Souls games are literally just rhythm games. 90% of boss fights are watching for when the enemy commits to moving forward and pressing the roll button, once they stop for a bit, give em a tickle. Repeat until god is dead.
1000 perfectly timed butt pokes.
💯 It was never hard, you just didn't know the rhythm yet. Any game that is too lazy to figure out scaling just gets relabeled as a souls game. You'll get the same experience playing most games without equipment.
In the sense of "do they require lightning fast reflexes or mastering a deep combat system", no not at all. They mostly require paying attention and learning.
I don't mind learning. I suppose it's sort of like solving a puzzle. I'm used to horror games with puzzles so I'm used to thinking things through in games.
This isn't to say it's not a game that won't challenge reflexes if you let it. I think it's fair to say better reflexes in a souls like can serve to make a boss easier as you play more on the edge. Of course this takes having your game knowledge and pattern recognition on point.
The game is learning.
There's some reaction element, but the core loop is learning how to be optimally positioned to use your weapon, how to optimally pace your attacks, when your attacks leave you vulnerable. Then once you get that, you do the same with enemies. You learn where they hit hardest, what you can avoid, what their tells are, and when they're vulnerable.
If you're willing to learn and approach the game with learning as a goal, and understanding that you'll die as part of that learning process, they're great, because they do a really good job of creating difficulty in a way that almost all damage is predictable and avoidable if you know what you're looking at and approach it the right way.
If you just want to button mash you're going to have a bad time.
They require a different mindset and approach than many other games. You can view it as a test of will: your victory is inevitable since every time you die, you respawn and have learned a little. The game tries to make you quit, not by being unfair but by punishing laziness and corner cutting. The rewarding feeling you get when you finally, initially through stubborness and eventually by skill beat a difficult boss is immense. The videos of people easily dodging attacks and showing restraint in their attacks beat difficult bosses - that will be you eventually. Just accept that dying and trying again is an integral part of the experience, it does not mean that you are bad at the game. There can not be a feeling of accomplishment and achievement if there is no resistance, no? Go and have fun! And remember, there is no "wrong way" to play - all the mechanics in the games are there for a reason, so use them!
No, they have a learning curve but that's about it. They are not unfair or over difficult like some of those meme games that were popular a while ago
When I was a kid I played a flash game called World's Hardest Game or something like that. It was a puzzle game where you move a red square through a maze with obstacles. Bloodborne looks like a walk in the park in comparison. I know it's sort of random but the meme games reminded me of that.
When I was a kid, Tomb Raider was a pretty easy game, except this one part that required absolutely perfect timing for a some running and jumping between platforms for a bonus item.
At the start, I could make it to the next platform. After a while, I could do 2. Eventually, I got 3. After a long, long time, I finally managed to string all of them together... And screwed up the very last one.
Here's the thing, though. I got it on the very next attempt. I had learned that sequence so well that it actually wasn't hard any more, even though it was nearly impossible for me at the start.
Afterwards, my parents (who watched the whole thing) told me they had never seen me focus on something so intently for so long and they couldn't believe I managed it.
That's what souls games are, from start to finish. Every single encounter is basically impossible at first, until you die and learn enough to get through it. But you start from the beginning of the game every freaking time.
That's what soloing dungeons in Destiny is like. They're 3-man activities but can all be done solo if you've got the balls. The real trick is a Flawless run, zero deaths. I spent months working on my first Solo Flawless, and once I nailed it, it was as if everything else had gotten easier. Now I can run that dungeon with my eyes closed.
I can respect that, even if I'm not a big Souls player. Set a goal, commit to it, and see it through. It's good practice for life.
Oh man. There's only one of those dungeons that I actually like, and I got almost 2/3 through it solo, and decided that I just didn't care enough. I'm sure I could have done it with enough tries... But ugh. So time consuming.
I totally respect people that do it even once, and people that do it for every dungeon are basically gods.
I did Pit of Heresy. Which is debatably the easiest dungeon (Shattered Throne came out earlier, but Pit has Rally flags), but still. I wear the emblem proudly (and have even taught the dungeon to a few newbies). I've nearly completed Grasp, and I've gotten well into the second boss of Warlord's solo, but... then I take a long break and play other stuff.
With Prismatic it's actually much easier to run a good mix of sustain, CC, and DPS in one loadout.
Soulsborne games are hard, but they're designed to teach you how to play through death. I'm gonna teach you how to play Bloodborne.
