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LTTP: Bloodborne - Filling Your Dark Soul With Light

Fandangox

Member
BOY

What a game. Before I start writing I want to get this out of the way.

Fuck you Micolash.

Alright.

I got this game for Christmas and I've always been wanting to try it out (got a PS4 just a few months ago) only other Souls game I have played is Dark Souls, so I at least knew what I was getting into. Sort of.

I tried to play this the same way I would play Dark Souls and it wasn't working out very well, the game wants one to be aggressive thanks to its health mechanic and there's a number of bosses that teach the player this. I struggled a LOT on the first area, took me a number of tries before I even got past the mob at the wicked m̶a̶n̶ beast, not to even mention the number of deaths I got with those two werewolves at the bridge. I explored around when I got stuck there, and found some nifty things, like the hunter set on the sewers and opened some shortcuts that made life a lot easier.

The Cleric Beast (Was it based on Manus?) was a great fight, but that one only took me a few tries and the fight itself wasn't as hard as getting there. But then was the first wall.

Father Gascione. This boss made me rage hard, took me over 10 tries. This is one of the two bosses in my opinion that teaches players two very important things about Bloodborne: Its Risk-Reward system for health regeneration, and using guns to parry attacks. I think Father G teaches both, but it really emphasizes the first, the player doesn't really need to parry him, as long as one sticks close to him and dodge accordingly, but if one tries to keep their distance and not be take initiative on their attacks Father Gascione's quick sweeps and leaping attack will make short work of the player.

Once I figured out that I had to keep myself close to him I went all out and managed to beat him. The other boss that teaches the player one of Bloodborne's important mechanics is The Blood Starved Beast, the poison the boss receives in its third phase makes it a bit more dangerous to stay close, so parrying its long sweeps attacks makes for the safest way to beat it.

Bloodborne has all around great level design and great bosses, with some weak exceptions for both. Nightmare Frontier is an area that has TOO much going on, the poision swamp, those one-shotting rock-throwing trolls, the fact that one is susceptible to invasion, the frenzy-inducing monsters. A lot for one to take in right away and its a bit frustrating. What's more puzzling though its the area's boss, unlike the area before it, the boss is strangely anti-climatic, its beam barrage is very powerful, but easy to dodge, and by sticking close it seems its options remain severely limited. This is one of the three bosses I beat on my first try.

The other two were Gherman and the Moon Presence. Now, Gherman was hard, it took pretty much all of my blood vials to beat him (including special ones like Iosefka's) but the fact that he is open to parry during the entire fight makes it a LOT more manageable, I parry him a lot, if it wasn't for me dropping the ball on the follow up visceral attacks I could have beat him faster. The Moon Presence on the other hand was kind of easy, I beat right after Gherman when I only had 5 vials left. It has that one really strong attack, but after the second time it used it, I realized it will remain still after using it for enough time to just refill the entire healthbar I just went it and beat it without much issue.

There's some things I missed during my first playthrough such as Eileen's questline (She died at the same time as Henryk) and the music boss quest, but thanks to a friend I was able to learn about Cainhurst Castle (really great area), the Upper Cathedral ward, and how to fight the Moon Presence. I did leave summoning and invading for my first playthrough, as I just wanted to beat the game myself the first time.

Either way, I just beat it a couple of days ago, and I started NG+ just now. Beat the Cleric Beast without any hiccups, helped another player beat it, and beat Father Gascione as well, already at Oedon and it only took me about 20 minutes compared to the looong time it took me on my first playthrough.

Only other games on recent memory that I've wanted to replay right away after finishing them were The Wonderful 101,and SMTIV: Apocalypse. Which speaks greatly of just how good this game is. I still haven't gotten the DLC, I will get to that sooner or later, as I still have those $10 Sony was spreading around.

tl;dr: Great game, very good. Similar enough to Dark Souls, but it has its own identity and mechanics to differentiate it.
 

Fandangox

Member
Play the DLC as soon as you can. Great levels, great lore tidbits (if you're into that), and great bosses.

Oh Im into the lore, still confused at some of the things (Like what is Mergo) but its all great. I don't know when Im gonna get it thoufh with Nioh coming soon.
 

ChrisD

Member
dude screw micolash so much
not even difficult but he's always such an annoyance with his spammy freaking tentacle arms and that laser rain


Glad to hear you liked Cainhurst. It's my favorite area. Love the feeling of it all, the snow, the castle, the ghouls, and an excellent area boss, it's all a 10 in my book. Oh + those "statues," that was the first enemy in a while to get me to jump from actual surprise!
 

