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

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]).