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LTTP - Bloodborne

...Still an absolutely amazing game, with so many tense moments. Can't wait to go back.

It certainly is. I work from home and my PS4 sits on my desk baiting me to jump back into the game while I work.

I think I'm close(ish) to the end now (I'm working through the areas on the final headstone in the Hunters Dream). Thing is I still don't really feel like I've sctratched the surface of this game yet. I'm still learning new moves on my main weapon, I have items that I'm yet to use or understand, I think I've missed some optional areas, I've only done one Chalice Dungeon so far etc etc.

This might be the first time I do a NG+ playthrough on anything.
 

bender

What time is it?
While it lacks the character build variety of the other Souls games, I think it's a great culmination of all the lessons they learned in terms of combat, level design and enemy/boss encounters/design.
 
It certainly is. I work from home and my PS4 sits on my desk baiting me to jump back into the game while I work.

I think I'm close(ish) to the end now (I'm working through the areas on the final headstone in the Hunters Dream). Thing is I still don't really feel like I've sctratched the surface of this game yet. I'm still learning new moves on my main weapon, I have items that I'm yet to use or understand, I think I've missed some optional areas, I've only done one Chalice Dungeon so far etc etc.

This might be the first time I do a NG+ playthrough on anything.
Make sure you find Cainhurst, the Upper Cathedral Ward, and the DLC areas before you go on to NG+. I'll put the specific locations in a separate spoiler.

1. Cainhurst: Go through the poisonous cave in Forbidden Woods, up the hill near where the dog kennels are, and enter the building up a ladder. The Cainhurst Summons should be on a table in there. Once you have it, go to the stone pillar in the area with all the axe guys in Hemwick, down the hill from the Witch's Abode lantern.

2. Upper Cathedral Ward: In Yahar'gul, run up the stairs where the amygdala shoots lasers and find a gap in the railing to your left, fall down and then fall down again into the middle of the darkened room to find a key. Take the elevator right next to the Cathedral Ward lantern and go all the way to the top of the tower.

3. DLC: Once you buy the DLC you'll get the Eye of a Blood Drunk Hunter from the messengers on the stairs in the dream. Allow yourself to be captured by the amygdala just outside the Cathedral Ward lantern.
 

mansoor1980

Member
I have now a Saw Spear +6, and Saw Cleaver +4 as weapon2.

Cleared the first chalice dungeon, I think. I think, because the chalice stays on the grave and the dungeon does not seem 'ended'. Not sure whats up there.

Currently at Paarl.
saw spear is better i think , keep the hunter axe as secondary bcuz of its rally and crowd control ability..
 

ResurrectedContrarian

Suffers with mild autism
I use the staff/chain-whip as my main weapon for general situations or crowd control, and then typically alternate between either the kirkhammer or the rifle spear for my strong weapon. Confession: I love the whip mostly because it gives me that classic Castlevania vibe.
 

skneogaf

Member
I hate that bloodborne doesn't have the same ui hiding options as dark souls.

On dark souls you can hide the ui until you get hit or you press buttons so for running around it looks absolutely amazing as no UI us my oled won't get the ui constantly burning on the screen.


Also is there anything we as fans of bloodborne or from software games in general do to force a patch or remaster? Bloodborne is now the only game that isn't 60fps.
 
If you or anyone else giving the game another go hasn't already purchased the DLC, know that it is mandatory. Some of From's best content. Enjoy the ride.

Bloodborne is one of only two Platinums I have and the other is for Ghost of Tsushima.

I refuse to play it until we get a PC port or PS5 patch.

I'm stubborn.

A PC port would be amazing but I'd settle for a PS5 patch. Bloodborne needs 60fps+. That plus Demon's Souls would be enough to push me over the edge to get a PS5. Well that and after stores actually carry stock as the scalpers here are charging $900+. 😆
 
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ResurrectedContrarian

Suffers with mild autism
I'm playing it on PS5 and really the framerate doesn't bother me at all. I'd take a patch but don't particularly care in this case. The game looks amazing as-is.
 

