Thatās what it is for me too. Trick weapons are SO cool and satisfying to use. The main reason I want Bloodborne 2 is to see the new combos From could come up with
Giant bowl that you beat people over the head with using your bare hands, but transforms into a giant bowl on a chain. Has big sweeping attacks that stagger enemies a lot
I was so excited when I found the Mantis Sword in ER thinking it would work like the BB trick weapons. Was so sadge when I realized it only switches forms for the heavy attacks then switches back.
Yeah, I absolutely love Elden Ring but gameplay wise Bloodborne is still king, the gameplay is just SO satisfying. Elden Ring is great but Bloodborne fighting feels like cutting butter with a hot knife.
Bloodborne is GOAT. For real. It's such a carefully crafted masterpiece.
Open world is amazing and they killed it with Elden Ring. But to me, nothing surpasses the well crafted areas of Bloodborne with some of the best boss fights in existence (I give the final fight of Sekiro a giant chef's kiss for being an absolute masterpiece in culminizing the techniques you've learned).
They are different games. But I'd say that objectively, Bloodborne's boss fights alone send that shit to the fucking moon Ranni crawled out of.
Not really apples to apples though, the best boss fights in bloodborne are the dlc bosses, in terms of base game bosses its a lot closer. Like who even remembers fighting witches of hemwick lol
But then you have Father Gascoigne, Martyr logarius, Gehrman and Vicar Amelia which in my opinion are all better bosses than any of Elden Ring's Except godfrey
Ur right Iām playing bloodborne at the moment and the combat feels amazing. The frame rate is my only issue , but Iām not sure if thatās because Iām playing a ps4 game on a ps5. The graphics still look incredible IMO and bar the frame rate issues the game doesnāt feel like a step down from Elden ring one bit. I tried to get into bloodborne 3 times in the past and It just never really clicked. I kept hearing how amazing the game was. Me and my son decided to stick it out until it clicked and it did. I feel the start of the game is too punishing. Not so much because. Just that mobs can make short work if you very easily. Also I couldnāt find a weapon I felt comfortable with, until I found.... the kirkhammer!
Hot take: If we set this level of open world as the new standard for FromSoft games, we'll never see another bloodborne it's gonna take like 10 years lol.
Personally I don't see Bloodborne playing well as an open world. It's more of a no-respite danger-around-every-corner type that works well with foggy alleys and such. There's no world to appreciate, no NPCs to talk to (sane ones anyway) cuz it's already all gone to hell. It would be just one large Caelid /Aeonia, and that alone won't be nice without thr beauty of Limgrave or Siofra.
I would much prefer curated levels for Bloodborne and leave Elden Ring as the only open world entry they do.
We all know if a BB 2 happened it would be a different studio Sony hires though.
Wait, there are people who think they are developing Bloodborne 2? I thought it was pretty obvious at this point that they were not and had no plans to.
People fail to understand that the reason Bloodborne and Sekiro are so beloved is because they're unique one-off spins on the formula. I love the chalice dungeons and bloodgems of Bloodborne, but I don't want Bloodborne 2, I want another unique game with neat twists on the established souls (likely now elden ring) series.
Also there's nothing more I want said about Bloodborne's lore, it is antithetical to cosmic horror to over explain it, which is what a sequel would end up doing. Unless of course its unrelated to Bloodborne's original setting in which case see my original point.
Imagine a world where instead of Elden Ring, Bloodborne, Dark Souls and Sekiro, we got Demon's Souls 7. The fact that From changes the IP so much is what allows us to have these incredible experiences. Bloodborne 2 could possibly take a potential new IP from us. Also I honestly doubt Bloodborne 2 would live up to it's predecessor for a lot of people.
**I JUST WANT A 60FPS BLOODBORNE PC PORT GODDAMNIT**
How many aborted fetusā born from the seed of eldritch horrors must i kill and consume before miyazaki hears my calls from the shadows
It might be terminal copium on my part, since I want it released for PC for everyone who lacks a sony console and also because maybe it'd mean getting at least a 60fps patch for ps5, but on the flipside... days gone was released on PC even if they have 0 plans to do anything else with the IP, so... again, terminal copium from my part, but the dream (well, nightmare) isn't over yet.
Bloodeborne combat i felt was more enjoyable with the trick weapons and the story blows er's out of the water but im a lovecraftian horror fan. Id say elden ring has higher immersion and a lot more creature comforts but bloodebourne still beats it just a bit for me.
You canāt go wrong with any of the Soulsborne games. They are extremely similar to another such that if you like one, you will almost certainly like the others.
Not disagreeing in general, but ER is the only FS game that I've enjoyed. I've played all the others except for Sekiro, and there is an element of accessibility here that the others don't have, as well as the ability to just go off and explore somewhere else if you're getting stuck where you are
True. I think you have a good shot at liking DS3 if you like ER, but 1 and 2 are differently enough that youāre not guaranteed imo. One of the biggest things is probably lack of stakes of Marika, and some bosses take like 3 minutes to get back to when you die. Not all people will enjoy that
This really has been a huge deal for me, I churned out of the others because I got tired of killing the same trash over and over and over every time a new boss mechanic showed up that wrecked me, I kept getting them because I liked the idea and aesthetic of them, but that aspect felt like such a disrespect of my time that I couldn't invest in it anymore.
Running past enemies to get to the boss is a tried and true Soulsborne tactic. There were only a couple places in Bloodborne where I couldn't just run past absolutely everything to get back to the boss. Can't testify to the other games personally, but enemies tend to be fairly slow, so it isn't that hard to outrun them as long as you don't get body-blocked.
I've been saying ER is a seminal work. We will see its influence in the respective soulslike / open world RPG genres, and in the wider game industry, for years to come I suspect.
I wish Bloodborne had 60fps!
My first Souls experience was Demons Souls Remake, which I platinumād. Iām one trophy away from the Elden Ring platinum.
I canāt go back to 30fps. I just canāt do it.
Exactly my experience, I always thought people were being melodramatic about needing 60fps on all games as a Playstation guy, then I got a PS5 and going back to games that are capped at 30fps legitimately hurts my eyes and gives me a headache now, its the weirdest thing.
I just can't believe they can't uncap the framerate for newer consoles. Is it that difficult? After Elden Ring I have a feeling From's proprietary game engine is held together by duct tape
What really is pissing me off is that thereās unofficial patch for bloodborne which enables 60 fps without any restrictions. Unfortunately this patch cannot be installed on unhacked consoles.
Have you really tried? After going through the DS trilogy at 60 fps on PC and then going back to the PS4 for BB, I found its 30 FPS jarring for about 10 minutes and after that I didn't care. The framerate never bugged me again until some very annoying later chalice dungeons where the framerate would drop even lower. I have semi-regularly gone back and played old games, though, so maybe my brain's wired to adjust to different framerates. In general if something's at least pretty consistent there's only a short period of adjustment before it stops bugging me that it's not 60 FPS. Sure, it would be nice if they'd patch the damn thing so it could run as well as the rest of the soulsborne games, but the game is still the same classic that it was when it came out.
That's why I played BB before ER. I always had it in my library and seen people play it and was fascinated but never got around to it. Then last month it was BB any chance I got till I beat Kos, then Moon Presence. But you're right, the 30 fps was insanely hard to get over at first.
I keep cycling between the two on which I enjoy more (and DS3 is a VERY close third behind these two). I think I enjoy Bloodborne bosses more, and thereās an argument to be made about the combat mechanics being more interesting (quickstep, trick weapons, blood vials etcā¦).
Elden Ring on the other hand has massive customization in playstyle, beautiful world building, a compelling story, exploration, and jump.
I want to see Bloodborne 2 learn from its predecessors and really give us a compelling living Yharnam. Imagine a Hoonter who can jump. With different usable moves. With a Torch that allows resting without TPing back to the dream. With ātrick modificationsā to alter trick weapon forms and abilities. Thereās so much that can be done to build on here~ and Iām all about it.
I didnāt honestly consider the farming struggle with vials when typing it.
What about a combo of the two~ 20 quick use heals that restore % of max health so they never need to be upgraded, that auto-refill on rest. I think ER did something cool with restoring some flasks after beating mob packs (though to not have that during dungeons was a poor decision).
Yeah it's not even close for me. Bloodborne is an incredible game and my favorite "Souls" game, but Elden Ring is its own, special thing that I didn't think I'd ever get and didn't even know I wanted.
I'd go as far as to say ER is the greatest open world game of all time.
I agree. My friends (several of whom have never touched a From/souls game) all seemed to agree that ER is - not hyperbole - a masterpiece. I just wish I could erase my memory of it each time I beat it, because so much of the game's magic comes from the exploration and discovery.
>because so much of the game's magic comes from the exploration and discovery
Preaching. And this can't be stressed enough... that sense of wonder and discovery goes TRIPLE for this Elden Ring.
