Bloodborne: [PS4] (From Software)

Billy Idol said:
This is like Killzone 2. To understand the univers and the lore, you need to read up hours of additional material...lol!

Story telling in games directly is still an art by itself it seems which only few are able to.
Click to expand...

I think the mystique is the reason you are so interested in this world. Palpable suspense maintained throughout such along duration and yet keepng you hopelessly hooked is the master art at work here. It almost feels like magic. I still haven't read or watched lore videos as I have yet to finish it but even so, even not knowing anyhting about it , I still am hopelessly in love with the world. THAT to me is the art of storytelling in the finest ! The very core of it is right there making you addicted to know more, to stay more in there. You are surrounded by the very essence of storytelling, even though the story given out is minimal ! They seem to have mastered the very essence of wonder and mystique !
 
It was the same in Dark Souls, it's supposed to enhance exploration, both of the world and the story. Else, we'd get something like this

CBIk-cEUkAAOca8.jpg-large.jpg


To be honest, i would prefer if more games avoided hand holding.
 
Clukos said:
To be honest, i would prefer if more games avoided hand holding.
Click to expand...
Games should just throw you straight into an epic boss battle. Too tough for you? Go play My Little Pony on the DS!

You've had four decades of gaming to hone your skills and amateur hour is officially over.
 
Well, still, the devs could have made it much more accessible while keeping the mysteries.

Say, Alan Wake, which for me is one of the best story telling games available...it gives the information much more easily, while being mysterious until the end and beyond.


Sometimes, my impression when watching movies or playing games with such fragmented and cryptic story telling, I feel that it is more due to the makers being not capable enough to either present their ideas appropriately as they intended or, even worse, just really didn't have a coherent story line available and just give out what they have.

On the other hand, after reading up pages of pages of Bloodborne theories, I can't help but admit that it worked out quite well for such type of players. As a consequence, it is a fact that the community is helping out From Software to shape the story of Bloodborne...
 
I understand and completely accept that part of BB's appeal was not knowing what's going on. It adds to the suspense and the sense of being lost in a world where you really have to fend for yourself. I accept that. What is more difficult to accept is that even at the end, there is simply no explanation of why I did what I did.

A good 'reward' would have been to keep the game as is, but at least have a real ending that explains what the heck really happened in the previous 50 hours of gaming. But hey, maybe that's part of the charm as well.
 
Billy Idol said:
Well, still, the devs could have made it much more accessible while keeping the mysteries.

Say, Alan Wake, which for me is one of the best story telling games available...it gives the information much more easily, while being mysterious until the end and beyond.


Sometimes, my impression when watching movies or playing games with such fragmented and cryptic story telling, I feel that it is more due to the makers being not capable enough to either present their ideas appropriately as they intended or, even worse, just really didn't have a coherent story line available and just give out what they have.

On the other hand, after reading up pages of pages of Bloodborne theories, I can't help but admit that it worked out quite well for such type of players. As a consequence, it is a fact that the community is helping out From Software to shape the story of Bloodborne...
Click to expand...

To each his own. For me, Alan Wake still resides among the illustrious roster of the "how to tell your story as inefficiently as humanly possible"-brigade. It's a game that never seizes to witter on, yet ultimately ends up making very little sense regardless. On top of that, the game was just sooo god-damned boring thanks to its magnificent enemy roster made up of slight variants on the flanel clad hillbilly specter and the occasional (and insanely annoying) flying kitchen appliance. Considering it was the very reason I bought a 360 for, I was hugely disappointed by that thing.

I really appreciate the way From handles it. I'm not the kind of player who stops to read up on all the item descriptions myself. Needless to say, I'll probably never really grasp the full picture of any of the souls games on my own. I'm just not dedicated enough, and that is perfectly fine. Still, there are enough bits and pieces of obvious information to put everything in context, and that makes the world incredibly intriguing. First and foremost these are games though. Games which are uncharacteristically comfortable with simply being games. The fact that everything seems like it's been built on a rich foundation of lore - even the bloody chalice dungeons and the way multiplayer is handled is part of the narrative - is really just an added bonus for me.
 
