Okay, people are talking a lot about Dark Souls III today, so I want to ask a difficult question.
Bloodborne or Dark Souls?
Choose.
I think I like Dark Souls more, but that could be the nostalgia talking. Without a doubt Bloodborne was my favourite game of 2015, but Dark Souls might be my favourite game ever.
Comments
79 responses to “The Big Question: Bloodborne Or Dark Souls?”
It’s never going to be a true census as the people without a PS4 to play on are going to undoubtedly pick DS. I liked both but prefer the speed and ferocity of BB.
I love the heavy Lovecraft influence of BB, but Dark Souls was the first game in a long time to make me think “this could be my favourite game now”.
Bloodborne was excellent.
So was Dark Souls.
I think I like Bloodborne’s setting and theme more.
I dunno Cracks.. I for one won’t miss those scrabbling terrors from the chalice dungeons known as “Sages”.
Yeah? I found it too samey. DS had different looking areas. I was so bummed when I got out of Yarhnam into a forest…that looks just like Yarnham 🙁
Yes
Aesthetically: Bloodborne. Gameplay-wise: Dark Souls.
Pretty much this.
Bloodborne’s setting was a bit samey but it was perfect for the atmosphere and the best “feel” since Demons Souls. Dark Souls’ gameplay worked much better for me. I couldn’t play Bloodborne because I’m hand/eye co-ordination challenged. I absolutely loved watching Mr. Strange play it, though. It had such an epic and creepy feel.
I lost interest in Bloodborne after all but finishing it (it was a progressive loss of interest) so Dark Souls wins for me.
Souls for me.
I felt like I ran out of things to find in bloodborne, like I could complete the game and be happy with my level of completion of it. Dark souls is a different beast in that regard, more open, more adventurous, more punishing, more rewarding with more secrets and nooks, alternate paths and optional encounters. Sens fortress and Ornstein/Smough aside, most parts played well without being frustratingly difficult. You felt like you could give something potentially dangerous a try to find something new, there was very little of that in bloodborne I found.
SPACE MARINE!!!!!!
ROARRR!!!
Imagine a 40K game made by From Software…
*sperms*
Why would you make me sad with things I can’t have?
Okay, here’s the pitch: An Astartes (probably a Grey Knight initiate so you can end up using psi powers) is fighting on a demon world and is stranded when it re-enters the warp leaving him with nothing but a bolt pistol and chainsword against the legions of the ruinous powers. Whenever he dies, for reasons unknown (and ultimately unknowable), he’s resurrected by Tzeentch just to fuck with the other powers because that’s the kind of guy/god Tzeentch is. Since you’re in the realm of chaos, there are an awful lot of temptations to easy power but being an Astartes means trying to resist for each Astartes who falls diminishes both the Imperium and the Emperor.
While corrupted weapons would be relatively easy to come by and a good temptation to fast power, pure weapon upgrades might be a problem. I’m guessing that you could have a fair few other stranded Astartes who were either killed or corrupted and their weapons might not be tainted yet. They claim no Grey Knight has ever fallen to corruption but Astartes are good at keeping secrets and there’s probably Astartes knocking about who are from lesser chapters like the blood angels . Finding a Nemesis force halberd on the body of a brother Grey Knight would be a good upgrade to wait for since it does 2-3 times the damage of your chainsword plus a bonus based on how pure of soul you are. But then you might not be able to resist the lure of taking up that World Eater’s chainaxe which does almost double the damage of your chainsword and which you can get just before a tough boss. Is the power worth the cost? How far can you trust the weapons of the ruinous powers?
I imagine another major factor in the temptation to corruption would be offers of help. It could function in a similar way to the summoning mechanic in the Souls games, AI daemons offering to help you defeat a powerful boss through buffs to you, debuffs to it or straight combat support but the help is conditional on you promising to do something for them later, “I’ll help you with this now and maybe sometime in the future I come to you and ask you for a favour” (it might be on the day of his daughter’s wedding, who knows?). The invasion mechanic could work equally well since there’d be other stranded marines who fell to corruption and thanks to the distortions of the warp each player would see the other as the corrupt one, that or use it like a scaled version of the humanity mechanic and the more pure of soul you are, the lower the invasion chances. Hell, the favour the demon asks for might even be to invade someone and if you refuse, you get a notable penalty which could even vary by the demon’s patron power. Khorne could bleed you and give you a slow constant health loss, Nurgle could weaken you with illness, Tzeentch could randomise your psi powers & the mark of slaanesh could make you absurdly attractive and double the range the enemy detect you from.