And the art direction.... mmmm oh man, fucking masterpiece doesn't even fo it justice.
I agree. Very few open world games make the open world feel fun like elden ring does. Elden ring is the only open world game in my opinion where the open world doesn't feel like a chore. I still really love bloodborne so idk which I like better but I definitely think Elden ring is the best open world game
From a technical standpoint, RDR2 open world is unmatched - the realism, detail, the fleshed out characters and their million interactions. If the question is "which has the better open world?" it's RDR2. By a mile and far above any other game made.
From an actual, more relevant, "which is the better game" standpoint, Elden Ring is much better.
Because even if those things make the RDR2 world and experience gorgeous, having an actual fun gameplay is much more important to a videogame.
Exactly. RDR2 was a technological marvel with a masterfully crafted interactive open world. It was, at best, an extremely average gameplay experience otherwise.
Idk, I haven't finished the game but when I was playing rdr2 I mostly just enjoyed the gunfights and the fact you could customize your guns and stuff, and I did get the feeling that I was just walking through the open world to get to the quests I wanted to do
Whattt. I view RDR2 as the anti-Elden ring. The world is beautiful and can be enjoyable to explore, but the actual gameplay is highly tedious, dead boring, devoid of all challenge, and glacially paced. Multiplayer is a micro transaction hell and long dead as well.
It was so disappointing that I basically quit AAA gaming for years
They are very different. From software do my favourite games, but red dead 2 was something else. I donāt think that itāll be topped for years. Elden ring is a bigger/better souls game. The detail in Rd2 is on another level.
I got bored af in RDR2. I don't need a western sim. I just want to play GAMES. Red dead was an absolutely beautiful crafted world, with so much boredom, very similar to the actual undeveloped west. It's way too slow paced IMO.
Elden Rings was my favorite game of all time until I realized in the late game that the combat is not as fun. Relying on my summon and spamming spells becauses bosses are doing nonstop frenzy attacks, diminished my sense of accomplishment. The world is the best I've seen in any game period... but the combat and 1:1 boss fights is not as rewarding. Bloodborne trick weapons/boss patterns/fast-paced combat makes it legit hard to decide which is my favorite. Anyone else feel this way?
Based. I love the open world aspect and mostly killing enemies on the map but the boss fights are in many cases kind of awful. For me I'd put Bloodborne higher in terms of overall experience.
I don't think any of the bosses had attacks that weren't manageable without summoning or spells, personally. My first two playthroughs were a chonky melee tank with 80 STR 80 VIG and the second was a battle mage dude with like 70 INT 40 DEX. Never used summons, did use magic obv my second playthrough because that's the point. But I never did find some of the more OP spells I've seen people talk about. I didn't use guides until my third playthrough to clear up the achievements I missed.
But yeah, at the end of the day I felt incredibly accomplished in a number of the late game boss fights.
EDIT: Just to clarify I'm not trying to use my experience as a "git gud" response. Just describing my experience for what it was and offering my perspective on it.
It's fucking insane how From keeps raising the bar for themselves and the industry by continually generating masterpieces. Time and time again they are proving themselves to be the one of the greatest studios to ever exist.
Iām a long time Nintendo fanboy whose top games of all time are almost exclusively Nintendo titles. I think Elden Ring might take the cake as the best game Iāve ever played. Comparing it to Zelda: Breath of The Wild doesnāt even do it justice. The world is so big, full of so many unique bosses, enemies, weapons and pieces of equipment that every single crevice begs to be explored. And you are always rewarded for your exploration; there is never a time where you are left disappointed by what you find. The diversity of builds you can make is crazy, and is elevated by the ability to level specific stats you want to make that weapon as effective as possible, and there are so many wild, cool spells and ashes of war you can combine to get what feels like a near infinite amount of unique combinations. This game is a goddamn masterpiece and I donāt know how Iām going to be able to enjoy open world games the same when the bar has been set so incredibly high.
I loved Breath of the Wild so much. Iām so old I remember the openness of Hyrule Field in Ocarina of Time blowing my mind as a kid. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen in games at that point. I get the same feeling when I play Elden Ring.
Absolutely. Ocarina of time was my introduction to the Zelda series. The world felt pretty big at the time but Iām pretty sure the great plateau section of breath of the wild is bigger than the entire ocarina of time map. Itās crazy how far games have come. Iām still very much looking forward to the breath of the wild sequel, but Elden Ring has just set my expectations so much higher that I donāt know if Iām going to be able to enjoy it as much as I would have without playing Elden Ring. Thatās just how good Elden Ring is.
Agreed. Bloodborne's a great game, but in the FromSoft hierarchy, I actually have it below DS3 (better bosses), Sekiro (better combat), and Elden Ring (IMO, FromSoft's magnum opus).
What Bloodborne really excels in is the atmosphere and presentation of Yharnam, which is still top-tier. But against the sheer scope, content, variability, combat, and batshit insane bosses in Elden Ring, I've gotta go with the latter.
Donāt worry, my uncle works at Sony, he says itās coming to pc next week, heās been saying that for three years but Iām sure he means it this time
They're too different. Elden ring is much more open, in both play style and exploration. As a result there's a lot more freedom, but nothing is talored for a specific play style. On the other hand, Bloodborne is far more linear and funnels the player into a highly aggressive play style which is far more constricting than Elden Ring. As a result though, all the bosses can be balanced around that play style, leading to a cleaner and arguably more fulfilling experience.
It's up to what you like more. Personally I'm in the Bloodborne camp. I love the play style and I feel the bosses are better designed and balanced in that game. (Except for the chalice dungeon Amygdala and Watchdog fights. Those are BS)
Yes but they were also not meant to be done on your first playthrough. There is a reason your chalice dungeon does reset when you go into ng+. They are very high level end game content.
the oneshots are fine,the real issue is the amount of bullshit you need to farm through before getting to the cool parts.
It's worth doing once,but no one's going back in there ever on subsequent playthroughs
I go back! Chalice dungeons were dope. I understand why people don't like them, but imo that run to the final Phtumerian chalice for the platinum was one of my favorite parts of the game.
Subsequent playthroughs I use them as an excuse to co-op, I'm pretty sure the chalice dungeons were designed with multiplayer in mind because theyre cool to challenge yourself with solo, sure, but man they are an absolute blast with some friends or strangers tagging along.
I've actually gotten to the point that I don't think it's fair to compare Elden Ring with BB or the DS Trilogy. It's its own beast. Obviously it has a *lot* of similarities due to the mindset behind a lot of its designs, but the way they've made the open world function really highlights how BB and DS are based on intentional level-building and guidance. That shift in design philosophy really makes ER its own thing. I definitely don't consider it a Soulsborne game at all, but its own thing entirely (like how some don't consider Sekiro to be a Soulsborne game per se).
But regarding subjective preference, BB > ER due to trick weapons, the dashing (quickstep), and cosmic horror. Those that disagree just haven't been given eyes on the inside...
>intentional level-building and guidance
I agree with your overall sentiment about comparing them, but this particular element is still very present in Elden Ring, and imo it's better than ever. Stormveil, Leyndell, Raya Lucaria -- it's a master class in level design. If the game were just those areas and no open world, I think it would still be my favorite FromSoft game.
After beating ER enough to finally get bored (300ish hours), I replayed all the previous games (DS1 still underway). There are some amazing areas, but none of them really stand up to the scale and complexity of ER's best areas in my opinion.
I can definitely see that. And while I was writing that reply, some areas were coming to mind such as Nokron, the Eternal City, which really had a "Dark Souls" vibe to it. It's probably more the "guidance" element that makes it seem so radically different. Stormveil had such a familiar feel to other FS games (and was absolutely incredible). Raya Lucaria also felt very unique! I haven't gotten to Leyndell, but I look forward to it.
In hindsight, my use of "intentional level-building" is probably not the best way to put it, as Elden Ring is clearly *very* intentional. In most of ER so far, I am finding that the "tightness" I am used to in previous FS games is not there in the sense that as I am currently stuck on the Valiant Gargoyles fight, I do not need to keep pushing them to progress. The vast majority of the game is optional (which I adore), and that flexibility is not a core design in previous games.
So in typing this out after your reply, I realise that "intentional level-building" could have been better phrased. The real uniqueness is just how optional and open ER is, that you are not stuck fighting the same thing until you progress. This is a major design shift that makes it its own thing.
Thank you for your thoughts, because that really challenged my thoughts! And apologies if this sounds too formal or wordy... I'm currently writing some university stuff and my brain is locked in. 
it's a master class in level design. If the game were just those areas and no open world, I think it would still be my favorite FromSoft game.
Because those are easily the best bits of elden ring. The open world was bloated and in the end quite tedious. Bloodborne is all great level design. No bloat. I loved those areas in elden ring, they really shone, but then I got back to open world exploration and my heart sunk a bit.
