i think bloodborne is still my favorite in the soulsborne ring series, and maybe my favorite game ever
definitely in the top 3
Yeah, I hear that from a lot of people. And it has a ton going for it. I think the usage of the guns is fun as opposed to shields. Rewarding offensive gameplay instead hiding behind the shield. Great atmosphere. The lore is fun when you look into it as figured out by the people that read every item. And the trick weapons are really great. It'd be nice if they did more of that. Some cool bosses as always.
I had a few minor quibbles with it. I felt some of the more cosmic elements, even though they aren't around a ton, felt more out of place in this world. But that's something they seem to like too draw from in these games. Again, this comes with these types of games to an extent, but I felt like many of the bosses, the battle felt at little samey and you could boil it down to just get behind them, and then run away or dodge. Sometimes it felt like there should have been more clever ways to use the gun or trick weapons in those. The trick weapons are great, but it certainly seemed to limit the pool to choose from. It felt a little odd that the saw cleaver is one I see used by many people and has some inherent benefits, and it's a weapon you can get immediately. I used a few different other weapons largely instead of it though. A little weird not having magic, but I typically only use that situationally in the other games, or if I'm doing a rare mage run. And finally, and most of this is just me getting better on my fourth souls game I've completed, it was easier than usual. Especially this time since I took the five minutes to learn the gun and visceral hits. Did pretty much all main game and dlc. Minimal farming and rarely stuck. Had the most first attempt boss victories I've ever had. Oh, and while I get what they were going for and like how it tied into the lore, the chalice dungeons or whatever fell pretty short for me.
Phenomenal game, but I think it's also one of those ones that I saw hyped for so long before I got to do it, that it would always fall short of that. I'll be playing it more going forward, so we'll see how that feeling ages.
For me, I don't know if I can pick a total favorite that I've played so far. I did really enjoy Elden Ring for the homages to the other games and the open world was great to explore. Anyway, I've got Dark Souls 2 and 3 in my collection, so they'll be next.