Adaren

Member
Glad you enjoyed it! Undoubtedly one of my favorite games ever. The most impressive part (to me) is how elegantly the twist is slipped in there. Like, you're going through the game and you're like "Oh this is kind of
Lovecraftian
, that's nifty." Then it just gets more, and more, and more, until you suddenly realize that the entire game has actually been this way since the very start.

On the note of the Nightmare Frontier: one thing that does annoy me is that it's so easy to miss early. Like, I got the item needed, went to the location, and didn't jump in the portal (because, really, why would anyone jump into some scary ghost vacuum portal?).

Then, when I got to the area much later, I'm one-shotting anything because it's almost the end of the game. What should be this super unsettling and alien environment instead becomes a playground. I think I would have preferred it if they tuned the Nightmare Frontier for high-level players, so that you'll really struggle and probably be scared off if you stumble upon it early, and it'll still be a good experience if you find it in the late game.

But yeah. I'm just nitpicking. The game's fantastic, and the DLC is even better. Make sure you play it.
 

Inorganic

Member
Bloodborne is such an amazing experience. It's definitely my favorite game of the generation thus far, and one of my GOAT. Brilliant victorian/gothic/lovecraftian cosmic horror elements, world design, gameplay, lore, sound, music etc. I could go on and on.

In any case, you absolutely need to get the Old Hunters DLC as soon as humanly possible. Its integrated really well into the main game. You're in for a heck of a ride since you're already on NG+. Not only does it have some great new weapons, but arguably some of the best and hardest bosses in the entire Soulsborne series. If you're going for the plat trophy (which you should) and do all the chalice dungeons, some of those bosses are no pushovers either. Also if you enjoyed the game's lore, I strongly suggest you watch a 31 minute youtube video called "Bloodborne story explained." It will give you an amazing breakdown of the story. You will love all the little details you could have missed and how everything is connected so well. Really makes you appreciate what an amazing game Miyazaki and his team created.
 
NZVMSR0.jpg
 

ChrisD

Member
Oh yeah, and if you've not seen it OP, watch this vid on the lore of the game. Even if you've beat it and have an idea of everything that's going on, it's still great.

It does have everything story-wise from The Old Hunters in it, though. If you're one to avoid all spoilers, hold off on it. But make sure to watch afterwards!

Edit: Ah, the video I linked is what Inorganic is talking about. Sorry I missed your post dude! I was busy angrily laughing at cagehead below you.
 

Fandangox

Member
Thanks Inorganic will give that video a watch.

There's moon light too.

Fuck

dude screw micolash so much
not even difficult but he's always such an annoyance with his spammy freaking tentacle arms and that laser rain


Glad to hear you liked Cainhurst. It's my favorite area. Love the feeling of it all, the snow, the castle, the ghouls, and an excellent area boss, it's all a 10 in my book. Oh + those "statues," that was the first enemy in a while to get me to jump from actual surprise!

Yeah Cainhurst is fantastic it has one of my favorite boss battles, and the atmosphere is great, specially oitside the castle. And yeah Micolash wasn't hard, but it took me like 7 minutes to corner him after he teleports away and the moment I fall to where he was he spams the beam spell twice in a row.


No pls
 

ChrisD

Member
And yeah Micolash wasn't hard, but it took me like 7 minutes to corner him after he teleports away and the moment I fall to where he was he spams the beam spell twice in a row.



No pls

Took over twenty minutes in my first run because I'm an idiot and didn't catch what was going on. Just... chased him, wondering when he'd finally stop running. Don't know how I got lucky enough in my second attempt to have him land in both cages in the first minute of each phase. >_>;
 

Socreges

Banned
I got stuck on the massive spider boss (the one on the water). Procrastinated trying a third time because I was hitting a wall...And simply never went back. The game is phenomenal so some day I'll have to suck it up and keep trying.
 

Fandangox

Member
I got stuck on the massive spider boss (the one on the water). Procrastinated trying a third time because I was hitting a wall...And simply never went back. The game is phenomenal so some day I'll have to suck it up and keep trying.

Dude shit gets real right after that point . Its like the midpoint of the game and where it's true colors come to light.

Rom and its adorable tiny spids are weak from behind.
 

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
I got stuck on the massive spider boss (the one on the water). Procrastinated trying a third time because I was hitting a wall...And simply never went back. The game is phenomenal so some day I'll have to suck it up and keep trying.