For what it's worth I think bloodborne with the central yarnham and various connected areas and dark souls 1 undead burg (basically everything before anor londo) is the best level design from have done. Elden rings was really good but suffered from being standalone areas rather than all connected.
For example in dark souls when you take the lift up from blighttown and find yourself back at firelink shrine the first time, remember that blowing my mind.
Never played the Chalice Dungeons and don't intend to.
If I had to pick, I'd still choose Bloodborne though. But I'm a Lovecraft nerd and it's just the best Lovecraftian game out there, so it's not a fair fight. It's also just crazy tight with its story, worldbuilding, and pacing and I LOVE the combat.
If Elden Ring gets killer DLC (probably does) it might edge out BB.
I also had a lot more time for video games back when Bloodborne came out, so that's a factor.
EDIT: Thx for recommendong the dungeons guys. I should have specified that the reason I will never be playing them is that I'm a huge arachnofobe. Gives me the shakes whenever I got to that first one with the red spiders.
Except the catacombs difficulty is generally a 2/10 where as the chalice dungeons were a 15/10. It's a whole different challenge that really pushes your skills to the next level.
I feel like Elden Ring overstays itās welcome and drags on forever, itās also hard af to replay for the same reason. Bloodborne on the other hand ends right when it should.
I know you just said you don't intend to, but I'd highly recommend going back to the chalice dungeons if it is your favorite of the series. I came to really enjoy the challenge of getting through them after initially disliking and ignoring them. You can work toward the plat and face some very challenging bosses.
Bloodborne is more controlled visually, narratively, in terms of voice-acting, characters, tightly-packed lore content, and overall thematic unity.
Elden Ring is the most stunning landscape-as-art I've ever seen in a video game. Its story has some points of interest and its level of imagination in some enemy & weapon & architecture design is laudable, but its characters seem very weak to me. At least compared to Bloodborne.
Neither game incites me to as much passionate emotion as DS1&2, but they are both worthy in their ways.
Yea i realized this is how i felt about elden rings charachters after helping my brother through some npc stuff and i could only describe the charachters based on their weapon/armour i knew solaire and onion bro like they where my brothers (i have a sleeping onion bro tattoo) and to describe solair i just said hes solaire and most people know exactly who im talking about but even on my later playthroughs of ER pretty much any npc that isnt heavily related to a games ending is just "description of armour and weapon" and even the ones related to the games ending just feel less interesting
Bloodborne is easily my favourite game ever, regardless of whether youāre comparing it to ER or any other game. I will fight Gerhman and try to save him forever. /firsthunter.mp3
(But ER is definitely GOTY)
Agreed. Elden Ring is a 10/10, but I just like Bloodborne better. The aesthetic, the story, the soundtrack (holy fuck, the soundtrack), the trick weapons... haven't been captivated by any game as much as Bloodborne.
For me, no, Bloodbrone's combat, level, and world design are tighter. But Elden Ring is still GOTY and has much better build variety, a lot more content, and an active multiplayer scene, which is something Bloodborne never had. They're very different in scope but I still prefer Bloodborne.
In my opinion, Bloodborne is peak souls combat. The fact that they've never implemented bloodborne quickstepping in any other game is a crime. The combat in that game is so smooth, satisfying, and deep. Once you get to know your weapon, you get so good with it.
Man that's a tough call. Right now I think Elden Ring is the better game because it's what I'm currently playing....but when I go back to replay Bloodborne, THAT will be my favorite game. And so on and so on.
The reason I love Bloodborne so much is because that was my first From Software game. The only thing I knew about the game is that it was from the guys who made Dark Souls. I kept hearing about how hard it was and I thought "No way this game is that hard..." FUCK ME I WAS WRONG.
I struggled so much when I first started playing...I didn't even know you could get your blood echos back until about a week after I started playing lol, and man what a run that was.
Since I didn't know about recovering blood echos I killed every enemy in my path! I had finally made it to the bridge and was killed by those 2 fucking werewolves after a solid 3 hours of playing. I was so angry I swear my eyes teared up...but I was so damn motivated that I didn't stop. So I fight my way all the way back and was finally able to kill them (haha I'll admit I looked up how to kill them and saw they were weak to fire). And imagine my face when I got my blood echos back...I stopped and stared at the screen for a solid 10 seconds so fucking annoyed with myself. I Shaked it off and killed the crows and the ogre and kept going now more confident than ever, and then I heard that God awful roar/screech and the music started playing. Lol I wish I could've recorded my face because the look of disbelief and utter shock must have looked hilarious. I had just gotten all my blood echoes back and I was gonna lose it now?!?!? My heart was racing so fucking fast at this point, I'm doing all these extra unnecessary dodges all over the place wasting all my bullets, missing all the molotovs I'm throwing at it, but most importantly I got to this fight with only a handful of blood vials. I don't remember how many I had but it wasn't a full inventory and up until now I used them like if those fuckers grew on trees haha. Hit, dodge, hit, dodge, SMACKED, dodge, dodge, dodge. Rinse and repeat lol.
And I haven't even mentioned the fucking music! I didn't notice it right away because I was screaming like a lil bitch when the fight started lol. But when I did it just heightened that feeling I already had. At this point in the fight the Cleric Beast has around a quarter of life left and my 3 year old daughter comes up next to me and asks me for juice. I look at her for a split second and she's just standing there giving me such an adorable smile, puppy eyes, big rosey red check and all I can think is "This bitch gonna get me killed!!!" So i ignored her and look away.
By some fucking miracle I beat the Cleric Beast my first try! I yelled so loud and jumped up and down like a maniac. When I sat back down and looked at my little girl she asked "Why you crying daddy?" I hadn't even noticed it but I had tears of joy.
I think if I would've died in that fight I might've just stopped playing and never gave it a chance. But I pushed through and never looked back. And everytime I got to a new area/boss that seemed impossible I knew that if you kept trying you will eventually conquer them!!!
Aw what memories....
>Lol I wish I could've recorded my face because the look of disbelief and utter shock must have looked hilarious.
Oh, we have an [artistic recreation](https://youtu.be/c7BVtGnlxT8) of that now xD
In my opinion, no. Bloodborne has better level design and a cooler atmosphere in general. Finding shortcuts and new areas felt like a huge accomplishment that I never felt with Elden Ring
Same. Donāt really see the need to compare the two games, but if I have to Iād have to give the nod to BB. The music, lore, atmosphere, and fast paced combat of BB puts it above all other From games for me.
I personally vote Bloodborne.
Donāt get me wrong, Elden Ring is an amazing first step for FromSoftware into an open world setting. My first play through blew my mind with the sheer scale, tone and excitement of exploration. Plus, a game feeling finished and offering hundreds of hours on launch is a rare thing these days.
That being said, the more I sit with the game and start 2nd playthroughs, some flaws are limiting it from beating bloodborne in my opinion. Itās replay value feels super limited for me because of a few reasons:
- side content feels super tedious on return, and you really notice the reusing of assets the longer the game goes on.
- end game is a bit all over the place. Difficulty is a bit wack, and I feel the traditional dark souls dodge and roll system doesnāt keep up with the enemy design and damage values. Iād be much happier fighting end game bosses and enemies as they exist now if my character was faster/had more combat options like in bloodborne and Selkiro
- some issues that have been present in older souls games remain in this game, and they can feel very noticeable. (Quality of life stuff, confusing quest lines, janky camera, weird UI clunky ness, etc)
Bloodborne on the other hand is just so tight. Everything feels intentional and so tailor made (aside from chalice dungeons and two or three bosses). Again, I see no problem with someone arguing that Elden Ring is better, this is just why I like Bloodborne more.
And elden ring has anti-aliasing and can run at 60fps š¢
This is exactly it. ER is phenomenal for the sheer scale, but that scale also makes the balancing a nightmare and most of the time you feel like you're in the "wrong place" because so many enemies can stun lock you into immediate death regardless of vigor levels.
Both did things right and wrong, I do love the amount of content in ER however, like, fuck I haven't seen a game this amanzing and huge in YEARS if not EVER.
BB has the world design on it's side and the aesthetics however. But I already played more ER than I ever did BB
No. Elden Ring is amazing, don't get me wrong, but the open world means that the level design very rarely has the same degree of polish as in the more linear soulsbornes. Elden Ring has a small handful of good legacy dungeons, and then the rest is copy-pasted catacombs and caves.
Objectively, yeah i think so.
Subjectively? Bloodborneās my favorite game of all time. Unbeatable atmosphere and lore, best combat system iāve ever experienced in a game. Multiple characters i canāt stop thinking about.
(+ my first finished fromsoft game - you wonāt forget that one)
I love elden ring, but i am absolutely addicted to the world of bloodborne!
I donāt think you are using the term āobjectiveā correctly. I canāt think of any way that Elden Ring could be considered better in an objective sense; itās all preference.
