Bloodborne

[jimboslice]

Started this a a few weeks ago, after finishing Sekiro.

Really struggled at first and nearly gave up - found the combat a bit janky in comparison to Sekiro, and it's the first time I've ever really been put off by a poor frame-rate on a game. It also took me a few deaths before I realised I should be healing up and using the dodge button a lot more often. Took me a while before I figured out how to level up too - but once I got past all these things, everything clicked into place and it didn't feel like complete bollocks.

I still don't know what I'm doing in terms of levelling up (I am basically ignoring Arcane and Bloodtinge), but haven't found things too bad so far. I do play with a certain sense of paranoia, and whenever I find a shortcut I will backtrack to the hunter's dream and level-up, so I might be a bit over-levelled?

Didn't really struggle with the first 3 bosses - but I did fight both the Cleric Beast and the Blood-Starved Beast with a random bloke that I had summoned - it's difficult to just not press X whenever I see something glowing. Is that bad? Didn't really struggle with Father Gazza either though - although I did know I could play him the music box (I don't care too much about spoilers, if I get an item I'm googling what it does).

Just using the saw cleaver too. I bought the massive Ludwig sword because that's meant to be a good "noob" weapon, but it doesn't feel as good.

Is there anything I need to do to not get locked out of a bit of the game? Any nice tips and tricks?

Is this going to be easier or harder than Sekiro? So far I've died more to the mobs, but a lot less to the bosses.

[oggyraiding]

If you want to fight the true final boss, you will probably need to look up the necessary item locations as they are incredibly well hidden and most players are unlikely to just stumble upon them. Also one of these item locations contains another item that lets you access a huge optional area with some good gear.

Only three endings and they're not too complex to get.

Spoiler alert

- Kill a certain boss, return to Hunter's Dream, accept the offer.
- Kill a certain boss, return to Hunter's Dream, decline the offer, kill new boss.
- Use all 3 specific hidden items, kill a certain boss, return to Hunter's Dream, decline the offer, kill new boss, kill TRUE boss.

[close]

[The Crumb]

Don't over research, there's some neat surprises you can stumble upon. Generally Bloodborne has some of the most optional content of any From game, so explore carefully and think about any weird items you find.

Game is overall easier than Sekiro, as long as you don't run out of Blood Vials.

Arcane is really fun but maybe too busted for a first playthrough.

Chalice dungeons are a whole optional part of the game. Mixed reviews but I quite like them. Bloodborne gameplay with the structure of an 80s arcade game.

If you really like the game, get the DLC before you finish it. It's superb and bumps up the challenge a good amount.

[druss]

Chalice dungeons weren't a bad idea they just massively fucked the implementation. They refined the concept and delivered it much better in Elden Ring with all the optional dungeons there. More varied and shorter was the key.

[Thursday]

Part of the problem with Chalice Dungeons as well, was you have all the "Main Path" chalice dungeons that lead you to an ultimate secret boss, and by the time you've got through all them (Including the one's where you have to run it half health, and there's massively boosted bosses and multiple bell summoners that won't stop summoning fucking spiders) You are well and truly burnt out and don't want to do any of the truly random ones.

And if you were just doing the main part of the dungeon it wouldn't be so long, but there's the "treasure side paths" as well which you actually need to do most of because they have ritual materials you need to make the next level.

[Jerzy Bondov]

Don't wait until NG+ to do the DLC, it's nails hard as it is and only gets harder in NG+. It's also very very good so unless you're getting burnt out it's worth a go.

[Thursday]

Yeah you should basically get to just before the penultimate boss

Spoiler alert

Mergo's Wet Nurse... don't beat it because it changes some things

[close]

Do any other non-essential content (although not all the chalice dungeons) and then do DLC.

[Noodle Lizard]

Yeah, I can't say the secret boss of the Chalice Dungeons was worth the pure hell it took to get there. One or two of those fights were harder than anything in the main game/DLC, but mostly because of your handicaps rather than them just being well-designed challenges.