BLOODBORNE given Feb '15 Euro/NA release date, deemed worthy of own thread by ilxor

Feb 6

http://www.polygon.com/2014/9/18/6375185/bloodborne-us-release-date-ps4-north-america

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rU8HfemdFc

psyched

this is the goth Dark Souls, right?

steamgothhorror

day after my birthday, seems like as good a time as any to buy a PS4.

siiick

Anyone else playing the alpha?

no i watched some of the videos

you got in?

Yeah - only had a chance to play 30 minutes or so far, but first impressions are great. Feels like an interesting new avenue for the Souls series - not having a shield will take a bit of getting used to.

whats your impression of the a.i.? i was wondering if things respawn always in the same position or if next-gen allows them to randomize the interactions a bit

Hard to say for sure cuz I haven't played much - hoping to get some more time on Sunday before the alpha ends. Didn't seem randomised in the time I played, though, just the traditional Souls repetition.

thats what i got from the videos i saw, stationary dudes but there also seems to roving groups which is awesome. the message and bloodstain markers looked cool too, so much detail

The development team at From Software say there are about ten areas like Yharnam to survive, one of which is called the Chalice Dungeon; an underground catacomb that procedurally generates its pathways.

whoa

sooo, i'll be able to play this online without getting PS+, right?

i think ps+ is now necessary for that. the days of free online w/ ps3 are over

if you need me i'll be in an induced coma so mvrch comes tomorrow

otm

word, thanks. btw i believe my screen name is "Mr_Kitka".

players who pre-order this from game stores in the uk get an exclusive lolfedora skin for their in-game messengers:

https://img.game.co.uk/widgets/images/Bloodborne/widget_Bloodborne.jpg

:(

have these fuckers finally figured out the killer app to get me to buy the goddamn system?
ahma wait for the first batch of reviews but if it's generally positive i guess i'm all in.

next edition of edge due out tomorrow calls it 'the first true next gen essential' apparently

cannot wait. what's the ilg co-op password gonna be?

YOU DIED

i read that it needs to be 8 letters, so YALL DIED

sold

first post in this lolneogaf thread summarises the edge article for those interested: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1008499

key bullet point: "Bloodborne is Hidetaka Miyazaki's brutal riposte to the section of his playerbase that thinks it has seen it all before."

psyched

http://www.mcvuk.com/special-features/read/the-big-game-bloodborne/0166

“Yes,” Miyazaki confirms. “There will be a New Game Plus mode.” He laughs. “We’re having trouble beating it, though.”

am0n, can we be PS4 friends?

yes psn is online7845789547

http://imgur.com/a/uOT3b

The Souls games are about dying - every feeble creature and majestically grotesque monster and crumbling castle in those games is a manifestation of death in its many scary and sometimes beautiful forms. But Bloodborne? Bloodborne’s more about killing.

The rhythm and style of the combat is different, you see, even if it might look broadly similar. In Souls you’re usually on the defensive - you walk into a room with your shield up and can take a few hits before reacting. That just does not happen in Bloodborne. You don’t even have a shield. When something hits you, you have to hit back, and quickly, to regain health.

http://www.kotaku.co.uk/2015/03/16/dark-souls-death-bloodborne-killing

http://www.videogamer.com/ps4/bloodborne/news/danish_blood_donors_offered_free_copy_of_bloodborne.html

Giv dit blud!
I would do this in a second

i don't actually want to know anything more before i play, but i can't look away:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GtcEBBs4rE

i want a positive critical consensus and two freaked out ILXor reviews
and then i'm buying the fucking system god help me

i can't remember the last time i was so hyped for a game, honestly

argh i refuse to watch videos!

Downloading now, it's gonna take days. No more videos or links for me until Thursday (the first chance I'll get to dig in).

http://www.thejimquisition.com/2015/03/bloodborne-review-die-die-again/

glowing reviews so far

Yeah, it's looking good. Common complaint seems to be loading times. 40 seconds after dying? Jeez.

Anyway, psyched.

early reviews obsessively positive:
http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/bloodborne/critic-reviews
i'm hoping the long loading time complaint is addressed by the patch?
Jordan, you are gonna be the guy who determines how my bank account looks in April.

downloading now!

so ready for this

Jordan, you are gonna be the guy who determines how my bank account looks in April.

ha, that's a big responsibility but i will let you know.

it took massive willpower not to start this before work today, there should be some sort of award.

i'm hoping the long loading time complaint is addressed by the patch?

apparently not yet, but soon:

http://www.justpushstart.com/2015/03/bloodborne-long-load-times-will-be-addressed-in-the-next-patch/

hm, will def wait for that to come to fruition

played the first hour. as good as I hoped. one of the character classes is "waste of skin" and has terrible stats haha.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-03-24-is-bloodborne-the-best-game-ever-or-just-the-second-best

my local gamestop has closed! and amazon is sold out...

i am going to have to go *out of my way* to buy this :(

gross

I DIED

it's 2015! digital never sells out :)

lol, i had dismissed that option because i am fastidiously husbanding my HDD space but of course that is precisely what i will do in the circumstances. of course, now i am going to have to WAIT for this to download. ugh could this be any more inconvenient.

played the first hour. as good as I hoped. one of the character classes is "waste of skin" and has terrible stats haha.
― ( X '____' )/ (zappi), Tuesday, March 24, 2015 2:20 PM

i almost went with that but chose "a violent past" i think lol. game is awesome so far

"you're better off dead!!!"

have not played dark souls. have not played dark souls 2. think i might buy this today.

will i hate it/myself/you all? are DS/DS2 required playing before?

dark souls in some ways will give you bad habits because the controls are different. i'd say dive straight in.

agreed. the general approach of these games is similar enough that some skills transfer over, but they're different enough that each one has a learning curve. i sucked at all of them in the early stages.

Amazon and/or UPS fucked up my delivery and it got pushed back to the end of the week. Decided to just go to Gamestop and pick it up and that reminded me why i never go to Gamestop. Dude tried to get me to sign up for or buy like four other things at the register and then I get some smug ass response after I politely turn them all down. Gonna load this up and try to forget about how badly I hate everything right now.

im so tempted to go out and buy a ps4 right now

are DS/DS2 required playing before?
― GGGOAT: greatest goat game of all time (Will M.), Tuesday, 24 March 2015 21:21

no this one is different enough to be its own thing, mostly just shares the control scheme.

couldn't get the summoning to work. is password required or is that just if you want to limit it to specific ppl

I thought it was just to limit (or prioritize?) but who knows at this point.

well goddammit i think i may have bought this

played for about an hour last night, fell instantly into the familiar souls rhythm of nervously moving forward, dying, inching a little bit past the point where i died before, dying, repeat infinitely. those mobs can really fuck you up quickly!

it's impressive how familar it feels but how different too - i played exclusively nimble melee characters in DeS/DaS but not having a shield is taking a bit of getting used to, as is the altered parry/riposte mechanic.

these games have the most amazing atmosphere of mystery and tension which i don't think you could achieve in any other medium.

Which weapons did you guys pick? I went with the rod and the pistol.

I DIED a few times before work this morning. :)

went with the axe + pistol, kinda regretting not taking the cane. i got as far as the two werewolves, while also managing to (i'm sure) miss every shortcut. and i definitely keep trying to two-hand and accidentally healing. loving it so far.

went with axe and blunderbuss. the merchant will start selling the other weapons for not unreasonable prices after a certain point early on. might need an item for that to happen?

i played through and beat what i thought was the first boss last night. looking around online today though, it looks like i missed an optional one.

game's great so far. can't wait to get back to it.

will say that FROM really ain’t so hot at graphics optimization though, huh? the game looks good, but not so good it should stutter like it does on PS4 hardware. and the character creation tool is still comically antiquated. minor quibbles though. these things are basically trademarks of the series at this point.

ha, my girlfriend tried to help make a character that looks like me and it went horribly awry. basically the more parameters you start to change, the more you look like hideous mutant. i find it endearing though.

the stuttering sucks, how do you not iron that shit out of a console exclusive before release? i don't even usually notice that kind of shit. i just haven't played any games on ps4 that have had this issue. well except ac:unity

also saw lag during co-op which can hopefully be fixed in the network/server? the online stuff seems really buggy across the board

i went with axe/pistol and my char came out looking like 70 yr old kyle maclachlan

http://media.kotaku.foxtrot.future.net.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2015/03/PitifulMagnificentAsiansmallclawedotter.gif

havent seen any lolfedora messengers yet, did see a top hat one

http://i.imgur.com/lxMCS50.gifv

eh

http://i.imgur.com/lxMCS50.gifv

NEXT GEN

praise the buns

sack

so far i seem to be an order worse at this than the souls games. i played a couple hours total and have literally got nowhere. i have the axe and pistol and my guy looks like the british librarian from buffy

was there an ilx password decided for co-op??

YALLDIED

What level are you? Read something saying that being within 10 levels helps.

21 and currently stuck at old yharnam

Same!

Getting the system and the game (but not the upgraded hard drive) tomorrow, setting aside Sunday for a deep dive

am0n, if you want to try and sync up, just lemme know if you're calling or responding.

ha awesome are you at that same section? its fuckin hard! the framerate gets even worse too

ok i put the pass in lowercase and used the beckoning one

k I'll jump on in a sec

lol, if that was you, I apologize. I've between jumping down on the other side, never even saw that route before.

am0n & i got it together after a couple tries btw, that was super fun. there was a weird thing where, when we got to the boss in my game, he couldn't come through the fog until midway through the fight. i wonder if that's by design or if it was because it was my first time encountering the boss (so there was no fog for me)?

yeah that was fun. i went back to that boss on my own and i guess none of the boss fights have fog the first time so its a surprise except thats only for the host. any co-op person will see the fog and not be able to enter until the event triggers. kinda sloppy design, it would be much cooler if we both went in without knowing. i also didn't enter until midway because i was in the damn ps4 message screen typing so thats my bad

ah that makes sense, lol. i'll be playing tomorrow morning/early afternoon if anyone wants to co-op.

the password things works well. if they can just fix the lag

just hookin' this monster up; joining y'all shortly.

Yesss, lemme know when you have that insight.

Died SO many times to the blood starved beast these past two nights. Jesus. Just finally got him on my last swing before I was poisoned to death. Phew...

Helped somebody kill that boss today, then failed solo. I was sooo close using those pungent whatevers but panicked in the end. Might try and summon somebody tomorrow.

okay so here i am getting killed repeatedly by two wolves on a bridge. i think i just started.

Apparently playing co-op in the forbidden woods can lead to a game breaking glitch (key quest item fails to spawn and stops you getting any further) so don't do that.

Managed the blood-starved beast after summoning an npc, which helped a ton.