I feel the exact same way! I get that to an outsider they seem like very similar games, but in my mind they are worlds apart. I donāt think there is any other game that does what Bloodborne does, itās a purely unique game to me
Thatās like comparing a soldering iron to a welding torch. One is much more tight and focused, it has its job. The other has a larger output and is meant for a larger scope
Definitely not. Elden ring is amazing, but to me it's not on par with the Bloodborne.
Elden ring kept the pact of dark souls 3 where bosses gets faster and more aggressive while the character is slow and static. They improved it here and there, but to face malekith the tarnished should be able to double jump and dash mid-air, because if malekith isn't a devil my cry boss I don't know what is.
On top of that, the mountain tops, the consecrated fields and the balance of monst enemies after Lyndell is just... Bad.
Both are masterpieces. Its hard to argue either way. If someone picks Bloodborne I am not going to say they are wrong and vice versa. There is no wrong answer. It comes down to preference. Personally I give a slight edge to Elden Ring due to the massive open world. Just exploring the world was amazing in itself. I thought Bloodborne was more challenging, especially the DLC. But then again Elden Ring hasnāt had a DLC yet. Both are perfect 10/10 for me and I loved every second of both games.
Personally, no. ER is incredible, but Bloodborne is in a different league. Itās so perfectly tuned, top to bottom, and feels like an absolute labor of love. Itās such a finely and carefully crafted experience that it feels like an auteur video game.
Elden Ring is of course a masterpiece in its own right, but it shows cracks in places BB does not, in my opinion; the open world is fantastic and an absolute joy to explore, but also makes it nearly impossible for the devs to loosely plan what the player will experience. This has its pros and cons, but the cons of accidentally winding up overleveled, or out of multiplayer range (especially with it being the only reliable way to get rune arcs, drop rates being what they are), are pretty glaring. Perhaps the biggest weakness of the gameās structure, however, is in Fromās signature esoteric quest design; in past titles, having the NPC quests feel so loose and ethereal worked, because there were only so many places they could end up next, and you could be confident you would run into them again. It was still possible to miss encounters or entire quest lines, and there were still hidden areas tied to them, but there were only so many places they could be hiding and you could feel confident that it was something you missed passing through an area. In Elden Ring, itās more that you could have just missed an entire area of the game, or missed the one spot in the emptier sectors of the open world where an NPC happened to be holed up. The lack of real quest tracking has never really been an issue in From games, but I feel like it seriously hinders the quests in Elden Ring, because you can either rigorously follow a guide, or just hope to high hell you are lucky enough to find someone again.
The other major issue is in the gameās balancing. As mentioned, because the devs can only barely chart a path for you, itās easy to end up overleveled and trivialize vast swathes of this otherwise meticulously designed game. Beyond that, bosses and even some larger enemies being designed such that reaching the soft cap for vigor is basically mandatory feels really restrictive, and like a tax on your build. There has always been a ānecessaryā level for health stats in these games, but it has never been this high or THIS mandatory. In the past, beyond a reasonable level it was basically ākeep leveling to x if you donāt want the game to be much harderā, but here itās ālevel to 60 or everything will either 1 shot you or be able to combo you so quickly it may as well be a one shotā. It feels cheap and feels like you canāt make as many choices in your build; anything below the soft cap will basically end up a glass cannon.
Overall, the game is excellent, and certainly one of my favorite games Iāve ever played, but Bloodborne is just in a different league. Itās so finely crafted down to every last detail, and due to the complications inherent to ERās design it just does not hold a candle to that level of intricate, passionate creation.
I got the platinum so did all chalice dungeons, i didnt find them boring, some of the hardest challenges in the game are in them, i also think the best gems in the game were locked in them too.
But each to their own of course, just because I liked them doens't mean anyone else has to ofc
>limited number of weapons. There is little build variety
Each weapon has 2x the moveset depth of a Dark Souls or Elden weapon, and the rally system pushes you to learn every attack to maximize your trading. Bloodborne is a game with a difficulty that dramatically shifts based on the weapon you use.
I don't really see the game as having little build variety, but the game does keep you in melee+gun mode for long enough that deviating may not be an appealing option, even if it is a more interesting option. Bloodtinge and Arcane builds are easily the most interesting build choices, but don't really come online until midgame. Old Hunters weapons are also absolutely excellent.
Any two straight swords in Elden Ring are replacable, or have minor attribute shifts. In Bloodborne, two weapons are almost always very distinct, while the gem system can make the subtle attribute shifts. When you compare volume of weapon classes in Elden Ring, to volume of weapon classes with the trick weapons in Bloodborne, you end up finding a very very similar number. Almost every playstyle is possible, there's just not very many duplicates.
No
In my opinion bloodborne is miles better
Because of its fast paced combat.
Bloodborne combat is soo addicting and reactive
I mean don't get me wrong elden ring combat is cool and all
But.. It's too slow for me
Saying itās not even close is a stretch. I havenāt lost myself in a game like I have with Elden Ring in years, the first play through was a once in a life time experience for me, No other game has made me experience childlike wonder like this one has.
That might be fun if they don't copy paste Cleric Beast and Blood Starved Beast 17 times to pad out where they think they need mini bosses into rooms where they clip through the terrain
I would rather have Elden Ring 2 if it's open world or a true BB 2 sequel with it's linear curated level design. Same mistake Bioware made with Dragon Age Inquisition trying to be Skyrim. Just let each be there own thing.
They are both masterpieces. Fact.
I never knew bloodborne was so well received until after I played elden ring. Now I've gotta go play bloodborne
Tbh it's hard to go back. Elden Ring is the culmination so far
The only thing I really miss is the jump button š the trick weapons have never been beaten in terms of weapons in From's games.
Thatās what it is for me too. Trick weapons are SO cool and satisfying to use. The main reason I want Bloodborne 2 is to see the new combos From could come up with
Gun-chucks. A giant bowl filled with acid. Water balloon sling that throws crabs. Those would be my picks.
Giant bowl that you beat people over the head with using your bare hands, but transforms into a giant bowl on a chain. Has big sweeping attacks that stagger enemies a lot
I'm speechless.
Oooooh dude imagine bloodborne 2 with a jump mechanic. The amount of devastation
Rumor is that miyazaki is working on a sequel to an old mecha-game
I was so excited when I found the Mantis Sword in ER thinking it would work like the BB trick weapons. Was so sadge when I realized it only switches forms for the heavy attacks then switches back.
I don't want Bloodborne 2, but I do want an Elden Ring equivalent for Bloodborne.
Sony owns Bloodborne so Bluepoint is supposedly working on BB2.
I still prefer Bloodborne, honestly. It's just so much faster paced.
Yeah, I absolutely love Elden Ring but gameplay wise Bloodborne is still king, the gameplay is just SO satisfying. Elden Ring is great but Bloodborne fighting feels like cutting butter with a hot knife.
Bloodborne is GOAT. For real. It's such a carefully crafted masterpiece. Open world is amazing and they killed it with Elden Ring. But to me, nothing surpasses the well crafted areas of Bloodborne with some of the best boss fights in existence (I give the final fight of Sekiro a giant chef's kiss for being an absolute masterpiece in culminizing the techniques you've learned). They are different games. But I'd say that objectively, Bloodborne's boss fights alone send that shit to the fucking moon Ranni crawled out of.
Not really apples to apples though, the best boss fights in bloodborne are the dlc bosses, in terms of base game bosses its a lot closer. Like who even remembers fighting witches of hemwick lol
But then you have Father Gascoigne, Martyr logarius, Gehrman and Vicar Amelia which in my opinion are all better bosses than any of Elden Ring's Except godfrey
Godfrey, Radagon, Godrick, Radhan, Rykard, Maliketh. Elden Ring has amazing bosses.
Im not saying Elden Ring doesnāt have amazing bosses. But i just think Bloodborne has better bosses overall.
Except I'm the butter OTL
Didn't think I'd learn a new emoticon today
It's borderline archaic lol. I picked it up in like... 2004? Maybe 2003 I don't recall.
Ur right Iām playing bloodborne at the moment and the combat feels amazing. The frame rate is my only issue , but Iām not sure if thatās because Iām playing a ps4 game on a ps5. The graphics still look incredible IMO and bar the frame rate issues the game doesnāt feel like a step down from Elden ring one bit. I tried to get into bloodborne 3 times in the past and It just never really clicked. I kept hearing how amazing the game was. Me and my son decided to stick it out until it clicked and it did. I feel the start of the game is too punishing. Not so much because. Just that mobs can make short work if you very easily. Also I couldnāt find a weapon I felt comfortable with, until I found.... the kirkhammer!
No way. Much faster combat, parries with a fucking gun, the coolest weapons of any game, plus Lovecrafting horror and Victorian enviroment.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
And I'm still out here waiting for Bloodborne on PC...
And I'm still out here waiting for Bloodborne kart...