These are tips for a first playthrough, some of this advice isn't universal but it will take the sting and uncertainty out of the game since it actually tells you very little in the way of strategies and best practices.
Which weapon to pick - you start out without a weapon, the game wants you to get killed, and when you do you will get a starting weapon. I'm going to make a gross generalization here, all three weapons are great, but start with the Saw Cleaver. Its arguably the best weapon in the game, and you can choose it right after you die. You can perform a light attack with r1 and if you press l1 immediately after you will do a transform attack which is 50% more powerful than your light attack and does a ton of stagger which can break boss parts allowing you to get free hits and . You can literally just r1-l1-l1-r1-l1-l1... Combo through the entire lgame. Simple and incredibly powerful. Then, pick the pistol to learn how to parry. Put all your upgrade materials into the cleaver.
How to level your character - if you pick the saw cleaver, it levels primarily with strength. But your first priority is to level vitality. Level your vitality to 25 before leveling any other stat. This will give you more survivability, and most of your damage will come from upgrading your weapon anyway. Skill is also okay to level, it will give you some more damage to your weapon (not as much as str) and also strengthen visceral attacks. Arcane is if you want to use hunter tools, which are neat but strictly optional. Bloodtinge strengthens your gun, but there are only 3 weapons that scale with it and they're more difficult to use. Endurance is optional, it makes fights a bit faster cuz you can get more hits in before your stamina depletes, but you can play the whole game with base stamina no problem. Strictly optional. The max you should level any stat is 50, the exception is endurance which has a hard-hardcap at 40. Stick to vitality, str and skill until they reach their hardcaps at 50 and then you can level whatever you want and mess around cuz you'll likely be in ng+ or higher. Honestly levels don't matter much, you could get a cheat that levels you to level 250 and still struggle with early bosses. I've seen it happen.
How to level your weapon - bloodstone shards are used to make your weapon stronger. You can also fit gems in your weapon to make your weapon more powerful. You'll get lots of these but level up your cleaver until it won't take any more of a certain type. There are 4 different bloodstones, and you need 16 to level up 3 times (except the last one which only requires 1 for the final level.) Max level is 10.
Other tips - you don't have to fight everything. Lots of people give up at the beginning because there is a bonfire with a bunch of enemies around it and they try to take them all on. Or you can just run past it if you know the way past. If you get stuck on a boss explore somewhere you haven't been, or take a break. You need a clear head. Remember the game teaches by killing you so if you aren't trying to learn a boss's attack patterns and trying new ways to defeat them, they can be pretty difficult. Serrated weapons like the Cleaver's untransformed mode deal additional damage to beasts, and so does fire, like fire paper and Molotov's. Molotov's are great, use them, and they're pretty cheap early game. Buy bloodvials and bullets too so you don't get caught lacking.
You can summon other players if you have PS+ so r/huntersbell is a good place to find cooperators, and they have a discord too if you don't like reddit. This game is so good, and has tons of replay value so don't worry if you need a little help. The story is amazing so just get through it. The DLC is 1000% worth it, if you find yourself liking the game get the dlc. Reach out of you need help or have questions, I love this game so much, and I love helping people with it so don't hesitate!
I feel like, if you're going to play a souls game for the first time you should play Elden Ring, because it's the kind of game that's only as hard as you want it to be. Elden Ring is in this interesting spot of being open world, meaning that if a particular boss or area is too challenging, you can fuck off and do something else for a bit, then come back when you're better leveled/better geared/more practiced etc. I feel like you don't really get this with other souls games, which are more linear in their structure.
that said, I don't think any souls game is really an insurmountable challenge, especially Bloodborne. sure, you might suck when you first start it, but once you get the hang of the combat, dodging, etc you should be fine.
I tapped out because I wasn’t motivated .
It’s old school difficulty, and I am no longer that kid who ‘has got to beat the next level’
I am also no longer the kid with that much free time.
Definitely play it. Just remember that "You Died" doesn't equal failure and dying a lot doesn't mean you're bad at the game. Dying lots is a core mechanic of the game.
I'm of the opinion that the difficulty level isn't that bad, and I'm not saying this in a gatekeepy "git gud" kind of way. I enjoy these games because they feel fair, and whenever I have been struggling disproportionately, it's either been because I was somewhere beyond my current level (especially in open world games like Elden Ring), or I was doing something "wrong" (like stubbornly using my preferred weapon even though I knew a quirk of the boss meant it was suboptimal)
If the game feels like it's being unfair to you, take a step back and rethink your approach. Try a different weapon or strategy (this might mean having to go to an easier area to practice the new weapon). Look through your items to see if you have anything that might help (including potentially helpful lore in the item descriptions). If you're not sure what a thing does, try using it and see — the game won't explain things explicitly because it wants players to find out in play.