Vicar Amelia bugged out on me. Sat there stationary as I killed her. Feel guilty about cheesing that one :/. I'm only cheating MYSELF.

Can't seem to summon or be summoned to save my damn life. Got it to work once.

does it feel like there are a diversity of viable builds a la the souls games? asking for a friend

No, unfortunately. The potential for diversity is less immediately obvious anyway.

cleric beast beaten. i get the sense i'm barely started?

Well, yeah, man. That's like the first boss. Depending on which route you take. He's optional.

I like the fact that they've gone back to the DS1 way in that respect. Fewer bosses but they seem to be more memorable. DS2 had a zillion bosses but I remember like 4 of them.

Yeah one of the reviews said the boss fights were all memorable if not quite as intense as Ornstein/Smough, the first two I did definitely pretty distinct atmospheres

Is it possible to do Gascoigne first depending on path or did I miss something totally optional?

i'm making a point of not reading much about the game and going in blind. I should maybe read a bit more about game mechanics though... i played a half hour before figuring how to equip my weapons.

xp

I did Gascoigne first too. The Cleric Beast is an optional boss in that general area. It's definitely best to go in blind, but I like to read up on a spot that I just cleared just to see what I might've missed.

I'm seeing some rumblings about hitting Resume Game instead of Load Game can lead to the multiplayer function not working. Might explain my summoning issues. Will test out tomorrow.

cleric beast is down! stumbled into father gasgcoine by accident while exploring with no blood vials to hand and got torn to shreds :(

am i right in thinking there's no easy way to reset downed enemies for xp-farming purposes? my usual m.o. in souls games is to go out collecting xp, rest at a bonfire, then repeat until i've got enough xp to level up. using lanterns to go to the hunter's dream and then back to yharnam is easily 90 seconds of loading in-between grinding runs and it's wearing pretty thin tbh.

ok fuck it bought this (and a ps4). beat father gascoigne before work this morning so i'm ~feeling pretty productive~

loading times are a drag but i look at it as a time for reflection

using lanterns to go to the hunter's dream and then back to yharnam is easily 90 seconds of loading in-between grinding runs and it's wearing pretty thin tbh.
― bizarro gazzara, Monday, March 30, 2015 4:36 AM

thinking maybe it could work like demons souls where you farm then die and reset at checkpoint to pick up bloodstain. would save at least one loading screen

yeah, its not like this is a dragon age type thing where you might need to reload the same encounter, die and try a different strategy several times in a row

if you die you're not fighting the boss again for like five minutes until you practice killing all the guys on the way, not that big a deal to get 45 seconds to focus on your breathing

the warping thing is definitely more of a pain, if you can warp anywhere from the HD you might as well be able to warp between lanterns as well, the only effect it has is more load times

Apparently playing co-op in the forbidden woods can lead to a game breaking glitch (key quest item fails to spawn and stops you getting any further) so don't do that.
― JimD, Saturday, March 28, 2015 3:29 AM

i'm at forbidden woods now, glad i havent done co-op there yet

From Software and Sony Computer Entertainment Japan are working on a hotfix to resolve the issue, expected to arrive next week. You should be safe as long as you fly solo in the Forgotten Woods until then (as safe as you can ever be in Yharnam, anyway).

The studios are also working on a patch to reduce load times and improve overall performance, but you'll have to wait a bit longer for that one.

this is really great, unsurprisingly. clicked for me over the weekend and now i am rolling. interested to know what ppl are doing regarding weapons and levelling. both dark souls games were close enough to demons that i knew from much from the outset how i wanted to level but i am less sure of my direction at the moment, at least in terms of attributes that contribute to damage dealt. i've tried out all the starter weapons now and i like the axe best, the stagger on the R2 seems really important. i know there aren't supposed to be many weapons but has anyone got something else good already? any of the gems reward you for a high attribute?

i got frustrated with the Shadow of Yharnam after many close attempts and risked summoning help. i was sooo relieved when the key was there in the next section, so maybe the bug doesn't affect the boss or i just got lucky.

am i right in thinking there's no easy way to reset downed enemies for xp-farming purposes?

i guess you could keep buying Bold Hunter's Marks to jump back to the lantern, without having to go to Hunter's Dream. i don't mind the loading times, i've been taking the opportunity stretch out my rickety body, do some core exercises, y'know.

i keep trying new weapons that i find but going back to the axe. i had a little bit of regret during some of the npc hunter duels, wondering if i should have gone with the cane for speed, but really those fights just teach you how to parry.

i've used the cane almost exclusively so far, maybe more for castlevania aesthetics more than any practical purpose. what other weapons draw on skill rather than strength? haven't figured out the mechanics yet.

i'm curious about people's experiences with the npcs that you save, i feel like i've missed most of them. the only one that's still around is the prostitute lady.

i may need to start avoiding thread for spoilers i guess

sorry! i have a friend who has way more free time than i do, and he has been driving me crazy texting about things i haven't seen yet. i've been looking up info about sections after i finish them to see all the crazy shit i missed.

i'll just say that it seems like a good idea to periodically revisit places you've already been to talk to people, look for paths that weren't open or available before, etc.

spoiler away, it's my own damn fault!

i will say that, on contact, this absolutely hits the dark/demons spot
very frustrating, very fun

the only small nits i have to pick with this game:

-when the message about trying to summon or be summoned pops up, it covers up any messages about the items you're picking up. it would have been so easy to place it above or below.

-that message when you try to pick up vials or bullets and your storage is full, no need for it to appear in the middle of the screen and black everything out, am i right?

other than that, i love it.

omg so frustrated with the Byrgenwerth boss

guys
THE PIG

knocked out crazy father in the graveyard and am going back over the early game spots to look for hidden treasures and talk with all the people behind doors before moving forward.
i like to play methodical

i felt really bad about killing the pig! he was just chilling in his sewer, minding his own business :(

fucker came at me bro

the pig was cool

i went into vicar amelia three times total before concluding i have zero idea right now how to beat this. i can't remember any boss in the series where i haven't at least had some ideas to try. anyhow, it does not appear to be immediately impeding my progress and i have a lot of other shit to do so i am kind of ignoring it for the time being.

the pure joy of shortcuts in this might be at its highest since demons souls.

I think killing the pig can feel worse, later...

the pure joy of shortcuts in this might be at its highest since demons souls.

executing a successful parry/riposte and opening up new shortcuts are so viscerally satisfying

my favorite pig is one later on who tends to burn himself to death on a nearby bonfire.

i hate the dogs in these games but their pitiful reaction to getting shot got to me a little

I think I found at least two shortcuts that said "locked by a device" and just went AH FUCK and stomped off oblivious to the lever being right there

it's so weird having ambient dialogue/snarled deathbed curses etc from the things trying to kill you

i didn't know ANY of this; looking forward to trying it out soon.
http://www.polygon.com/2015/3/26/8296155/bloodborne-how-to-backstab-front-stab-parry-riposte-jump-attack-break-shields

xp "this is a nice hoouuuuuse"

you've not been parrying at all, forks?!

like how it sets the dogs up as a threat early on then gives you a bunch of helpless ones trapped in cages and dares you to be enough of a cunt to slaughter them all just to be on the safe side

they can break those cuffs cages fyi

i've not been parrying at all; LOADS of strafing and dodging. beating those twin brutes and werewolves was a challenge but the bosses thus far have been challenging but reasonably easy once you get strafing down

parrying really makes things a lot easier - you can one-shot a lot of enemies with a riposte

i'm all for scooting around enemies like a maniac tho tbf - i do it all the time myself

parry was just fancy play in demons/dark, i never used it, so i am conditioned that way for this too. might get to the point where i give it a chance.

<3 parrying 4eva

i guess one the great things about these games is that their combat systems are flexible enough to allow a wide range of approaches

it's essential for the pvp-esque duels against other hunters imo.

those other hunters aren't shy about parrying your attacks either, the fuckers

i do tend to get more sophisticated in my play as the game goes on... you have to with these things!

pleased that they brought back the VA for the "this pleece is flippen MINTAL" laddersmith from DS2 to voice the priest

thought he sounded more like lautrec

if by priest you mean papa guacamole

This is the coolest looking game in fuck knows how many years. I'll just be youtubing it.

interesting profile of miyazaki in the guardian

still stuck on stupid Rom, i've been messing around with the Chalice dungeons and poking into other areas instead.

i'm not super into having to farm for blood vials after tries on a boss. it's not a big deal, but i never felt like i had to farm for anything in the Souls games, even Demon's Souls. i get that the system is supposed to discourage you from indiscriminate healing (in favor of regain, i assume) though.

i thought i was getting vials back from storage everytime i respawned....?
leap attack and basic parries very fun.
got got by that machine gun guy in the tower last night. i'm not playing quite so obsessively cuz i got work on deck; how far behind y'all am i?

from storage, sure, but once that's empty...

vials in excess of 20 go into your storage. i have found it fairly easy to accumulate excess vials by looping through central yharnam. i don't know if that holds up through the mid- and end-game.

the loop takes about 5 minutes and will yield usually 12+ vials, including 3 each from the werewolf things on the bridge, who can be cheesed by luring to the house down a short flight of stairs from said bridge

same, it just seems like a drag when all you want to do is take another shot at the boss. it's probably good to have a break though.

btw forks i think you're 3 bosses behind me.

i'd love to do some chalice co-op this sunday if anyone's around the same level (i think i'm 45).

I guess I'm about halfway through now. Just beat Rom. Feel confident in saying this is Demon's Souls/Dark Souls 1 great. Miyazaki's peculiar genius shines through. I've only read a little bit about the second half of the game, tried to avoid spoilers, but I've gathered it goes into some weird places. Really looking forward to it. I was a little disappointed initially about the scaling back on weapons and armor, but it's not really bothering me. Though I've never been of those dudes who beats the game 8 times and PvP's into eternity. Interested in seeing how the meta game evolves for those guys.

yeah i just got that boss on 2nd try solo! agreed about weapons, i usually end up sticking with one in the other games anyway, halberd or whatever, and this seems to have the basic melee ones covered. biggest complaint so far is the framerate and horrible glitches. after installing the update i summoned for the woods boss and my game went to 1 frame per 10 seconds as i entered the fog, almost thought it froze entirely. apparently the summon wasnt affected as i could see the health meters depleting. it finally unfroze for the last 30 sec of the fight. had to msg the guy to apologize, i wonder if it just looked like i was standing still? anyway fix your damn game, fromsoft!!!

first three bosses were easy to beat with circle strafing and judicious use of terrain btw
curious to see if i've figured something out or if they're gonna catch me soon

anybody wanna do a chalice dungeon with me?

I'm down if you're around tomorrow. What's yr PS4 name?

it's my ilx name. check in and we'll go a'hunting. Haven't done it yet so i'm curious to see how it plays.

how about now?

