Bloodborne - PS4

[brat-sampson]

Trying this one for the first few dozen times now.  A complete cunt.  I reckon I'm looking at 200+ attempts, given my tendency to keep trying when it's well and truly pissed me off, learning nowt from my mistakes.

EDIT:  Optional boss for anyone put off by the sound of that!

Well, optional if you count the entire DLC as optional. But yeah, almost definitely the hardest boss in the entire thing, if not the series.

EDIT: New page plague-ridden rat.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I managed to beat the tantrum throwing twat earlier this evening. I got quite proficient at beating him up in his first stage but, as with [spoilerGehrman[/spoiler], the second stage was just a case of desperately clobbering him with my trusty Kirkhammer. I clobbered his mum's corpse afterwards for making me deal with all this nonsense.

I've gone back to try beating Laurence the First Vicar, which almost has me feeling nostalgic for Kos Jr.

[ASFTSN]

After getting dangerously close to what was originally meant to be a humorous over estimate to my 200+ tries in the earlier post, decided I would never be gud enough for OoK, at least not for now.  Decided to give up on him, the Fishing Hamlet more generally and from what I've read, Lawrence.  Just pissed all over Gehrman and the Moon Prescence to wrap things up. 

I left a note in the tunnel leading to the beach where you fight OoK: 
Remember life
eventually time for ignoring   

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I got bored of being murdered by Laurence and decided to have a crack at the Moon Presence. What an anticlimax it turned out to be. Beat it in about five attempts. There wasn't even any epic music to go with it.

Kind of an inappropriate ending for my character, since I had decided that he wasn't interested in uncovering the mystery and was only killing everything because he wasn't going to put up with all of their nonsense.

On to new game+ now. I'm looking forward to finding all the stuff I missed the first time, like NPC quests and actually paying attention to the story.

[ASFTSN]

I got bored of being murdered by Laurence and decided to have a crack at the Moon Presence. What an anticlimax it turned out to be. Beat it in about five attempts. There wasn't even any epic music to go with it.

I loved the creature design on it though, and the way it moves.  Even I killed it in three goes though, probably because I frantically overlevelled while trying to beat the Beach Bastard.

My ending stats were:

Level 117

VIT 30
END 23
STR 34
SKL 40
BLD 10
ARC 30

+10 Whip Cane

Solo'd every boss apart from Ludwig (summoned NPC), Orphan (gave up) and Lawrence (did not attempt)

Whaddya think, shit build for trying to beat some of those DLC bosses or am I just shite?

[Shay Chaise]

I would now recommend doing the Chalices in NG+ because they don't scale with New Game etc. They're always the same level.

My recent conclusion after another playthrough was that VIT matters most. Aim for 50. That's the hard cap, I believe, and 42 or so is the soft cap. Maybe not quite right but health is the most important stat by far. You barely need END in this game because it burns so slow. For most weapons, getting the main stat up to 40 will do you, and shunt everything else into the other stat from then on.

Bloodtinge is very build dependent. I had a 70 BT run with Simon's Bowblade, which was brilliant fun, shooting Amygdala and Ebrietas in the brain in about thirty seconds. Some bosses fucked me right up, though, especially early on. Oh, and it was also really hard to get it by going into the DLC after Amelia, doing a suicide run to unlock the side door and killing Simon. It probably took two hours to try to cheese him.

I did an Arcane run, too, pure like 99 Arcane, which was absolutely hard as FUCK and almost no fun whatsoever for much of the game. I ran with the Tonitrus/Whirligig Saw until I could get the super Arcane Mode rune and eventually the pure Arcane weapon. I've no idea how I got it. I honestly have no idea. I had to summon for most bosses, if not all. It's an interesting run but you feel like a fucking dickhead most of the time. Then I had to do the Chalices for top tier Arcane gems. I never quite managed to farm the absolute primo shit but got lucky enough with a couple of good drops. I then went back through the game from the start just erasing enemies with lasers from my fucking eye and stuff. I'm glad it exists as a weird other option but I couldn't particularly recommend it over kicking the console down a disused grain silo.

[Thursday]

Alright fine, you've convinced me to give the 99 arcane run a go.