I’m thinking the ultimate objective would be to destroy whatever artefact is responsible for keeping the planet in the warp, drag the world back to reality & allow it to be cleansed by fire. Since this is 40k where a happy ending is something that only happens to other universes, the protagonist would obviously end up dead as a result but he’d be okay with that since his soul would have been tainted by the touch of Tzeentch anyway. I guess if you manage to make it through the entire game with no deaths then there’d be no corruption but the protagonist would still be okay being killed in the bombardment since it’s for the ultimate cause. If you completely embrace corruption I’m thinking you could end up becoming a daemon prince and killing the final boss to take his place.
I can’t speak for you or @chuloopa but I’d certainly play the ever loving shit out of that.
Take my money.
This sounds like it would be an amazing game.
I would possibly switch out the grey knight for an Inquisitor, though. They are much more human an susceptible to temptation, which could make for more interesting good vs. evil pull. Do you remain pure to the cause, or do you embrace chaos to destroy chaos? Orrrr do you just go completely rogue and embrace chaos for the love of death and gore?
Added benefit of going IQ over GN is that GK are daemon chewing bad-asses. It’s what they are made for. You SHOULD fear the Daemons. You SHOULD experience fear and revulsion.
It would also be easier to have it as a single person in this instance as well – as it’s hard to plot twist that a GK would be on his own as they are tough-as-nails-bad-arses. Whereas the IQ probably DID have a retinue, but you get to watch them get torn to shreds in gory detail at the start of the game before you get sucked into the stuff of chaos itself.
I would play the absolute balls out of that
You are the greatest pitcher of all time
I want this game
How do I make more upvotes?? And how to get you in contact with From Software?? Because you know how to print money.
Bloodborne totally won me over, I loved the difficulty, the less weighted control, the lack of boss negation and cheese(i.e shields and magic etc.) and dynamic weaponry as opposed to Dark Souls’ ‘stronger’ ‘longer’ ‘wider’ choice of weaponry.
Less cheese or more cheese? AFAIK in bloodborne you can cheese and get the bow sword early in the game and it breaks all boss battle.
Considering the Old Hunters DLC was released 8 months after the initial release not a whole lot of people ever got to use the bowblade, and breaks all boss battles? without decent cursed blood gems it was rather underwhelming.
Also how is it more cheesy than great shields and magic in ds1/2? lighting bolt spam and arcane magic was exploited like no other.
Dark souls gave me all the weapons I needed. For a time I was obsessed with halberds. A large stick weapon? In a game? Blew my mind. Later on I would find the Scythe (actually a Bardiche but whatever Fromsoft) in Sens fortress.
Cool story I know, I had a vegemite sandwich today, how interesting.
i had to re-tighten one of my shoelaces this morning while getting dressed to ensure it didnt un-ravel. on a related note, ive only had these new shoelaces for 2 days and im still getting used to them.
Tell me about it. How ’bout that local sports team?
Well then sir lucky there is a TED talk just for you. It changed my life.
https://www.ted.com/talks/terry_moore_how_to_tie_your_shoes?language=en
I picked up some man-serpent greatswords early on, and used a collection of them (infused with different elements) for the rest of the game. Perfect balance of speed, damage, range, and move-set versatility.
Makes me wonder if that kind of behaviour is why Bloodborne felt the need to shrink the pool of weapons and armour.
Oh yeah, starts with a B in strength scaling? I’ve done a build based around that guy. Also love the snakemen designs, very He-Man.
I feel the same about Bloodborne, I was slightly crestfallen when I realised I had a very limited choice of weapons. Sometimes, you want to roleplay through weapon choice. Simon belmont from Castlevania? Yes please, would have fit Bloodborne perfectly.
I liked that there were fewer options of weapon, but more options in how to spec them. Being able to add and remove elements and powers when you wanted to try new things made me more willing to try new things.
I don’t want to find my 47th weapon, spend forever grinding mats to upgrade it, then have to permanently upgrade it only one way, and THEN find that I don’t like it. So I end up just using a weapon with a moveset I like for the whole game.
Bloodborne let me use a weapon with a moveset I like (Cane forever <3) and experiment with how to spec it. It made me feel a lot more open to experimentation because I wouldn’t have to waste a dozen hours with grinding out mats.
