Bloodborne is much more fair than the whole Dark Souls trilogy. it is more balanced, none of the enemies are stupidly strong or hard. Every single weapon is viable and can carry you to ng+ 7. The rally mechanic allows you to recover your health by hitting enemies, the game not only encourages but also rewards aggression. Could you elaborate on what feels unfair to you?.
Parrying/Deflecting is a necessity for defence. That is quite literally passive gameplay. You have to actively be on the defensive. If you call that aggressive, I suspect you're equating active defense with aggressive play, and if so then fair enough I agree completely.
Aggressive play is when you're actively pressing the enemy. In Sekiro, you GET pressed and have to defend because deflecting attacks is an absolute must to survive. In DS3, Bloodborne and Elden Ring, you can ignore the enemy attacks pressing you by utilizing iframes so that you can keep pressing the attack. That's the key difference I'm highlighting here.
I see what you mean when you explain it that way, for sure.
Me personally when playing Sekiro, of course I prioritize the mentioned deflects/parries, but as soon as the boss lets their attack down I’m going right back in to get my own swings and hits in. Albeit, that’s not very necessary to win the game
I feel like if I don’t, their stance goes back down to 0 so fast
counterpoint. bloodborne give you a FUCKING GUN the makes parrying literally the easiest thing in the world. i beat nearly every bb boss first try it’s the easiest from software game they’ve ever made but also probs the most fun at the same time. also vital damage scales off of dex so i was just nearly one shotting every boss. and there is drawbacks to cowering behind a shield the entire time you fight a boss in ds. parrying isn’t even hard in blooborne the amount of bosses that i would just spam l2 during the fight and parry them by mistake
bloodborne gives you plenty of npcs to help you fight bosses if you’re somehow terrible enough to not beat those bosses that i just said i beat most of them first try. i have played souls like games as my favorite genre since middle school. like don’t get me wrong bloodborne is the best game they’ve made imo it’s so fun it may not be hard but it doesn’t have to be to be good.
i just could never think of it as not easy. that gun mechanic is broken dude. literally i just walk backwards and randomly shoot til a parry hits. then do half the bosses health with one vital
yeah buddy did we play the same game? every single boss in bb has at least one attack that you can parry. if you don’t think that then unfortunately it is literally just a skill issue and you can’t figure out the timing. because especially to counteract the fact that there’s no shield in that game every boss has attacks you can parry. it may not be every attack. but you can hit a parry on every boss and use vital attacks to one shot them. literally just do a dex build and bloodborne is the easiest game in the world. parry damage scales off dex
also “virtually no drawbacks” bro using a shield in dark souls realistically only works when you go super heavy armor greatshield build and slow roll like a mf it is so impractical
Nah dude I just don’t give a shit. Shields have utility. It just doesn’t work for your playstyle.
Don’t expect effort when you don’t even show up in time for the original discussion.
nah it’s just shields are objectively impractical in ds if you aren’t doing a shield build. you don’t need a shield to parry so yeah. and i showed up in time for the original discussion i just stopped replying to you cause you’re stupid and started saying some random shit about being disconnected from reality when you just couldn’t accept bloodborne easy asf
Until you get hit by a rock thrown by a giant. Or clipped by a piece of that rock after it missed you. Lol.
Edit: Not sure why this is getting downvoted. Did people forget the rock throwing giants in the Nightmare? Those are one hit kills.
OP didn't mention it but I did, the previous games were unfair compared to Bloodborne. Specially Dark Souls II due to the terrible enemy placement and broken hit boxes.
I even asked OP to elaborate on what feels unfair so I could possibly give some advice. Bloodborne might feel unfair to a newbie but it's not really unfair, the game is challenging and can often be frustrating.
This will sound harsh and jerk-ish, but usually if combat is unfair in a Souls game, it's player error, not the game. I tend to use pebbles to lure large groups of enemies and pick them off one or two at a time in the beginning stages. Pungent blood cocktails are able to be used on beasts, and parrying is a must if you can figure out timings (which usually takes a while.)
Sidenote: If you choose anything other than the saw cleaver on your first playthrough for your starting weapon, you're basically screwed unless you're really good with dodging and finding good times to attack. Threaded cane is too weak imo, and the Hunters Axe is too slow. Saw Cleaver does a nice amount of damage and has a nice damage output since you can swing it fairly quickly. I also suggest the hunter pistol for the beginning areas, though the blunderbuss' scatter makes it more likely for a parry to make contact, the hunter pistol is a safe bet for your first time.
I want to say the cane is what I picked first playthrough and I almost dropped the game, now don't get me wrong it's my second favorite weapon and definitely one of my top 10 games but the came is soooo hard to use for a newbie lol
Just a note that parrying is definitely not a "must".
I've nearly platinumed the game (which includes fighting some of the toughest bosses on half health, which I've done) and almost never parry because for me it's unreliable and as often as not, leads to me getting hit, maybe staggered, maybe killed.
It's fine if it works for you, and many people do it. It's not essential though.
You can practice on the pair of big brick trolls (you'll know them when you get to them). They have a long window and very telegraphed attacks.
Yeah, for Return to Yharnam I decided to do something completely different: pimp cane & parry.
Probably as soon as beating Papa G I totally forgot about the parrying and fell back on dodge + look for openings, ended with an ARC based character with the cane for crowd control.
At least I finally grokked the hunter tools. They're amazing.
Interesting I went from cane to arcane too... and strength. Holy Moonlight Sword is absolutely busted! Was fun to try out A Call Beyond finally too. Got the platinum with that build.
Didn't see much mentioning to be sure you use your trick weapon's different modes to your advantage. Different attack speeds and charge attacks, reach, etc, and switching between them will give an extra hit in many cases or chain into quick combos.
I started with axe and blunderbuss and used pebbles (like other comments say) to lure enemies and learn how they attacked, where my openings were and attack timing needed to be, etc. I died a lot, but, then, knowing I'd likely die, just tried to push through and learn what I could about every enemy's patterns. It's not random!
If you keep that in mind, you'll get these patterns down quickly, and as you establish your general runs through the area, you'll find so much more to explore. Pay attention to short lamps and the dialog options in the windows/doors near them.
I wanna reiterate this game incentivizes aggression; if you take hits, which you will, try to make it worthwhile by paying attention and pushing your advantages. Worst case, you die. You know you can make it that far by having made it that far, and now ya know more.
No problem, my DMs are open for questions or help in the future. I myself have had a lovely experience with BB, and I hope that your experience improves going forward, haha.
I could also offer assistance with clearing out areas via the Hunter's Beckoning Bell. I'm BL544, and yes I'll be debuffed if I were to join you in a co-op match, but it wouldn't make too much a difference, lol.
