Bloodborne was always designed with a more aggressive playstyle in mind. If Dark Souls was a slower, calculated assault, then Bloodborne was a mad dash into the middle of the fight: between the lack of defense and health bonuses for counterattacks, Bloodborne ditched the measured combat of Dark Souls for something far more frantic.
Part of what made Bloodborne's combat work so well were the dodging mechanics. In other games, evading attacks is basically an afterthought — in Bloodborne, however, dodging is an absolute necessity. Not only will a well-timed dodge keep players out of harm's way, but a few quick steps can also close the gap between the player and their prey. Again, the system rewards those who play aggressively and use the dodge to get into the thick of combat.
For anyone who's played Bloodborne, that's all common knowledge — which makes YouTuber Tolomeo's latest run that much more impressive. As the old saying goes: if a game is too easy, just cripple your ability to play by refusing to use the dodge button:
In all seriousness, it's actually surprising to see just how much speed dodging added to Bloodborne. The game was never at the same speed as something like Bayonetta or Devil May Cry, but without quick-stepping, Bloodborne feels downright sluggish. Not only that, but Tolomeo has to run away after nearly every attack — if you ever wanted a boss fight to last three times longer than normal, just try to play like Tolomeo.
Oh, and it's not enough to simply cut out dodging: Tolomeo is on New Game +6 (meaning that this is his seventh playthrough) and never leveled his character up after starting the game. Basically, he's playing the game in the absolute hardest way possible and refusing to dodge.
Long story short, if you ever needed proof of the dedication of Souls players, look no further than Tolomeo.
Oh, and it's not as if Tolomeo felt like doing a no-dodge run for a single boss fight — you can actually watch him grind away at every single boss in Bloodborne without dodging or leveling up.
To see all of Tolomeo's ridiculously difficult Bloodborne playthroughs, check out his Twitch and YouTube channels.