If you like the look of Bloodborne, 100% give it a go — even if I weren't already a fan of Fromsoft's games, I'd enjoy Bloodborne for the impeccable aesthetic.
the thing about souls games is that people on the internet insist that the only REAL way to play them is through extra difficult self-imposed challenge runs (summons? resin? pyromancy? you didn't beat the game)
ignore that and you can temper the difficulty down a lot, though you'll likely still need a good amount of patience and perseverance, especially if it's your first time playing
I've beat frustrating games before so I think I have the required patience. It was a different type of game but it still applies I think.
Souls games require repetition to remember the bosses' moves and a lot of patience. Give it a try, maybe you will like the challenge it offers.
If I may, I'd recommend starting with the Demon's Souls remake if you're interested. Bloodborne was the first Souls game I ever played, and it was quite punishing. I got quite far and greatly enjoyed parts of it, but it was my experience that it was extraordinarily challenging for a newcomer. Among all the Souls and Soulslike games, BloodBorne is intended to be played aggressively, which is not a good starting point in my opinion.
It was actually Returnal that taught me how to approach challenging games, i.e., almost like a puzzle game in how you try new things to break through impasses. That being said, I also found the Demon's Souls remake to be a much more forgiving entry point, especially if you play as a magic caster. MP is limited so you still need to engage in melee, but magic is a powerful tool to play things safe if you play smartly.
It's also just a fantastic game with great level design. I actually kind of like the segmented levels with a central hub.
I have a copy of Demon's Souls remake as luck would have it. I have not played it yet but now I'm tempted. I wouldn't mind playing that first actually. It looks really fun.
I loved it. I've since also played 100+ hours of Elden Ring and some other challenge-heavy games like Hollow Knight - I've thought about going back to Bloodborne with some experience under my belt because it really is a great game. But for me it feels like a lot to start over (and as much as I hate to be an fps snob, they never released a next-gen update and playing a game like this in 30 fps is a turn-off).
The souls games, and Bloodborne in particular, can be hard and frustrating.
But with the right mindset everyone can beat them.
You don't need perfect reflexes, you don't need to learn super complex combos.
You do need to realize that (at least in the beginning) you are not super strong compared to the enemies you encounter.
If you start the game for the first time and run into a big group of enemies, you WILL die.
Then you learn to not do that and try to aggro one enemy at a time.
This goes for many more situations.
At first you won't know how to approach some of them and you will die. And sometimes you will die twice and lose your hard earned resources.
This can be frustrating.
And sometimes the camera was a bit buggy or your dodge didn't work the way you thought it would.
But most of the time you could have done something different to avoid death.
And FromSoftware is quite good in giving hints what that is.
If you die in similar situations, there is usually a way to approach them differently.
That also goes for bosses.
And then there is the big open secret, you can simply level a bit more than absolutely necessarily to make souls games significantly easier.
If you only need to hit the boss 20 times instead of 30 and you survive his 3 hit combo and can heal back up instead of dropping dead after 2 hits it becomes way more manageable.
This is not necessary, people beat those games with base level running around naked with giant clubs, but not in their first run.
Use items, upgrade your weapon, level up your character, and the game will not be so grim.
But be prepared to not be able to rush through all the content without being challenged or using your brain.
Oh and if you choose to play Bloodborne (my first souls like and still one of my favorite games of all times) just enjoy yourself.
Every weapon is 100% viable.
For the first run the Saw Cleaver (R1-L1-L1) and the Axe (long R2 in two-handed mode) are slightly easier than the pimp cane, but again, every weapon is viable.
Just have fun with it, the games are classics for a reason.
It's just as hard as any other game on the hardest difficulty. The only difference is there is no difficulty setting.
Try it out. You don't have to be amazingly good, you just have to be persistent and learn from your mistakes.
you just have to be persistent
Being consistent is actually the hardest part of the games for me...
I was talking about persistence, as in not giving up. Persistence is a must for souls games so you're going to have to like the process of failing a lot and then finally getting the relief that comes at the very end.
Oh lol I totally misread that. 🤣
Of course you're correct: persistence is key and much more important than consistency (as in: perfectly nail every dodge, which is my problem).
