Bloodborne

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KSubzero1000
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Re: Bloodborne

Post by KSubzero1000 »

I'm sure I'm gonna sound like a total dork and all, but I think that the multiplayer elements of the Soulsborne games offer a fantastic insight into human nature.
"Grant us eyes", indeed...
Todinho

Re: Bloodborne

Post by Todinho »

KSubzero1000 wrote:I'm sure I'm gonna sound like a total dork and all, but I think that the multiplayer elements of the Soulsborne games offer a fantastic insight into human nature.
"Grant us eyes", indeed...
Agreed,like that time in dark souls when I helped a guy through all of Oolacile and helped him kill Manus only for me to get invaded by the same guy soon afterwards who then killed me while I was waving at him XD
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Bloodborne

Post by KSubzero1000 »

That's beyond cold, man! Mankind is doomed. :D
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Alex79
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Re: Bloodborne

Post by Alex79 »

I DID IT!

It's over! Beat the final 4 bosses tonight (including the very, very end one...)

Will post thoughts soon, but what a fucking game.
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Bloodborne

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Congrats, Alex! :) Looking forward to your musings.
skidoosh

Re: Bloodborne

Post by skidoosh »

It's really cool seeing someone go through Bloodborne for the first time. Reminds me of when I did it. :D Get on the DLC! It's on sale at the moment and it's amazing!

£6.39 https://store.playstation.com/#!/en-gb/ ... NSIONDLC03
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Alex79
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Re: Bloodborne

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I almost bought that to play through before the final bosses, but just powered straight on through in the end as I wondered if I might have been a little overpowered by that point for the DLC - my Hunter's Axe+10 with blood gems equipped was doing over 1000 damage to normal enemies by the end. I may well pick that up for NG+ though. I'm actually considering platinuming this, and I never, ever, ever bother with such things.
skidoosh

Re: Bloodborne

Post by skidoosh »

You'll never be too OP for The Old Hunters mate :D It's not needlessly hard for the sake of being hard though. It's meant to present a new learning curve to people who've gone someway to mastering the base game. If you've played Dark Souls, think of it as the Artorias of the Abyss of Bloodborne. But better! It sheds a lot of light on the story and characters in the base game and has boss fights yet to be beaten in any other game I've played. Especially the last two.
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Alex79
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Re: Bloodborne

Post by Alex79 »

Ah ok, well definitely exploring that for NG+ then.

So, Bloodborne then. Holy shit, what a game.

I have been excited to play this since falling in love with Dark Souls, and was so envious of those who managed to play it when it first game out. I picked it up with some Christmas money just gone, and it's taken me a solid three months and approximately 45 hours to finish. I did every boss, a couple of chalice dungeons and managed to get the 'proper'(?) ending.

The atmosphere of the game was amazing. I usually lie back on the sofa to play games, but the majority of Bloodborne was played quite literally on the edge of my seat. Sat up, arms forward, concentrating hard. Comparisons with Dark Souls are unavoidable, and fair. Dark Souls was my introduction to the 'series', and nothing will ever replace that game as my first love, the sense of wonder and exploration, the constant feeling of oppression and despair, and the sheer joy of finally beating it. It remains my favorite game of all time, but I think that Bloodborne is technically the better game in every way. There were no weak points in Bloodborne, and even the most ardent DS fan has to admit the game slackened off a little in the final third.

The combat was aggressive, fast and relentless. I'm half way through a replay of DS2 on the PS4 at the moment, and it'll be interesting to see if playing Bloodborne has affected my cautious, methodical playing style in that game.

The bosses were wonderful, and I'm a little pleased with myself that I soloed every single of them. Video of the Wet Nurse here:
Spoiler: show
Unlike my first play through Dark Souls, I resisted looking at a guide for the majority of this game. The occasional glance to make sure I'd not missed anything, or if I was trying to see what a particular item did, but on the whole I went in blind, and it felt much better that way.

There's not much more to say. I didn't really pick up on the story if I'm honest, I was more interested in the character design than their motives, but what a masterpiece. What a genuinely incredible experience. I'm so glad I finally got around to playing it. It's easily in my top ten of all time.