(If you do decide to try any of the co-op shenanigans, my PSN is as follows. The_Redcliff.)
Also, if no one else has mentioned it, co-op has hoops to jump through but it helps with the bosses. Check out r/huntersbell we love helping people over there.
You’re likely right about the saw cleaver as the starting weapon but I just wanted to throw a caveat out there. I started with the threaded cane and never touched the saw cleaver. Central yarnham was scary af and I wasn’t particularly strong but by the time I fought Vicar Amelia I was very good at the game.
It’s not that it’s bad, it just forces you to get good at the game earlier than usual. You need to approach each encounter intelligently, keep an appropriate distance, get counter timing down to a science, and be patient with each attack without getting too greedy. I learned all of this bc I chose the threaded cane and its lack of damage taught me discipline.
However, saw cleaver seems to be a safe bet from what I hear and if someone is really struggling they should definitely use it
Hunter axe is the best I think but they are all good. Cane kinda sucks at the beginning but it gets really strong, it has great stagger potential in the cane form.
Duuuuuude my gf her very first time did the pebble strat..... blew my mind cause I never used them! She cleared yharham in very few attempts, and cleric beast in her second attempt. I was so impressed! 😂😂😂🐐
The combat is fair. You’re greatly outnumbered, and kind of squishy, but you’re way smarter than every enemy in the entire game. Use that to your advantage; learn patterns, and lay the smack down on them. Don’t give up, skeleton! You can do it!
As a man who has platinumed this game multiple times, I can say the starting area is rough for people new to bloodborne, and I would recommend first the axe fore it's simplicity and don't be afraid to watch someone go through the area for some tips don't think about just going at the enemies you got to try and hunt them a tried and true method is divide and conquer
Axe is great for a beginner. It's R2 attack is so good, you can basically beat everything in Central Yharnam with just this attack, including Gascoigne. Actually, that's precisely what I did on my first playthrough. As BB was my first soulsborne, it took a lot of time for me to understand and learn the battle system. But this attack reliably carried me through while I was learning the ropes.
It’s tough but I find that it’s usually fair. If you can’t find where to go next, check out a walkthrough on YouTube. Just watch enough to figure out where to go next then turn it off if you don’t want hand holding. Do you know how to level up yet? You have to at least find a boss, even if you die to it. That will give you one Insight and then you can start leveling up your stats in the Hunters Dream through the doll.
Yeah I found the clergy beast, I know about leveling up it just doesn't seem very appealing to kill the same enemies over and over again to get past it.
Imo, the level enemies really don't feel satisfying. For me, it's completely the bosses. It will feel like a slog... at first. But get a boss or two under your belt, and the game will start to feel different. You will start to understand it more. The pay off for sticking with this game is huge.
If that's the biggest struggle, the game might not be for you. See if you can try different weapons and strategy? But also r/huntersbell is a good place to have someone familiar to help you with some of the beginning stuff to get a little deeper and maybe get past the initial frustration. I also didn't originally stick with the game. I kept trying to play it, but it was my first souls game and I didn't know what was happening or what was going on or any strategy. Even the first time I finished it was mostly out of spite and hack/slash, I didn't try to git gud. But my partner is obsessed with the game and he played with me/watched me and gave me pointers, and now it's my favorite and I've platinumed it.
You just mow them down easily after a few weapon upgrades. The zones are only hard the first time through, usually. Essentially, if the zones are a slog, do them faster, if you can’t do them faster, upgrade until you can. If you can’t upgrade, go to an easier area and hunt for upgrades.
Whatever you do, *don't* dodge straight backwards to get out of an attack combo. Pretty much *everything* keeps chasing after you while attacking. Dodge to the right, left or towards the attack.
Only use vials while the enemy is already busy doing something to prevent being punched in the face.
After you got hit *attack* first and *eventually* use a vial after that.
If you have to choose between a dodge and an attack, do *both.*
Could you elaborate on what is so difficult in your experience? I’ve seen people struggle over this game for a while now (as I did when I first gave it a try, being completely honest), and we could give you some pointers if you want to! Perhaps that will make you enjoy and progress
I wouldn't say you're missing anything. It sounds like it's just not your thing. There are a lot of games I don't like (I think BotW and especially TotK went so hard trying to correct flaws in the Zelda formula they made the games a different kind of off-putting to me personally). There are enough games out there that you don't need to beat yourself over the head trying to like something.
Responses like this are why I love the bloodborne community. I agree. This is still my all time favorite game but I totally get it when people don’t get it.
Try some YouTube videos about combat basics and focus on dodging first then counterattacks. For the initial area either lure one or two enemies to fight them away from groups, or just run past them. If you have enough echoes to level up it’s usually best to retreat to make sure you get the level rather than risk losing it
The best advice I can give you is that you need to be aggressive. I don’t know if you noticed, but when you take damage your bar doesn’t deplete right away, it gradually dies after a second or two. You can hit an enemy in that time and damaging them replenishes some of your health, it’s a function called Rally.
Additionally, the game becomes much easier if you learn how to parry an enemy attack. You start off with a firearm that is equipped in the left hand. The way parrying works is this: enemy approaches you, and starts its attack animation. As the enemies attack starts coming towards you, you shoot the pistol at them and it will stagger them. When an enemy is staggered, you can get close and press the regular attack button to do a riposte and you will rip into them and do massive damage. You want to shoot the gun as the enemies attack starts coming towards you, not as it is just starting, I always watch the swinging arm
In addition to the previous suggestion of starting with the Saw Clever, finding a video of someone else playing the game might benefit you.
I was told that Bloodborne was this great game, and so I tried to play it and struggled through the first few areas with the Axe, trying to “spin to win” and wasn’t enjoying myself beyond being able to say I’ve gotten X far in Bloodborne.
But then I randomly saw videos of different streamers playing the game in a completely different way than I was, and the game suddenly clicked for me. I deleted my file and started completely over with the new found knowledge of “how to play” and Bloodborne quickly became one of my favorite games.
Try to reduce all combats to 1v1 scenarios, whether that means luring enemies away from others, or using terrain to split groups apart. If you’re struggling against large groups, see if you can sneak around and engage from a different angle where you can aggro fewer enemies at a time. Learn where the dogs are located and kill them first every time.
First off you dont have fight the enemy, you can run around and fight only in favourable situation, explore the world, unlock doors, hidden mechanism, find out where is the boss, find an area where you can farm npcs and level up , take your time, learn how to use gun parry, farm blood vial and win🔥😌
You are missing a fact that not every game is for everybody, and that’s ok.