Like many others already said: Probably the best take is to "understand" that dying is not failure but part of the progression system. But instead of grinding experience points to progress your character (which is totally possible in dark souls) you grind real experience by repeating difficult parts over and over again and progress as a player.
It's actually extremely clever game design.
Nice thing about the PC version is you could mod it to be easier. Keep in mind you still need some skill. I maxed my level in code vein and lies of P but stilled struggled a bit.
PC version
OP said Bloodborne
Don't make me cry that it doesn't exist....yet.
I would say that a lot of these unforgiving action RPGs are complete-able and enjoyable by most everyone, but I should give a caution that if you’re disabled in the hands, things will be substantially less forgiving.
I’ve got hemiplegic cerebral palsy from a pair of strokes, and as a result, the right side of my body, specifically my fine motor control of the right side of my body, is utter garbage. I can’t get through Bloodborne or most Souls games. The exception was Elden Ring, because it made ranged combat viable in such a way that any need for twitchy gameplay was substantially reduced.
Bloodborne is among the most difficult in the genre, and if you’re looking to broach this sort of game, I’d recommend Elden Ring first. It’s got the same learning aspects, but it allows for more creativity and thought in the moment.
I'm seeing a lot of comments recommending Elden Ring. I guess I'll have to try it now. I'm sorry to hear about the cerebral palsy. I'm glad it doesn't stop you from gaming.
What did you think about Elden Ring? I've heard it's a masterpiece. I don't usually play these types of games anyway so I'm sort of in the dark. Thank you!
First, Elden Ring has Miriel, Pastor of Vows, and he is the bestest boy.
Also with the exception of one single boss fight, I was able to overcome everything in Elden Ring with persistence and learning, and sometimes I would get frustrated in a locale, and just leave and go do other things in the land. Other linear souls games don’t really let you stray from the beaten path until you’ve added your beats to it as well.
Elden Ring is just a really solid intro to the format.
Let us learn together.
My wife finished it. It was too gray and red for me to enjoy.
And yes it is hard but rewarding.
Tbh, no. I suck at like 90% of games, just genuinely not good at them. I excel in soulslikes, you really won't know how difficult it is for you until you try it. I think the games are built in a way where, should you use all the games mechanics, they are relatively easy but if you don't use all the mechanics they can get hard
They can be hard. I've tried Bloodborne, Elden Ring, and Sekiro. I got the furthest in Sekiro and kind of got the draw because, man, the high when you finished a boss. But the struggle, from my understanding, is part of the gameplay itself, part of the experience. It was too unforgiving for me. While I was happy finishing a boss, I didn't go into the next one excited for the challenge, I was dreading the upcoming hours of banging my head against the wall, so I just decided it wasn't for me. That part of the game play just wasn't appealing to me, doesn't mean it's bad of course.
I say give it a try! They always have Bloodborne on sale, nothing wrong with trying and deciding it's not for you, and it'll be awesome of it is!
They have a skill floor that you need to overcome, usually early on. Once you do that, the formula for the rest of the game follows suit.
Bloodborne is my favorite souls game. If you find it too challenging, I'd recommend watching some let's plays which can have great advise. I don't typically watch his channel, but Jacksepticeye has a really informative playthrough. He's beaten the game so many times that he mostly just shows you the cheesy speed run methods for boss fights, however.
Souls games are for masochists. If that's not your thing, steer clear.
I honestly suck. Im a nerd Xer who played games with my real gamer friend but I played but was only like ok. I played elden ring and expected to drop it but found it fun. I think its very much perspective. I treat it as more an exploration game and story where death is just a mechanic. Your basically supposed to die over and over. That made it fine for me. Its like I hate pvp but I played a pvp mmo awhile back called shadowbane and initially I hated it but then I just sorta switched my perspective to view the griefers as just really hard monsters or content and built around it and found it fun enough.
Souls games aren't hard if you can slow down, observe, and be patient. Exception might be Dark Souls 3, but the original and Dark Souls, and Dark Souls 2 reward thoughtful, methodical, and cautious play.
Dark Souls 3 however is too fast paced for me, it changed the formula too much. Bloodborne is more approachable, but still fast.
Elden Ring is the perfect balance.
Sekiro is for masochists with a good sense of rhythm.
No
hey, in souls, a win is a win is a win.
Cheating is just selfdefence in some games.
They're mostly janky. It's a lot of fighting the most boring combat on braindead NPCs to get to a boss.
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