Week 13: We are born of the blood...

Short update, as it was Wrestlemania night and I'm super sleepy. I've been playing a lot of Bloodborne this week. I'm not far enough in to say this with absolute conviction yet, but I'm fairly certain it is my favorite Souls game thus far.

Now, I'm one of those people who, when they heard about Demon's Souls before it was even a thought on Atlus's release schedule for the US, decided to import it from Asia since it was region-free and could be set to display text in English. I loved that game. I've played each game since, including repurchasing the US version of DeSo when it was released. Apart from preferring the Gothic Horror theme in Bloodborne more than the more medieval theme of DeSo and both DS games, the combat is much better for me. It's a bit faster paced, dodging feels good, and the regain mechanic is sadistically great.

Speaking of sadistic, I often hear that the Souls games are "super hard." I have to say something on this before wrapping this post up. They are difficult, this is for sure. Their influence is that of classic games like Rogue/Nethack from a difficulty perspective, minus the one life per character that those had. But while they are difficult, I maintain that they rarely ever feel unfair. If you die, there is generally something you could have done better. After reorienting myself to playing a Souls game, I'm proud to say that I only lost one time to the last two bosses I fought. The game relies heavily on being aware of your surroundings, exploring everything to uncover hidden paths, and pattern recognition. Sure, sometimes I get into a bad spot and die, but I generally know what course of action I could have taken to win. Even those times I died to the bosses, it wasn't because of learning them and dying just because it's expected. Instead it was me be brazen in one case and deciding it was a good idea to fight a boss for the first time with only 3 Blood Vials and in the second case panicking and throwing a Molotov instead of using an antidote.

I certainly need to play more, but thus far I am absolutely loving it.

Pillars of Eternity came out this week, too. I'm really excited about it, but I'm going to christen my new laptop by playing it on there. Hopefully it gets here tomorrow. For the record, I kickstarted PoE over two years ago. It doesn't go against my purchased count.


Currently Playing: Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, Final Fantasy XIV, Bloodborne
Games Completed: 4 (The Longest Journey, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Hyrule Warriors, Ori and the Blind Forest)
Games Purchased (SP/Narrative): 3 (Majora's Mask, Ori and the Blind Forest, Final Fantasy Type-0 HD, Bloodborne)
Other Games Purchased: GRAV, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
Net Total: 0