e. replace the Executioners in Cathedral Ward/Hemwick with the void executioners from the DLC). You have a lot of control over your insight, and you're especially going to have a lot of it going into NG+ which, with the above changes, would make it a different experience from the base game.