Yeah, I added you

cool, i'm starting now. What's the process?

I ran out of BB time today, but next time, if it's one of the non-randomized dungeons that you start with, I think we can just ring our bells. Still have to be within 10 levels I think.

For the random ones, this seems helpful (first time I've gone to reddit for anything useful):
http://www.reddit.com/r/bloodborne/comments/31bdln/how_to_coop_in_chalice_dungeons_explained_in/

i'm like level 26?

ah, that wouldn't have worked anyway then, i'm around 54. but i won't have time to play for a couple weeks so i'm sure you'll be caught up by then.

right now i'm stuck at bosses in three separate areas, which hasn't happened in any other Souls game (usually i would just be stuck on one boss at a time). not mad at it though, it's nice to be able to switch it up and go get frustrated somewhere else.

also, when i rang the small resonant bell yesterday i would be summoned instantly, but had much worse luck summoning players to my world. i wonder if that's just down to people not trying to help out like that?

i am stuck at bosses at FOUR different areas: a bobbling witch with an increasingly incensed sketchy homunculus, the undead giant in the first chalice dungeon, a giant electric wolf skeleton and a lycanthropic she-wolf penitent in a church. I'll have to get back on this train later tho'; work is calling.

im at 67 and stuck at 2 bosses i think maybe more. the people i summon just end up dying. did get invaded for the first time in the nightmare area and won

not been able to play this much recently but put a few hours in yesterday and took out the blood-starved beast on my first attempt. there are few greater feelings than taking down a souls boss first time, especially since it's always tempered with the certainty that you're going to get wrecked by another boss a little further down the line.

the witches might be my favorite one so far. pretty chill.

i'm starting to get a handle on Logarius, but won't have time to play for awhile.

that guy is awesome, really hard though can't beat him. i hate ebrietas, think i'm over 20 deaths on that so far. worse than smough/ornstein?

Those guys that grab on to you and suck on your head leaving you nearly dead and down a few Insight can get fucked forever.

theres a few enemies that do grab and drain attacks like that but those guys are the worst with their fucking tractor beam

Yeah, the ones that shoot out the white orbs that wrap you up. Caused me much rage in the Upper Cathedral.

also the bad santas with their sacks of dead ppl that go into a super saiyan rage after u hit them a few times

yesss. they're so scary when you run into them unexpectedly in the woods or wherever.

apparently the way to go is to backstab them when they're charging up, but i'm usually at too safe of a distance when that happens.

god i hate the keepers. i was cruising along then hit those guys and got stuck being killed by two of them for about an hour until i figured some tactics

took down vicar amelia and the witches last night, got locked up in scary bad santa jail for a while, explored through the forbidden woods. this game is so, so good.

I'm about where you are BG, those snakehead mofos are causing me some grief at the moment

though I did feel a bit sad slaughtering the luminous mushroom guys

its hilarious how insider-baseball the talk on these threads gets so quickly

nothing funny about our times in the bad santa jail and the sadness of slaughtering luminous mushroom men.

shoutout to another enemy i hate, those big fireball shooting things, they look like silverfish/centipedes. gotta hand it to from, this game is pretty vile n disgusting

i thought the witches were covered in barnacles at first, which was weird and revolting enough, then i realised they were covered in eyes. eurgh

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-petite/devastatingly-challenging_b_7021582.html

lol at "bad santa jail"

lonnnnng piece at gamasutra on the design of bloodborne and the souls games:

Maybe because I've studied Demon's Souls with such care, I've gotten good at memorizing right angles. So I pumped my fist with ferocity when, in Bloodborne, I discovered the first shortcut: Journeying deeper into that first area, I stopped and said, "The lamp is around that corner." I went around the corner. I opened a gate. There was the lamp (the warp / spawn points in Bloodborne are lamps). It felt great. I felt such a ghostly pat on the back at this moment. No, the game isn't a villain trying to trick me — it's an old friend keeping me on my toes.

That's the word I'd use to describe these games: friendly. These games have uninviting atmospheres and their enemies can crush you: The game is comfortable showing its real face to its best friends. We're the game's best friends. Not two hours into my first experience with Demon's Souls, I knew I'd found a weird best friend that trusted and respected my opinion and my intuition: I was the only friend who could figure it out.

i really enjoyed it - ymmv depending on your tolerance for tim rogers' writing tho

cool, didn't know he was writing there, will check out.

but man. videoball is a great cautionary tale for why video game companies are so tight-lipped about projects until they're almost done. my hype for that game peaked like a year or two ago. (i'll still probably buy it, but damn)

i have my own cannon now, feelin pretty pleased with myself

darkbeast paarl down on my first attempt. classic nailbiting fight - i ended up finishing him off with a sliver of health of my own left and no more blood vials.

the choral music and general vibe of unspeakable eldritch horror in yahar'gul really give me the heebie-jeebies.

why has videoball been in development so long? it doesn't seem like it's that huge of a project yknow

I missed Paarl when I was in Santa jail and now I don't think I can fight him 😕

:(

I think he's in a challice dungeon at least.

you can just go back to the lamp in that area

The lamp's extinguished. I think that's a boss you have to take when you get carried away to jail. Not there when you revisit.

Also, I know it's considered best to go in as blind as possible, but if you want to get the full ending, get those umbilical cords. Not at end game yet myself, but worth googling that.

i just went back for paarl in late game. you just have to go to the chapel lamp instead

finished the game, did the full ending. i looked up the other 2 endings and liked those better so fyi don't feel obligated to get the "true" one

i think i'm about three-quarters of the way through? i managed to take down the shadow of yharnam and rom spaceknight the vacuous spider first time each but amygdala is proving a bit of a challenge. i've spent a lot of time stabbing him in the crotch with my holy sword though.

i love the way the game gets creepier and more unhinged as you work your way through.

finally got through Rom (having the Tonitrus helped a ton), and did Paarl on the first try (i think that's the first time that's happened so far, although the witches were pretty quick too).

i'm still on my millionth try for Logarius, although i helped someone else beat him so i know it can be done.

I've just switched on my PS4 Plus or whatever they call it. It's a different game with online access and MVP etc. I had been accruing a lot of insight both as a score and as Madman's Knowledge which I suppose I will now use up.

i just found out about the memory-leak issue and now i'm wondering if my relative success against bosses is less due to my hard-won l33t skillz than the fact my opponents might have been nerfed by me leaving my ps4 on standby between sessions over a few days :(

ouch. glad i will get to enjoy the loading times fix due to my slow progress.

i still haven't gotten past the first mob section

so this game is basically a cthulu-cronenberg nightmare about fertility, periods and childbirth huh

something like that.

so yeah, you CAN return to Paarl, thx for the tips guys. was a breeze at this level though, took him out first try no sweat.

i was all psyched up to take Castle Cainhurst the other night only to find out... i already cleared the whole area? apparently i fired BB up when i got home from the bar last friday and just plowed through it. totally forgot about it.

Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos is kicking my ass. she's killed me about a zillion times now. hardest boss for me thus far.

those blood-engorged flea-women in cainhurst are the most annoying enemies to me by far - never quite managed to learn to parry them like i have almost every other regular enemy

oh, man, totally. after dying to them several times, i decided to just hoof it through, grab the loot, and leave. i noticed one of them was more engorged than the others, wonder if she drops something special?

i dutifully killed 'em all and i don't think i got anything special so i probably should have just legged it too

you mean those insect things outside the castle or the ghost ladies?

the insects outside. tuff.

oh yeah that was the hardest part of the place by far, almost scared me off. i killed them all once to get the items then started running past. really like the level design in/on the castle.

yeah, the castle is pretty spectacular, especially since it's an entirely optional area iirc

haven't had much time on this and i am v far behind. one thing that occurred to me catching up with thread is that i have zero awareness of the online stuff. i just looked up how to summon/be summoned because i had no idea. i think i liked it a lot better with the soul signs so it was like a visual reminder of that part of the game.

agreed, and I preferred the Souls style of messages as well

i definitely miss the bogus player messages meant to send you to your death. don't think i've seen any of that in Bloodborne.

i think i've seen one or two by precarious ledges etc but yeah definitely less than in previous games. maybe bloodborne players are just less inclined towards hilarious trolling.

i've seen some of that ("take a step forward"), not a ton. agreed on the soul signs.

xp

i put one message by a ledge that legitimately pointed to a secret area that got a few FOUL ratings. w/ever dudes, your loss.

finally finished this. wasn't feeling it that much at the beginning but it really got hold of my imagination after a bit, even had a dream about being in the castle the other night haha. now to read up on all the areas/bosses i missed out on.

You guys, Daughter of the Cosmos... dozens of attempts, can't do it. Never struggled this much with a boss in these games. ANY video game. I'm gonna do everything else I can (which I think is just Nightmare of Mensis) and come back before I clear it. Might need to pack on another ten levels.

fuck a vacuous spider

i just found out about the memory-leak issue and now i'm wondering if my relative success against bosses is less due to my hard-won l33t skillz than the fact my opponents might have been nerfed by me leaving my ps4 on standby between sessions over a few days :(

― bizarro gazzara, Thursday, 16 April 2015 13:59 (4 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i rebooted the game yesterday and the enemies in the nightmare of mensis definitely seemed more aggressive than they were before, so i think i may indeed have unwittingly benefited from memory-leak nerfing. fuck :(

still managed to pwn the mensis hunter even without the advantage of accidentally-nerfed enemies tho

i reaaally liked the Upper Cathedral Ward (and i died once to Ebrietas and was like, nope, not coming back to that for quite awhile).

got through yahar'gul (again) too, i feel like i missed some things and took a weird route though. at one point i rang my beckoning bell to get some help with the three hunters by the broken lamp, but ended up doing them solo. then i got turned around with all of the shortcuts and warping and was surprised when i ended up at the boss...my bell was still ringing so i inadvertently got help on the One Reborn, which made it seem super easy.

also, after countless botched co-op attempts, i ended up beating Logarius solo, and it felt great. probably my most breathless boss fight along with Gascoigne.

the little Celestial Emissary aliens who run after you with arms outstretched are adorable.

those 3 hunters was one of the best parts of the game for me. i kited them all the way back to the lantern and they started pacing around outside the room. i was like "haha safe zone" until one of them said fuck this and ran in and fought me while the other watched, arena-of-death style

yeah i got the beast claw guy back to the bridge before the lamp and had him almost down, then the cane one comes flying in out of nowhere. very tense.

one of the hardest/most frustrating parts was the two cthulu-headed guys where you get the orphanage key. lost a bunch of insight to them and had to resort to using the cannon. still, walking around that place in the dark is super spooky.

the nightmare frontier is a crazy area, even after getting the shortcuts, beating the boss, and finding lots of random nooks & crannies i still don't have a great mental map of the place.

also i tried doing some invasions at the beginning and i'm still the worst at pvp. i get all nervous with a human opponent and do stupid things, so embarrassing.

this fuckin' game

On the other hand, I've won all the duels when people invade my world. Somehow there's a lot more pressure when you're the invader, it's very presumptuous. Guess I'm too Midwestern to be a vileblood.

loading times patched apparently: http://www.jp.playstation.com/op/bloodborne/news/2015/04/103.html

some beautiful maniac has written an absurdly detailed examination of the game's lore - definitely worth a read if you can spare the time. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1k7ST7Ysc9I3s6zLXr-DOzWjoAtu6afOOCaU3ucCdBDk/mobilebasic

finished this over the weekend and uh

so this game is basically a cthulu-cronenberg nightmare about fertility, periods and childbirth huh

― bizarro gazzara, Friday, 17 April 2015 08:31 (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

me otm

really, really loved this from start to finish. need to get stuck into the chalice dungeons now.

i'm at the last boss. and i'm kind of glad i keep losing, because i keep thinking of little things that i want to go back and do/get before i'm kicked into ng+.

i really should have hung around for longer before the last boss - i managed to miss the upper cathedral ward altogether :(

and now i've gotten addicted to invading in the nightmare of mensis, so i'm going to hold off some more.

upper cathedral is definitely worth going back for.

dlc confirmed!