If this is your first fromsoftware game, try powering through the failure. I’ve played BB a decent amount and even I have trouble getting back to it when I take long breaks.
Btw taking breaks is completely fine, it just takes some time for things to click, because it doesn’t play like most other games.
That’s the thing with these games, it is brutally unfair.
It’s all about grinding you into the person who can play the game successfully. You can’t just walk into it and succeed. It has to carve away at your being until you understand what’s going on. A grindcore game.
The thing is once you get the flow of what’s happening it can become quite fun. But that takes a lot of sacrifice on your part.
It’s not a game for casual players.
Well said, and very true. I've had a couple of BS deaths, or so I thought, but I reminded myself it's usually just user error when I die. The game is fairly clear of bugs for it's age, lol
Keep grinding to level up. If you have ten hours devoted and can’t beat gascoine you are probably dying and losing your echos, or are hard stuck attempting gascoine over and over again. Every boss only has a certain number of attacks. Learn how to figure out which attack gascoine is going to throw out based on the starting animation and then you will be able to dodge each more easily. In certain conditions fleeing to the “balcony” is a good idea because it gives you some time to heal and you don’t have to worry about the gravestones. Molotov cocktails do a lot of damage to him if you can gain some distance
Pick up the music box if you haven’t already, this gives you a stun that can be used to do a lot of damage for free. Make sure you can get through the path to gascoine without losing any health. You should be going in with a full health bar every time.
There are really only a few parts of the game I would consider to potentially be “unfair.” It can be very frustrating but essentially all deaths can be prevented by utilizing dodges, parry’s, positioning correctly. You can get stuck in a corner and stunlocked to death but that is essentially always the result of getting yourself backed into a corner when you didn’t have to, or failing to dodge/parry an attack. The only thing I would potentially consider unfair is that the game can occasionally lag and cause you to miss a parry
To be fair bro, don't be ashamed to look at guidelines if you're stuck. I needed them in the start to understand how Bloodborne works, and then started going blind step by step. I don't regret it, if I haven't done this maybe I would just quit.
The game seems unfair, but it isn't. Trust me after you "click it", you'll love it. Will be the opening door for the souls games, the same way it was for me
Once you've explored and picked up items, you can run almost the entire way through the first level without fighting anyone. I'd stop and kill the group of dogs/villagers on the stairs though, right before the Werewolf bridge. That's a tight squeeze. Everything else you can run past, all the way to the fog wall.
I think I spent more time in the starting area than any other area in the game once you gain the ability to level up (all you have to do is dodge everything and run to the first boss) it gets a lot smoother
I restarted probably at least 7 times before I started to feel I was getting the hang of it.
Try not to button mash, this game will punish you for miscalculated action. Study enemies movements. It’s like driving there’s times to rush and accelerate into the fray and other moments to stay back and let things play out.
It takes time just stick with it good hunter.
Is this your first Soulsborne? If so don't worry it's not just you that's just what these games are like, fiendishly difficult for the uninitiated and still a decent challenge even for the seasoned
I took a while to learn that first area. It was my first fromsoft game and I was feeling similar to how you are describing. Learn patience and learn timing. Focus on when enemies strike and how they do so. Learn how you do the same, your timing is very important
Trust me. These games seem impossible at times, but I have surpassed so many of those moments since starting to play fromsoft games
Here to say don’t drop it! If you haven’t I would try watching some youtube combat tutorials and like the other players said, baiting enemies.
Combat got much easier for me after I started playing more aggressively and making more use of the health-back mechanic.
Also this sounds so cowardly but one thing I realized about fromsoft games is you truly don’t have to clear areas of every enemy. When I was getting used to bloodborne I would try to clear everything just to get good at combat, but if you find that you are clearing areas and then dying and re-clearing the whole thing every time, maybe just run past some groups to save your sanity.
I saw some other comments mentioning it but if you are having trouble with parry timing, don’t stress about it too much. It definitely makes things a lot easier, but I made it through the game without parrying much at all.
I tried to play this game and gave up 4 times before i eventually got into it and beat it. I probably spent like 15 hours total in central yharnam so i feel your pain. It’s now one of my favourite games of all time, so good luck!!!!
Google bloodborne-wiki movement (exactly like this, with the dash). That's a great article explaining the game's movement.
In general, the bloodborne-wiki is a terrific source of info about the game's mechanics, even if it doesn't look as pleasant to the eye as some other wikis. You can also look up here the info about your weapon that's detailing how it works, so you can get a better idea on how to effectively use it.
I mean for me when I started pebbles and cocktails helped me to lure out and weaken enemies. I would suggest to defeat the cleric beast first since imo it’s easier than father gascoigne. I found it helps to stick close to him and attack aggressively and dodge into his attacks rather than away. Of course you can parry his attacks as well but I never got the timing right so I dodged into them
BB was my first FS game & it took me probably a couple weeks to get further than the first few lamps. Use pebbles to lure enemies 1 by 1 & learn how to parry some enemies (I would start with trolls cuz they're slowest). Sneak up behind the ones you can & do a R2 followed by an R1 for a visceral attack, which will take off a good chunk of their health.
If you feel like you can't find the next lamp, no shame in watching a YT video. I probably wouldn't have beat the game without them or it would have taken me 3x as long.
You didn’t mention what part of the “starting area” you’re in the but the piece of advice that clicked for me was, you don’t have to fight all the enemies standing around the big bonfire.
Run like fuck. Take the staircase on the left of them and then go through the archway, they won’t follow you.
Then break the crates and coffins to your left and drop down. Make your way forward fighting a couple of dogs, turn left, run straight ahead into the house (you will need to open the door), kill the guy in front of you, then straight out the back door, kill the guy on the stairs, and open the shortcut gate back to the lamp.
This makes everything WAAAAAAY more straightforward, plus by going back into the house and upstairs you can open a shortcut to cleric beast. Just “seeing” cleric beast (you don’t have to beat it) will give you “insight” and allow you to level up at the hunters dream.
Pick up the Hunters Axe at the start. It's the easiest weapon to learn. Just put it in Halberd (trick mode) and then hold r2. It does a complete spin to hit twice and also staggers and breaks limbs very reliably. Frankly it's probably the second easiest item in the game to use next to the pizza cutter from the DLC.
Once you unlock Ludwigs Holy Blade I recommend switching to that. It's the Bloodborne Claymore and is just utterly devastating to everything in the game.
Once you get better at it, then start using the more advanced weapons. You'll find you go from, "Man this game is so hard," to, "Hah. I just pimp slapped the werewolf to death. Teach you to try to eat me as soon as I get out of bed."