[Thursday]

I loved the creature design on it though, and the way it moves.  Even I killed it in three goes though, probably because I frantically overlevelled while trying to beat the Beach Bastard.

My ending stats were:

Level 117

VIT 30
END 23
STR 34
SKL 40
BLD 10
ARC 30

+10 Whip Cane

Solo'd every boss apart from Ludwig (summoned NPC), Orphan (gave up) and Lawrence (did not attempt)

Whaddya think, shit build for trying to beat some of those DLC bosses or am I just shite?

I think that strength is kind of wasted if you're using the cane as the scaling is very minimal. I'd disagree with shay about endurance though, being able to get in that one extra hit sometimes can be crucial.

Fair play for using the cane though, I don't think it's the best beginner weapon.

[ASFTSN]

I think that strength is kind of wasted if you're using the cane as the scaling is very minimal. I'd disagree with shay about endurance though, being able to get in that one extra hit sometimes can be crucial.

Fair play for using the cane though, I don't think it's the best beginner weapon.

This was 2nd playthrough, so thought I'd move on from strictly saw cleaver and kirkhammer in the 1st.  The whip was a bit of a challenge - found the Cleric Beast in particular very hard, but by the end I loved the damn thing - insane range, and sooo satisfying whipping up five mob enemies at the same time, or lining them up to do the running charge transformed R2.  Only place it let me down was in some of the tighter corridors in the Chalice Dungeons and....some other places I can't think of now. Had +9 Blade of Mercy too (hence the high ARC) but didn't really use them as I was having too much fun canin' it.

That being said I didn't do any of the DLC first playthrough and was sorely missing the brute force of the Kirkhammer for some of those bosses. 

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Good old Kirkhammer. I think I might choose to call myself Kirk Hammer if, for whatever reason, I ever have to change my name.

Here's a curious thing I noticed on this second playthrough: Shortly after defeating Father Gazza, I found a sample of Kin Coldblood and saw that the description mentions the

Spoiler alert

Great Ones and the cosmos

[close]

. This is a fair while before you enter the Grand Cathedral, which makes the same revelation in a more elegant manner, what with all the

Spoiler alert

Amygdala statues

[close]

. I suppose it could have been a random drop, or a New Game+ thing but it seems like an odd choice  otherwise.

[Shay Chaise]

Yeah, it's a NG+ thing, partly because the regular stuff is worth so little at that stage but also because you know what's what.

Again, while they can be a bit repetitive and slow to get going, I would really recommend the Chalice Dungeons. They're not all random, there's a linear 'story' set of dungeons which have a good number of unique bosses and a concrete ending. They also add a fair bit of context to a number of things you've heard above ground. At NG+, you'll run through the first few quite easily and then you'll build up to some of the most far out bosses and enemies in the game. For me, they were terrifying and claustrophobic in a way the main game never is, even though they're much more gamey in several ways.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Yeah, it's a NG+ thing, partly because the regular stuff is worth so little at that stage but also because you know what's what.

That certainly makes more sense.

Going through this second playthrough is making me wish that I could experience the game again for the first time. I was so focussed on the gameplay side of things and just making it to the next lantern that I feel like I didn't get the most out of the story and world - stupidly, I wound up reading a wiki site about it, which spoiled things to some extent. Naturally, being an arrogant sod, I lay the blame for this partly with the game itself, as I think the extreme difficulty doesn't foster a spirit of exploration and those incense burners are very easy to miss.

[Shay Chaise]

I'm certain that almost everyone is in the same boat as you, that's kind of the nature of these games. It is very hard, if not impossible, to put it all together from your first playthrough. I still find out new stuff about the story or environmental details from reading stuff or listening to podcasts, etc. My advice would be to watch a couple of Vaati Vidya episodes on YouTube, he's great at compiling/curating the lore into digestible, quite atmospheric little vignettes.

[ASFTSN]

I really like Bloodborne Up Close on Youtube where the bloke examines all the little background details through the Monocular, and also the aforementioned Bonfireside Chats podcast, if you can stand the incessant cheeriness of the two guys hosting it.