Vtecomega

Banned
Its the greatest game ever made.

Also I am convinced it looks better on the PS5. Better ambient occlusion, motion blur and blood splatter effects. Can someone do a comparison?
 

Vtecomega

Banned
After finishing demons souls remake twice in my PlayStation 5 (Oled 4K) I download the free bloodborne...

well the game didn’t age well at all, was like playing PlayStation 2

I must be autistic ( probably am) but I had the complete opposite experience. Bloodborne on the ps5 looks graphically amazing and plays FAR better than any other game on the market. It even plays better than Dark Souls 3. The animations for each weapons feels so visceral and satisfying. This is just RAW gameplay from beginning to end. No hand holding, no forced walking sections, no bullshit.

I don't know if placebo is one hell of a thing or my new $4000 tv is doing the game wonders but I am utterly convinced there are graphical improvements on the PS5. The 30fps is jarring I admit but you quickly adjust to it.

Give this an 60fps 4k update on the PS5 and nothing will touch it until Elden Ring releases. Not even the new God of War.
 

Thomish

Member
Do we ever think this will get a 60fps upgrade? I'm not so sure, isn't the frame rate of this game directly tied to the general gameplay engine?
 
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D.Final

Banned
Do we ever think this will get a 60fps upgrade? I'm not so sure, isn't the frame rate of this game directly tied to the general gameplay engine?

Yes.
But if Fromsoftware works just a little on an a possible PC version, technically it isn't impossible.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
I must be autistic ( probably am) but I had the complete opposite experience. Bloodborne on the ps5 looks graphically amazing and plays FAR better than any other game on the market. It even plays better than Dark Souls 3. The animations for each weapons feels so visceral and satisfying. This is just RAW gameplay from beginning to end. No hand holding, no forced walking sections, no bullshit.

I don't know if placebo is one hell of a thing or my new $4000 tv is doing the game wonders but I am utterly convinced there are graphical improvements on the PS5. The 30fps is jarring I admit but you quickly adjust to it.

Give this an 60fps 4k update on the PS5 and nothing will touch it until Elden Ring releases. Not even the new God of War.
4k 60 update can't come soon enough... hell at least 4k update. The game is so jaggy
 
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ResurrectedContrarian

Suffers with mild autism
First time into a chalice dungeon a couple nights ago. Very fun for a change of pace. Killed one boss and made it to the next floor / section.

By the way, my church garb and chain whip combo looks amazing, like a long-lost Belmont. I don't even care about the stats, this is the style I want to keep for the most part. When it's a big foe, I switch to my heavily leveled-up and gem-infused spear.
 
Got Paarl down after leveling a bit and summoning that NPC. Getting that far got me a ton of Twin Blood Shards and some skill at killing those bag-swinging jerks..

Killed the Witch, got into Lecture Building, Nightmare area.
Currently in Forbidden Woods with the snake assholes.

I'm not a big fan of the chalice dungeons. Just gimme a linear area with mobs in it, I don't like the prefab-ness of it.

Parrying is still a bitch.
 

ResurrectedContrarian

Suffers with mild autism
Looking ahead to when I finally finish with this game (that'll be a while, I take my time) - is a Bloodborne fan more likely to enjoy going back to Demon Souls remake (Bloodborne is my only FromSoftware game so far), or onto Sekiro? Hmm
 
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DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
Looking ahead to when I finally finish with this game (that'll be a while, I take my time) - is a Bloodborne fan more likely to enjoy going back to Demon Souls remake (Bloodborne is my only FromSoftware game so far), or onto Sekiro? Hmm
If you loved Bloodborne's combat, go for Sekiro.
If you loved the exploration and mood, try Demon's Souls, Dark Souls Remastered, or Dark Souls 3.... personally I think DS2 is skippable, but you can't go wrong. The lore is topsy-turvy and barely connected, so you could start with any of em.
 

skneogaf

Member
This game has been out too long to get a free patch so I think if we ever get to see this great game in 4k@60fps then it will be remastered.

