Here's an update on Bloodborne & Scholar of the First Sin (Dark Souls II remastered).
SofFS runs well at 60 FPS on the PS4, plus they've tweaked a LOT of the PvP play for Dark Souls II since it first came out. There are some different enemy & item placements that make it a little more fun. I haven't gotten into the original DLC yet (I never played this when I originally played the game on XBOX 360), so I'm looking forward to that.
One of the biggest general gripes about Dark Souls II is it's level design. It's not that the level design is bad imo (well, the elevator up from Earthen Peak to a lava pit in Iron Keep is bad), it's just not as epic as Dark Souls I. The true way to play Dark Souls games is to not over-level, but this is an inevitable trend that happens for those of us who don't have the concentration levels to pwn PvE. You can get careless when over-leveled, but you pay the price in PvP against the hardcore players who have practiced so much at lower levels to increase their skill.
Bloodborne is an epic PvE experience... with LOTS of secret areas. You can actually go through the game and finish it while missing a ton of its content. Level design is excellent. The areas aren't as varied as they are in Dark Souls I & II, but it doesn't take away from the game. However, the PvP experience has its hiccups (as did Dark Souls II when it first came out). Summoning and invading is very vague with the new "Reckoning Bell" system. You no longer see summon signs, but just have to ring a bell and hope the system matches you up with someone in a reasonable amount of time. Sometimes this happens and sometimes it doesn't.
Bloodborne has a regain system that promotes aggressive play. Couple that with gunshot-parrying and it brings an entirely new dynamic to dealing with enemies. Over-leveling still makes the game easier, but there are VERY challenging moments at some points in the game that force "casual" players (aka casuls) to git gud.
Chalice Dungeons have been introduced in Bloodborne. They are randomized areas that get extremely difficult as you increase their "depth." They do get tedious, but are also more difficult than anything in the normal game progression... even for an over-leveled player.
Comparing Bloodborne & Dark Souls II to each other is a bit weird. Overall I'd say that Bloodborne is the better game... yet I've put in much more time recently playing Dark Souls II (remastered version) rather than Bloodborne... despite having finished Dark Souls II a couple of years ago. I may play Bloddborne for a bit, but find myself still going back to DKS II after a short amount of time.
Overall, I'd give Blooborne a 9.3 out of 10 and Dark Souls II (in its current-gen "Sins of the First Scholar" release a 9.4 out of 10. Both are very worthwhile purchases.
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