“I don’t want to find my 47th weapon, spend forever grinding mats to upgrade it, then have to permanently upgrade it only one way, and THEN find that I don’t like it”.
HA, Sometimes I forget that not many people play like me. That was just more reason to play it A LOT.
Took me a while to get down with the cane. Kirkhammer had me at hello 🙂
The gem slot was pretty cool, like materia from FF7.
I see you also like to strength-scale. Kirkhammer is love. Kirkhammer is life.
Boy do I!
Love the strength, even though I felt like a cheap bastard using it in DSII. That two handed R2, pancakes for all! If Dyna and Tillo traded me a Demon’s great hammer then I would build specifically for it… I’m not proud of this.
Halberds 4 lyfe.
Demon Souls!
Neither.
I don’t hate myself.
Bloodborne. I much prefered the setting, story and gameplay over Dark Souls.
someone throw a NEWB a bone. never played either of these, dont even know if they are related. whats a good one to start with as a PC gamer? i also have a PS3, but less likely to use that as its in the lounge and not as accessible.
Well Bloodborne is a PS4 exclusive. Your decision has sadly been made for you.
so then should i go Dark Souls 1, 2 or 3(when it arrives)?
Dark Souls 1. 2 was still a great game, but it wasn’t as magical as the first and it tried to do new things that didn’t always work.
3 is promising to be a strange new twist on the formula.
I’d say try either Dark Souls I or II before III. They’re both gonna be pretty cheap now (especially with a Steam sale).
Although Dark Souls I is the “better” game, it’s a little dated. Dark Souls II has a much more active community, and the invasion/PVP aspect is (I think) a really important aspect of the game.
Here’s a bone – Go in blind, whichever one you start with. No Wiki, no hints, it’ll be the most rewarding.
I’d disagree with this. I like Darksouls more than Bloodbourne so far and I’m about 2/3 of the way through Darksouls 2. But there are certain things in these games which aren’t helpful at all. Like bloodbourne, you can’t level up until you beat the first boss? How are you ever going to know that without looking at a wiki. Or in Darksouls 2 especially, a lot of the time you are going to have no idea on where you actually need to go to get the 4 souls. They are already huge games, why frustrate yourself needlessly when the games’ difficulty will be frustration enough for most.
Terrible advice on my part? Probably.
I like that there’s no hand holding like most other games, so for me this approach is best. In Dark souls you can’t level until you get to Firelink Shrine. You had to beat the tutorial demon to do that. As for the Bloodborne insight thing I just dealt with it really… You can reach for advice or go alone, I prefer to go alone. Whatever floats your boat 😉
ALWAYS go in blind!!
Then when you figure things out it’s all the more rewarding. I always do my first playthrough of a From game without wiki’s. Sure you miss things. A LOT of things. But it encourages exploration and experimentation, once you stop worrying about dying it becomes really freeing.
Then NG+ it’s free reign on wikis.
Although having said that, I probably could have saved myself eight hours and a controller if i’d known to head up to the undead burg first…..
What’s this? Someone agrees?
I missed tons of things, like the dragon covenant, and how to join the darkwraiths. Took me a while to figure out I could SAVE Solaire (my best pal) and then summon him to fight Gwyn.
But that made it rewarding. There’s no way I wasn’t doing NG++++++++. I have a legitimate SL597 character because of this. His name is Ogre and he’s beautiful.
Peter Serafinowicz (voice of pate/massive souls fan) said Dark Souls is like Legend of Zelda in hell. Can you imagine playing Ocarina with any help the first time? NO WAY.
Someone does!! Very much so.
I definitely never got as high as 597 (maybe about 250 or so I guess??) but holy crap I loved this game, and spent perhaps a tad too much time with it 🙂
I think the point where it completely grabbed me never to let go was when I came down the elevator in the church and there was the firelink shrine in front of me…. that revelation of the shape of the world was such an incredible moment. Played out again and again.
hnnnnnnnnnghhhhhhhhh now I really can’t wait for 3.
I think a wiki can be handy to start just to get your head around how this kinda game works.
I’d have to say that Bloodborne is a better game, but it’s had the benefit of hindsight. It improved on what needed improving from Dark Souls.
Also, far more people have played Dark Souls than Bloodborne, a PS4 exclusive. Same reason it lost out on GOTY to The Witcher III.