I'd definitely pay money for a patch though.

Pc version would be unbelievably good.

I'd also pay into fund to pursued them to patch the game.

If nothing ever happens we wait for a ps4 emulator for pc and use the settings that lance Mcdonald came up with.
 

D.Final

Banned
Honestly sounds like all their eggs are in the Elden Ring basket at the moment. I'm very pessimistic...
Probably yes.

But, I like to think that they have more teams that working even at other kids of little projects.
(like a cool Bloodborne PC hopefully)
 

luffie

Member
I think Sony really wants any improvement/60fps remaster on Bloodborne to be made by From.

Since the gameplay is so tied to framerate, they can't jist give someone lile Bluepoint to do it, because it will take fine tuning & balancing, which From probably knows best.

But since then, From has been occupied with DS3, Sekiro, and now Elden Ring. The opportunity to remake/Bloodborne 2 just hasn't arrived yet.
 

ResurrectedContrarian

Suffers with mild autism
Also, have you run into any bag man yet?

Last night I certainly did, quite a journey

It happened when I’d summoned an NPC hunter with the bell, for the first time in ages, mainly because I planned to explore far and had built up way too many unused insight (come to think of it, besides summoning hunters I’m not sure what all I can do with those, I just stockpile them now, like 20).

When it attacked, I hung back to watch, and it slaughtered the other hunter in a pretty frightening way, picking them up and draining or something. That did give me a chance to come in with a huge charge attack on my powered up spear, and with one more big hit I finished it.

So that was that, until later in the night when I found another and screwed up the fight. Imagine my surprise at being taken somewhere entirely new. To my credit, I absolutely dominated the place it took me, though mostly by exploiting a trick I just discovered in my first fight there. There’s a spot on the spiral stairs not far from the large lantern room, where the bag guys get stuck since they’re too tall, and they try to move further but can’t. I led about 4 of those guys to that spot methodically and killed them all, then I had a hell of a time barely surviving the giant boars and all out in the street. Finally killed one bag man out in the open to get the electrified weapon, and killed everything in that place before cashing in big in the dream. What a ride... made up for my stupid deaths earlier in the night when I lost a lot of echoes.

By the way, I don’t quite understand how the enemy scaling works, but it’s interesting. I’ve recently had all new kinds of attacks come at me from familiar enemies. Like the guys with the white lanterns that were easy to kill before, but now start sending out white fireballs or something. Keeps things exciting, so I don’t mind this scaling so far.

EDIT: speaking of the bag man exploit above, I realize that I often use cheap environmental tricks to take down enemies. Like those boars in the street outside... I found a way to get on the stairs where they couldn’t hit me but I could just barely reach them with a jumping chain whip attack. Cheap? Maybe... but I feel like I have to do everything possible to stay alive.
 
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Last night I certainly did, quite a journey

It happened when I’d summoned an NPC hunter with the bell, for the first time in ages, mainly because I planned to explore far and had built up way too many unused insight (come to think of it, besides summoning hunters I’m not sure what all I can do with those, I just stockpile them now, like 20).

When it attacked, I hung back to watch, and it slaughtered the other hunter in a pretty frightening way, picking them up and draining or something. That did give me a chance to come in with a huge charge attack on my powered up spear, and with one more big hit I finished it.

So that was that, until later in the night when I found another and screwed up the fight. Imagine my surprise at being taken somewhere entirely new. To my credit, I absolutely dominated the place it took me, though mostly by exploiting a trick I just discovered in my first fight there. There’s a spot on the spiral stairs not far from the large lantern room, where the bag guys get stuck since they’re too tall, and they try to move further but can’t. I led about 4 of those guys to that spot methodically and killed them all, then I had a hell of a time barely surviving the giant boars and all out in the street. Finally killed one bag man out in the open to get the electrified weapon, and killed everything in that place before cashing in big in the dream. What a ride... made up for my stupid deaths earlier in the night when I lost a lot of echoes.