I have just one question remaining which I never seemed to have found an answer for. In the Central Yharnam area, there's an old lady in a house who asks if you know anywhere safe she can go. I eventually ended up sending her to the Cathedral Ward, where she spent much of the game in a chair near the left side exit. After a while she vanished leaving a letter which didn't seem to mean anything. What became of her?
Todinho

Re: Bloodborne

Post by Todinho »

Alex79uk wrote: I have just one question remaining which I never seemed to have found an answer for. In the Central Yharnam area, there's an old lady in a house who asks if you know anywhere safe she can go. I eventually ended up sending her to the Cathedral Ward, where she spent much of the game in a chair near the left side exit. After a while she vanished leaving a letter which didn't seem to mean anything. What became of her?
I think it's dependant on how many times you got sedatives from her but Im not sure, anyway at some point during the blood moon she ventures out to get more sedatives for you and is killed on Cathedral Ward I think her body isnt that far off Odeon Chapel, I think you can avoid that by not getting sedatives from her but once again im not sure I just know that she didnt die during my playthrough but I saw some Let's plays in which she did.
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RoboticMonk3y
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Re: Bloodborne

Post by RoboticMonk3y »

So, I picked this game up after Christmas. I have a friend who is very much into the souls games, who has been pestering me for years that I should get into them too. I've tried to play Dark souls I think I've started that game maybe 10 times, but I find the experience much like one of those nightmares where you feel like you're trying to move, but you're wading through treacle. Bloodborne was on offer, and my fiend had given me some PSN credit as a gift, so I gave Bloodborne a go.

I got hooked pretty quickly, and what I liked the most about Bloodborne over the souls games, is that I found you can resort to wailing on the attack button to take people down. Granted, it's not the prettiest way to get the job done, but it feels like an option at least.

The opening few hours of the game felt tense and brutal, but never unfair. I found myself carefully picking my way through the streets, kiting out enemies one at a time, and running away when I attracted too much attention.
Managed to take out the cleric beast after a few tries, mostly through persistence and brute force, rather than through any skill or finesse, but it led me to what was for me, the first sticking point in the game, Father Gascoigne.
I was streaming my playing, and had a friend giving me occasional pointers on where I could improve my combat, but even so, Father Gascoigne had me stumped, even after about 30 tries.
I found myself trying to run to a safe spot and heal, and finding myself getting caught in an attack, only to have to run off and try to heal again.
Learning that the game rewards aggression over caution was a lesson that haunted me a few times throughout my playthough.

I had a comical failure


which was almost immediately followed by a success. It's amazing watching yourself back to see how much free time you actually have and how many giant openings are given to you. On my run where I actually beast him, I was so flustered that I ended up using the music box multiple times in a row from where I was mashing the square button in utter panic.
On that note, I struggle to think of many games that have caused me to have such an intense adrenaline rush while playing.


It was interesting having someone watching me who had played the game several times and giving commentary, for example, I managed to take out vicar Amelia on my second attempt by playing very aggressively, staying very close and attacking as much as my stamina would permit. My friend said that for him, it was almost a point where he put the game down and never came back to it, after having been stuck after many attempts.
Similar story with Rom, who I beat on about my 4th go after realising that if you run in a big spiral around him, you rarely get hit. I understand that some people get stuck for along time on that weird worm guy.

I solo'd the game pretty much the entire way through (with the exception of mergo's wet nurse)and thoroughly enjoyed the game the entire way through (with the minor exception of not thinking that I *had* to fight the three hunters in the hypogean gaol)

Since completing the game a few weeks back, i have listened to the podcast about bloodborne, and it makes me a little sad that I missed out on the whole "hive mind" experience of playing the game through from the start along with everyone else.
I feel that I could probably write a full page about the experience of each boss and each area, but this post is already long enough!
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Alex79
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Re: Bloodborne

Post by Alex79 »

Those three hunters were a real pain. I died multiple times to them before just charging in crazy style and wailing on them till they dropped, just attacking relentlessly. This game really does reward aggression. It's like the polar opposite of Dark Souls in that respect.
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Re: Bloodborne

Post by Alex79 »

I had the day off work today, and we took the kids to a children's farm near where we live. They had various activities you could take part in throughout the day; feeding the goats, feeding the lambs, holding the small animals etc. Every time one of these activities was about to begin someone would ring a handbell, and all I kept thinking about was the sinister bell ringing woman :lol:
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ratsoalbion
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Re: Bloodborne

Post by ratsoalbion »

Ha, you are FromSoft's Pavlov's dawg.
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Bloodborne

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Mind blown:

https://kotaku.com/bloodborne-enemy-wen ... 1820656029

Finally something that the Chalice Dungeons are good for, I guess. :P
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Bloodborne

Post by KSubzero1000 »


Fascinating stuff! :o
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