Shuhei Yoshida
‏@yosp

So I have been asked by many people if we are making DLC for Bloodborne. I can say... An expansion is coming. More info later this year. :D

yesss. i've been messing around with ng+ a little bit, but having more fun on a new character that's very different from my first (mostly threaded cane, arcane/bloodtinge build).

My friend got this so I've been playing it a lot. It's really good! Up there with Dark Souls, and way better than Dark Souls 2. I love the baroque steampunk apocalypse look. The combat is really fun, and can get super fast when you aren't using a shield. I think we are near the machinegun guy at the moment, but can't find out how to get up there. I'm pretty sure you can kill him and use the gun.

I finally beat this tonight! Struggled stupidly hard with that optional boss I mentioned above but eventually slayed her ass and ran a lap around the room. I basically dropped the game for a few weeks after that. Fatigue. And dread. Picked it up tonight and beat it in like 3 hours. Fought all of the available bosses, not much of a struggle.

Not sure how I'd rank this one amongst the other Souls games yet, but DS1 maintains top spot. Basically a battle between Demon's and BB for second.

Actually, to be real, Demon's has to take second. BB at 3rd. A respectable 3rd.

This is GOTY so far I really love the design here. There is so much attention to detail. The sharp iron spikes jutting out the top of a tall ladder for no reason at all other than to look cool and menacing. The winding patchwork of leaves and vines twisting around deformed iron fences. The world itself it portrays is a masterful example of twisted architecture. It is dark gothic, supernatural, steampunk, industrial. A world of cobblestones, brick, and rot iron, twisted together, the metal gleaming like the sparkling blood on your top hat.

That red-orange sky has a very dreamlike quality to it.

I felt bad about killing the sewer pig.

It feels like a big return to form following Dark Souls 2 imo. A more cohesive and logically inter-connected world with individual sections employing exclusive textures and a well-planed overarching aesthetic idiosyncrasy. Gone are the long stretches of empty running from one encounter to the next that plagued some areas in earlier games.

Instead of dungeons placed inbetween connecting areas, the whole game is a dungeon, all sprawling and inter-connected. And the attention to detail is great, something far beyond anything done in a Zelda game imo.

Tried playing this on a low-res projector and it looked really bad. Looks great on PS4.

finished this yesterday, took down that reaper thing HARDCORE

now considering whether to dive straight in to NG+ or leave it for a while

Finally got back to this in a big way and am trying to figure out where to go from here... i think i gotta get through the haunted wood? i'm up around level 56 and starting to just muscle my way through new areas.

had a good run today in the chalice dungeons, got through chalice Rom and the Blood-Letting Beast on my first try!

man, i was actually having way more fun going through the chalice areas than i expected, until i was on the final boss of Ailing Loran and accidentally removed the chalice, wiping out all progress. i don't think i'll feel like re-doing it for awhile (unless someone wants to do co-op!).

i want to go back and do chalices, i only go thru the first 1 or 2. you can't co-op on chalices that aren't unlocked yet right

ya i think so. i'm up for it if we're ever online at the same time.

i've gotten to lower pthumeru and hintertomb chalices, not sure how far i am from ailing loran. pretty fun so far, had some good jump scares and some of the new enemies are downright disgusting (crab scorpion thing with bright green stinger)

i missed hintertomb, need to go back for it.

i've been going back through ng+ and doing mostly terrible invasions. there was a rare great one in Cainhurst though where i successfully used a blue elixir to get a co-op party to walk past me, then was actually able to startle them from behind and take them out.

what level should i be for the chalices? im at 82 but they're starting to get more difficult so i might need to start going thru ng+ to level up

they don't scale with ng+...i'm over 100 and certainly don't feel over-leveled for the later ones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPjJCVylFBo

okay, i'm on the fucking hunter after the spiders and i can't seem to beat him.
anybody wanna co op some time?

i started a new guy but not quite there yet. forgot how huge this game is

Started playing over the weekend. Through that street, over and over. kill kill kill, you died, back to the street.

I love it. I wish I were playing it now.

It feels more fun than DS2 (the only other ones of these I've played) - running around whacking things with my cane - not just dread, patience, care and thought.

i'll co-op with you forks, just message me if we're on at the same time. haven't tried it but i think that if we use a password now, it'll work regardless of level (and auto-adjust stats if there's a big gap).

i'm pretty much at the end of the game in ng+, just doing pvp and chalices. i finally beat Ebrietas for the first time because i semi-accidentally got him trapped behind some fallen pillars, and he gave up and stopped attacking. i'll take it.

Cool, I'll hit you up later.

yeah the cheese/glitch boss kill is a time-honoured tradition of the series, be glad of them on the rare occasions you can get them. the only time i ever killed old king doran he got stuck behind a barrel

i have not once figured a way to get a co-op chalice dungeon. search gets me nothing.

that was fun, forks.

Yeah, thanks! the help was welcome.

i'm kinda near the end, yes?

very near

I've killed some angry people, a few dogs and a big thing with a brick. Am I near the end?

okay, beat it. into ng+ prob should've waited and beaten some side quests as this is much harder now. at level 96.

at first ng+ seemed super hard, then much easier. i'm pretty sure this was not due to my skills improving, probably had more to do with going through some chalice dungeons and finding gems that compensated for enemies' increased hp. also you get crazy souls in ng+, so thankfully there is no need to farm for vials and bullets anymore.

chalice dungeon rom is some bullshit

first try ;)

i was watching vids of ppl rushing in and ignoring all the spawns but i had to take it slow and wipe out each wave. got bloodletting on 3rd try, much easier without lock-on. now i'm at ailing loran and lower hintertomb

finished hintertomb and ailing loran, now on lower loran. really fun, i might be enjoying this more than the main game. but the infinite spider bell chimes are starting to get rly annoying

i did ailing loran with a friend the other day, although it took us long enough to figure out the co-op. it was fun though, the abhorrent beast was a piece of cake with two people.

i got him down to 1/4 but that last phase is just ridic so i used a random co-op for that one. i've also helped ppl using the co-op quick search, seems to take a few minutes to connect either way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPs_cAdAhjU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPs_v2JAwjo

expansion announced, coming november 24

http://www.youtube.com/watch?t=106&v=NHmjtL-RsJ4

dunno why that didn't embed but it's worth a look!

yep that looks cool

so ready for this

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5635/21419733715_0b95520044_b.jpg

here it is btw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?t=3&v=NHmjtL-RsJ4

ha, okay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHmjtL-RsJ4

They need to release this on PC when Dark Souls III comes out.

who's up for some Thanksgiving morning DLC action?

Oooh, did not know!

so smart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hwLfgz2QsA

oof going into dlc underleveled is rough or maybe my weapon sux. i did manage to circle all the way back to the first lamp but i died like 50 times

had this on my shelf for a few months while i worked through other games and now a friend of mine finally got on the ps4 bandwagon. how accessible is multiplayer, compared to previous iterations of the franchise? i'd like to be able to double up as much as possible as we both go through.

tried the dlc this morning and so far it's everything i could have hoped for. it's definitely challenging-but-fair on my ng+ character, but then i switched to one of the new weapons and started getting wrecked, even after upgrading it (partially because i'm not used to it, and partially because it wasn't doing much damage and these dudes have soooo much health).

how accessible is multiplayer, compared to previous iterations of the franchise?

the system is a little weird but doable. you can co-op after getting through the first little portion of the game yourself, and then use a password to match up with your friend.

dope. we had some good times camping the forest in the dark souls days, am looking forward to this

the dlc is so great, i don't want it to end. just got through the section that's very reminiscent of the Tower of Latria from Demon's Souls.

once i got past the first two bosses this got a lot more interesting. got the sword/hammer thing, am searching for upgrade mats to increase hammer smash. think the level design is better than das2 pretty handily and i love the atmosphere

am0n helped me kill the last dlc boss. :) and i got to finish the fight solo so it felt real.

still haven't beat that one optional boss who's super difficult. other notable randomness:

-if you invade into the room where the twin hunters normally are, you replace one of them (unless the player had killed one first?). did this once and the invadee took off all his clothes and begged for mercy, so i went home.

-once invaded into the Living Failures boss room, before the player had killed the boss. i guess this was a bug? i wish i could have seen what happened if he had entered the fog, but he wouldn't come in and so we fought through the fog door. i died.

still need to do optional and final boss. that true about the twin hunters thing?

i upgraded the new buzzsaw weapon. i can't wait hehe

re: twin hunters, i'm not sure. when i invaded the white twin was walking up to the slab/elevator, and there was no black twin. the player also didn't have a co-op partner, so maybe his partner and the black twin had both died, and he was running away to heal (and then i was there when he came back)?

it would be cool if it was a Mirror Knight/Old Monk thing though.

oh thought that was what you meant. i'd been hoping they were going to add something like that where you invade in another form or as a boss. at least they delivered on the beast mode thing. so theres actually 2 optional bosses, haven't found either yet but both sort of remixes of main game ones?

yeah i haven't gotten another invasion to work there.

i think there's only the one optional boss (in the church where you fight Amelia in the main game), what's the other?

thats one. the other is blood starved beast part 2 inside a tunnel past the big river of blood tick things

maybe he doesn't have a boss health bar, i havent gotten back there yet

oh yeah he's just a regular baby beast, no boss bar. loved that dark cave.

sooo i've gotten super addicted to doing pvp in this game. the more i do it, the deeper and more fun it feels. so much of it is just getting to the point where you're relaxed and patient, same as the main game i guess.