By the way, I don’t quite understand how the enemy scaling works, but it’s interesting. I’ve recently had all new kinds of attacks come at me from familiar enemies. Like the guys with the white lanterns that were easy to kill before, but now start sending out white fireballs or something. Keeps things exciting, so I don’t mind this scaling so far.

EDIT: speaking of the bag man exploit above, I realize that I often use cheap environmental tricks to take down enemies. Like those boars in the street outside... I found a way to get on the stairs where they couldn’t hit me but I could just barely reach them with a jumping chain whip attack. Cheap? Maybe... but I feel like I have to do everything possible to stay alive.
Hell yeah, I was wondering when that would happen to you. It happened to me basically as early as possible on my first playthrough (which is right after you kill blood-starved beast in Old Yharnam), so I was severely underleveled and the area was quite terrifying. Combined with the music it was a singular experience.

If you want to know why the lantern men are shooting fireballs at you:

It's because you're getting more insight. As you build up insight certain elements in the game world will change.

As for what to do with your insight: besides summoning help, there is a merchant in the dream that takes insight as currency. Poke around a bit and you'll find them. Their stock also evolves throughout your playthrough, so make sure you check in with them every once in a while to see what new stuff they have.
 

ResurrectedContrarian

Suffers with mild autism
As for what to do with your insight: besides summoning help, there is a merchant in the dream that takes insight as currency. Poke around a bit and you'll find them. Their stock also evolves throughout your playthrough, so make sure you check in with them every once in a while to see what new stuff they have.

I forgot all about that vendor, somehow... I don't think I'd visited him for the past many hours of play. I went to him last night to see about spending my insight, but right now the items didn't appeal to me. It's basically just more clothing but I like the setup I have now on that front. Perhaps I'll keep stocking up insight until something better comes into the shop, but it's interesting that the effect of stocking it up is to make the game harder.
 
Shadow of Yharnam kikcing my ass now.

Cleared the level, got a nice route to get to boss. And then get annihilated. Thinking of visiting elsewhere first and leveling.
 

ResurrectedContrarian

Suffers with mild autism
Sometimes you have a bad run... I suppose I was too confident after recent successes, and last night got slaughtered several times in a row with no echoes left to cash in. Part of that was encountering a new boss, but not all of it. Back to the basics on my combat...
 

DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
Sometimes you have a bad run... I suppose I was too confident after recent successes, and last night got slaughtered several times in a row with no echoes left to cash in. Part of that was encountering a new boss, but not all of it. Back to the basics on my combat...
It helps to save the echo-items for times like these. You can also sell unnecessary equipment to the bird bath at the house. You can easily rack up 10,000s of extra echoes each run by gathering (then selling) the various weapons and outfits.
 

kikkis

Member
Played this a bit after couple of years of not playing it. Kind of want to do full Walktrough with quests and stuff, but having to constantly check guide for that annoys me a lot. So not sure what to do.
 

DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
Played this a bit after couple of years of not playing it. Kind of want to do full Walktrough with quests and stuff, but having to constantly check guide for that annoys me a lot. So not sure what to do.
The game follows three phases of the night (evening, midnight, full moon), and the transitions are triggered by defeating specific bosses. IMO the best way to keep yourself on track during a BB playthrough is to consider what you want to get done before triggering the next "phase". Some quests can only be done at certain times. and some questlines will disappear if you move on to the next phase without completing a prerequisite.

Thankfully, all of the quests and optional stuff are straightforward once you know which "phase" you should handle them.

Plus there's NG+, so if you miss something you can return to it on a subsequent playthrough w better gear/better stats.
 

kikkis

Member
The game follows three phases of the night (evening, midnight, full moon), and the transitions are triggered by defeating specific bosses. IMO the best way to keep yourself on track during a BB playthrough is to consider what you want to get done before triggering the next "phase". Some quests can only be done at certain times. and some questlines will disappear if you move on to the next phase without completing a prerequisite.