You can always ask people to help you out, you know :)
 

Goldboy

Member
My GOTG so far. OP, if you enjoyed the base game then The Old Hunters is highly recommended, it's up there with Artorias of the Abyss for boss quality and has a ton of cool new weapons/armor.
 

arcticice

Member
Best game of this generation for me. Loved every second of it. Do catch up on Lore when you have the time. It's absolutely amazing.

Also, Play the freakin DLC
 

arcticice

Member
I got stuck on the massive spider boss (the one on the water). Procrastinated trying a third time because I was hitting a wall...And simply never went back. The game is phenomenal so some day I'll have to suck it up and keep trying.

When it trouble, ask for help. Play Co-op.
 

Necron

Member

I was in shock once I read up on everything that transpired throughout this game. The truth was always there yet I couldn't see/understand it. Grant us eyes, indeed.

Now go play The Old Hunters DLC, OP. Tell us once you've reached the setting found in H.P. Lovecraft's Shadows over Innsmouth...

EDIT: Oh, and although the Amygdala boss fight was easy the first time, it's absolutely one of the hardest bosses found in the chalice dungeons. It's a completely different fight.
 
Game of the generation. Personally it has taken the top spot in my favorite games of all time. The 3D Castlevania I always wanted. The art direction, the atmosphere, the music, the style and the combat all resonated with me.

The story of Bloodborne is also a profound experience. It subverts your expectations like nothing else, and actually becomes better as a result. It's such a brilliant and original take on 2 major influences from classic horror.

I could talk about Bloodborne for the rest of my life.
 

B-Genius

Unconfirmed Member
Congrats, OP! Always nice to see people jumping in and enjoying this.

Oh Im into the lore, still confused at some of the things (Like what is Mergo) but its all great. I don't know when Im gonna get it thoufh with Nioh coming soon.

Mergo is an infant Great One - possibly the child of Kos.
You could interpret it as assassination target of the Moon Presence, for that being is supposedly manipulating Hunters (through Gehrman and the Hunter's Dream) to do its bidding.

As for why MP would want to "kill" another (potential) Great One?
Who knows. It could have been an heir of sorts and MP wanted to usurp the throne.
We can only use our tiny, insignificant human minds and concepts to attempt to see reason in their actions, but at the end of the day, we're nothing but savage beasts...albeit ones holding enormous potential...

You'll be able to form your own interpretations once you finish The Old Hunters.
And yeah, may as well play Nioh first. Could be a good palette cleanser.
Take your time and come back to BB when you're in the mood :)
 

Fandangox

Member
Saw the "Bloodborne Explained" video, lot of great insight there. The part about the Moon Presence opposing the other great ones makes a lot more sense in retrospect. Interesting that the Great Ones overall are "sympathetic" in spirit, usually Lovercraftian stories, or stories inspired by them have the elder ones be either purposely malevolent, or just so alien that whatever they do end up fucking humanity over even if they didn't want to. I guess the old blood is more of the later, but it could be argued the healing church's liberal use of it is what caused the whole mess in the first place.
 
I ended up getting a plat on both BB and The Old Hunters, yet when I started the game, I didn't even know how to equip weapons. xD

As BB was my first Souls-like game, there was a lot I didn't know at the start. Locking-on? I found that out later (must have overlooked or forgot the little messengers who tell you this at the beginning), so I could barely touch the first two bosses. I pretty much used only R2 to attack until figuring out there were two attacks.

My God, you can imagine how badly I did. Yet I was still having fun. Then when I found out about the multiple attacks, locking-on, side-stepping and parrying, oh man, did the game become something else entirely. Freaking loved it. I was in awe by the level design and quite loved how interconnected much of it was. I felt encouraged to explore and felt rewarded every time I found some place new, found new items there, found a new shortcut, found a loop back to the beginning of the game, etc.

I've used different weapons each playthrough and will likely tackle different ones on my next.

Oh, and it's totally worth going through the Chalice Dungeons. Some incredible bosses are in there, and I also loved helping others. People crack me up with which gestures they use to great me.

Fantastic.

No, this is

giphy.gif

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
 
Yep, you got to get aggressive in Bloodborne. You're the hunter and they are the prey. Get in that ass! A HOONTER MUST HOONT!

Glad you enjoyed it. GotG for me.
 
Wait why f u to Micolash? He's the easiest boss by far. Father guacamole or whatever his name is the hardest boss encounter. I think I died 50 times there.
 
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