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

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