Do you like Overpowered Options or nerfs in Bloodstained?

You say it's a problem that "majority of players playing the exact same way, using the exact same tools, regardless of their preferences"... but you forget we are required to solve all puzzles the same way, and use the same available gear.

Why is a developing meta of a few good/slightly stronger items wrong, when there are other options to use at the players choice?
If players want to use more items they will, and if they are comfortable using an item they aren't going to switch unless they have a reason. If they don't like something personally they won't use it or will find other ways to play around it. (ex: i really dislike the dullahead, and play with bloodthirster/silverknight, refusing to use the fairy)

This is going to be my last post on this thread because I have better things to spend my time on.

The 9/9 hellhound thing has nothing to do with Bloodstained outside of being a point of reference for us both to understand and a bit of hyperbole. I could've replaced it with "perma shield rod alucard shield combo", raised the hp number, and my point would remain the same. It was used to compare your claim that games sell well because it gives the of feeling OP which disregards things like marketing, legacy, and genre which can be argued to have a much bigger impact on a game's sales aka the thing I actually wrote about in that post. 

SOTN sold over a million but that is not very impressive compared to the best selling games of all time, it doesn't even come close.

Anyway, sequels getting easier than their previous installments has been a thing since difficulty padding was phased out of popular design in order to keep the newer entries accessible to newcomers, this doesn't just apply to top sellers, but countless smaller series. But it does not always result in higher sales just look at Dead Space or the portable Castlevanias (Circle of the Moon outsold Aria of Sorrow despite being the harder game).


You've elaborated and lost me bit. Soul Steal and WC are different tools in different games, you're comparing apples to oranges here. Yes Bloodstained follows a lot of the same design philosophy as SOTN, but there's 2 decades of evolution between them and in those two decades lots of things have changed. Mechanics have changed, enemy design. WC serves as damage and protection from Dullahammer Heads and is an equip-able. Soul Steal appears to be designed as a room clearer from its inception and can be used whenever you want as long as you know the input and have the mp. The balance of power and context of their use are completely different. Also in a game like this you can die at any point, WC being active does not change that, people can die with Directed Shield out.

If you've read the post I linked in my first post on this thread then you should already know I think the Velar nerf was unwarranted so I'll just say I agree with you there.

Also I play on PC, yes I did use it a bit before the nerfs for testing purposes, and yes I still believe it warranted a nerf albeit not one as extreme as we got.


Ok? And? You took damage because you mis-spaced, that's hardly the shard's fault and I don't see what losing portraits have to do with anything outside of the shards mechanics. What if I have a video of me using the nerfed WC but I go through an entire corridor without getting hit? What does that prove? Absolutely nothing. You can make anything look bad or good with enough effort. Besides the issue I have with WC is not in the endgame, but with the early-midgame when you get it and where it over-centralizes playthroughs for casual players.

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Yes we are required to solve all puzzles with the same gear and in the same manner except these are only at very specific points in the game, you do not need to use the puzzle solving tools outside of it. Using the same gear for a few minutes for a few puzzles or roadblocks is not the same as spending 75% or more of your time playing using with the exact same loadout.

I do not believe that a meta of a few slightly stronger weapons is wrong and I never stated otherwise. In the context of casual play, the problem arises when the meta gear unconsciously overrides the player's choice and effectively railroads them into using them. They won't be finding a way around it because to a casual player the way around it potentially results in a game too hard for them to beat as they are used to the style the tool demands and the crutch it provides. If the player had been using the style they preferred the difficulty would be fine, but since they were forced into the meta style they don't have the time or chance to switch, and I highly doubt most casual players will invest the time to learn two different playstyles. Please read my post more carefully as I have already addressed these points.

Why does it have to be one or the other can't we just get rid of nerfs?