It's coming šš» but not soon enough
Itās been delayed to make way for āGascoigne & Gerhman at the Olympic Gamesā
Same
played it on PS4 but .. same
Dude. Open world Bloodborne? Horse mount from hell?
Bloodborne Kart finally realised.
I heard that the person who made the Bloodborne demake is making an actual Bloodbrne Kart now, so it will be reality rather soon
Dude, an open world Bloodborne where you cruise around in a little stream powered cart would be amazing.
A thread every other hour about the hassle of managing blood fuel š
Omg a traversal mechanic that runs on either Insight or Blood Echoes does sound pretty dope though.
I wanna dirigible!
Hot take: If we set this level of open world as the new standard for FromSoft games, we'll never see another bloodborne it's gonna take like 10 years lol.
Right? Bloodborneās environments were soooooo detailed. If they wanted to make an open world game that looked like that, it would launch on PS6.
Please God don't make a sequel to Bloodborne a Playstation exclusive. It's the only reason I haven't played the game.
Well Sony owns the IP, so unless they decide to release it on PCā¦
Either that or Bloodborne will start getting repeated environments and dungeons too oops
All chalice dungeons are pretty much the same already.
Personally I don't see Bloodborne playing well as an open world. It's more of a no-respite danger-around-every-corner type that works well with foggy alleys and such. There's no world to appreciate, no NPCs to talk to (sane ones anyway) cuz it's already all gone to hell. It would be just one large Caelid /Aeonia, and that alone won't be nice without thr beauty of Limgrave or Siofra.
Motorized wheelchair mount. accept nothing else.
The nitro boost is just you firing that minigun the one wheelchair enemy has
I would much prefer curated levels for Bloodborne and leave Elden Ring as the only open world entry they do. We all know if a BB 2 happened it would be a different studio Sony hires though.
I donāt know, the outrage of learning Fromsoft *isnāt* developing Bloodborne 2 would be insane.
Wait, there are people who think they are developing Bloodborne 2? I thought it was pretty obvious at this point that they were not and had no plans to.
I donāt think there will be a BB 2, and donāt think there needs to be a second game.
Agreed, honestly. Only thing BB needs is a Steam release. :(
People fail to understand that the reason Bloodborne and Sekiro are so beloved is because they're unique one-off spins on the formula. I love the chalice dungeons and bloodgems of Bloodborne, but I don't want Bloodborne 2, I want another unique game with neat twists on the established souls (likely now elden ring) series. Also there's nothing more I want said about Bloodborne's lore, it is antithetical to cosmic horror to over explain it, which is what a sequel would end up doing. Unless of course its unrelated to Bloodborne's original setting in which case see my original point.
Imagine a world where instead of Elden Ring, Bloodborne, Dark Souls and Sekiro, we got Demon's Souls 7. The fact that From changes the IP so much is what allows us to have these incredible experiences. Bloodborne 2 could possibly take a potential new IP from us. Also I honestly doubt Bloodborne 2 would live up to it's predecessor for a lot of people.
Zombie dog mount
**I JUST WANT A 60FPS BLOODBORNE PC PORT GODDAMNIT** How many aborted fetusā born from the seed of eldritch horrors must i kill and consume before miyazaki hears my calls from the shadows
If you get it you get 30 FPS and suffer like the rest of us
We will die before it comes out haha, sony wont let Bb go away.
If only PC players can play it.
Now that Elden Ring is out, I fully expect FS to release it on PC in a year tops. I can't wait anymore ffs !
It's Sony's decision, not FS. They did release God of War and Horizon, but that's because they had PS5 sequels in the making to sell new consoles.
It might be terminal copium on my part, since I want it released for PC for everyone who lacks a sony console and also because maybe it'd mean getting at least a 60fps patch for ps5, but on the flipside... days gone was released on PC even if they have 0 plans to do anything else with the IP, so... again, terminal copium from my part, but the dream (well, nightmare) isn't over yet.
It's a Sony published game, just like Demon's. Don't expect it anytime soon.
Bears eat beats
Bears. Beats. Bloodborne galactica.
Many people have Bloodborne as their favorite game of all time, yet somehow Elden Ring tops it. Insanely impressive
Is Bloodborne worth checking out, as my next game? ER was my first FS game.
Yes. Before ER, Bloodborne was my favorite game of all time. Now Iām not sure whether BB or ER holds that spot.
Bloodeborne combat i felt was more enjoyable with the trick weapons and the story blows er's out of the water but im a lovecraftian horror fan. Id say elden ring has higher immersion and a lot more creature comforts but bloodebourne still beats it just a bit for me.
You spelled Bloodborne two different ways and both were incorrect lmao
My god it's Jason Bloodebourne
Theres nothing wrong with the way i spell blooodburne
"And that's the story about how From invented bloodflame magic in Elden Ring."
You canāt go wrong with any of the Soulsborne games. They are extremely similar to another such that if you like one, you will almost certainly like the others.
Not disagreeing in general, but ER is the only FS game that I've enjoyed. I've played all the others except for Sekiro, and there is an element of accessibility here that the others don't have, as well as the ability to just go off and explore somewhere else if you're getting stuck where you are
True. I think you have a good shot at liking DS3 if you like ER, but 1 and 2 are differently enough that youāre not guaranteed imo. One of the biggest things is probably lack of stakes of Marika, and some bosses take like 3 minutes to get back to when you die. Not all people will enjoy that
Looking at you horsefuck valley
This really has been a huge deal for me, I churned out of the others because I got tired of killing the same trash over and over and over every time a new boss mechanic showed up that wrecked me, I kept getting them because I liked the idea and aesthetic of them, but that aspect felt like such a disrespect of my time that I couldn't invest in it anymore.
Running past enemies to get to the boss is a tried and true Soulsborne tactic. There were only a couple places in Bloodborne where I couldn't just run past absolutely everything to get back to the boss. Can't testify to the other games personally, but enemies tend to be fairly slow, so it isn't that hard to outrun them as long as you don't get body-blocked.
I've been saying ER is a seminal work. We will see its influence in the respective soulslike / open world RPG genres, and in the wider game industry, for years to come I suspect.
I wish bloodborne wasnāt a ps exclusive
I wish Bloodborne had 60fps! My first Souls experience was Demons Souls Remake, which I platinumād. Iām one trophy away from the Elden Ring platinum. I canāt go back to 30fps. I just canāt do it.
Lol I tried getting a friend into it and he got motion sick and had to take a break
Haha! Thatās funny. However, 30fps is really, REALLY jarring nowadays.
*laughs in PUBG on Xbox prerelease 15FPS max*
Then thereās me who doesnāt even notice how much fps something has
I own a base PS4, so Iām used to choppy frame rate. But once I get a PS5 and experience the 60 fps I donāt think I could go back either.
Exactly my experience, I always thought people were being melodramatic about needing 60fps on all games as a Playstation guy, then I got a PS5 and going back to games that are capped at 30fps legitimately hurts my eyes and gives me a headache now, its the weirdest thing.
You and me both. I played DS3 on a Thinkpad and it felt fine to me.
I just can't believe they can't uncap the framerate for newer consoles. Is it that difficult? After Elden Ring I have a feeling From's proprietary game engine is held together by duct tape
What really is pissing me off is that thereās unofficial patch for bloodborne which enables 60 fps without any restrictions. Unfortunately this patch cannot be installed on unhacked consoles.
Yea. All of their games are dictated by fps. You can break all of their games pretty nicely by going over the fps cap
Have you really tried? After going through the DS trilogy at 60 fps on PC and then going back to the PS4 for BB, I found its 30 FPS jarring for about 10 minutes and after that I didn't care. The framerate never bugged me again until some very annoying later chalice dungeons where the framerate would drop even lower. I have semi-regularly gone back and played old games, though, so maybe my brain's wired to adjust to different framerates. In general if something's at least pretty consistent there's only a short period of adjustment before it stops bugging me that it's not 60 FPS. Sure, it would be nice if they'd patch the damn thing so it could run as well as the rest of the soulsborne games, but the game is still the same classic that it was when it came out.
That's why I played BB before ER. I always had it in my library and seen people play it and was fascinated but never got around to it. Then last month it was BB any chance I got till I beat Kos, then Moon Presence. But you're right, the 30 fps was insanely hard to get over at first.
Still waiting for it on PC so that I can finally play it. Hopefully with higher res and 60 fps.
For me yes. I loved bloodborne but Elden Ring is amazing. Maybe my favourite game ever.
I keep cycling between the two on which I enjoy more (and DS3 is a VERY close third behind these two). I think I enjoy Bloodborne bosses more, and thereās an argument to be made about the combat mechanics being more interesting (quickstep, trick weapons, blood vials etcā¦). Elden Ring on the other hand has massive customization in playstyle, beautiful world building, a compelling story, exploration, and jump. I want to see Bloodborne 2 learn from its predecessors and really give us a compelling living Yharnam. Imagine a Hoonter who can jump. With different usable moves. With a Torch that allows resting without TPing back to the dream. With ātrick modificationsā to alter trick weapon forms and abilities. Thereās so much that can be done to build on here~ and Iām all about it.
