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

it is.

Sekiro pips Bloodborne and DS1 as my favourite SoulsBorne game, they perfected the block/riposte mechanic with that iteration and the medieval Japan setting rules

I started in on the DLC, and it's basically troll-a-saurus, doubling down on everything. Gatling guns! Giant beasties! More hunters everywhere! More flaming boulders! More fights in the dark! I just killed some giant blob thing in a cave and I literally have no idea what it looked like. My favorite thing in these games is when the enemies turn on each other, though, and there's a lot of that here, which is funny.

Oof, Ludwig. Now *this* boss is no pushover. I've managed to get it halfway down its second stage so far, but only with the help of Henrietta. It seems that the second/sword stage might be easier than the first, so as long as I don't panic I might be OK. Reminds me a bit of the twins that gave me a ton of trouble in Dark Souls 3.

Ooh yeah. I think I may have had to use the weapon you find in the dlc colloquially known as the 'pizza cutter'.

Ha, I have that one, but I've been using my Ludwig's Holy Sword, which hits like a truck. I guess it can't hurt to try a different weapon, but the moveset of that "pizza cutter" bladed wheel seemed awkward.

It is, but the L2 buzzsaw is basically "hold to apply damage".

The Holy Sword was my main not-axe too, it's the perfect combination of fast weapon and big weapon. Also thematically appropriate to use vs Ludwig.

OK, beat the mutant horse monster. When I googled for hints I learned there is a different, second NPC you can summon, one that does not rush straight into death, this one wielding said pizza cutter. (I guess in theory you can summon both NPCs for help?!) And of course this game being what it is, after the briefest of breathers when you beat him, you are almost immediately fighting two pretty OP NPCs, one that may have the holy blade as well, the other with massive ranged magic attacks. Ugh, joke's on me, Bloodborne. I'm glad I'm not doing this on NG+, so I guess still advantage-me.

And now Lawrence, double ugh. For some reason there's not even a summons, and his hit boxes and damage are huge. Fortunately, he seems to be optional. And I'm not sure I want to opt to go through all my blood vials.

Got those other alien things down in the Research Lab, not too bad. I was curious so went back and tried a couple of dungeons for the first time, and boy, am I overpowered for at least the first couple. Like, one-hitting ostensible bosses, which is admittedly fun. What purpose were these dungeons supposed to serve here, btw? Just for extra gameplay fun? Leftovers? I sometimes feel the DLC is just a dumping ground for cool stuff they couldn't finish in time for the main game release, too, awesome though it is. Like, at what stage does DLC development even begin in a game's production? Concurrent to main game? Only once main game is done and they've moved on? I don't know what to make of the fact that the DLC here, as with DSIII and DS1, is cooler than some stuff in the main game.

There are two kinds of chalice dungeons, dev-made ones and procedurally generated ones. The main point (besides just more content) is to get more powerful blood gems than are available in the main game, but that only really matters if you're doing pvp.

The dev-made dungeons are kind of like a pseudo-dlc, in that you need to keep doing them to get the materials to progress, and there is a unique boss at the end.

I think the dlc is always better because that you know how to play the game by then, and have decent stats/weapons?

I opened up the shortcut in Old Yarnham, but had to brute force my way through the house of screamers. I barely got out alive, what's the advice on dealing with getting rushed by loads of enemies (I even have trouble with the big crows)?

The best bet is always to bait them out one at a time. Few enemies follow you more than just a little set route, so just pop your head in then run out again and see who/what follows. Or hit them with a pebble and kite them to you one at a time.

I opened up the shortcut in Old Yarnham, but had to brute force my way through the house of screamers. I barely got out alive, what's the advice on dealing with getting rushed by loads of enemies (I even have trouble with the big crows)?

So if they're already after me, the only thing to do is to book it and try to find a chokepoint to funnel them into? I probably need to level up my endurance to really do that, too.

If you do end up fighting more than one enemy in these games, it's best not to lock on. You'll have an easier time hitting more than one and dodging their attacks.

In this game, like all the Souls games, fighting more than one enemy at a time, no matter the enemy, is kind of asking for trouble. Even a couple of crows can take you out, if you're not careful.

Incidentally, I just took down Lady Maria on my first try! I think it definitely helped to have played a couple of Dark Souls games first. In those games, keeping your distance and attacking strategically is often the best bet. In this game, getting in there aggressively is the best bet. Lady Maria seemed to be like a combination of the two approaches (though as a human-like player she's pretty susceptible to aggressive play, like viscerals and stun locking her, which is how I won). Lawrence the Vicar, on the other hand, seems to be more of a stand-back sort of boss, plus some random AOE and aggro. I still haven't bested him, even after figuring out how to summon. I think I read somewhere that he is the least completed boss in Bloodborne, but that could be because he's optional and/or somewhat secret.