^an unfortunate and inevitable consequence of this is getting hatemail from children. at least it's better than playing a game with voice chat.

xp just recently opened up ability to do a CRF chalice (but screwed the first one up with a mis-click, will get there tonight though) and am salivating at the prospect of farming gems & runes & materials forever in chalice dungeons. i get some folks don't like them, but these things are like crack to me

previous xp was to compare addictions in bloodborne. i haven't really done any pvp yet (hoping i can still get summons on my 118 guy, am already planning alts)

nice. i've been doing pretty well in pvp without the really good chalice gems, but every now and then will come across someone who will just decimate me in two hits (or even worse, two bullets).

i took a long break from the chalices but i'm currently trying to beat defiled Amygdala, just to finish that last dungeon.

hit me up on psn if you want some help, i'm always looking for insight and have fought amygdala a lot (so i think i have the rhythm mostly down)

psn: vrilr0

finally beat her last night. :) every co-op partner i had died pretty quickly, and it ended up being easier to do it solo (the cannon made it possible to get through that last phase). now i'm messing around with the final dungeon, some of the layers feel really expansive.

i'll add you though, lemme know if you want to do some friendly pvp practice.

This game though. Smashed The One Reborn last night and mega hyped for the last areas.

This game gets better as it goes on imo, the escalating sense of everything just going absolutely fucking nuts is incredible

amazed myself by reaching second lamp in the DLC too which for a while was looking like a never-gonna-happen thing

https://clips.twitch.tv/CheerfulCarelessAlmondThunBeast

p good

several rookie errors there: trying to use cover to hide from a boss attack that cuts through it, rolling willy nilly, running headlong into a special attack

Still warms my heart.

I enjoyed that. Sums up boss fights. nothing like the panic facing the impossibly destructive attacks of a boss. 'not dead not dead!' is otm.

Got the urge to play this again (thank you based Grimes) and it's so good. As much as Dark Souls 3 invasions are my favorite thing, starting a new character is kind of a slog. In BB, I had forgotten how brilliant the starting area is in terms of design, so many twists and turns.

I have started this and have no idea what I'm doing. Also, I died.

You can doooo it

GRANT US EYES

So if I die and don't pick up my lost blood money before dying again, it's gone forever, right? I wonder if I should start my game over (since I'm like 30 minutes into the game).

Don't do that, you can't worry about losing souls/blood echoes. They come and go, there are always more where those came from (although after beating a boss, it is a good idea to spend them rather than rolling the dice in a new area).

I saw a hilarious clickbait article promising the latest news on Bloodborne 2, which broke down to this: 1) From Software is busy with that new game, and hasn't mentioned a sequel to Bloodborne, and also Bloodborne is not on the calendar 2) People have been wondering if Bloodborne 1 might come to the Switch, but probably not, because too hard to do and see 1), and 3) a quick pivot to why there probably won't be a sequel.

WTF?

I named my character Allison, because she looks eerily like Allison Janney.

I have played and beaten Bloodborne and it’s a magnificent game in every way but this is still the first thing I think of every times it’s brought up.

https://youtu.be/HPjJCVylFBo

Sound needs to be on btw

lol, I forgot about that

LOL WANT.

I think I'm starting to get the hang of it a little, enough to do a little grinding for blood echoes to upgrade my attire. However, I have forgotten where the first big, nonhuman enemy is, so I haven't really tested my new combat skills yet.

Playing late at night was a little too intense, though.

I've kind of figured out how to play this (at least the beginning), i.e. I can avoid dying when facing mobs of human enemies.

Now I just need to figure out where to go.

Found the Cleric Beast but as you might expect I died. Then in my haste to try again I kept dying in the beginning of Central Yarnham -- SUPER frustrating. Are there any checkpoint lanterns in between so that I don't lose so much progress every time I DIED?

There's only one lantern iirc, but there are doors/shortcuts that you can open up that make it a quick trip (maybe that house that's very dark inside?).

in my haste to try again I kept dying

souls games in a nutshell ime

There's only one lantern iirc, but there are doors/shortcuts that you can open up that make it a quick trip (maybe that house that's very dark inside?).

I found the house that lets me avoid the two werewolves(?) on the bridge right before the boss, but I was hoping to avoid the part where I had to get past the guys at the gate staring at the big bonfire.

I might be misremembering, but I think you can go out a downstairs door of that house and head right up to the starting lamp?

you're not misremembering, that's the shortest path

Cthulhu help me, I'm looking at a walkthrough right now.

cleris beast is optional (:

I realized that except for the blood echoes (because you know why) I have resources now to upgrade my stats and my weapon (axe). I've read that health and weapons should be prioritized, so I'm just going to grind the starting area for the echoes needed.

I also encountered my first NPC that isn't locked behind a door!

Beat the Cleric Beast! It didn't feel so overwhelmingly hard once I got a feel for its attack patterns an be after I gave up trying to land visceral stacks on it.

Father G on the other hand feels like I should try for visceral stacks when I can. Haven't had much luck against him so far.

Picked this up again and after the requisite period of remembering the controls, I managed to beat Father G. So, nice that I can explore a new level. The controls did feel a bit wonky during the boss fight, like when trying to dodge, my character would do to moves after soon he initial delay (probably me button mashing).

Bought to the Kirk Hammett Hammer with the process (and selling his the saw blade I found), then realized that I didn't have enough strength to world it.

*two moves

Maybe you were out of stamina (and mashing)?

It's not worth selling weapons imo, there aren't that many of them in the game, and it's easier to kill enemies to get currency. You might want to use it later (or not, but still).

I kind of had that thought about stamina too, so I upgraded it. Haven't had much chance to fully test drive yet.

Good point on weapons, I even found a path that's not too hard for farming blood currency.

So I ground enough enemies to buy that Hunter emblem to open a big gate that leads to Vicar Amelia (fight her twice to no avail, even with an NPC buddy, I've heard that you should only tackle her at around level 25?), and I've found the way to Old Yarnham (the farthest I've traveled there is that plaza where the Hunter enemy keeps trying to do a hot and run against me).

However, I'm not sure which area to go and/or focus on next.

I always got super turned around in Cathedral Ward tbh. It's been awhile, but iirc Old Yarnham is technically option but leads to some other optional areas (chalice dungeons, another one that should be a surprise), and beating Amelia is the way forward.

She's one of the few Souls bosses that never quite clicked with me, I think I summoned help every time. I love the fight with the three npcs down in the cemetery (?) below though.

Hm, I was kind of stuck on Cathedral Ward -- there didn't seem to be any other way for me to progress besides either going into Old Yarnham or sinking 10000 echoes to buy the Hunter Emblem Key.

I know from looking at the wiki today that if you do go into Old Yharnam and beat the boss there, a door opens up by the Cathedral Ward lamp and then there's a tricksy way to avoid having to get the Hunter Emblem.

God this game. I started playing but I'm still stuck at Vicar Amelia, PLUS I've also lost 9 insight. I keep thinking this is just not my game but then I read others going nuts over it and revisit and I end up grinding my teeth.

Lesson learned from Dark Souls is there is no shame in searching for help and hints.

my lesson learned was there is no shame in searching for other games

there is no shame in summoning help

I summoned Henriett, can't summon real players because I don't have PS+.

Meanwhile, this article seems to be implicitly calling me out: https://kotaku.com/bloodborne-has-clicked-for-me-and-it-only-took-four-ye-1831951256

And I just realized that my revival post didn't mention that I now have ZERO insight.

have you gone through old yarnham and hemwick yet? they're optional but leveling up may help

I got some part of the way into Old Yarnham but the sniper annoyed me and I gave up. I know that BSB lives in OY but I didn't reach it. No Hemwick, either.

they’re fun as well!

i am v much looking forward to sekiro:shadows die twice. hoping activision hasn’t fucked with the magic.

"as well" doesn't apply as I don't think I've enjoyed the game so far.

ah yes. i meant more - as well as levelling up they are fun levels, but i can how if the general aesthetic isn’t serving you that’s not going to fly. AWAY! AWAY!

agreed, if it's a slog just drop it. ciderpress otm

I loved the atmosphere of Dark Souls, which is partly what kept me going. I look forward to this one, which looks even cooler, even if I admit at my rate I won't get to it until they remaster it or something.

Should I start a new game from scratch? (Lost all of my insight to an enemy without realizing it.)

Nah. What do you want insight for, buying things or summoning help? If you really want more before progressing, you can try to help players beat bosses (although idk how active the game is these days).

Don't you need Insight to level up? I also don't have PSN so summoning isn't in the picture.

Nope, you only need it to summon helpers and to buy things at that one messenger bath (up top, overlooking the main one). Souls/blood echoes are used to level up.

yeah, echoes are souls, insight is the humanity of bloodborne. it has... properties i won't spoil but i sure as hell wouldn't restart because of it

OK, I think I am closer to starting this than not (which means in the next couple of months, give or take a Batman and/or Ori). Apologies in advance, since I do tend to overthink these games, if only because they are pretty big commitments, but my first big question is if it's essentially (that is, more or less) like Dark Souls. And the other (related) is if I should go in more or less blind or keep a guide handy. Now, I like to be surprised as much as the next guy, but I can say with certainty that some of my favorite parts of Dark Souls 1 & 3 I would have totally missed had I not followed any sort of guide - and in turn likely never experienced, barring a replay - and similarly there were some parts I might have *hated* had a guide not given me a heads up. So Bloodborne, is it just as frustratingly rich and varied in secrets and secret levels/bosses/weapons/skills? Would it behoove me to follow some sort of a guide, as opposed to checking out walkthroughs only when I'm stuck? I don't really want to get in a situation where I find out, a few hours in, that I can't do the awesome thing with the thing because I didn't do the thing at the beginning, which Dark Souls is rife with. Oh, and I will be playing it offline as well again, too.

Am I ever going to feel like a failure when you inevitably beat this!

inevitably is a long way away

-gandhi

i could maybe replay this

The format is extremely Dark Souls. One the one hand there are some good surprises that I wouldn't want spoiled, but on the other there are some secrets and quests that affect the ending (including a boss fight) that I never would have known about if I hadn't looked them up.

Maybe a good compromise is playing the first couple hours blind (unless you get stuck), and then looking up guides without shame. Nothing early affects the end.

Still hovering in pre-game research mode here (and i'm sorry, but these games do benefit from at least some basic spoiler-free research). I saw a nice guide that more or less translated each starting class into its Dark Souls equivalent, so I'm leaning toward Military Veteran (warrior) or Lone Survivor (tank knight). The problem (which is a good problem to have) is that what you pick at the start potentially plays a big role in *how* you play, and once you start allocating stats it's pretty hard to change direction mid-course. Of course, that's a good thing for replay, as there are so many variables, and, as fans of DS and this one seem prone to say, pretty much any build with any weapon can get you to the end. But some builds are definitely more forgiving at the start than others. Starting Knight in DS3 was a big help, for example, because you begin with a good weapon. In this case, it seems the way to go in the beginning is butcher saw or axe.

bloodborne was my first souls game and used a dex build with the cane whip. dex much more viable as a starter build in bloodborne than DS i’d say (though strength builds also v good obv).

