Impressions
General Experience SPOILERS
I was super thrilled to have finally beaten Bloodborne. I had previously beaten Elden Ring and wanted to beat another Souls game. The problem was that they are very long and usually require several hours to beat (> 20). Then I got sucked into the game and couldn't put it down until I beat it. I actually got all 4 of the Umbilical Cords (only going back to get 1 with a guide), because I wanted to secret ending. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that they were consumables. I thought they were an item that you need in your inventory and will work just like that. I was so sad when I realized I beat the game without fighting the hidden boss.
I liked that everyone was basically a monster until the end. It's funny that the final boss was the guy in the wheelchair who was the first hunter. I am probably going to buy the DLC and play the game on NG+ doing the DLC and obtaining the good ending. I have heard that the DLC bosses are extremely hard though, so I'm a little hesitant.
The Positives
I had a great time with the game though. I loved the theme, architecture, enemies, and mechanics. I wanted to do a strength build in a SoulsBorne game since in Elden Ring I opted for an InDex build (Int/Dex). I felt that the weapons were incredibly cool to use and fun to experiment with, even if I never used it beyond that. I really thought that the world was alive. The fact that it changed as you progressed was such a cool concept. I'm happy that it did that and can see how that influenced Elden Ring. Overall, it was an incredible experience.
The Negatives
I do have some cons to say, however. I appreciate the health back mechanic, but it really reinforces bad habits for other Souls games. You attack aggressively after getting hit and can recover quite a decent amount of health. It incentivizes an aggressive playstyle which simply doesn't work in the other games. I appreciate the mechanic and think it's fitting for the lore of the game, but overall I don't appreciate its placement within the Souls games. The main other gripe with the game, was that it had lanterns that were SO FAR APART. Perhaps, it's just me not being accustomed to the amount of distance between each bonfire from the other Souls games. Maybe Elden Ring had so many sites of grace close to things of importance. But it just felt like everything was so far apart from each other.
Final Thoughts
It was a great game. I can see why it has such a large community of gamers who want to see it remastered or brought to PC. It's pretty good honestly. I really enjoyed the experience.
Future Outlook
I hope to buy and beat the DLC someday. Probably in the near future. At first I didn't think I'd play it again. But I just keep thinking about that missed boss fight, and I want to do it just for that. Plus with the DLC it will be different.
On a different note, I'm in the middle of my first playthrough of Demon's Souls as well. I gotta break those bad habits and focus on getting better at this game. It's fun to see the different takes on the game, despite it being a FromSoftware game.