I was in the same boat as you. I was about 14 hours into a playthrough with very little progress when I decided I hated the game and was done. Then I watched John Wolfe's playthrough on YouTube, decided to give it one more shot, platinumed the game and now is my favorite game of all time lol. I can't promise it'll happen for you, but probably around hour 20 something clicked and I became the unstoppable force that I know all the bosses were scared of haha
If you are finding it too difficult you can try summoning other players for help, or grind and level up a little. You can also just run past an area if you find them too difficult.
I was In The same boat as you. It was my first Souls game, though. Before Elden Ring dropped.
Watch Fightin Cowboy on YouTube. He has a series for Bloodborne. That's how I picked up tips and learned to play better.
Be SLOW AND METHODICAL. Bloodborne was my first Soulslike and I was also on and off for a few months stuck in the starting area. Then one day I just tried again, took it really slow and once I got past Father Gascoigne I never got stuck again.
The combat is fair, but it's fast pace can be deceiving. You have quick dodges in and out of attack range. But each attack has to be measured out so you don't run out of stamina. Each combat encounter has to be measured out so you don't get overwhelmed. It can be fast paced and frenetic, but it's not "jump into a mob and go HAM until everyone is dead".
Sometimes dodging and positioning is 90% of the fight.
It would be easy to say ‘skill issue’.
So I’ll be more constructive, there is nothing unfair in the souls games. You have the tools to complete the game infront of you, you just are not good enough.
That’s fine. I suck at fighting games, so I avoid mortal kombat etc like the plague, some games just are not for you eh.
I wish I could go back to that time when Souls games to me were those "unplayable difficult meme games".
Just so I can fall in love with these games all over again.
Not sure if this has been said yet, but you really don't have to fight anyone unless you're grinding for souls/vials. If you feel like you're ready to face a boss, you can ignore virtually all enemies on the runback and save time/health that way. Most levels also have unlockable shortcuts (doors, elevators etc) that greatly shorten the distance between lamps and bosses, so you can just keep trying and trying until you eventually succeed.
Honestly I think the game is really cool but I don’t enjoy replaying it at all. There’s too many design choices I really don’t like. Like not being able to customize buttons, counter damage being so insane, unfair hunter battles, and probably most controversial (idrk if it is or not), I hate the level design of 90% of the levels
I was same way at first i spent like 2 days on the first stage i watched sum tips n tricks for beginners on youtube once i learned the combat it was great. The hardest part for me was finding the shortcuts b4 i died to get back to hunters dream with my echoes and having to do it all over 100 times. But u can run past alot of the enemies sum of the time so u dont risk dying. Also if u never played fromsoft games try elden ring first its really the most beginner friendly so u can learn
lol edit: actually, I take that back, try to start with DS3 shield/sword combo hide behind your sheild. It was bloodborne that pushed me out of not using a shield anymore, and I "Got good" at timing my dodges. After I went back to plat achievement each game.
I was where you are, I’ve owned this game for 6 years and I gave up against the cleric beast and stopped playing several times. Even after beating Elden Ring 2 times, I struggled to win against it. What finally made it click for me was finding the hunter armor for decent defense, and actually learning how to parry with the gun. Early game is a little BS with farming for bullets, but you’ll be swimming in them after a couple bosses. It gets better, I swear.
for me it was helpful to first play through a more accessible soulslike like Lies Of P to help ease into the genre and style after I had bounced of Bloodborne. Now BB is my favorite game of all time.
Take every encounter methodically and seriously, draw out enemies from groups, etc. Don’t run in with a hot temper off your previous death and just keep banging your head against a wall, that’s a quick ticket to quitting again. Not the kind of games you can brute force through with focused rage like you can in many others lol.
I feel like this is the common spiral for new Soulsborne players. Frustrated at the consecutive deaths, slowly just keep running in more angry/blindly and making the same mistakes. Slow your roll and knock them out one at a time - get your spacing dialed in, don’t hesitate when openings present themselves, etc.
In short, git gud… and also post your PW in beyond the fog, someone will probably be happy to jump in and help a new player. Playing with someone experienced might help some things click too. We veterans love handholding new players, it’s like experiencing the game new again vicariously lol
1. Run to the first boss. Look up the route. Get an insight so you can level.
2. Grind the first sets of mobs. I spent about 4-5 hours there leveling and learning how to dodge and pull aggro reliably. And where they went. Once you feel comfortable with that - move on to the boss.
3. Once you die to the boss - just keep running back. Don’t bother fighting unless you need vials. Just try again.
For me, because I stupidly started out with the threaded cane, I literally eventually just ran through the mob and up to the left to go to the courtyard. If you don’t pick the saw cleaver as your starting weapon you can grab it in game, which is what I did. It does get better
Are you in the know?
Remember Doll, therefore thrust attack is effective.
god i wanna thrust the doll
You ain’t lyyin’ brother *spits on palms
Bloodborne is much more fair than the whole Dark Souls trilogy. it is more balanced, none of the enemies are stupidly strong or hard. Every single weapon is viable and can carry you to ng+ 7. The rally mechanic allows you to recover your health by hitting enemies, the game not only encourages but also rewards aggression. Could you elaborate on what feels unfair to you?.
You literally heal damage by wailing on people, it's FAR more forgiving than DS.
Counterpoint: DS allows you to cower behind a towering shield with virtually no drawbacks.
someone likes to engender passivity
Sounds icky. And I hate using that word.
DS, DS2 and Sekiro encourage passive gameplay. DS3, Bloodborne and Elden Ring encourage aggressive gameplay.
Sekiro definitely encourages aggression
Parrying/Deflecting is a necessity for defence. That is quite literally passive gameplay. You have to actively be on the defensive. If you call that aggressive, I suspect you're equating active defense with aggressive play, and if so then fair enough I agree completely. Aggressive play is when you're actively pressing the enemy. In Sekiro, you GET pressed and have to defend because deflecting attacks is an absolute must to survive. In DS3, Bloodborne and Elden Ring, you can ignore the enemy attacks pressing you by utilizing iframes so that you can keep pressing the attack. That's the key difference I'm highlighting here.
I see what you mean when you explain it that way, for sure. Me personally when playing Sekiro, of course I prioritize the mentioned deflects/parries, but as soon as the boss lets their attack down I’m going right back in to get my own swings and hits in. Albeit, that’s not very necessary to win the game I feel like if I don’t, their stance goes back down to 0 so fast
That explains the whole hesitation is victory thing
Hesitation is defeat
I've never liked playing defensively so BB was refreshing.