I reached BSB yesterday and actually came close to being him on my first try, got him down to a third of his health and then he had this weird seizure that lured me in too close whereupon he's punched and ate me.

Second attempt was a comedy of errors, I stepped into the fog, applied fire paper to my weapon, and as I scrolled to antidotes in my quick item, accidentally changed weapons, extinguishing the fire.

Ha, there have been plenty of times where I've wanted/needed to take an emergency blood vial but ended up, like, throwing a pebble or molotov instead.

First Vicar done. I had a feeling today was the day, and came super close the first time. It was only after I died that I realized I had all the wrong runes equipped, including the one that allows you to summon. Oh well. Next time I was better equipped and kicked its butt with the help of the NPC. Very satisfying when you *and* the NPC make it to the other side of the battle. Back to the DLC. Fishing Hamlet is super moody and cool so far.

Finally got BSB down! Had to resort to a bit of cheese by trying to stay behind him and wale from there, even after he becomes poisonous; I fact, I was poisoned as I killed him, and died before I could use any antidotes.

The put down Amelia, though I’m not too sure where to go now. I know there’s a house in Old Yarnham that’s reachable from some secret paths that I MIGHT try to access.

Since it wasn't that long ago, I think I recall the best bet is to head left of the Grant Cathedral (where you fought Amelia) and go to Witchy Woods (or whatever they call it). Apparently it's an optional area, but you want to opt to do it to get a pretty important/helpful ability. After BSB there is also another door now open in the Odeon Chapel. A few different places you can go right now, actually, but I'd say either Witchy Woods or ... yeah, Forbidden Forest, the latter of which you can find your way to near Odeon after beating Amelia, too.

okay, i beat mortal shell so i guess i'll play this until Cyberpunk is fixed. First thoughts are that it's WAY EASIER than i remember but maybe that's all the mortal shell play.

Beat the witch(es) in my first try! Took a little while to cotton onto what was going on, particularly the fact that I didn’t need to bother with the other enemies.

I didn’t get the tool yet since I immediately thought to return to the Dream so that I can cash in my sweet sweet echoes, but at least that lantern is lit. I did pick up the Lake rune thing which I need the tool from the room after the witches, looking forward to seeing how that plays.

I think I'm pretty much done with the DLC, which puts me in a minor bind. I've got one boss left in there, and it's supposedly one of the toughest, if not the toughest, in the entire game. I've got a handful of endgame stuff to do in the main game, though, too: aggro crow NPC (optional), final boss, other final boss (optional). If I do all the latter first, then I think that means the DLC final boss goes into NG+, which I don't want to mess with. But that means if I want to take down the DLC final boss, I need to do it before I go back and finish those baddies in the main game (which don't seem as imposing as the DLC's big bad), but by some accounts the DLC big bad could be a real war of attrition. Hmm ...

Yeeeeah, I dunno. Listening to this hideous Orphan shriek as it beats me over the head with a weaponized placenta doesn't seem like a lot of fun. I got it down to half health, but then it just starts doing other loud, damaging shit.

OoK is probably the boss that comes closest to the bullshit marketing claims of these games as insanely hard and unforgiving

The big tip I remember from Orphan is that, counterintuitively, staying still is the best strategy when he starts leaping up into the air. He'll almost aways land within distance of a charged R2, if you can time it.

Also that stark beach with the dead cosmic mother is super vibey

Holy shit, I did it on my third try! Dodge, hit, run away, repeat. Seemed to work. Never even got the lightning attack!

And then I immediately took down the first hunter with no problem. Like someone said, if you made it this far ...

Didn't get that secret final boss though, I must have forgotten to do something.

Ah, I think you have to actually use the umbilical cords.

Congrats! Love how you've turned into a Souls prodigy.

Lol, thanks, but hardly. Weirdly, I actually find these games a little easier late-game. You've spent so much time leveling up and learning the mechanics that by the time you reach the end it sometimes feels like you have an advantage over even the tougher bosses. Iirc, some people hypothesized that Gwyn in the first Dark Souls is *supposed* to be relatively easy or even anticlimactic, because he's old and worn out and you've finally graduated to take his place. Also, by the time you get to or toward the end, the souls no longer matter, and in fact nothing much matters. You have all the stuff you need, so you can just kind of lean back and finally play the game minus a bunch of the early stress and anxiety.

Anyway, Bloodborne was lots of fun. I think I might like the two DS games I played better, but this one was pretty neat in all its impenetrable craziness. Shifting gears to Ori then maybe Red Dead 2 next, but Sekiro is in the infinite queue at some point.