Thankfully, all of the quests and optional stuff are straightforward once you know which "phase" you should handle them.

Plus there's NG+, so if you miss something you can return to it on a subsequent playthrough w better gear/better stats.
Yeah, just thinking if quests give super good items and content or should i treat this more like boss run more or less. This would be my third playtrough.
 
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Ogbert

Member
Looking ahead to when I finally finish with this game (that'll be a while, I take my time) - is a Bloodborne fan more likely to enjoy going back to Demon Souls remake (Bloodborne is my only FromSoftware game so far), or onto Sekiro? Hmm
Sekiro is a fundamentally different game. It’s heritage is Ninja Gaiden and it’s (IMO) a much harder game. You also better like parrying.

DS remake is incredible. Much easier though.
 

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
I honestly think Bloodborne is best game in this genre. I think it's ultimately more playable than DS or Sekiro. I finished it myself, without any help guides etc in about 2 weeks. I kind of hated one enemy type, that's beside the point. I also finished DS3, but it took me a year and some of those enemies was some tough motherfuckers. And those swamps.... I would gladly take another Bloodborne, seemed the most fun game for me in this genre.
 

DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
Yeah, just thinking if quests give super good items and content or should i treat this more like boss run more or less. This would be my third playtrough.
Up to you. The chalice dungeons have the best items anyway. Once I realized that, I didn't fuss as much about the weapon order or playthrough order.

But exploring every nook and trying to 100% your playthrough is also fun. Just be aware that some quest paths and covenants are mutually exclusive, just like in Souls.

Two playthroughs under your belt already is impressive. Any plans to use specific weapons/builds for this playthrough?
 

kikkis

Member
Up to you. The chalice dungeons have the best items anyway. Once I realized that, I didn't fuss as much about the weapon order or playthrough order.

But exploring every nook and trying to 100% your playthrough is also fun. Just be aware that some quest paths and covenants are mutually exclusive, just like in Souls.

Two playthroughs under your belt already is impressive. Any plans to use specific weapons/builds for this playthrough?
Started with threaded cane for change, but will probably use ludwigs holy blade on endgame as typical
 

DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
Started with threaded cane for change, but will probably use ludwigs holy blade on endgame as typical
I recently finished my first cane playthrough late last year. It was a lotta fun (the last of the starter weapons that I hadn't picked). It's a fearsome +10 weapon.

Ludwig's holy Blade is awesome. I think I might do a Kirkhammer/LHB playthrough next run.
 

stn

Member
Does the summoning work like it does in Nioh? Is it possible to cheese through sections with help?
 

ResurrectedContrarian

Suffers with mild autism
A recurring theme for me: I’m quite good at smaller & mid enemies, even groups of them and careful crowd control or using the environment to survive a hopeless situation. But I still suck at giant bosses. They just have so much reach, and there’s nowhere to regroup or plan an attack
 
A recurring theme for me: I’m quite good at smaller & mid enemies, even groups of them and careful crowd control or using the environment to survive a hopeless situation. But I still suck at giant bosses. They just have so much reach, and there’s nowhere to regroup or plan an attack
I noticed that if you attack after a good dodge, your char will make a big effort to jump close to the boss. As if he's glued to him.
 
My favorite game of all time. Just my quick comment: Do not play the DLC on NG+, it's brutal. Me, I played that shit on NG+6 and it was the most difficult gaming experience of my life.
 

ResurrectedContrarian

Suffers with mild autism
Loved the section of the world I ventured into last night, where the witch-like women are dancing around the fire. I usually play after the family is asleep, in the dark with headphones turned up loud (loud enough that I can usually hear an enemy breathing from far away), and the audio atmosphere is incredibly unsettling at times.
 
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