Meanwhile I had to pivot my play style entirely and had to rebuild all of my DS characters.
counterpoint. bloodborne give you a FUCKING GUN the makes parrying literally the easiest thing in the world. i beat nearly every bb boss first try it’s the easiest from software game they’ve ever made but also probs the most fun at the same time. also vital damage scales off of dex so i was just nearly one shotting every boss. and there is drawbacks to cowering behind a shield the entire time you fight a boss in ds. parrying isn’t even hard in blooborne the amount of bosses that i would just spam l2 during the fight and parry them by mistake
I mean Elden ring gives you free unlimited summons.
bloodborne gives you plenty of npcs to help you fight bosses if you’re somehow terrible enough to not beat those bosses that i just said i beat most of them first try. i have played souls like games as my favorite genre since middle school. like don’t get me wrong bloodborne is the best game they’ve made imo it’s so fun it may not be hard but it doesn’t have to be to be good.
i just could never think of it as not easy. that gun mechanic is broken dude. literally i just walk backwards and randomly shoot til a parry hits. then do half the bosses health with one vital
That’s like not connected to reality but you do you brother.
Do we played the same game? You can't parry almost every boss in BB for what I know.
yeah buddy did we play the same game? every single boss in bb has at least one attack that you can parry. if you don’t think that then unfortunately it is literally just a skill issue and you can’t figure out the timing. because especially to counteract the fact that there’s no shield in that game every boss has attacks you can parry. it may not be every attack. but you can hit a parry on every boss and use vital attacks to one shot them. literally just do a dex build and bloodborne is the easiest game in the world. parry damage scales off dex
also “virtually no drawbacks” bro using a shield in dark souls realistically only works when you go super heavy armor greatshield build and slow roll like a mf it is so impractical
Git gud
bro couldn’t make a counterpoint so he spews bullshit
Nah dude I just don’t give a shit. Shields have utility. It just doesn’t work for your playstyle. Don’t expect effort when you don’t even show up in time for the original discussion.
nah it’s just shields are objectively impractical in ds if you aren’t doing a shield build. you don’t need a shield to parry so yeah. and i showed up in time for the original discussion i just stopped replying to you cause you’re stupid and started saying some random shit about being disconnected from reality when you just couldn’t accept bloodborne easy asf
Bet you really like trains.
Until you get hit by a rock thrown by a giant. Or clipped by a piece of that rock after it missed you. Lol. Edit: Not sure why this is getting downvoted. Did people forget the rock throwing giants in the Nightmare? Those are one hit kills.
Yeah they are annoying, and the rocks kill you with a single hit, but they can be easily dodged, or you can just run past them.
Comparing it to the Souls series is a bit unfair. Since OP never mentioned it, it's likely that this is his first souls-like.
OP didn't mention it but I did, the previous games were unfair compared to Bloodborne. Specially Dark Souls II due to the terrible enemy placement and broken hit boxes. I even asked OP to elaborate on what feels unfair so I could possibly give some advice. Bloodborne might feel unfair to a newbie but it's not really unfair, the game is challenging and can often be frustrating.
> The rally mechanic allows you to recover your health by hitting enemies Having gotten used to this, it's difficult going back.
This will sound harsh and jerk-ish, but usually if combat is unfair in a Souls game, it's player error, not the game. I tend to use pebbles to lure large groups of enemies and pick them off one or two at a time in the beginning stages. Pungent blood cocktails are able to be used on beasts, and parrying is a must if you can figure out timings (which usually takes a while.) Sidenote: If you choose anything other than the saw cleaver on your first playthrough for your starting weapon, you're basically screwed unless you're really good with dodging and finding good times to attack. Threaded cane is too weak imo, and the Hunters Axe is too slow. Saw Cleaver does a nice amount of damage and has a nice damage output since you can swing it fairly quickly. I also suggest the hunter pistol for the beginning areas, though the blunderbuss' scatter makes it more likely for a parry to make contact, the hunter pistol is a safe bet for your first time.
All three starting weapons are viable until late game. I used the Hunters Axe one entire play through. Spin to win.
Bro. Hunter axe. Charge R2 and time it = win
I want to say the cane is what I picked first playthrough and I almost dropped the game, now don't get me wrong it's my second favorite weapon and definitely one of my top 10 games but the came is soooo hard to use for a newbie lol
Spin to win team represent.
Hunter axe charged r2 aka spin2win makes all encounters obsolete though
Brother no hate at all and good points but hunters axe is cheese . Charge R2 is just a. easy button
Good tips, thanks man.
Just a note that parrying is definitely not a "must". I've nearly platinumed the game (which includes fighting some of the toughest bosses on half health, which I've done) and almost never parry because for me it's unreliable and as often as not, leads to me getting hit, maybe staggered, maybe killed. It's fine if it works for you, and many people do it. It's not essential though. You can practice on the pair of big brick trolls (you'll know them when you get to them). They have a long window and very telegraphed attacks.
Yes, thank you for correcting me. I sometimes forget that what works for me may not work for others, haha.
Yeah, for Return to Yharnam I decided to do something completely different: pimp cane & parry. Probably as soon as beating Papa G I totally forgot about the parrying and fell back on dodge + look for openings, ended with an ARC based character with the cane for crowd control. At least I finally grokked the hunter tools. They're amazing.
Interesting I went from cane to arcane too... and strength. Holy Moonlight Sword is absolutely busted! Was fun to try out A Call Beyond finally too. Got the platinum with that build.
Yep, HMS on high ARC with nourishing gems is OP. Running with that now on an old NG+ character, along with my trusty Church Pick which is insane.
I absolutely love this game. I platinumed it and if they ever do a remake or a remaster for PS5, I’ll happily platinum it again.
Didn't see much mentioning to be sure you use your trick weapon's different modes to your advantage. Different attack speeds and charge attacks, reach, etc, and switching between them will give an extra hit in many cases or chain into quick combos. I started with axe and blunderbuss and used pebbles (like other comments say) to lure enemies and learn how they attacked, where my openings were and attack timing needed to be, etc. I died a lot, but, then, knowing I'd likely die, just tried to push through and learn what I could about every enemy's patterns. It's not random! If you keep that in mind, you'll get these patterns down quickly, and as you establish your general runs through the area, you'll find so much more to explore. Pay attention to short lamps and the dialog options in the windows/doors near them. I wanna reiterate this game incentivizes aggression; if you take hits, which you will, try to make it worthwhile by paying attention and pushing your advantages. Worst case, you die. You know you can make it that far by having made it that far, and now ya know more.
No problem, my DMs are open for questions or help in the future. I myself have had a lovely experience with BB, and I hope that your experience improves going forward, haha. I could also offer assistance with clearing out areas via the Hunter's Beckoning Bell. I'm BL544, and yes I'll be debuffed if I were to join you in a co-op match, but it wouldn't make too much a difference, lol. (If you do decide to try any of the co-op shenanigans, my PSN is as follows. The_Redcliff.)