So that would be more Warrior/Lone Survivor, right?

It's been awhile but I want to say that builds/stats are more forgiving in BB that in other Souls games. For one thing, stamina costs in general are low since the game is faster paced, so that's not a big concern.

I'd say try out the different weapons and see what you like before comitting to str or dex. And everyone's fave weapon (Ludwig's Holy Blade) can be used by either iirc.

Anyway here's everything you need to know about builds:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyeUcfQI2MY

I saw that one, actually. He says ... Military Veteran plus axe, right? I also watched most of the one he did a couple of years before that, but it was a lot more complex and involved and from what I could tell focused a lot more on PVP and subsequent play-throughs, I want to say. So it seems that the game is maybe sliiiiiightly less arcade and unforgiving than Dark Souls, which allows for the learning curve of unfamiliar pacing, story, settings, enemies, names for things, and so on.

Yeah, you shouldn't have to worry about optimizing your build much at all. I also didn't do any chalice dungeons until after I finished the game for the first time.

There is a specific point in the game where there are a number of branching paths, and while it may feel like you're underpowered, it's really the case that a couple of them are meant for later in the game. So, classic Dark Souls.

i didn't do any chalice dungeons because they suck

i found BB harder than dark souls but still doable because of co-op. no such luck with sekiro, which is much harder than bb

you'll want an faq if you intend on seeing most of everything in a single run, josh. the obscurantism i love hasn't gone anywhere, if anything it's even more opaque than it was on DkS

probably gotg for me

Thanks for the heads up. I'll be playing this offline, btw. Can you still summon npcs?

yes there are a few. can't tell you if they're worth it or if they just make the fights harder, though

And I have begun! Nice to see this keeping with the Dark Souls tradition of kicking your ass first thing, in this case with a big werewolf monster that you have to fight barehanded. Of course I died. Now into the game proper and it's going to be a steep curve at first after a few very forgiving games (like the Batmans and Ratchet and Crank and God of War and even Last of Us, all of which I think I played after DS3 and none of which were particularly challenging). I've been dying to this very early armored enemy a bunch of times already, mostly because I can't quite pin down the mechanics just yet, but I'm sure it'll click soon enough.

i didn't do any chalice dungeons because they suck

There are some cool unique bosses, but I only did them to get some decent gems for pvp, which is dumb. You don't need to worry about them unless you want some additional gameplay.

Oof, OK, so this from the start is like Dark Souls 3 around the point of Spooky Town. Which is to say, pretty unforgiving. But I think I've already learned my lesson that the first big guy I have the option to fight I also have the option not to fight.

Don't forget that you can regen hp by attacking right after you get hit! It rewards aggression.

Also I think the big guys are basically there to teach you gun parry timing (and that you can run past them, obv).

Yeah, the gun timing thing will take me time. In the meantime, I'll trying to figure out the regen mechanic. So do I have to hit the person that hit me? And that gets me ... a portion of the health lost back?

When you take damage, your health bar goes down (duh), but you'll see a white, vertical bar that indicates how much health you can recover if you hit your attacker quickly enough. Once that line disappears, that means you can't recover that damage.

the game calls it rally and some weapons are better at it (regain more health) than others

it doesn't have to be the same enemy that drained the health, you just have to deal damage to something

Man, this game is tough. I was doing OK (for, like, the first five feet), but kept getting killed by that first big mob, so figured I would just run past them. I eventually got to another area, killed a few more dogs and creatures and hunters and ... an ogre? And then I got to a bridge with two werewolf monsters, who kicked my ass. Testing my luck, I sprinted past them (since they kept killing me) and ran right into the first boss fight, which I was not prepared for. Needless to say, I'm pretty rusty, but I'll get there.

lol I think maybe my problem was not actually equipping the molotov cocktails.

OK, this game is cool as shit. What a help it is to actually be able to equip and use the molotov cocktails. I just learned how to upgrade my weapon, too, and what to use pebbles for as well. Neat! Now I need to explore some more before facing that boss. I know there are some other nooks and crannies I saw before I got destroyed by that Cleric Beast, so I assume there is more to find in this early area before I advance.

Cleric Beast down on first (intentional) try! Needless to say, I'm getting the hang of things, but clearly I'm missing things, too, since I literally have no idea where to go next. Sewer area? There may be more of that to explore.

I think that's the right track. Fun fact, the Cleric Beast is optional!

Huh. I guess that makes sense, since it doesn't seem to open up any new routes. Funny how this game subverts a few Dark Souls trademarks. For example, leaning in to the idea that some enemies are just meant to be skipped. Like the werewolves on the bridge, or that first giant guy with the axe, or I guess ... the first boss? Even the mobs of baddies seem to encourage if not stealth then ... strategic avoidance? I've been pumping my (not) souls into vitality, though, and that seems to be a smart strategy. Upgraded saw blade seems to help a bit, too, at least at this early stage.

Oof, just fought the first real boss (I guess?) in the graveyard, and I thought I was doing OK until it turned into a monster beast and ... actually, even then I was doing OK for a minute, but I panicked because it was so fast and it killed me. I think I can pull it off now that I know what I'm expecting, though.

And indeed, Father Guidosarduci is down! That was pretty cool, though, and lots of stuff seems to be changing. Is it getting darker outside? Also, got some new clothes, told some villagers to go to the chapel, got a flamethrower or something. Things are afoot!

I actually find exploring new areas to be kind of anxiety inducing, which I know is intentional on the designer's part. This game in particular is pretty dark, or at least it is in this cathedral area, so there are all sorts of places for baddies to hide. I think I found my first dungeon, or basement or ... something, but I went back to trade in my souls before I went any further. I'd rather fight an enemy I know with no souls than die to some nasty surprise with a few thousand on me.

Nice! I love that boss. Did you use the music box?

Yeah! Well, sort of. I think I had read about it years ago, but I actually read the description for once and recognized the boss name. The first time I fought him I kept using it when he was man-like, but then he turned into a beast and killed me. The second time I didn't use it *until* he turned into a beast, or maybe I tried to, but I think I had better luck just swinging and dodging than I did getting the music box to actually chime. Now I'm exploring the cathedral area, which seems to be netting more souls and goodies, but introducing bigger baddies. Still working out the weapon upgrade system.

The thing I love about these games, and find annoying in equal measure, is that they really are so steeped in secrets and lore that they need multiple playthroughs (and builds) to truly explore and appreciate, but I generally don't have the patience for that. This one ... it feels a bit like there are more important choices to make early on than there were in Dark Souls (I), though I don't know how important the decisions I make are in the end. Certainly weapons and armor and that kind of stuff seems a little less important, and my stat upgrade path already seems a bit difference. Per that YouTube dude, I've been putting a lot of souls into vitality, with a bit in strength, but endurance for once seems a little less important, at least for now. All I know is that everyone that thought Dark Souls was gloomy must have really been shocked at how dark this gets. I can tell, having played DS3 first, that this game had a big influence on that game.

Took me a few tries to figure out the run and a strategy, but I eventually took out the machine gunner in Old Yarnham, and also the aggro human NPC. Then I unlocked a shortcut, which was a sign I was ready for a break, since this level is long and there don't seem to be any lanterns anywhere. Felt a little bad, since I had wiped out so many enemies, but the shortcut should make it easy to avoid most of them again. Oh, and keep finding new things, though as usual I have no idea what anything does. Ash, or blood rituals, and stuff like that. I do think I understand the gems, I guess, which seem to be a confusing take on the upgrade system.

Or sort of like weapon-adorned rings a la Dark Souls, I suppose.

fwiw i don’t think there are important choices to make early on. the game retains quite a large amount of reversible flexibility into quite late game. there are a couple of irreversible things iirc around (can’t remember spoiler tags so i’ll just use initials) SA.

what a wonderful game bloodborne is tho. josh, your anxiety inducing exploration of new areas leads to one of my favourite bloodborne experiences which is stepping *really* slowly through a courtyard or what have you, tense af, and realising there is nothing there.

Hah, I'm a big fan of coming across a room with 50 urns and chests in it, all empty.

The ritual blood stuff is just used to create chalice dungeons, which are totally optional (only do it if you want more content, or want to grind for better gems for your weapons).

Oh, do I use them at the gravestones back in the Hunter's Dream?

Blood Starved Beast is down. Took me a few tries, mostly because I was sloppy, but in the end I just summoned the NPC to hasten its demise. And also because I was almost out of antidotes and didn't feel like buying more or farming. Good fight! Good fight music! I'm still trying to figure out the camera in this thing. Do I want to play with auto-correct on or off?

NIGHTMARE SLAIN just as the election is called

I was just thinking that! I'd like to take credit.

Man. So I find/fall my way down a tower, discover a door to what seems like an alternate dimension Hunter's Dream, fall some more, kill a beast and get a "beast" reward (?), then enter this town and ... am immediately absolutely, instantly killed by this big hooded thing that also summons a vortex that summons me to ... some other secret town? Where I keep getting killed again and again with one shot by those hooded vortex things. At least I find a lantern at the top of the stairs, but I have no idea what is going on. In a good way!

are you using a faq or did you find the alternate hunter's dream on your own?

I should play this game again, feels like I barely scratched the surface on 3 or so playthroughs

xpost yes and no; I have a walkthrough open for when I get stuck, since, I'm terrible at finding the path forward, especially in this game so far, where twice (or really three times) even a lantern lit was an apparent dead-end. So, for example, after I beat the blood starved beast, I had no idea where to go and returned to the hunter's dream, where the guy in the wheelchair told me to go to Odeon Chapel. But I had taken long enough of a break that I literally had no idea where that is (since the warp spot is called Cathedral Ward). I go to the walkthrough and it says go back to Cathedral Ward, which *is* Odeon (duh), and there is a new door open. Aha! I follow that path to the top of the tower, fight baddies, get some stuff and ... dead end again. I go all the way back, look around, then am once again stumped. So I go to the walkthrough, see I was supposed to go the *other* way around the tower, drop down and find the series of platforms leafing down. I make/fall my way to the bottom, enter that town and am quickly killed by those creatures that warped me to another alternate world/town/something, where I kept dying and waking until I found the lantern at the top and (thankfully) was able to warp back to the hunter's dream. I figure, ok, that's another possible dead end, what did I do wrong? Am I supposed to progress through that alternate secret area where I keep dying? Am I missing a special weapon or something to make it doable? Or do I go back to the door at the bottom of the tower and fight past those other baddies (where I was first killed and warped to that secret place)?

