There is one guy in my group of best friends who is an absolute monster with all those games. He has something like 500 hours in ER, and another one of them just got into it and so they've been back and forth nonstop in the video games channel of our group chat. (Is it unusual for groups of 30somethings to have meticulously organized group chats? I have wondered that for a while and this is finally a public forum to pose the query)
To be fair, I have nothing at all against the games or them being so into it, but I'm glad I'm not alone in seeing people just seething over that genre and simply not getting it.
Then again, 500HrGuy recently said he's considering trying Outer Wilds (my die-on-a-hill game) and there is a pretty solid chance he won't get it either and that would be okay.
Dark Souls and games like it require their players to make a certain click.
Some get that click after a couple minutes, others a couple hours, and for some it doesn't happen until they try again after a few years. And sometimes, it never clicks (which is completely fine, of course).
I ended up getting Bloodborne by accident. I wanted TLOU Remastered and Shadow of Mordor, but a discount for buying 3 games made getting 3 cheaper than just the 2, and Bloodborne was the only remaining game eligible for the deal that seemed remotely interesting.
It took 2,5 hours before it clicked, but Bloodborne ended up my favourite game of all time. And it introduced me to the other games in the genre.
For me the combat seems chaotic and the cue animations are inconsistent.
By the time I’ve finally figured something out…I’m dead and have to retread two hours of tiptoe progression. Said progression to date is using summons to get past the Cleric Beast and Father Gascoigne.
For me it was when I figured out spacing and parrying basics.
I kept dying in the opening area before Cleric Beast (essentially, to basic enemies), and then I suddenly started sweeping through it.
If you want to get better at the game, I got some excellent tips that might help you. I learned some things in +- 800 hours and over 10 playthroughs of Bloodborne lol.
1) Practice parrying on the brick trolls. They are one of the easier enemies to parry, and this is the fastest way to kill them in the early game. Move on to more difficult targets when you get better
As a rule of thumb: every enemy vulnerable to a backstab can be parried. Your gun is (for most builds) not a damage tool.
2) Level your vitality a lot, especially early on. Vitality is your difficulty slider in Bloodborne. Stats that increase your damage are only useful in the mid-late game.
3) Do not use help to get past Gascoigne on your first playthrough. Gascoigne is a skill check. If you can beat Gascoigne on your own, you have what is needed to beat the game. That said, in his final phase he is very flammable.
4) Don't hang on to your blood echoes since you will lose them at some point. Every time you visit the dream, spend all you can on leveling up. If you can't level up, spend what remains on blood vials and bullets. If you play well, you will quickly amass a good stockpile. The echoes that end up as consumables in your inventory should only be used when you are really close to a level up or item you want to buy.
Once you get the hang of things, play riskier. Don't heal immediately after taking a hit, but try to steal health back by counterattacking immediately.
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u/Cosmointheskye Aug 19 '26
Elden ring or any other dark souls games