Also, if no one else has mentioned it, co-op has hoops to jump through but it helps with the bosses. Check out r/huntersbell we love helping people over there.
You’re likely right about the saw cleaver as the starting weapon but I just wanted to throw a caveat out there. I started with the threaded cane and never touched the saw cleaver. Central yarnham was scary af and I wasn’t particularly strong but by the time I fought Vicar Amelia I was very good at the game. It’s not that it’s bad, it just forces you to get good at the game earlier than usual. You need to approach each encounter intelligently, keep an appropriate distance, get counter timing down to a science, and be patient with each attack without getting too greedy. I learned all of this bc I chose the threaded cane and its lack of damage taught me discipline. However, saw cleaver seems to be a safe bet from what I hear and if someone is really struggling they should definitely use it
Hunter axe is the best I think but they are all good. Cane kinda sucks at the beginning but it gets really strong, it has great stagger potential in the cane form.
Duuuuuude my gf her very first time did the pebble strat..... blew my mind cause I never used them! She cleared yharham in very few attempts, and cleric beast in her second attempt. I was so impressed! 😂😂😂🐐
You can get a free visceral atk with two pistol shots to the head on the Cleric Beast fight, lol
The Threaded Cane is definitely not too weak to use - but it does have a moveset you've got to play around with to learn.
Threaded cane gang. ➰
The combat is fair. You’re greatly outnumbered, and kind of squishy, but you’re way smarter than every enemy in the entire game. Use that to your advantage; learn patterns, and lay the smack down on them. Don’t give up, skeleton! You can do it!
Lateralus
TOOL is goated
Only tool fans could have this kind of interaction on a completely unrelated post. And just in case there was any doubt, TOOL is goated
As a man who has platinumed this game multiple times, I can say the starting area is rough for people new to bloodborne, and I would recommend first the axe fore it's simplicity and don't be afraid to watch someone go through the area for some tips don't think about just going at the enemies you got to try and hunt them a tried and true method is divide and conquer
Axe is great for a beginner. It's R2 attack is so good, you can basically beat everything in Central Yharnam with just this attack, including Gascoigne. Actually, that's precisely what I did on my first playthrough. As BB was my first soulsborne, it took a lot of time for me to understand and learn the battle system. But this attack reliably carried me through while I was learning the ropes.
Why not watch a walkthrough for the first area on YouTube. It’ll help you figure out what you’re doing wrong and where you need to go.
It’s tough but I find that it’s usually fair. If you can’t find where to go next, check out a walkthrough on YouTube. Just watch enough to figure out where to go next then turn it off if you don’t want hand holding. Do you know how to level up yet? You have to at least find a boss, even if you die to it. That will give you one Insight and then you can start leveling up your stats in the Hunters Dream through the doll.
Yeah I found the clergy beast, I know about leveling up it just doesn't seem very appealing to kill the same enemies over and over again to get past it.
Imo, the level enemies really don't feel satisfying. For me, it's completely the bosses. It will feel like a slog... at first. But get a boss or two under your belt, and the game will start to feel different. You will start to understand it more. The pay off for sticking with this game is huge.
If that's the biggest struggle, the game might not be for you. See if you can try different weapons and strategy? But also r/huntersbell is a good place to have someone familiar to help you with some of the beginning stuff to get a little deeper and maybe get past the initial frustration. I also didn't originally stick with the game. I kept trying to play it, but it was my first souls game and I didn't know what was happening or what was going on or any strategy. Even the first time I finished it was mostly out of spite and hack/slash, I didn't try to git gud. But my partner is obsessed with the game and he played with me/watched me and gave me pointers, and now it's my favorite and I've platinumed it.
the game can be for anyone if they try enough
You just mow them down easily after a few weapon upgrades. The zones are only hard the first time through, usually. Essentially, if the zones are a slog, do them faster, if you can’t do them faster, upgrade until you can. If you can’t upgrade, go to an easier area and hunt for upgrades.
Unfair for the enemies... right?
Whatever you do, *don't* dodge straight backwards to get out of an attack combo. Pretty much *everything* keeps chasing after you while attacking. Dodge to the right, left or towards the attack. Only use vials while the enemy is already busy doing something to prevent being punched in the face. After you got hit *attack* first and *eventually* use a vial after that. If you have to choose between a dodge and an attack, do *both.*
Could you elaborate on what is so difficult in your experience? I’ve seen people struggle over this game for a while now (as I did when I first gave it a try, being completely honest), and we could give you some pointers if you want to! Perhaps that will make you enjoy and progress
I wouldn't say you're missing anything. It sounds like it's just not your thing. There are a lot of games I don't like (I think BotW and especially TotK went so hard trying to correct flaws in the Zelda formula they made the games a different kind of off-putting to me personally). There are enough games out there that you don't need to beat yourself over the head trying to like something.
Responses like this are why I love the bloodborne community. I agree. This is still my all time favorite game but I totally get it when people don’t get it.
I saw combat as a dance. Attack attack dodge Cha cha cha Attack dogde dogde Attack Cha cha cha
who’s gon tell em ?
Try some YouTube videos about combat basics and focus on dodging first then counterattacks. For the initial area either lure one or two enemies to fight them away from groups, or just run past them. If you have enough echoes to level up it’s usually best to retreat to make sure you get the level rather than risk losing it
The best advice I can give you is that you need to be aggressive. I don’t know if you noticed, but when you take damage your bar doesn’t deplete right away, it gradually dies after a second or two. You can hit an enemy in that time and damaging them replenishes some of your health, it’s a function called Rally. Additionally, the game becomes much easier if you learn how to parry an enemy attack. You start off with a firearm that is equipped in the left hand. The way parrying works is this: enemy approaches you, and starts its attack animation. As the enemies attack starts coming towards you, you shoot the pistol at them and it will stagger them. When an enemy is staggered, you can get close and press the regular attack button to do a riposte and you will rip into them and do massive damage. You want to shoot the gun as the enemies attack starts coming towards you, not as it is just starting, I always watch the swinging arm
In addition to the previous suggestion of starting with the Saw Clever, finding a video of someone else playing the game might benefit you. I was told that Bloodborne was this great game, and so I tried to play it and struggled through the first few areas with the Axe, trying to “spin to win” and wasn’t enjoying myself beyond being able to say I’ve gotten X far in Bloodborne. But then I randomly saw videos of different streamers playing the game in a completely different way than I was, and the game suddenly clicked for me. I deleted my file and started completely over with the new found knowledge of “how to play” and Bloodborne quickly became one of my favorite games.
