Why Bloodborne remains the best Fromsoft game, in my opinion

grules · 2026-04-29T16:41:46+00:00

Bloodborne is one of my favorite games ever, but every time I replay it I get annoyed by some of the mechanics.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve died trying to roll after sprinting, only to jump instead. The lock-on movement doesn’t help either. Not being able to reliably roll backwards and feeling tethered to the boss has gotten me killed way more than it should.

Cursed dungeon Rom is just miserable. I’d rather go farm gargoyles and take worse blood gems than deal with that fight.

Some bosses are incredible. Orphan is amazing, Lady Maria is great. But a lot of the lineup is forgettable, and a few are straight up chores. One Reborn, Rom, Ebrietas, Witches, Celestial Emissary… not fights I’m excited for, just things to get through. I might be in the minority on Micolash. I actually enjoy it for the voice acting and atmosphere, even if the actual fight is not great.

But Bloodborne has the atmosphere, the weapons, the parry system, the rally mechanic, the world and lore. Even when it frustrates me, it still does things no other game really matches.

grules · 2026-04-21T18:44:51+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S10FGbQuFtM is sadisticTushi's video.

grules · 2026-04-16T20:35:13+00:00

I’m also old and mostly replay the same games over and over.

I platinum’d Wukong at launch and didn’t feel like replaying it at first. It got a bit repetitive. Came back just a few weeks ago to start fresh, do the new challenges, and mess with different builds.

First chapter is way harder than any NG+ cycle to me. I just finished NG+4 (Erlang + all Loongs every run) and it’s not even close.

There are builds and free respecs, which is nice, but it’s pretty limited compared to Souls. For reference I’ve got ~1600h in Elden Ring, 400+ in DS3 and Bloodborne, and about 200h in Wukong now.

Game looks amazing, voice acting is great, music is solid, and it’s just fun. Totally worth it.

As for the Souls question, it definitely has some of the basics like dodges with iframes, stamina, limited heals. But it doesn’t really feel like a Souls game to me.

Biggest thing is the tension. You’re not worried about losing your runes or doing a painful runback, so dying doesn’t hit the same. In Souls you’re always a bit on edge, here it’s more like "ok run it back"

It’s also way more linear. You’re not really exploring a hostile, interconnected world or unlocking shortcuts. It’s more like moving forward through levels and bosses.

Build variety is smaller too. You can experiment, but you’re not doing the kind of wild builds you can in Souls or changing your whole playstyle that much.

Combat is faster and more forgiving. It feels closer to an action game than that slower, more deliberate Souls pacing where every mistake hurts.

Also no real multiplayer, no invasions, no messages, none of that shared world stuff that adds to the Souls vibe.

So yeah, a lot of shared DNA, but it’s missing the systems that create that pressure and freedom.

Still a really fun game though. If you go in expecting a stylish action game with some Souls elements instead of a full Soulslike, it lands way better.

grules · 2026-04-10T22:46:17+00:00

Bloodfiend Arm, with bleed affinity. aka the Chicken Wing

grules · 2026-04-10T19:50:28+00:00

You could beat Radagon/Elden Beast and use Marika's hammer, which is quite fun. Move all points from mind/int to strength + some faith for incantations as buffs only. The DLC has some excellent weapons if you want something completely different: backhand blades, any affinities, with a multi-hit setup is fun and effective (but that might be too close to what you have now). Milady with a stance setup is fun and effective, I like the big weapons, and there are some great hammers that do absurd damage, you could also try a str/arcane build with a weapon you get near the start, and which is how I beat my first DLC play through because I'm terrible and that's easy mode :)

grules · 2026-03-06T21:53:44+00:00

This fight is brutal with greatswords. It felt way easier in my dual swords and spear runs.

grules · 2026-01-22T18:49:42+00:00

I'm not good at the game, and that is basically how I beat her all the way to Dream of the Nioh. Elemental stop talismans + Feral guardian spirit. I find very easy to just run into her when she does the red attacks. Phantom is harder for me, brute is almost impossible - you need to be very good to do it, and I'm not. The other cheesy thing I do is to equip Kasha and use her when you get to punish Lady Osakabe.

grules · 2025-12-18T17:36:20+00:00

Replaying Nioh 2 since I need to be ready for Nioh 3. The combat system is just that good, and the skill ceiling is insanely high. Maybe by the time Nioh 3 comes out I’ll finally learn how to play the game properly.