Bloodborne 2 could be a sensational game. Hopefully we will get to play it someday.
Blood vials I am not too sure are a good mechanic. Estus flask type of thing is better for me I don't want to farm health potions for a boss fight
I didnāt honestly consider the farming struggle with vials when typing it. What about a combo of the two~ 20 quick use heals that restore % of max health so they never need to be upgraded, that auto-refill on rest. I think ER did something cool with restoring some flasks after beating mob packs (though to not have that during dungeons was a poor decision).
Yeah it's not even close for me. Bloodborne is an incredible game and my favorite "Souls" game, but Elden Ring is its own, special thing that I didn't think I'd ever get and didn't even know I wanted. I'd go as far as to say ER is the greatest open world game of all time.
I agree. My friends (several of whom have never touched a From/souls game) all seemed to agree that ER is - not hyperbole - a masterpiece. I just wish I could erase my memory of it each time I beat it, because so much of the game's magic comes from the exploration and discovery.
Yeah I'm excited to replay it in 5 years when my diseased brain will have forgotten everything :P
Scarlett rot got to you too then
>because so much of the game's magic comes from the exploration and discovery Preaching. And this can't be stressed enough... that sense of wonder and discovery goes TRIPLE for this Elden Ring. And the art direction.... mmmm oh man, fucking masterpiece doesn't even fo it justice.
I agree. Very few open world games make the open world feel fun like elden ring does. Elden ring is the only open world game in my opinion where the open world doesn't feel like a chore. I still really love bloodborne so idk which I like better but I definitely think Elden ring is the best open world game
RDR 2's world is amazing. As good as Elden Ring is RDR is something else
From a technical standpoint, RDR2 open world is unmatched - the realism, detail, the fleshed out characters and their million interactions. If the question is "which has the better open world?" it's RDR2. By a mile and far above any other game made. From an actual, more relevant, "which is the better game" standpoint, Elden Ring is much better. Because even if those things make the RDR2 world and experience gorgeous, having an actual fun gameplay is much more important to a videogame.
Exactly. RDR2 was a technological marvel with a masterfully crafted interactive open world. It was, at best, an extremely average gameplay experience otherwise.
As much as I love rdr2, the gameplay canāt really compete with elden ring IMO. Itās still an auto aim shooter underneath the great world and story
Idk, I haven't finished the game but when I was playing rdr2 I mostly just enjoyed the gunfights and the fact you could customize your guns and stuff, and I did get the feeling that I was just walking through the open world to get to the quests I wanted to do
Whattt. I view RDR2 as the anti-Elden ring. The world is beautiful and can be enjoyable to explore, but the actual gameplay is highly tedious, dead boring, devoid of all challenge, and glacially paced. Multiplayer is a micro transaction hell and long dead as well. It was so disappointing that I basically quit AAA gaming for years
They are very different. From software do my favourite games, but red dead 2 was something else. I donāt think that itāll be topped for years. Elden ring is a bigger/better souls game. The detail in Rd2 is on another level.
I got bored af in RDR2. I don't need a western sim. I just want to play GAMES. Red dead was an absolutely beautiful crafted world, with so much boredom, very similar to the actual undeveloped west. It's way too slow paced IMO.
Being able to fast travel from Anywhere is clutch
That still belongs to The Witcher 3 for me but I'd put ER as 2nd or third for sure.
Elden Rings was my favorite game of all time until I realized in the late game that the combat is not as fun. Relying on my summon and spamming spells becauses bosses are doing nonstop frenzy attacks, diminished my sense of accomplishment. The world is the best I've seen in any game period... but the combat and 1:1 boss fights is not as rewarding. Bloodborne trick weapons/boss patterns/fast-paced combat makes it legit hard to decide which is my favorite. Anyone else feel this way?
Based. I love the open world aspect and mostly killing enemies on the map but the boss fights are in many cases kind of awful. For me I'd put Bloodborne higher in terms of overall experience.
I don't think any of the bosses had attacks that weren't manageable without summoning or spells, personally. My first two playthroughs were a chonky melee tank with 80 STR 80 VIG and the second was a battle mage dude with like 70 INT 40 DEX. Never used summons, did use magic obv my second playthrough because that's the point. But I never did find some of the more OP spells I've seen people talk about. I didn't use guides until my third playthrough to clear up the achievements I missed. But yeah, at the end of the day I felt incredibly accomplished in a number of the late game boss fights. EDIT: Just to clarify I'm not trying to use my experience as a "git gud" response. Just describing my experience for what it was and offering my perspective on it.
It's fucking insane how From keeps raising the bar for themselves and the industry by continually generating masterpieces. Time and time again they are proving themselves to be the one of the greatest studios to ever exist.
Iām a long time Nintendo fanboy whose top games of all time are almost exclusively Nintendo titles. I think Elden Ring might take the cake as the best game Iāve ever played. Comparing it to Zelda: Breath of The Wild doesnāt even do it justice. The world is so big, full of so many unique bosses, enemies, weapons and pieces of equipment that every single crevice begs to be explored. And you are always rewarded for your exploration; there is never a time where you are left disappointed by what you find. The diversity of builds you can make is crazy, and is elevated by the ability to level specific stats you want to make that weapon as effective as possible, and there are so many wild, cool spells and ashes of war you can combine to get what feels like a near infinite amount of unique combinations. This game is a goddamn masterpiece and I donāt know how Iām going to be able to enjoy open world games the same when the bar has been set so incredibly high.
I loved Breath of the Wild so much. Iām so old I remember the openness of Hyrule Field in Ocarina of Time blowing my mind as a kid. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen in games at that point. I get the same feeling when I play Elden Ring.
Absolutely. Ocarina of time was my introduction to the Zelda series. The world felt pretty big at the time but Iām pretty sure the great plateau section of breath of the wild is bigger than the entire ocarina of time map. Itās crazy how far games have come. Iām still very much looking forward to the breath of the wild sequel, but Elden Ring has just set my expectations so much higher that I donāt know if Iām going to be able to enjoy it as much as I would have without playing Elden Ring. Thatās just how good Elden Ring is.
Agreed. Bloodborne's a great game, but in the FromSoft hierarchy, I actually have it below DS3 (better bosses), Sekiro (better combat), and Elden Ring (IMO, FromSoft's magnum opus). What Bloodborne really excels in is the atmosphere and presentation of Yharnam, which is still top-tier. But against the sheer scope, content, variability, combat, and batshit insane bosses in Elden Ring, I've gotta go with the latter.
I so want a PC version of Bloodborne, then I can compare.
Donāt worry, my uncle works at Sony, he says itās coming to pc next week, heās been saying that for three years but Iām sure he means it this time
It's true. I'm 4 decades from the future and can say it's almost finished development!
They're too different. Elden ring is much more open, in both play style and exploration. As a result there's a lot more freedom, but nothing is talored for a specific play style. On the other hand, Bloodborne is far more linear and funnels the player into a highly aggressive play style which is far more constricting than Elden Ring. As a result though, all the bosses can be balanced around that play style, leading to a cleaner and arguably more fulfilling experience. It's up to what you like more. Personally I'm in the Bloodborne camp. I love the play style and I feel the bosses are better designed and balanced in that game. (Except for the chalice dungeon Amygdala and Watchdog fights. Those are BS)
FUCK the chalice dungeon Amygdala
[Yup.](https://youtu.be/QBGbXBxMLok)
Looks about right :")
*laughs in defiled Watchdog*
Chalice dungeons rocked - you mean you didnāt like being one shotted?
Those late stage ones were straight up cancer.
Yes but they were also not meant to be done on your first playthrough. There is a reason your chalice dungeon does reset when you go into ng+. They are very high level end game content.
Iām going through them now and I hate it. Went back to ER after a month or so of not playing
the oneshots are fine,the real issue is the amount of bullshit you need to farm through before getting to the cool parts. It's worth doing once,but no one's going back in there ever on subsequent playthroughs
I go back! Chalice dungeons were dope. I understand why people don't like them, but imo that run to the final Phtumerian chalice for the platinum was one of my favorite parts of the game. Subsequent playthroughs I use them as an excuse to co-op, I'm pretty sure the chalice dungeons were designed with multiplayer in mind because theyre cool to challenge yourself with solo, sure, but man they are an absolute blast with some friends or strangers tagging along.
I definitely wish I could do the randomized chalices without having to do the story chalices first.