I go back to that series of drop downs, heading back to the door at the bottom, but I see *another* door in the dark, drop down to *that* platform/door, and it takes me to the alternate hunter's dream. I still don't know what that was, but it offers a shortcut back to the bottom of that tower, so now I know that must be the way to progress. Or at least one of three ways I can progress now, I think: door at the bottom of the tower, secret spooky area where I kept getting killed, and I have a chalice now, too, which means I can now open another portal at one of those gravestones. No idea which is the correct way to go.

I love these games, but they often make you focus so hard one on thing (specific enemies, challenging areas) that you can miss other things, sometimes obvious things. Sometimes you end up stumbling on secret stuff because like a big dummy you missed what was right there in front of you.

Hmm, this is the part of the game with a lot of optional paths. What all bosses have you beaten again? The main way forward involves killing a boss and then taking a path out of the Cathedral Ward through a door that was locked.

(the chalice dungeons are always fully optional btw)

I've killed Cleric Beast, Father Gudio Sarduci and Blood Starved Beast. I know I've passed a few locked doors and gates, but I assume these are all shortcuts. For example, the one that costs 10000 souls, I assume it's like the expensive gate to the garden in Dark Souls. Which is to say, maybe worth it, but there's no hurry right now. I also don't even remember where it is right now. Cathedral Ward? That seems to be another central hub of sorts.

Are the chalice dungeons DLC stuff? Why are they there if they are fully optional? Just for fun or online play?

The chalice dungeons are there if you want rare/much better gems to trick out your weapons, but that's really only necessary if you want to be competitive in pvp. They can also be fun if you want some more content after you finish the main game (and DLC), since they have some unique bosses. Also some bosses that you've already fought in the main game, but are more difficult or in tighter arenas.

Yeah I would explore the Cathedral Ward more, there's a main boss as well as some other optional paths/bosses (one of which I like a lot).

the chalice dungeons are not dlc and not worth doing, the dlc is very much worth it though

congrats on finding that door on your own it's sort of required to get the true ending

huh. I figured I was supposed to find it, for progress. no way will this ever make sense to me, but I assumed that was the real hunter's workshop, and the dream was, well, just that.

I think it is, but I'm not much of a lore guy.

Btw the optional path I like is Hemwick Charnel Lane, to the left of Vicar Amelia's boss room if you're looking at it, and I think the next non-optional area is the Forbidden Woods.

OK, I went back to the area through the door at the bottom of the tower, avoided the enemy that summons a vortex, can glow red and aggro, and can kill me with one hit (it seems?), and found an elevator that went all the way up ... to Cathedral Ward again! So I guess a shortcut, or more of the maze mapped out. Then I explored some more new stuff, which included a few more of those giants, and another huge stairway that leads to these new giant doors that right now I am afraid to go through. And then I found more stairs leading down to this well, where there seemed to be another possibly tough enemy just waiting for me and I was too scared to try that right now, too. So I'll take a break and dip in again later.

OK, I had found that Hemwick Charnel Lane before but didn't explore it, so spent some time just now doing that, making my way to what I assume is a boss fight (since it looks a bit like an arena up ahead). At that point I transported back to spend souls, since I'd gather over 20k (!). I guess that means those giant doors are ... a Vicar Amelia boss fight? So it's a boss fight either way, though there are a few places I haven't quite explored yet, like the plaza where the giants are patrolling near Odeon, or the figure at the bottom of those stairs by the well, or that parallel dimension I got transported to. This is essentially another Dark Souls, but there are all these little tweaks and variations that make it pretty different, not least lots of optional stuff early on.

OK, spent a bit more time exploring, and I am very glad I did not spend 10k souls on that gate, since it was easy enough to open on my own.

Just beat the ... witches? Witches? Whatever I did, I think it was an example of having no idea what was going on working to my advantage. I'm still not even sure what I did, besides run around that room attacking things as they appeared.

Now I returned to Cathedral Ward, but instead of taking on the boss behind the big doors I first went down to that area where there was someone waiting by a well. It seemed like they were another NPC hunter, who I fought and beat, but then there was a second one with some sort of scattergun that was harder. And then, after that, it kept leading down to *another* area, past a couple of those executioner guys, a big arena with some alter in the middle. And then I noped out. As far as I know this is still Cathedral Ward, because I never got a location update. Hmm.

(altar)

The witches disappear and reappear, summoning other things, but some are illusions and only the 'real' one takes damage on the boss bar (similar to, yeah, the other Souls fights that work similarly).

I just like the whole vibe of that area, especially winding around to where you see the lake (and get the Lake ruin).

So the new area I descended to in the Ward ... bad idea? Boss battle first?

Mmmm I think it's a dead end for now...if you come back later, you can access an optional area, which you'll reach via a different route later anyways.

the area has... stuff in it right now but there's no progress you can make there, optional or mandatory. the mandatory route is the big cathedral boss

Had a few minutes so thought I would give the Vicar a shot, and beat her on the first try! Not sure what it necessarily got me besides a mysterious cutscene, but I know there are more people hanging out at the church now. One of them gave me some magic blood, the other one said not to go into the basement, which may mean go to the basement.

hint for optional area: start knocking on every door you come across

Hmm. I thought I'd knocked on every door so far. Most people lately babble, but there have been three I've talked to about a rescue/safe spot, two of whom are at Odeon. There was a door with a password I didn't know, but I still don't have the password, afaict.

you do have the password now but that's not why i told you to check the doors, dialogue changes as the night progresses and new things will happen, even in places you've already been to

Yeah I think you got the 'password' after beating Amelia (don't worry, you don't have to actually know it, the door will open, it's kinda dumb).

Amelia is super tough for me early on, because she heals and it's hard to outpace it if your damage is low. I think she's meant to discourage you so that you explore all the optional paths in the area, and come back later.

I find this game rewards rather than punishes aggression, which is kind of the opposite of Dark Souls. Often if you race into a boss fight instead of hanging back a bit in DS, they demolish you. In this game so far, the bosses are fast enough that waiting lets them get the upper hand. In Amelia's case, I just went in and started wailing on the legs, with occasional dodges and stamina breaks. I'm not even sure I saw her heal? I did use that magic blood I just got in the church from the prostitute I rescued, maybe that helped.

Will def. go back and talk to more locked up jerks in the town.

It just occurred to me how much of the game I've played so far that seems to be ... optional? Cleric Beast. Blood Starved Beast. Witch in that area. The alternate hunter's dream. The spooky place I wake up in when those things kidnap me. All the chalice dungeons. Are some of the seemingly optional areas and bosses just optional early game, or do they stay optional? Or, are they optional but important and foolish to skip, like the way the Witch gets you the ability to use Runes?

Made a few little baby steps. Went back to some doors and mostly got people in extreme distress, though one guy that was grouchy before ... well, he was still grouchy, but I told him about the safe church. I also fought another NPC hunter and helped Aileen, then unlocked the door with the password and made it to the lantern in the forbidden woods, which seems to be the progress route.

most of the areas you listed stay optional, one will eventually end up as part of the main route

all optional areas are foolish to skip because they're more bloodborne (except the chalice dungeons, fuck those)

But if you don't do any chalice dungeons then you miss unique fights like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bB9IgKc3K4

(generally accepted to be a parody of certain Dark Souls combat styles, lol)

the youtube embed isn't working on my computer rn but i assume it's a video of the fat naked rolling dudes with clubs

Yes. Yes it is.

Also the chalice version of Amygdala in the small arena was a memorable challenge for me.

Is there any reason to hold off on the optional areas rather than take them on now, or is it just a matter of being powerful enough? I'm done the witch woods but haven't explored much of that hyperloop gooooal area yet.

Post-Amelia I imagine you can do any of them.

Honestly I forgot how many areas of the game are technically optional, even ones I consider huge/cool areas of the game (like Castle Cainhurst).

the dlc is definitely best left for late game. perhaps just before the final boss but then you wouldn't get to use the dlc weapons much unless you do ng+

the others just tackle them as you find them. maybe hold off on yahargul if the boss there seems too hard

i summon online help for everything so i can't really gauge difficulty tbh

Post-Amelia I imagine you can do any of them.

Honestly I forgot how many areas of the game are technically optional, even ones I consider huge/cool areas of the game (like [Hidden text. Tap to view]).

yes, a faq is handy. i missed it in my 1st playthrough along with the clinic, ebrietas and the workshop

The DLC is fantastic, and also hard.

ouch, darkbeast pearl kicked my ass on that first try. And there are so many animals on that level, dogs and pigs. I'll have to try some different strategies. Even used up all my blood vials!

Couple of stray observations, before I dive into the forbidden woods (I think I've made it halfway, though hope to find a shortcut back). One, not having to deal with your weight and fat rolling is such a relief. Two, same thing with endurance seemingly being less important. Three, weapons appear to be more straight forward, or at least scaling is a little less important. Four, bullets and blood vials aplenty.

It's funny, I think the blood vials system deters just running past enemies. If you try to speed through the game you can find yourself without any (especially when fighting bosses), but if you're engaging with all the enemies and dying a lot (as intended) then you'll have plenty.

I still think there should have been some sort of unlimited refill, even if it's only 5-10 vials and you need to unlock it, or something.

Oh, I'd much rather not have to collect them, but at least you bank your surplus, so that even having to rerun a section or fight enemies over and over is ultimately as beneficial as frustrating. For example, I can run past the first chunk of enemies in Forbidden Woods, but I'd much rather fight them for supplies (which in some ways seem more important than souls in this game).

Alright, now this is why I like having a guide handy. I was making my way through the forbidden woods, which is full of hilarious booby traps and insta-kills, like the guy with a canon. And other surprises, like the snake head people. I explore a bunch, get lost a lot, eventually find the easy shortcut back to the lantern. In my experience, the second shortcut is always the one closest to the boss, so it seems a good place to pause, so I go back to the guide to see if there was anything important I missed before I forged ahead. And what do you know, there is an entire cave system I missed that eventually leads back to the very beginning of the game, where things are weirder than ever - like wandering big head aliens? - and, more importantly, seem key to the story. Or at least seem to introduce lots of variables into the game to once again make me consider the choices I make. For example, when people ask me to tell them a safe place, everyone has been ok with the chapel except one guy who stubbornly refused to go. In the forest I met some NPC cannibal I didn't want to send to the chapel, because ... he was eating people. But would doing the opposite have gotten me different results? How about if I had never taken those caves back to the clinic? Would that part of the story have played out one way or another, or did going that route unlock a different story path? Iosfa old me to leave, so I did, but what if I didn't? Would I have had to fight her? Either way, like the giant tree in Dark Souls, I think I literally never would known about all this extra or side stuff.

you could fight iosefka, yes, and the clinic leads to a very good optional area. i missed both in my blind playthrough

the npc would eventually eat everyone in the cathedral so good call on that too

the one guy who refused went to the clinic instead and was used as a guinea pig, if you told him to go to the clinic he'd have gone to the church and be safe (unless the cannibal came too obv)

I believe going back to the clinic unlocks the cool optional area we were talking about above :) Did you pick up an item there?

xp

yes and the clinic is also sort of key for the true ending

I think I got everything I could get at the clinic. I killed three aliens, talked to Iosefka and then warped back to the hunter's dream before looking for more stuff. I figure I should finish the woods first before getting too distracted.

did you get the summons?