[Shay Chaise]

If you'd prefer endless moaning and whining, my advice is to listen to the Dark Souls 3 episodes or follow Gary on Twitter!

Semi in jest.

[ASFTSN]

Is Gary the small birdlike sounding one that says 'yah' all the time or the big jolly sounding one?

[Shay Chaise]

I think of Gary as Ornstein, and Kole as Smough. I hope that's not too offensive.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

watch a couple of Vaati Vidya episodes on YouTube, he's great at compiling/curating the lore into digestible, quite atmospheric little vignettes.

Yes, he's good. I watched all his BB videos a few months ago. I've also watched a few similar ones by a bloke called Fungo. He's a bit annoying, but he does sound a bit like Dr. Steve Brule, which is amusing.

A pretentious thought popped into my head while I was playing the game last night: Is the blood a metaphor for crude oil? The sheer number of items named blood this and blood that seemed unintentionally comical, until I thought about how we rely on oil for so many products. Plus, they're both discovered underground and, while they seem miraculous, they both lead to destruction. I've no idea how the rest of the story might fit in with that idea, but it's interesting to muse on.

Speaking of the story; I've been trying to actually follow it this time, rather than just wandering about aimlessly (and ignoring the fact that I already know where to go) and I'm still not sure it quite works. The coughing bloke by the first lantern gives you fairly straightforward instructions on getting to Cathedral Ward (even though he repeatedly uses compass directions when you don't have one, and the trip to fight the Cleric Beast is a pointless diversion[nb]and why can't you unlock the door there?[/nb]). Once you're there however, you basically hit a dead end. The only path open is to Old Yharnam and, as luck would have it, Gehrman tells you to find a chalice there. Alternatively, for no particular reason, you might look at the previously empty keys section in the dream shop and buy the Chief Hunter's emblem, which unlocks the gate to the cathedral. Both options are, from a narrative standpoint, completely arbitrary. Maybe in a game so concerned with dreams and

Spoiler alert

cosmic horror

[close]

, the lack of solid logic is intentional, but It's unsatisfying, I says.

[Thursday]

Mmm it's basically the bit where in another game, some debris would fall in front of a door, and you'd have to get some dynamite, but you have to go through this whole other place to get it.

[Shay Chaise]

Well, the Gehrman one isn't arbitrary, given that he's been doing that job for God knows how long and so knows the steps that a Hunter has to take to uncover x, y and z truths. It's also why he says in the first instance to just go and slay a few beasts. It's both good tutorial advice to get you into the game without worrying about the bigger picture, but it's also narratively significant because you're just one of many, many Hunters so you need to really prove you can do the basics first before we even get into anything else.

As for the Emblem, it does seem very gamey to have an area locked off, but given that it's an optional item (which you may not have known) and that Gehrman's advice to go to Old Yharnam ultimately leads you to an alternate route into Cathedral Ward, it's again entirely consistent. In fact, if you don't follow the advice and discover the secret route, you'll miss out on some interesting little hints of what's to come, one of which is quite a big tell! Given who sells the Emblem, the Messengers, and what it does, grants easier access to an area you could get to if you were more thorough, it's a little gift from the dream world to help you along the way to achieving what they and the Doll hope for you.

As for why you can't open that door, it's addressed in game that Old Yharnam has been quarantined and the Healing Church have blocked the route via the Great Bridge.

So, there.

[Thursday]

Yeah but there doesn't really seem to be a good reason for the healing ward door to open just because you've done Old Yharnam unless I've missed something.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Exactly. Ultimately, I suppose I am just nitpicking. If you follow Gehrman's instruction, then you will indeed find your way to the cathedral, eventually. Just some logical connection between the two things would have made it more satisfying for me, though. Being cryptic is one thing, but give me something I can work with. Drop a hint that the key to that door is in Old Yharnam. Maybe whoever has it went down there to find the chalice. Heck, have the key be in a chalice dungeon, thereby making them relevant[nb]Yes, I am well aware that the Pthumerian Labyrinth is an important part of the backstory and blah blah blargleflaaeb. They're still pointless. I've done three of them and, not only were they nearly identical, but the only things I discovered were the keys to more chalice dungeons.[/nb]. I had a similar complaint with Dishonored 2, so this may simply be a personal bugbear.