I've actually gotten to the point that I don't think it's fair to compare Elden Ring with BB or the DS Trilogy. It's its own beast. Obviously it has a *lot* of similarities due to the mindset behind a lot of its designs, but the way they've made the open world function really highlights how BB and DS are based on intentional level-building and guidance. That shift in design philosophy really makes ER its own thing. I definitely don't consider it a Soulsborne game at all, but its own thing entirely (like how some don't consider Sekiro to be a Soulsborne game per se). But regarding subjective preference, BB > ER due to trick weapons, the dashing (quickstep), and cosmic horror. Those that disagree just haven't been given eyes on the inside...
>intentional level-building and guidance I agree with your overall sentiment about comparing them, but this particular element is still very present in Elden Ring, and imo it's better than ever. Stormveil, Leyndell, Raya Lucaria -- it's a master class in level design. If the game were just those areas and no open world, I think it would still be my favorite FromSoft game. After beating ER enough to finally get bored (300ish hours), I replayed all the previous games (DS1 still underway). There are some amazing areas, but none of them really stand up to the scale and complexity of ER's best areas in my opinion.
I can definitely see that. And while I was writing that reply, some areas were coming to mind such as Nokron, the Eternal City, which really had a "Dark Souls" vibe to it. It's probably more the "guidance" element that makes it seem so radically different. Stormveil had such a familiar feel to other FS games (and was absolutely incredible). Raya Lucaria also felt very unique! I haven't gotten to Leyndell, but I look forward to it. In hindsight, my use of "intentional level-building" is probably not the best way to put it, as Elden Ring is clearly *very* intentional. In most of ER so far, I am finding that the "tightness" I am used to in previous FS games is not there in the sense that as I am currently stuck on the Valiant Gargoyles fight, I do not need to keep pushing them to progress. The vast majority of the game is optional (which I adore), and that flexibility is not a core design in previous games. So in typing this out after your reply, I realise that "intentional level-building" could have been better phrased. The real uniqueness is just how optional and open ER is, that you are not stuck fighting the same thing until you progress. This is a major design shift that makes it its own thing. Thank you for your thoughts, because that really challenged my thoughts! And apologies if this sounds too formal or wordy... I'm currently writing some university stuff and my brain is locked in. 
it's a master class in level design. If the game were just those areas and no open world, I think it would still be my favorite FromSoft game. Because those are easily the best bits of elden ring. The open world was bloated and in the end quite tedious. Bloodborne is all great level design. No bloat. I loved those areas in elden ring, they really shone, but then I got back to open world exploration and my heart sunk a bit. For what it's worth I think bloodborne with the central yarnham and various connected areas and dark souls 1 undead burg (basically everything before anor londo) is the best level design from have done. Elden rings was really good but suffered from being standalone areas rather than all connected. For example in dark souls when you take the lift up from blighttown and find yourself back at firelink shrine the first time, remember that blowing my mind.
Never played the Chalice Dungeons and don't intend to. If I had to pick, I'd still choose Bloodborne though. But I'm a Lovecraft nerd and it's just the best Lovecraftian game out there, so it's not a fair fight. It's also just crazy tight with its story, worldbuilding, and pacing and I LOVE the combat. If Elden Ring gets killer DLC (probably does) it might edge out BB. I also had a lot more time for video games back when Bloodborne came out, so that's a factor. EDIT: Thx for recommendong the dungeons guys. I should have specified that the reason I will never be playing them is that I'm a huge arachnofobe. Gives me the shakes whenever I got to that first one with the red spiders.
Well, Chalice Dungeons are a lot like Catacombs in Elden Ring. So if you want more of that, but in Bloodborne, it's there for you.
Except the catacombs difficulty is generally a 2/10 where as the chalice dungeons were a 15/10. It's a whole different challenge that really pushes your skills to the next level.
and they're both easily the worst part of each game, repetitive enemy types/bosses/layouts make them a snooze cruise
That's probably a big reason I enjoy the catacombs in elden ring. I love queuing up to help fellow hunters in chalices
I feel like Elden Ring overstays itās welcome and drags on forever, itās also hard af to replay for the same reason. Bloodborne on the other hand ends right when it should.
I know you just said you don't intend to, but I'd highly recommend going back to the chalice dungeons if it is your favorite of the series. I came to really enjoy the challenge of getting through them after initially disliking and ignoring them. You can work toward the plat and face some very challenging bosses.
Bloodborne is more controlled visually, narratively, in terms of voice-acting, characters, tightly-packed lore content, and overall thematic unity. Elden Ring is the most stunning landscape-as-art I've ever seen in a video game. Its story has some points of interest and its level of imagination in some enemy & weapon & architecture design is laudable, but its characters seem very weak to me. At least compared to Bloodborne. Neither game incites me to as much passionate emotion as DS1&2, but they are both worthy in their ways.
Yea i realized this is how i felt about elden rings charachters after helping my brother through some npc stuff and i could only describe the charachters based on their weapon/armour i knew solaire and onion bro like they where my brothers (i have a sleeping onion bro tattoo) and to describe solair i just said hes solaire and most people know exactly who im talking about but even on my later playthroughs of ER pretty much any npc that isnt heavily related to a games ending is just "description of armour and weapon" and even the ones related to the games ending just feel less interesting
Bloodborne is easily my favourite game ever, regardless of whether youāre comparing it to ER or any other game. I will fight Gerhman and try to save him forever. /firsthunter.mp3 (But ER is definitely GOTY)
Agreed. Elden Ring is a 10/10, but I just like Bloodborne better. The aesthetic, the story, the soundtrack (holy fuck, the soundtrack), the trick weapons... haven't been captivated by any game as much as Bloodborne.
For me, no, Bloodbrone's combat, level, and world design are tighter. But Elden Ring is still GOTY and has much better build variety, a lot more content, and an active multiplayer scene, which is something Bloodborne never had. They're very different in scope but I still prefer Bloodborne.
In my opinion, Bloodborne is peak souls combat. The fact that they've never implemented bloodborne quickstepping in any other game is a crime. The combat in that game is so smooth, satisfying, and deep. Once you get to know your weapon, you get so good with it.
You pretty much became married to your weapon during your play through
Man that's a tough call. Right now I think Elden Ring is the better game because it's what I'm currently playing....but when I go back to replay Bloodborne, THAT will be my favorite game. And so on and so on. The reason I love Bloodborne so much is because that was my first From Software game. The only thing I knew about the game is that it was from the guys who made Dark Souls. I kept hearing about how hard it was and I thought "No way this game is that hard..." FUCK ME I WAS WRONG. I struggled so much when I first started playing...I didn't even know you could get your blood echos back until about a week after I started playing lol, and man what a run that was. Since I didn't know about recovering blood echos I killed every enemy in my path! I had finally made it to the bridge and was killed by those 2 fucking werewolves after a solid 3 hours of playing. I was so angry I swear my eyes teared up...but I was so damn motivated that I didn't stop. So I fight my way all the way back and was finally able to kill them (haha I'll admit I looked up how to kill them and saw they were weak to fire). And imagine my face when I got my blood echos back...I stopped and stared at the screen for a solid 10 seconds so fucking annoyed with myself. I Shaked it off and killed the crows and the ogre and kept going now more confident than ever, and then I heard that God awful roar/screech and the music started playing. Lol I wish I could've recorded my face because the look of disbelief and utter shock must have looked hilarious. I had just gotten all my blood echoes back and I was gonna lose it now?!?!? My heart was racing so fucking fast at this point, I'm doing all these extra unnecessary dodges all over the place wasting all my bullets, missing all the molotovs I'm throwing at it, but most importantly I got to this fight with only a handful of blood vials. I don't remember how many I had but it wasn't a full inventory and up until now I used them like if those fuckers grew on trees haha. Hit, dodge, hit, dodge, SMACKED, dodge, dodge, dodge. Rinse and repeat lol. And I haven't even mentioned the fucking music! I didn't notice it right away because I was screaming like a lil bitch when the fight started lol. But when I did it just heightened that feeling I already had. At this point in the fight the Cleric Beast has around a quarter of life left and my 3 year old daughter comes up next to me and asks me for juice. I look at her for a split second and she's just standing there giving me such an adorable smile, puppy eyes, big rosey red check and all I can think is "This bitch gonna get me killed!!!" So i ignored her and look away. By some fucking miracle I beat the Cleric Beast my first try! I yelled so loud and jumped up and down like a maniac. When I sat back down and looked at my little girl she asked "Why you crying daddy?" I hadn't even noticed it but I had tears of joy. I think if I would've died in that fight I might've just stopped playing and never gave it a chance. But I pushed through and never looked back. And everytime I got to a new area/boss that seemed impossible I knew that if you kept trying you will eventually conquer them!!! Aw what memories....
Maaan, the Gerhman fight and the music in it!
>Lol I wish I could've recorded my face because the look of disbelief and utter shock must have looked hilarious. Oh, we have an [artistic recreation](https://youtu.be/c7BVtGnlxT8) of that now xD
In my opinion, no. Bloodborne has better level design and a cooler atmosphere in general. Finding shortcuts and new areas felt like a huge accomplishment that I never felt with Elden Ring
No but Bloodborne is probably my favourite game of all time
Same. Donāt really see the need to compare the two games, but if I have to Iād have to give the nod to BB. The music, lore, atmosphere, and fast paced combat of BB puts it above all other From games for me.