I do value open-to-interpretation creations. I haven't read up on the BB alleged story, but from my side, I spent most of the game thinking that the game was about a guy (i.e. me, the player) who went completely mad and imagined this whole world and started killing everyone around, thinking they were monsters. And I was waiting for the moment where all of this would come to light and this gloomy world would reveal itself to be just normal, and the monster was me. That kept things interesting enough for me, I guess. Talk about vivid imagination...
 
I'm glad there seemed to be more to it than the old "everything was just in your head" ploy, aka the story of just about every second nuthouse movie ever written. My first impression was similar to yours as well, but once the initial facade began to crumble and the whole eldritch horror angle began to creep in, the whole place started to seem like it was genuinely messed up.
 
Billy Idol said:
This is like Killzone 2. To understand the univers and the lore, you need to read up hours of additional material...lol!

Story telling in games directly is still an art by itself it seems which only few are able to.
Click to expand...

I think there's a big difference between the two. Killzone uses very straight forward story telling methods, yet chooses to focus on the dullest aspect of its universe exclusively, i.e. the fate of its forgettable cast of characters. If you want the bigger picture, you actually have to wiki that shit outside the game. That is really the worst possible way for any medium to tell a story. (reminds me of people who keep reminding me of the Fall of Reach when I make fun of the story in the Halo games. Sorry, but a book isn't gonna elevate the story of a game for me). The Souls games basically treat the player like they treat the player's avatar: with total indifference. Just like the poor hunter, the player has to do the leg work by himself. There aren't any npcs serving as convenient exposition pinatas in the word. Most of them are either crazy or dead, and just about all of them serve their own interests. Unlike Killzone, the Souls games do include loads of information for dedicated players to sift through, though.
 
Last edited:
Billy Idol said:
This is like Killzone 2. To understand the univers and the lore, you need to read up hours of additional material...lol!

Story telling in games directly is still an art by itself it seems which only few are able to.
Click to expand...
All the info in the video is IN the game, you don't need to read additional material, just pay attention to the clues in the game and piece them together yourself.
 
L. Scofield said:
All the info in the video is IN the game, you don't need to read additional material, just pay attention to the clues in the game and piece them together yourself.
Click to expand...
Most of the info is indeed. Problem is twofold imo:

1.) The pieces are so tiny that it is very hard for the typical player to get the picture imo

2.) some important pieces are very well hidden

I also read the 90page google docs summary...nice.

But still, it is my personal opinion that the devs failed in story telling and chose the easy way out by presenting only fragments and letting "the internet" fill the holes...
 
Quite the opposite, they made the story and optional and non-intrusive part of the game and it has been a great success. People can either ignore the story, piece it together by themselves or watch videos such as the one posted in this thread. In fact, a big part of the community is exchanging theories regarding the lore of the games. Compare it to your standard game where its story is usually forgotten a week after you finished the game.
 
No.

The thing is: you have to open the internet and read up stuff. The game doesn't offer you an option on this. And to me, this is an easy way instead of giving the player a good challenging cohesive story in a single playthrough.

Be aware that the people doing the story summaries and lore theories played through the game multiple times, turning every stone to find the pieces. Even then, a lot of the story is unknown and people are debating on forums about their interpretations!!

I give you that: it is in some sense a success and I read somewhere that it was exactly the intention of the dev that he didn't want to give to much information, such that people can fill the gaps with their own ideas and thoughts.

As I said, I don't like this way as for me personally this is like cheating the way out of a difficult task. But I also understand that this is a big part of the BB fascination.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Cyan
Tomba! Special Edition [PS5, PC, NX]
Replies
0
Views
696
Cyan
Cyan
D
How Much Do Software Engineers Make in Big Tech in 2024?
Replies
3
Views
11K
digitalwanderer
digitalwanderer
M
Lies of P [XBSX|S, PS5, PC, XGP] - Pinocchio meets Bloodborne
2
Replies
25
Views
3K
GhostofWar
G
D
Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds Ultimate [PS4, PS5, XO, XBSX|S, PC, NX]
Replies
0
Views
847
Dr. Nick
D
D
Metaphor: ReFantazio [PC, XO, XBSX|S, PS4, PS5]
Replies
2
Views
377
Deleted member 2197
D
Back
Top