I feel like I might be giving the impression that I don't like the game. I truly do (I looked at the clock the other night and realised that I'd been playing for nigh on five hours). Until Doom came along, it was easily the best game I'd played on the PS4. However, that doesn't mean I think it's flawless by any stretch. Clearly, this is just the way that From Software choose to make their games and it's a fine thing that they can do things differently and still find success in this day and age. I don't thing that doing things differently is inherently laudable though. A bicycle with octagonal wheels would certainly be different, but it could still be a bit of a pain in the arse.

[Obel]

Hello everybody. I'd just like to say that I finally got around to completing this game last weekend. I was actually worried that I wasn't a huge fan of it as I felt okay with shelving it for way over a year, but I'm glad I started a fresh character and finally polished it off. I think I love this game more than some of my family. The eldritch stuff totally caught me by surprise and I was delighted! It is a shame that the game makes the progression to the Forbidden Woods so subtle though. Not that I want a massive waypoint telling me where to go, but one of the reasons I stopped playing was because I had no idea about the door you need to speak the password to, did everybody else take ages finding this?

Anyway, I completed it and immediately loaded up my old character to go through it again. It's great how much more you can get out of these games on replays, like when I found Ash Lake in DS1, a whole beautiful area that I totally missed out on the first couple of playthroughs. In a way it's sad that the developers put so much time into content most players miss, but I suppose when you're making a game that most people bail out on through difficulty it's not such a bad thing. Just a treat for players who like to press on and explore. I found that there were a good 4 bosses that I totally missed out on, including the Moon Presence, so I'm going to try and find as much as possible this time before eventually taking on the DLC. For ages I thought the Hunters Nightmare area was part of the main game (I bought the GOTY edition and it's not made clear) so it got a bit frustrating having my arse handed to me repeatedly, thought the difficulty spiked right up!

Anyway... what a game. I'd love another Bloodborne game to be put out. As well as a HD remaster set of DS1-3 on PS4. Where do we think this ranks among the lot of them? I've got:

DS1
BB
DS3
DS2

Souls 1 probably will stay on the top spot forever after how much it blew my mind playing it first time. Still haven't played through Demon's Souls though.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

It is a shame that the game makes the progression to the Forbidden Woods so subtle though. Not that I want a massive waypoint telling me where to go, but one of the reasons I stopped playing was because I had no idea about the door you need to speak the password to, did everybody else take ages finding this?

See some of my moaning above. I basically just fumbled blindly through my first go, making progress pretty much by accident. It was only on my second playthrough that I realised how much of the game is optional. In fairness, the levels are cleverly designed so that you often see your destination in the distance when you're on the right path (assuming you know where you're meant to be going).

[Harpo Speaks]

I'm playing this now, having never played a Souls game before. Not exactly going in blind though, I got really drawn into the 'A Man Who Hates Bloodborne, Plays Bloodborne' stream that was mentioned upthread.

Still, watching the game, and playing the game are two very different things.

Enjoying it so far though, it's certainly different. Whether I'll have the perseverance and patience (not to mention skill) to see it through to a conclusion, I'm not sure. Filthy casual.

Cleric Beast down in two, and Gascoigne down in seven is how I'm going so far. Cleric Beast should have been a one-timer, but I got greedy and got caught in a grabbing attack that wiped out my entire health. An important lesson learned.

Beating Gazza was a real punch the air moment, I'd managed to get him down to beast form on all but one of the seven attempts, but then I'd just get destroyed. When I beat him I'd hilariously failed in a Music Box/Backstab attempt when I got caught on a gravestone, but managed to regroup and keep dodging behind him (and rolling towards during his leap attack).

[brat-sampson]

Ooooh, tasty bump.

If you've got the stones to bulk up and punch fuck outta Cleric and Gascoigne you'll be grand. Not that it doesn't get harder, but you know you can do it! Still quite possibly the Game of the Generation.

[Cuellar]

Took me ages to do Gascoigne, as I recall. Got the theory of it but couldn't execute.

Got reasonably into it before having to go down into a crypt in the pitch black and getting scared and never going back to it :(