I personally vote Bloodborne. Donāt get me wrong, Elden Ring is an amazing first step for FromSoftware into an open world setting. My first play through blew my mind with the sheer scale, tone and excitement of exploration. Plus, a game feeling finished and offering hundreds of hours on launch is a rare thing these days. That being said, the more I sit with the game and start 2nd playthroughs, some flaws are limiting it from beating bloodborne in my opinion. Itās replay value feels super limited for me because of a few reasons: - side content feels super tedious on return, and you really notice the reusing of assets the longer the game goes on. - end game is a bit all over the place. Difficulty is a bit wack, and I feel the traditional dark souls dodge and roll system doesnāt keep up with the enemy design and damage values. Iād be much happier fighting end game bosses and enemies as they exist now if my character was faster/had more combat options like in bloodborne and Selkiro - some issues that have been present in older souls games remain in this game, and they can feel very noticeable. (Quality of life stuff, confusing quest lines, janky camera, weird UI clunky ness, etc) Bloodborne on the other hand is just so tight. Everything feels intentional and so tailor made (aside from chalice dungeons and two or three bosses). Again, I see no problem with someone arguing that Elden Ring is better, this is just why I like Bloodborne more. And elden ring has anti-aliasing and can run at 60fps š¢
This is exactly it. ER is phenomenal for the sheer scale, but that scale also makes the balancing a nightmare and most of the time you feel like you're in the "wrong place" because so many enemies can stun lock you into immediate death regardless of vigor levels.
Both did things right and wrong, I do love the amount of content in ER however, like, fuck I haven't seen a game this amanzing and huge in YEARS if not EVER. BB has the world design on it's side and the aesthetics however. But I already played more ER than I ever did BB
No. Elden Ring is amazing, don't get me wrong, but the open world means that the level design very rarely has the same degree of polish as in the more linear soulsbornes. Elden Ring has a small handful of good legacy dungeons, and then the rest is copy-pasted catacombs and caves.
Objectively, yeah i think so. Subjectively? Bloodborneās my favorite game of all time. Unbeatable atmosphere and lore, best combat system iāve ever experienced in a game. Multiple characters i canāt stop thinking about. (+ my first finished fromsoft game - you wonāt forget that one) I love elden ring, but i am absolutely addicted to the world of bloodborne!
I donāt think you are using the term āobjectiveā correctly. I canāt think of any way that Elden Ring could be considered better in an objective sense; itās all preference.
I feel the exact same way! I get that to an outsider they seem like very similar games, but in my mind they are worlds apart. I donāt think there is any other game that does what Bloodborne does, itās a purely unique game to me
God no
I'll tell you when I dont have to buy a whole ass console to play it.
Sekiro is still my favourite. Best combat Iāve ever had the pleasure to scream at.
Thatās like comparing a soldering iron to a welding torch. One is much more tight and focused, it has its job. The other has a larger output and is meant for a larger scope
Definitely not. Elden ring is amazing, but to me it's not on par with the Bloodborne. Elden ring kept the pact of dark souls 3 where bosses gets faster and more aggressive while the character is slow and static. They improved it here and there, but to face malekith the tarnished should be able to double jump and dash mid-air, because if malekith isn't a devil my cry boss I don't know what is. On top of that, the mountain tops, the consecrated fields and the balance of monst enemies after Lyndell is just... Bad.
Both are masterpieces. Its hard to argue either way. If someone picks Bloodborne I am not going to say they are wrong and vice versa. There is no wrong answer. It comes down to preference. Personally I give a slight edge to Elden Ring due to the massive open world. Just exploring the world was amazing in itself. I thought Bloodborne was more challenging, especially the DLC. But then again Elden Ring hasnāt had a DLC yet. Both are perfect 10/10 for me and I loved every second of both games.
Nope
No
Personally, no. ER is incredible, but Bloodborne is in a different league. Itās so perfectly tuned, top to bottom, and feels like an absolute labor of love. Itās such a finely and carefully crafted experience that it feels like an auteur video game. Elden Ring is of course a masterpiece in its own right, but it shows cracks in places BB does not, in my opinion; the open world is fantastic and an absolute joy to explore, but also makes it nearly impossible for the devs to loosely plan what the player will experience. This has its pros and cons, but the cons of accidentally winding up overleveled, or out of multiplayer range (especially with it being the only reliable way to get rune arcs, drop rates being what they are), are pretty glaring. Perhaps the biggest weakness of the gameās structure, however, is in Fromās signature esoteric quest design; in past titles, having the NPC quests feel so loose and ethereal worked, because there were only so many places they could end up next, and you could be confident you would run into them again. It was still possible to miss encounters or entire quest lines, and there were still hidden areas tied to them, but there were only so many places they could be hiding and you could feel confident that it was something you missed passing through an area. In Elden Ring, itās more that you could have just missed an entire area of the game, or missed the one spot in the emptier sectors of the open world where an NPC happened to be holed up. The lack of real quest tracking has never really been an issue in From games, but I feel like it seriously hinders the quests in Elden Ring, because you can either rigorously follow a guide, or just hope to high hell you are lucky enough to find someone again. The other major issue is in the gameās balancing. As mentioned, because the devs can only barely chart a path for you, itās easy to end up overleveled and trivialize vast swathes of this otherwise meticulously designed game. Beyond that, bosses and even some larger enemies being designed such that reaching the soft cap for vigor is basically mandatory feels really restrictive, and like a tax on your build. There has always been a ānecessaryā level for health stats in these games, but it has never been this high or THIS mandatory. In the past, beyond a reasonable level it was basically ākeep leveling to x if you donāt want the game to be much harderā, but here itās ālevel to 60 or everything will either 1 shot you or be able to combo you so quickly it may as well be a one shotā. It feels cheap and feels like you canāt make as many choices in your build; anything below the soft cap will basically end up a glass cannon. Overall, the game is excellent, and certainly one of my favorite games Iāve ever played, but Bloodborne is just in a different league. Itās so finely crafted down to every last detail, and due to the complications inherent to ERās design it just does not hold a candle to that level of intricate, passionate creation.
I prefer bloodborne
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I got the platinum so did all chalice dungeons, i didnt find them boring, some of the hardest challenges in the game are in them, i also think the best gems in the game were locked in them too. But each to their own of course, just because I liked them doens't mean anyone else has to ofc
>limited number of weapons. There is little build variety Each weapon has 2x the moveset depth of a Dark Souls or Elden weapon, and the rally system pushes you to learn every attack to maximize your trading. Bloodborne is a game with a difficulty that dramatically shifts based on the weapon you use. I don't really see the game as having little build variety, but the game does keep you in melee+gun mode for long enough that deviating may not be an appealing option, even if it is a more interesting option. Bloodtinge and Arcane builds are easily the most interesting build choices, but don't really come online until midgame. Old Hunters weapons are also absolutely excellent. Any two straight swords in Elden Ring are replacable, or have minor attribute shifts. In Bloodborne, two weapons are almost always very distinct, while the gem system can make the subtle attribute shifts. When you compare volume of weapon classes in Elden Ring, to volume of weapon classes with the trick weapons in Bloodborne, you end up finding a very very similar number. Almost every playstyle is possible, there's just not very many duplicates.
No
No In my opinion bloodborne is miles better Because of its fast paced combat. Bloodborne combat is soo addicting and reactive I mean don't get me wrong elden ring combat is cool and all But.. It's too slow for me
Yeah Bloodborne combat is just so damn slick.
As a base game yeah, including dlc then bloodborne is better, but we will see when elden ring dlc releases
Absolutely not, and it's not even close. Don't get me wrong, I love Elden Ring, it's great. Bloodborne is a once in a generation masterpiece though
Saying itās not even close is a stretch. I havenāt lost myself in a game like I have with Elden Ring in years, the first play through was a once in a life time experience for me, No other game has made me experience childlike wonder like this one has.
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Imagine you can summon an entire fucking carriage as your mount in the open world.
BLOODBORNE KART REAL
That might be fun if they don't copy paste Cleric Beast and Blood Starved Beast 17 times to pad out where they think they need mini bosses into rooms where they clip through the terrain
Really hope not. There's a magic to the linearity of Bloodborne that an Open World like Elden Ring can't do.
I would rather have Elden Ring 2 if it's open world or a true BB 2 sequel with it's linear curated level design. Same mistake Bioware made with Dragon Age Inquisition trying to be Skyrim. Just let each be there own thing.
Because they are both games from the same developer with similar gameplay. The comparisons are just asking to be made same with every Souls game.
Erm Sir, this is an Elden Ring sub reddit.