I value my sanity. So neither
After playing both Dark Souls games and Bloodborne, I’d have to choose Bloodborne. It’s frenetic gameplay and overall atmosphere is fantastic.
I just wish more people could play it.
Right now I’d say Bloodborne, but what I’m reading about Dark Souls 3 makes it sound like the closest thing to Demon’s Souls since… Demon’s Souls. So it’s possible that DS3 may knock Bloodborne off it’s perch for me.
Bloodborne sits in plastic as it came with my PS4 bundled. I’ll get to it 1 day.
Dark Souls sits in my Steam pile of shame (my brother gifted it to me when Steam glitched and sold it for 17 cents). Don’t know if I’ll ever get around to it.
Do it. For real. Do yourself a favour. They’re hard without being unfair (mostly). It’s incredibly rewarding.
Dark Souls first. Then Bloodborne.
Seriously. Do not rob yourself of this.
Pokedad used Good Advice, it’s super effective!
Dark Souls broke my brother and he couldn’t enjoy games nor feel the need to play games for months haha. Something about “nothing else will be as satisfying” but man time was definitely invested to complete it.
He eventually recovered.
Now he’s playing Dark Souls II…
Two words – Capra. Demon.
Five words – Capra. Demon. And. His. Dogs.
Four words – Jump. To. The. Right.
Two more words – git gud
Jumping to the right doesn’t stop it being the cheapest of all boss fights
Cheaper than bed of chaos?
I dunno if I’d really call Bed of Chaos a boss, more like a stupid platform session, haha
Capra Demon was hard as hell, but he wasn’t unfair. Well, I didn’t feel he was.
The only part I felt was unfair was the two dragon knights shooting arrows that were full sized lances at you from high ground and you having to run directly at them on a narrow instadeath ledge, then fight them both together on another instadeath ledge and then drop onto a platform that required you to lose health and straight into another set of high level enemy fights. Oh and getting to the instadeath arrow killbox took about 5 minutes each time.
Fuck that. So hard. I almost stopped playing at that point because it was just unfair.
I know it’s no consolation as I’ve heard the same story a few times but my instinct was to just run and fight the right hand side archer, which I tried to do but he fell off the ledge so I couldn’t even fight him, but do note that right after you drop down to the next ledge there is a bonfire to the left before your next fight. I had more issues with the two giant knights before the S&O fight with their ridiculous hitboxes 🙁
The archers were a close second, only because they can’t be made easier depending on your play style. It if you have a bow you can whittle one down. Arguably capra can be cheesed but not so obviously
Where’s the ‘Neither’ option?
http://www.anyotherpageontheinternet.com
Dark Souls.
I like Bloodborne but I found it very limiting in terms of fighting options.
BLERDBERNE.
I never got into Dark Souls. Dark Souls 1 was so bland and slow. Dark Souls 2 was like someone vomited a rainbow on to my TV screen with crazy wonky hitboxes. I hope I like Dark Souls 3 at least.
I feel very torn, but I think I may have to choose Bloodborne. Going back to DS2 after BB felt so sluggish and unwieldy.
I finished DS2 when it first came out on PS3 and then Bloodborne as it came out on PS4, as I’d never played the DLC for DS2 I played through a second time in SotFS on PS4 and I agree with you on the sluggishness, but I also feel the combat is more unforgiving because of how much slower it is, you’re kind of committing to attacks more than you do in Bloodborne, and I can honestly say I still enjoyed playing SotFS. The DS/BB series are easily my favourite games ever made in the entire universe.
Most definitely Dark Souls. Don’t get me wrong, I love Bloodborne but Dark Souls is something else.
Dark Souls.
I liked Bloodborne, but I like a shield and arrows more.
If you didn’t answer Bloodborne, you’re wrong and you should feel ashamed.
Dark Souls 1 for me.
I adored Bloodborne, that world… the batshit crazy story… the aggressive twists on the formula…
But I just found Souls to be such an extraordinary and varied world, I don’t think i’ve ever felt such despair and elation in the space of a single game (except maybe the stupid witness and it’s stupid mountain puzzle and stupid colours I hatelove it).
The incredible atmosphere of desperation and loneliness… oh god now I want to go play it again.
Bloodborne
Got my Platinum Trophy a Month ago for it and haven’t had such an amazing experience in gaming in such a very long time, that game really blew me away. Looking forward to Dark Souls 3 as it will have some of Bloodborne’s combat mechanics (Dodging) implemented which suits me just fine.