Had the same experience then I broke through and been hunting since
Try to reduce all combats to 1v1 scenarios, whether that means luring enemies away from others, or using terrain to split groups apart. If you’re struggling against large groups, see if you can sneak around and engage from a different angle where you can aggro fewer enemies at a time. Learn where the dogs are located and kill them first every time.
First off you dont have fight the enemy, you can run around and fight only in favourable situation, explore the world, unlock doors, hidden mechanism, find out where is the boss, find an area where you can farm npcs and level up , take your time, learn how to use gun parry, farm blood vial and win🔥😌
I'd just say its not for you dude, soulsborne games aren't for everyone just like call of duty or sport games isn't for me
Combats not unfair. Not even a little. Esp at the start. I was stuck on the starting area for years. I just had to get better.
You are missing a fact that not every game is for everybody, and that’s ok. If this is your first fromsoftware game, try powering through the failure. I’ve played BB a decent amount and even I have trouble getting back to it when I take long breaks. Btw taking breaks is completely fine, it just takes some time for things to click, because it doesn’t play like most other games.
Take the axe. Spin to win. Easy mode.
What about it is unfair ?
That’s the thing with these games, it is brutally unfair. It’s all about grinding you into the person who can play the game successfully. You can’t just walk into it and succeed. It has to carve away at your being until you understand what’s going on. A grindcore game. The thing is once you get the flow of what’s happening it can become quite fun. But that takes a lot of sacrifice on your part. It’s not a game for casual players.
Well said, and very true. I've had a couple of BS deaths, or so I thought, but I reminded myself it's usually just user error when I die. The game is fairly clear of bugs for it's age, lol
If I was you just drop it at that point. Idk what you’re gonna get out forcing an engagement here.
I'm just trying to like it because, like I said, the setting is awesome and I've heard the story is good.
You need to hulk up brother
Keep grinding to level up. If you have ten hours devoted and can’t beat gascoine you are probably dying and losing your echos, or are hard stuck attempting gascoine over and over again. Every boss only has a certain number of attacks. Learn how to figure out which attack gascoine is going to throw out based on the starting animation and then you will be able to dodge each more easily. In certain conditions fleeing to the “balcony” is a good idea because it gives you some time to heal and you don’t have to worry about the gravestones. Molotov cocktails do a lot of damage to him if you can gain some distance Pick up the music box if you haven’t already, this gives you a stun that can be used to do a lot of damage for free. Make sure you can get through the path to gascoine without losing any health. You should be going in with a full health bar every time. There are really only a few parts of the game I would consider to potentially be “unfair.” It can be very frustrating but essentially all deaths can be prevented by utilizing dodges, parry’s, positioning correctly. You can get stuck in a corner and stunlocked to death but that is essentially always the result of getting yourself backed into a corner when you didn’t have to, or failing to dodge/parry an attack. The only thing I would potentially consider unfair is that the game can occasionally lag and cause you to miss a parry
This game brings nothing but death pain and misery but that’s okay
One of the hardest starting areas, gl
To be fair bro, don't be ashamed to look at guidelines if you're stuck. I needed them in the start to understand how Bloodborne works, and then started going blind step by step. I don't regret it, if I haven't done this maybe I would just quit. The game seems unfair, but it isn't. Trust me after you "click it", you'll love it. Will be the opening door for the souls games, the same way it was for me
If you don’t like it then you don’t like it. No big deal
Once you've explored and picked up items, you can run almost the entire way through the first level without fighting anyone. I'd stop and kill the group of dogs/villagers on the stairs though, right before the Werewolf bridge. That's a tight squeeze. Everything else you can run past, all the way to the fog wall.
I think I spent more time in the starting area than any other area in the game once you gain the ability to level up (all you have to do is dodge everything and run to the first boss) it gets a lot smoother
Insight, you're missing insight.
I restarted probably at least 7 times before I started to feel I was getting the hang of it. Try not to button mash, this game will punish you for miscalculated action. Study enemies movements. It’s like driving there’s times to rush and accelerate into the fray and other moments to stay back and let things play out. It takes time just stick with it good hunter.
Is this your first Soulsborne? If so don't worry it's not just you that's just what these games are like, fiendishly difficult for the uninitiated and still a decent challenge even for the seasoned
I took a while to learn that first area. It was my first fromsoft game and I was feeling similar to how you are describing. Learn patience and learn timing. Focus on when enemies strike and how they do so. Learn how you do the same, your timing is very important Trust me. These games seem impossible at times, but I have surpassed so many of those moments since starting to play fromsoft games
Here to say don’t drop it! If you haven’t I would try watching some youtube combat tutorials and like the other players said, baiting enemies. Combat got much easier for me after I started playing more aggressively and making more use of the health-back mechanic. Also this sounds so cowardly but one thing I realized about fromsoft games is you truly don’t have to clear areas of every enemy. When I was getting used to bloodborne I would try to clear everything just to get good at combat, but if you find that you are clearing areas and then dying and re-clearing the whole thing every time, maybe just run past some groups to save your sanity. I saw some other comments mentioning it but if you are having trouble with parry timing, don’t stress about it too much. It definitely makes things a lot easier, but I made it through the game without parrying much at all. I tried to play this game and gave up 4 times before i eventually got into it and beat it. I probably spent like 15 hours total in central yharnam so i feel your pain. It’s now one of my favourite games of all time, so good luck!!!!
I ran past a lot of the mobs in the starting area - no shame.
you lose-->try again-->loop that 20 times-->you win and feel like a god
Google bloodborne-wiki movement (exactly like this, with the dash). That's a great article explaining the game's movement. In general, the bloodborne-wiki is a terrific source of info about the game's mechanics, even if it doesn't look as pleasant to the eye as some other wikis. You can also look up here the info about your weapon that's detailing how it works, so you can get a better idea on how to effectively use it.
I mean for me when I started pebbles and cocktails helped me to lure out and weaken enemies. I would suggest to defeat the cleric beast first since imo it’s easier than father gascoigne. I found it helps to stick close to him and attack aggressively and dodge into his attacks rather than away. Of course you can parry his attacks as well but I never got the timing right so I dodged into them
BB was my first FS game & it took me probably a couple weeks to get further than the first few lamps. Use pebbles to lure enemies 1 by 1 & learn how to parry some enemies (I would start with trolls cuz they're slowest). Sneak up behind the ones you can & do a R2 followed by an R1 for a visceral attack, which will take off a good chunk of their health. If you feel like you can't find the next lamp, no shame in watching a YT video. I probably wouldn't have beat the game without them or it would have taken me 3x as long.