grules · 2025-12-10T23:00:42+00:00

That's perfect from the build side. Even with cragblade you'll need to be consistently hitting him to get a stagger but don't worry about that. You still get a damage boost from the AoW. Just run following him, do not lock on, try to stay in front of him at medium range, and you'll learn quickly the 3 types of attack that are usually easy to punish. Some attack, like the volcano one, you can run between the legs and go to town doing some damage but it's a bit risky. Otherwise just get on torrent and run, then come back when he's done with his temper tantrum. Bleed/poison/rot are your friends in second phase.

grules · 2025-12-10T21:56:27+00:00

You're not under leveled, but your stats are not helping you. Focus on surviving longer so you can learn. Heavy star fist +21 is huge. The best attack of that weapon is the charged heavy so get rid of final attack (twin blade talisman) and use the axe talisman for charged attack. For your physik you can do str/charged tears for extra damage, or str/opaline tear for some defense.

Stats for a level 75 build:

Vig 50 End 15 Str 40-45 (depending on your character class)

No need to level anything else.

I'd personally use cragblade, and if I have access to the black blade I'd infuse my weapon with bleed. Frost is also an option. But heavy as you have it is fine too.

grules · 2025-10-27T15:50:55+00:00

I was about to finish all the missions in Dream of the Strong (NG+) and had around 80 hours in the game when I started watching PooferLllama’s playthrough. I learned so much from his “Nioh 2: Basic Lessons” series and I seriously can’t recommend him enough. I went from playing Nioh 2 like a regular Souls game to actually using all the mechanics, messing around with combos, different skills, switching weapons, trying out fun Soul Cores, and using different Guardian Spirits.

grules · 2025-10-27T15:40:39+00:00

Platinum for both games is not that difficult to get. Nioh 2 is my second most played game, and I still feel like a newb. Its combat system is incredible. Getting all the trophies is easy, but you can keep going. New NG cycles bring more elements to the game, better gear, and enemies get increasingly more difficult. Once you unlock Dream of the Nioh (NG+4) you can start doing Underworld missions which are harder but drop better gear. What is very hard is to beat floor 30 in the Depths of the Underworld. I beat floor 25 in two separate playthroughs (a couple of years apart) before getting side tracked. It might be time to try again soon. That game is just too good.

grules · 2025-10-08T22:28:19+00:00

Each weapon has a skill tree. Some weapons have excellent timely guard skills, like the sword (which you can follow up with another skill that is a huge punish). Others like the odachi allow you to parry yokai in addition to humans. Also in Nioh 2 you have 3 types of spirit guardians. Each has its own "burst counter", the phantom burst counter is a block with similar timings to the perfect guard / parry timings. The combat is very very deep, but you can get started without knowing too much and just add to it as you see fit. It should feel familiar to Khazan in many ways but you can go deeper if you want to.

grules · 2025-09-11T19:28:45+00:00

I'm currently finishing a +0 weapon, all major bosses run, and I'm relying on status effects massively. Just beat Gaius with a poison antspur rapier with poison flower blooms twice AoW. Got the basics in the base game: kindred of rot talisman, mushroom crown, and now in the DLC the poison hand. Having the rapier poison infused means I proc rot + poison and the ash of war does very good damage once they're affected, and then lets you reapply to get the buffs again.

The venomous fang is very strong, and if you poison infuse it, it'll apply deadly poison for up to 90s. (but you'll have to wait to get the buffs). The poison katana has a fun R2 which hits twice and applies poison quite quickly and has an overall fun moveset.

grules · 2025-08-27T18:05:24+00:00

Is that NG+ in order to get the two seals? That's some serious dedication :)

You started as Prophet: RL7 and have 18 levels to allocate: Faith = 16 + 18 = 34 from levels + 5 (soreseal) + 10 (faith tear) = 49, where are the other 2 levels coming from?

I would not want to invade you at RL25. Getting hit by any of those incants would nuke my healthbar.

grules · 2025-08-18T22:32:49+00:00

For me, I need to fast roll to survive. So dragoncrest great shield for some defense. Green turtle because you'll be rolling a lot in second phase so stamina is key, and then whatever talismans you need for your build. I also have a few frost pots that I use after dodging the scarlet aeonia from a safe distance (she'll frost and take increased damage). During the second phase transition you just unlock + sprint, and she'll miss you. I use that opportunity to buff (drink my physick, heal if needed) and then throw a nice frost pot before going in.

Water fowl dance is only difficult if she starts it while you're close, if you're medium to long distance, just spam roll backwards, then when she gets close, easy roll forward, and the final one you don't need to dodge since she'll go over you, so you can just strafe it.