Yeah, I must have. Will I know when to use it, or is it something I need to look up?

Hint: Readtheitemdescription

lol One of the most perversely funny things about these games is how there is so much detailed lore dumped into the item descriptions, and yet the descriptions of what each item is actually for are often hilariously lacking. Like, sometimes you'll find something and it says "just a rock, of no importance." And that can mean what it says, or it can mean it's *super* important, but only if you know what to do with it, which of course the description does not tell you.

warp to witches boss arena and walk back out to hemwick, when you walk near the stagecoach stop a cutscene will trigger

Wow, that was pretty awesome. So was there something in the summons I got at the clinic that told me to do that? I must have missed that, or read the wrong part of the description. I guess this is sort of like the magic painting in Dark Souls, where you had to know to go back to the original prison (how would anyone know this!?!?!), find the doll, and then have it when you touch the painting. Anyway, it looks like I have a lamp to warp back to when I feel like doing this part. I know just looking around I was killed almost instantly by these bug-things.

it says the stagecoach leaves from hemwick. it doesn't say precisely where in hemwick, that part is up to the player figuring out. the landmark is pretty obvious in hindsight

going back to the asylum in dark souls is a given because if you pay attention the first time through you'll notice locked doors and shinies out of reach.

i did find the way to go back there blind, i wasn't looking for it, just noticed it during gameplay goes without saying but bloodborne has elevators with secrets too, just like i found the way to nito's covenant blind. i didn't actually go to either of those because i'm impatient and didn't wait long enough in the nest/coffin to be taken away, just thought they were cute easter eggs (DkS was my first souls game) and left the the trigger spots to never return

Apparently if you die before getting on the carriage you miss your chance?

what really?! that sucks

Obviously I haven't tested it! Maybe it's just how I read the advice and it's actually that if you get killed before you get on the carriage *right then* then you miss your chance, but you can warp back to the dream and then back to the marker again and trigger the cut scene anew. That makes more sense.

I am excited to get a PS4 this winter and hoover up this game and DS3

Darkbeast Paarl down! This one was really hard. I had to summon the NPC to help. The boss is really fast, so you have to play unlocked, and the lightning power is pretty tough, too. Hits hard as well. I think my problem was ultimately playing with a weapon that's too big and slow; I've been swapping between Ludwig's Holy Blade and the Saw Cleaver, both +6, but I think the damage to beasts and the speed/regen of the saw is better than the heavy hitter greatsword moveset.

I'm not sure what beating this boss gets me, though, even as an optional boss. It gets me a shortcut back to Old Yarnham but I'm not sure why I even want that shortcut. Maybe it'll become clear later.

OK, here is another example of something that sort of blows my mind but also makes me say wtf. If you kill Darkbeast Paarl but *did not* kill the machine gun guy from much earlier, you can apparently go back to him and become pals. How the hell did anyone figure that out?! That would mean intentionally *not* killing the OP machine gun guy in that level, and *then*, if you avoided him, thinking of coming back and making friends. How in the world did anyone know to do that?

Man, Forbidden Woods appears to be huuuuuge. But I'm doing OK. I found the bosses, and the shortcut to the bosses, so it's just a matter of figuring out how to beat them.

Took several tries, but I finally beat the Shadow Ninjas. They were kind of a pain, but in terms of strategy they were similar to other bosses: avoid the ranged attacks, and stun lock the enemy into submission. In this case, that meant taking down the sword ninja first, then the fire sword ninja, then the fireball ninja, pretty much in order of their aggression. Used up a ton of blood vials though, and I was surprised not to see a NPC summons. But they're done, and now there's another area (Bergenworth? a name I've encountered a few times already, at least) I've explored a little, one with these giant bug things that suck on your face and inject some sort of poison - is this frenzy? - and then some giant monster with a venus fly trap maw that shoots fireballs and spits ... something. But I got it down, eventually, and unlocked the first shortcut to/through a castle/house. God knows what's in store for me there.

That might be my favorite boss fight! The Ornstein & Smough of this game, where it forces you to keep track of multiple opponents and possibly not lock on (and that's exactly the strategy I remember using too). I'm kinda glad there's not an NPC summon, since diluting their aggression would ruin the mechanics of the fight.

The next boss though, whew.

Looking it up after the fact, apparently there are two potential NPC summons, but you have to be using one of the specific runes. Thanks a lot, aggressively oblique and obscure game.

The next boss though, whew.

Y'all are making me concerned.

Wow, really struggling with the NPC that comes down the stairs in Byrgenwerth, who keeps kicking my ass. I came really close one time but, impatiently, neglected to clear the area first, and while running away aggroed three (!)of those things with many eyes. I barely escaped, but used up all of my blood vials and have to go farm some in a different place before I even try again.

blood vial farming is obnoxious, dunno why they went back to that crap system when DkS already had figured it out with the flasks

The most annoying thing about it is that, as helpful as auto refilling is, you never really know how many you have backed up. You seem to always carry the "max" amount - 20 or whatever - until you don't, and it's only when the number keeps going down that you realize you're running out.

Does it show the full stockpile if you look in the inventory? That's how it is in DS3, I have 600 firebombs, until somehow I don't.

Hmm, good question. I'll have to stock up and see if it changes in there, or if it goes to the magic chest. Though honestly, I don't see why they would even have that storage chest if you could just accumulate extra stuff in your inventory. In fact, I think that's how it must work here, too, you have a ton of stuff stored that keeps refilling the inventory on your person, but only until you don't. The problem is that, unlike most stuff in your inventory, you really need blood vials. Or at least I do. But paying for them seems silly.

I totally cheesed that NPC, by the way. I just hit her a bunch, ran away, then did it again when she went back up the stairs. Am I proud? No. But I am done with her. Once I figure out the blood vial situation I will I guess take on the next boss. I assume that's what's coming up, because I saw a summons sign by those doors.

I went vial farming for a little while, then went back to the inventory box and it didn't show my surplus. Unless I'm missing something, the only way to know if you're running low is if you're running low. There's no way to know how much surplus you have. So, definitely annoying:

OK, that spider monster is some bullshit.

^

I honestly don't even know the right approach, it's among the first enemies in all of these Souls games I'd consider an outright troll. The enemy is not fast or particularly strong or interesting. Its minion don't do much. The level itself is a wash of nothing. The boss just sits there like a lump while you try to take out these waves of baby spiders (that are super strong from the front), and then, even if you are patient and make some progress and you think you've finally got a leg up, it just drops a bunch of magic rocks on your head and kills you. Can I summon an umbrella?

If I may...

fuck a vacuous spider

― Keith Moom (Neil S), Sunday, April 19, 2015 8:56 PM (five years ago) bookmarkflaglink

I don't remember exactly what my winning strategy was...some combination of use the Tonitrus, kill most/all of the baby spiders first (from behind), and something something something meteors? Also you can keep attacking for a bit even after he appears to have disappeared/teleported.

I think you run towards the boss for some of the meteor patterns and away for others, can't remember which is which though.

i could maybe replay this
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Sunday, September 27, 2020

Been playing Mortal Shells instead, which I should talk about on here somewhere. It's very good!

xpost That's the lightning mace, right? I think I have that one. Probably better than wasting bolt paper on my saw.

yes to both.

This spider is such a waste of (real) time and (virtual) resources. I got it down to about a quarter health, but had used up almost all of my blood vials (again) getting there. And of course making you go back to the hunter's dream rather than simply rest at a bonfire and reset makes farming a huge PIA. Go back to hunter's dream, immediately warp to somewhere else, get some blood vials, back to hunter's dream, repeat. It's just so tedious, especially since the boss fight itself is literally an endurance test: just panic roll, over and over, through the little spiders, through the crystals, fingers crossed you luck out and don't get hit, then race to the spider and hit it as much as your stamina will let you before you race out of there again and start the rolling. Which is to say, sure I'll beat it eventually, sooner rather than later, but it will not be satisfying. Even the NPC summons is no help.

I tried using the thunder mace, but I was making more progress with my Ludwig's holy blade, untransformed (for speed). I tried it with bolt paper a couple of times, but I didn't want to totally run out, since that stuff is expensive.

haha, ok, and now it's dead. I sort of stumbled on what I was doing wrong just from writing the above. The secret (at least this time) was not to roll roll roll but run run run. So, rather than try to roll through attacks/spiders/crystals, better to just sprint and weave. I went back to the lightning mace, would lure the little spiders to me, then I would activate electricity, run in, hit a few times, then run away, always making sure to have enough stamina to sprint through the magic attacks. And of course I went through, like, 15 blood vials, so now I have to farm again. Also, the game just got really fucking weird and scary and I have no idea what's going on, so it's time for a short break. Looks like there are at least three places for me to go right now, the optional spooky carriage castle area, the area near the great cathedral that I discovered earlier and was teleported to just now, and this unseen village, where, just getting to the lamp, it seems that enemies ... respawn? Also, there are giant monsters in the air.

it seems that enemies ... respawn?

hint: remember the necromancers in the darks souls catacombs?

lol no, but looking it up ... I do now.

btw one of the funniest things about these games is how they always talk up, like, Grumpus the Great Scholar, and then you meet Grumpus and it's a giant dragon. Like, how did the dragon read all those books, it's a fucking dragon, it can't even turn the pages.

lol because it's always a human who was studying how to turn into a boss (dragon)

Seath was just a particularly inept dragon rite

Strengths: betrayal, being able to somehow read books

Weaknesses: having skin or whatever

I'll probably play more of this today, but glancing at a progress guide there does seem to be a number of options right now: I can do the castle, I can be teleported to ... nightmare world? I can be teleported to a lecture hall (?), I can activate the DLC (and I think I have to do that before I fight the/a final boss, right?). I can try a chalice dungeon or two (to just get stuff, right?).

Yeah, if you finish the game first, I think you need to go back through Vicar Amelia in ng+ to access the DLC.

the dlc is hard and doing it in early ng+ is generally advised against

cainhurst or lecture hall are safe choices. or try the dlc, even if it's too hard you get a few new weapons by exploring the starting area

Should I do any of that before I progress through ... Unseen Village? I think that's my most recent new lamp.