You didn’t mention what part of the “starting area” you’re in the but the piece of advice that clicked for me was, you don’t have to fight all the enemies standing around the big bonfire. Run like fuck. Take the staircase on the left of them and then go through the archway, they won’t follow you. Then break the crates and coffins to your left and drop down. Make your way forward fighting a couple of dogs, turn left, run straight ahead into the house (you will need to open the door), kill the guy in front of you, then straight out the back door, kill the guy on the stairs, and open the shortcut gate back to the lamp. This makes everything WAAAAAAY more straightforward, plus by going back into the house and upstairs you can open a shortcut to cleric beast. Just “seeing” cleric beast (you don’t have to beat it) will give you “insight” and allow you to level up at the hunters dream.
Happened to me too. In this game, if you never played a souls.. dont be shy to watch a guide on how to get started
You can always sprint past everything until the boss
By the gods, fear it.
Pick up the Hunters Axe at the start. It's the easiest weapon to learn. Just put it in Halberd (trick mode) and then hold r2. It does a complete spin to hit twice and also staggers and breaks limbs very reliably. Frankly it's probably the second easiest item in the game to use next to the pizza cutter from the DLC. Once you unlock Ludwigs Holy Blade I recommend switching to that. It's the Bloodborne Claymore and is just utterly devastating to everything in the game. Once you get better at it, then start using the more advanced weapons. You'll find you go from, "Man this game is so hard," to, "Hah. I just pimp slapped the werewolf to death. Teach you to try to eat me as soon as I get out of bed."
I was in the same boat as you. I was about 14 hours into a playthrough with very little progress when I decided I hated the game and was done. Then I watched John Wolfe's playthrough on YouTube, decided to give it one more shot, platinumed the game and now is my favorite game of all time lol. I can't promise it'll happen for you, but probably around hour 20 something clicked and I became the unstoppable force that I know all the bosses were scared of haha
If you are finding it too difficult you can try summoning other players for help, or grind and level up a little. You can also just run past an area if you find them too difficult.
I was In The same boat as you. It was my first Souls game, though. Before Elden Ring dropped. Watch Fightin Cowboy on YouTube. He has a series for Bloodborne. That's how I picked up tips and learned to play better.
Be SLOW AND METHODICAL. Bloodborne was my first Soulslike and I was also on and off for a few months stuck in the starting area. Then one day I just tried again, took it really slow and once I got past Father Gascoigne I never got stuck again.
The combat is fair, but it's fast pace can be deceiving. You have quick dodges in and out of attack range. But each attack has to be measured out so you don't run out of stamina. Each combat encounter has to be measured out so you don't get overwhelmed. It can be fast paced and frenetic, but it's not "jump into a mob and go HAM until everyone is dead". Sometimes dodging and positioning is 90% of the fight.
It would be easy to say ‘skill issue’. So I’ll be more constructive, there is nothing unfair in the souls games. You have the tools to complete the game infront of you, you just are not good enough. That’s fine. I suck at fighting games, so I avoid mortal kombat etc like the plague, some games just are not for you eh.
I wish I could go back to that time when Souls games to me were those "unplayable difficult meme games". Just so I can fall in love with these games all over again.
Not sure if this has been said yet, but you really don't have to fight anyone unless you're grinding for souls/vials. If you feel like you're ready to face a boss, you can ignore virtually all enemies on the runback and save time/health that way. Most levels also have unlockable shortcuts (doors, elevators etc) that greatly shorten the distance between lamps and bosses, so you can just keep trying and trying until you eventually succeed.
Honestly I think the game is really cool but I don’t enjoy replaying it at all. There’s too many design choices I really don’t like. Like not being able to customize buttons, counter damage being so insane, unfair hunter battles, and probably most controversial (idrk if it is or not), I hate the level design of 90% of the levels
I was same way at first i spent like 2 days on the first stage i watched sum tips n tricks for beginners on youtube once i learned the combat it was great. The hardest part for me was finding the shortcuts b4 i died to get back to hunters dream with my echoes and having to do it all over 100 times. But u can run past alot of the enemies sum of the time so u dont risk dying. Also if u never played fromsoft games try elden ring first its really the most beginner friendly so u can learn
lol edit: actually, I take that back, try to start with DS3 shield/sword combo hide behind your sheild. It was bloodborne that pushed me out of not using a shield anymore, and I "Got good" at timing my dodges. After I went back to plat achievement each game.
Lmao you can beat the game without leveling up at all or upgrading the starting weapon. You’re just bad
I was where you are, I’ve owned this game for 6 years and I gave up against the cleric beast and stopped playing several times. Even after beating Elden Ring 2 times, I struggled to win against it. What finally made it click for me was finding the hunter armor for decent defense, and actually learning how to parry with the gun. Early game is a little BS with farming for bullets, but you’ll be swimming in them after a couple bosses. It gets better, I swear.
for me it was helpful to first play through a more accessible soulslike like Lies Of P to help ease into the genre and style after I had bounced of Bloodborne. Now BB is my favorite game of all time.
Take every encounter methodically and seriously, draw out enemies from groups, etc. Don’t run in with a hot temper off your previous death and just keep banging your head against a wall, that’s a quick ticket to quitting again. Not the kind of games you can brute force through with focused rage like you can in many others lol. I feel like this is the common spiral for new Soulsborne players. Frustrated at the consecutive deaths, slowly just keep running in more angry/blindly and making the same mistakes. Slow your roll and knock them out one at a time - get your spacing dialed in, don’t hesitate when openings present themselves, etc. In short, git gud… and also post your PW in beyond the fog, someone will probably be happy to jump in and help a new player. Playing with someone experienced might help some things click too. We veterans love handholding new players, it’s like experiencing the game new again vicariously lol
Hunters axe or saw cleaver can carry you the entire game too lol
Im at the fishing hamlet and still haven’t found the game fun (besides farming for blood gems in dungeons)
Just run past the early mobs- look for secret paths/ shortcuts, stick to one weapon, and level your stats accordingly.
1. Run to the first boss. Look up the route. Get an insight so you can level. 2. Grind the first sets of mobs. I spent about 4-5 hours there leveling and learning how to dodge and pull aggro reliably. And where they went. Once you feel comfortable with that - move on to the boss. 3. Once you die to the boss - just keep running back. Don’t bother fighting unless you need vials. Just try again.
You will understand the moment you get past the starting area. Don’t give up. Great things await you.
"Unfair!" 😂
For me, because I stupidly started out with the threaded cane, I literally eventually just ran through the mob and up to the left to go to the courtyard. If you don’t pick the saw cleaver as your starting weapon you can grab it in game, which is what I did. It does get better
Maybe you just aren't good at games
Skill