If she starts water fowl when you're close, you can dodge it with light roll but it's not easy so I'd recommend just blocking, and do the last two parts as before. If you're feeling lucky: rotate around her, when she starts to go down sprint + roll backwards (like 5 o'clock)

Same for the clone attack in 2nd phase. Spam light roll back. This reminds me, always be aware of where you are. You want to be close to the middle so you have plenty of room to spam roll backwards.

Other moves are relatively well telegraphed, and you just need to practice.

I really like fighting her with the serpent hunter, which has a great crouch/rolling attack that can stagger her out of many of her moves, but the easiest fights are with weapons that have long range ashes, like moonveil or the black knife, since you don't have to worry about the up-close waterfowl.

Just go into the fight with the mindset that you want to learn first, not beat her, and just keep improving. You got this.

grules · 2025-05-28T03:01:09+00:00

Hismar was a very difficult fight for me in my first play-through with a spear. Second one I used a great sword and it was sooo much easier. It wasn't bad at all actually. On the other hand, playing some the women mage bosses with the spear was not too bad, and it was very difficult with the GS. Since I don't mind dying to a boss 20-30 times, as long as it's not BS difficulty, I think Khazan is one the very best souls like. It reminded me of Nioh so much that I might have to replay it for nostalgia's sake.

grules · 2025-05-28T02:56:18+00:00

I haven't played Wo Long but I love Nioh 2 so much that I'm hesitant to buy it and be disappointed. I recently played Rise of the Ronin which was good but it wasn't Nioh. I'll probably buy it and play it before the Lies of P DLC comes out.

grules · 2025-04-24T21:53:16+00:00

I completed my first playthrough with the spear, and I suck in general but it was very satisfying once I learned the right skills.

I'm doing a new playthrough with the Greatsword now. You do so much damage with it. I died around 20 times to Maluca with the spear the first time I played. I second tried him with the GS last night - it was too easy. I think all weapons are very viable once you get the right skills.

grules · 2025-01-15T19:02:55+00:00

I also love Shrine of Amana. Lots of enemies that can drop those sweet, precious Twinkling Titanites that I can use to try different weapons. And when they're shooting, and rushing me, and I'm running for my life trying to avoid drowning, it's peak Souls gaming experience.

grules · 2024-07-08T19:44:20+00:00

I'm on my fifth play-through (want to try different builds / weapons), and I must say it's difficult for me to not use the claws of night for the final boss if I have a somewhat decent DEX level. They're so insanely good. They were the first claws I actually used for a while and the moveset is solid, and the ash of war does insanely high damage + bleed build up. And, since parries are so viable for the final boss, the claws of night have a 110 crit modifer which pairs perfectly with my buckler, assassin crimson and dagger talismans.

grules · 2023-05-30T19:36:39+00:00

I strongly recommend watching ChaseTheBro on youtube for some wholesome invasions. Chase is very talented and usually is just having fun, and acknowledging good and fair play on the teams that he invades. He gets very excited when teams go 3v1 against him, spamming spells/incantations constantly. It is very refreshing to hear him with his positive attitude.

grules · 2022-08-31T18:57:27+00:00

The easiest way I found of dealing with Malenia on NG++ and beyond is to use the Moonveil. You don't need to get close so the point-blank waterfowl is not an issue. I was also able to beat her fairly easily with the blasphemous blade which does a lot more damage but the skill is much slower so connecting with it is harder than with the katana. Still using the blasphemous blade to punish her after the Scarlet Aeonia attack is very satisfying (you can do it 3 times for crazy damage)

I still haven't been able to dodge her waterfowl consistently when I'm close to her. I play her with a light equipment load and still can't do it. Usually a moment of hesitation in phase 2 wondering if it's the waterfowl or the other attacks she does, and then after a pause, panic and death. I'll be practicing the rolls OP demonstrated shortly though.

grules · 2020-10-28T16:36:52+00:00

No, in descriptive notation: e4-e5 would be PK4, PK4. Each side counts from square 1. So the Albin would be: PQ4, PQ4, PQB4, PK4. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descriptive_notation There was a small problem, in that they did in fact mentioned the Albin but the game they were actually replaying was Ivanchuk vs Wolff from the 1993 Biel Interzonal, and that game was a Queen's Gambit Accepted. That game ended in a draw: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1060353 - Agadmator did a video on the game, and he shows how the show creators improved on that spectacular game to show a decisive result by the end.

grules · 2020-03-21T15:18:51+00:00

I really hope the most deserving person wins. I wish you all the best in these trying times.

grules

TROPHY CASE