Again you start with your own playstyle preferences. I don't give a shit if you or I dislike magic and shields. Bloodborne gives you one option - go and kill things. Here are a few things I can do in DaS2:
- Heavy armor, no ADP tank that relies on different types of shields to block damage. It means that I have to figure out which shields/infusions block X element 100% and manage my stamina accordingly. I can use poise/hyperarmor to my advantage since fully upgraded armor will reduce a lot of physical damage. This doesn't include choice of weapon, which is nearly all that BB gives you.
- High ADP archer - tons of damage types via different arrows. You have tons of END to avoid close combat altogether and high i-frame count for e-z dodges.
- Mage/hexer that relies on 100% elemental resist which can make some boss encounters a joke. INT/FTH also raise your elemental defenses. Use Dead Again to lure tougher enemies into corpses.
Three completely different playstyles that don't even touch weapon choice. So what if BB has more moves per weapon? DaS2 still surpasses in choice and variety. You get a few different types of parries too.
Blood gems are a slightly different take on weapon upgrade paths or infusions. I can't see how this shit is any better. Random grind elements similar to Diablo are not really welcome in a Souls game.
You can argue about specific content like boss design and movesets all you want. Gameplay systems in BB are shit.
Aight, time to break this shit up. Let's start with the Heavy Armor since this will be short and easy. Simply put armor is worthless in DaS2. It's not going to make any difference in mitigating damage. Poise is the only thing that matters. The only Souls game where armor is useful is DaS1. Physical defense is pretty useless, and it gets even more useless in the DLC areas where everything hits like a truck anyway.
You make shields and managing shields seem more tactical than what it actually is. All you need is a shield with 100% physical damage reduction, anything else is just gravy. Or just get the Dragonrider Greatshield and it's GG, you don't need to think about resistances. It does it all. Disregarding all of that, this shield turtle playstyle is still banal. Circle strafe around lumbering slow enemies and hitting them in the back with a butt paddle. "Manage your stamina" of just fuck off already. You get hit and then you back off or circle around the enemy until your stamina regens, or don't because the hits hardly dent your stamina bar if you aren't using a completely worthless shield. Slow and shit gameplay, just like I said before.
High ADP archer, why isn't this doable in Bloodborne again? It's just an agile ranged character, easily done. Just invest in Bloodtinge and get an Evelyn, there, done. Invest in some Arcane as well so you can use the Old Hunter Bone if you are feeling extra cheeky. Have fun.
Mage/Hexer: I've said it before, I'll say it again. Archery with particle effects. I don't see how using elemental resists is such a big deal, you can do that in Bloodborne as well. I used Henryk's armor against Paarl.
DaS2 doesn't surpass it in choice and variety. DeS, DaS and DaS2 have a lot of weapons with different stat scaling but the same movesets. That means that you have different varieties of the same weapon but some are weaker and some are flat out better. There's no variety there. All the weapons in BB are unique and one weapon isn't inherently superior over another one. It mostly comes down to preferance and/or optimizing a good build that complements the weapon. Ludwig's Holy Blade is an excellent weapon for an Arcane spec. It has A scaling in Arcane, but no inherent Arcane damage. Slap on a Blood Gem that changes its physical damage into something else like Arcane, Fire or Bolt and you have a very good weapon that's powerful against every enemy and scales off that A rank in Arcane, as long as you have the right Blood Gems.
Blood Gems are a different take on the upgrade paths, except that it's a far more modular system. That's the point. It adds another layer of depth with it's modability. There is no random grind element like in Diablo, specific monsters drop specific Blood Gems. You can easily figure out which guys you'll want to kill for what drops if you pull up a wiki. It's not the same kind of RNG lottery as Diablo.
Just to be clear, do you own a PS4?