I just watched (and enjoyed) one of the "Bloodborne Explained!" videos and ... I'm torn as to whether the refusal of these games to flesh out or connect their stories helps or hurts them. (Though obviously the answer is probably "a little bit of both.") On the one hand, not really knowing how any of the pieces fit, at least not without a ton of independent investigation and some degree of guesswork and extrapolation/interpretation, gives you a sense of being lost in these foreign or seemingly irrational worlds, which is disorienting and exciting. On the other hand, there is enough detail and lore to perhaps justify/warrant a better or slightly more conventionally told story, which would give gameplay a more concrete element of mystery-solving, pushing the game/story forward rather than all over the place at once. Certainly understanding more of the lore (as much as any of it is meant to be understood) provides an emotional core to the games that is often only hinted at or alluded to, and I'd argue that elliptical emotional stuff is what potentially allows these games to transcend just sword-and-monster adventures, which makes keeping them mostly under wraps something of a missed or at least curiously avoided opportunity, imo. They're at once impenetrable but also seemingly designed to be better understood, just not necessarily through regular gameplay.

Darkbeast Carl eated me.

I've finally figured out how to fight the big sackboys in the Hibernean Jail (with some help from a wiki), and I was able to get a shocking stick. I can see this level being a decent echo grinding area, once I find the right rhythm.

it is definitely a good grinding area. those sackboys never really stop being an 'oh fuck' moment for me. my tactic iirc was KEEP YOUR DISTANCE.

The first few times I encountered them I had a lot of trouble. Then I think I looked up help and it said "oh, these dudes are easy, just parry" or something, but I had trouble with that, too, especially since they take off so much HP when they get you. My best solution was carrying a strong heavy weapon and just taking them down as fast as possible, and yeah, getting out of the way as needed.

Speaking of parrying (and for that matter, health regeneration), I didn't really mess with much of that at all during the game. At least, it's telling that I ended up with so many quicksilver bullets it wouldn't let me pick up anymore, certainly not something that happened with, say, blood vials. I only parried when it seemed to be massively beneficial for certain bosses or enemies, like those big trolls or, eventually, those executioner guys, but for the most part I was usually so shocked when I successfully parried a tough baddie (like the Martyr on the roof) that I missed my opportunity for a visceral attack. As for health regeneration, I never quite mastered or even understood that system. You hit back and get some health back, I guess, but my rhythms were always so off it was far riskier to try for a sliver of returned health than it was to just back away and take a blood vial. That is to say, I know I benefited from getting health back here and there, but attempting it on purpose probably ultimately cost me more health/lives/echoes than it gained me.

I think I mostly used parrying for big humanoid enemies like those ogres in the beginning and the Jailers. Also the hunters, actual human players, and the last humanoid boss. Like all of these games, the timing is different in each, and my memory is that it's on the early side, you have to know the attack is coming (from a read in pvp, or just when their animation starts but before they're actually swinging down/towards you).

My tip for the Jailers is that they have a lot of poise, meaning you can't interrupt their attacks with your own. So it's best to take it slow and just attack once between their attacks, back off and repeat.

Oh, man, poise: those brain suckers were the worst.

I'm definitely not good at parrying!

For the sackboys, my method has been pretty straightforward. During their first phase, they're pretty easy to dodge and knock down with a charged attack (though not strictly necessary). Then, when they're charging up their frenzy mode, you have enough time to get behind them for another charge attack + visceral, at which point they're either dead or just have a sliver of health.

i'm at the jailers now too. may get distracted by something else and quit but i'm enjoying this latest playthrough; it's been long enough that i've forgotten most of what happens!

lol, I'm not joking when I say that for most of the past couple of weeks I literally forgot I finished this game I put dozens of hours into. But that's me, not the game.

get behind them for another charge attack + visceral

Bloodborne backstabs, very advanced!

Josh, when is your Sekiro playthrough happening

gonna be a few months, at least.

Killed:

- Caarl
- Djura

Found/bought:

- Ludwig's Holy Blade
- Rifle Spear

I guess it's onto the Forbidden Woods next?

Ludwig's Holy Blade

I could not find or figure out how best to use any weapon better than this one. Worth every blood penny.

Forbidden Woods is one of the toughest and most atmospheric parts of the main game, iirc. Watch your step.

Blimey you meant that literally!

I got what felt like pretty far and even managed to put down the first octodad I saw without too much trouble, and I'm pretty sure I opened up a shortcut. Problem was, I seem to have gotten complacent against subsequent octodads, and I forgot where that shortcut was.