I played Bloodborne · 5:19pm Oct 30th, 2020
From a game that gives the maddening feeling of Lovecraft to a game that looks like it was pulled from the pages of a Lovecraft story.
There's little explained at first. Your hear some apparent doctor working over you, injecting you with blood, and then you wake. Within moments you encounter a werewolf-like beast (werewolves can turn back, while the beasts cannot.) And more than likely it will kill you. This is what's supposed to happen (Thanks to practice I got in Dark Souls I actually got close to beating it.) and you come to in The Hunter's Dream.
Much like in Dark Souls the story is told something told mostly through the environment and item descriptions. I could try rehashing the story here, but Vaatividya has a much more comprehensive and better told breakdown (across several videos) than I could do.
The general story is that this city has succumbed to a blood frenzy thanks to the ministrations of the healing church. Blood does heal, but it also corrupts and warps people into beasts. You are just another of a lot of hunters in this world hunting these beasts. As you gain insight you see the world for what it is, with giant creatures known as Amygdalas clinging to the roofs, for the most part you are not worth their notice.
I say general because I also don't have the DLC and that apparently adds so much lore to the game. Wrapping your head around the whole story of the game does seem to require that you personally have the maddening insight the game gives your character.
As the night progresses you find yourself hunting beasts, other hunters, and eldritch abominations. If you don't look for the deeper story you won't fully understand what's going on. But that's part of what makes things here interesting. The hunt for the truth.
While this game may have taken many game play ques from Dark Souls, but you cannot play this game the same way. Dark Souls let you get away with hiding behind your shield, but Bloodborne doesn't actually give you that option. There is a wooden shield, but it's not of great use.
To play this game you need to be aggressive. Take revenge for your damage immediately and you can recover a good amount of it. Use bullets to stun your enemies, and Molotov cocktails to burn them. Switch between your weapon's forms to take advantage of it's different properties. DODGE!
Trying to be a tank will not work, your defense will not go high enough to pull that off. Invest yourself in figuring out what you can get away with, safe zones you can cheese enemies from, and using your gun effectively. This can make all the difference. I made a strength build, and while I hit like a truck I'm kind of a glass cannon and have to keep sharp with how I play in order to survive.
It's actually less punishing for dying than Dark Souls is, but the mechanic that occasionally gives your blood echoes (instead of souls, but it's the same function) to the enemy that killed you (or another nearby enemy) certainly hammers home the revenge aspect to combat.
Dark Souls let you move slowly and fight more strategically. Bloodborne wants you to turn yourself into a lawn mower, chewing through enemies and hacking up anything dumb enough to get close to your moving blade. But by no means does this game make things easy, it just wants you to pick up the pace.
This game stands out to me most for it's aesthetic. Gothic Architecture, old world fashion, twisted enemy design, mixing the alien with the classic. As I said at the beginning, this game has the looks of being pulled from the pages of a Lovecraft story.
Bloodborne is one of my favorite games, and I would buy the hell out of it if they ever released it for PC. This is an exceptional review. Keep up the good work.
5388849
Thank you very much.
Bloodborne was my first Souls game, and it punished me. But I beat into submission, given enough time.
Even though I was inexperienced, I went for a mixed Arcane/Strength build that wrecked house if you knew how to properly use it. What boss did you find the hardest, assuming you fought all of them (maybe even the chalice bosses)?
Have you played the DLC for it yet? It's well worth the money and time. There's also a very special present for you there if you're using a pure Strength build.
I really wish they'd release a PC port already! I don't want to have to go through the whole game all over again just to try out a new build. I would have played Bloodborne a lot more if I could play on PC.
Beasts all over the shop
You'll be one of them, sooner or later
5389130
For me, the hardest boss is the Moon Presence. Still can't beat that thing. And no, I don't have the DLC yet. Though looking at it, it looks heavily inspired by The Shadow Over Innsmouth.
And a special present for a strength build is certainly tempting. I like Maxwell's Silver Hammer right now (I forgot the actual name of the weapon and just go with that.)
I haven't even touched the Chalice Dungeons, and don't know when or if I'll start.
I'm good with the Playstation release, but part of that is because my computer is a potato and has trouble with most games newer than 6 years old.
But I love modding games, sometimes to make me laugh, sometimes to create new challenges. Actually, I typically use a game shark while playing the Gamecube version of Ocarina of Time to let Link jump so I can tackle the Gerudo fortress as kid Link. Fighting the prison guards as a kid is really tough because they hit hard and Link's combination of no range+low damage.
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Wow, I beat the Moon Presence on my second try, and almost got it on my first. I'm not trying to brag, everyone finds different bosses more or less difficult, but I found it disappointingly easy. For the main game (no DLC or chalices), my toughest boss was Ebrietas. She's pretty easy to miss though.
I think you're talking about either the Kirkhammer or Ludwig's Holy Blade. Both of them are great. The Holy Blade in particular can be used on nearly any build, including my Strength/Arcane hybrid.
The DLC is very good, and very difficult. If you loved the environments in the main game, it's a real treat. The special weapon is nearly impossible to miss if you look around in the first big area of the DLC, it's called the Whirligig Saw. It's even better if you have a ton of stamina.
If you don't want to, feel free not to play them. I did it mostly for my completionist urge to beat every single boss in the game, and to grab a couple exclusive Caryll Runes. They also provide a good way to farm insight, blood rocks, and gems.
On the other hand, they're repetitive and many of the later Chalice bosses are almost unfair; I might have PTSD from my experiences there. There is one or two in particular that are downright agonizing if you're not using an arcane build like me, one that gives you decent ranged attacks.
Yeah, that's always fun. Imagine all the things we could do if we could mod Bloodborne! Look at all the mods that have been made for the rest of the Souls series. I'd really like to not suffer through farming rare materials and be able to respec my character. We could do that in Dark Souls 2, but not in any other game, because reasons.
5389234
Bosses usually aren't my biggest problem in Souls games, The biggest threat for me are groups. Raam was probably the second toughest for me because of all those little twerps running around. Though There's still that Dragon in Dark Souls 3 DLC who freaks out the moment I enter his arena and I just can't hit him before he take me out. And I went toe to toe trading blows with the Nameless King on Archdragon Peak.
Yes, Kirkhammer, that's it. The moment I started using that weapon I put on this song and couldn't stop laughing.
The total tonal disparity just got to me and stuck the name in my head.
I'll have to check for the Whirligig saw once I have the DLC.
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That reminds me, I still haven't gotten around to playing DS3. I found DS1 and DS2 much easier than Bloodborne outside of a couple bosses.
Rom was just a stupid fight altogether, I hated it too. Clearing all those little spiders is such a pain. I shredded her down with the Tonitrus, which does an ungodly amount of electric damage and could nearly get her down to half health by the time she teleported for the first time. The second time I fought her, I had another player with me and we somehow did so much damage that she just froze up briefly, allowing us kill her before the teleport animation had even completed. It was ridiculous. I think I have a video of it stored somewhere.
If groups trip you up, there's this one spot in the DLC you'll just love, I know it. You'll know it when you get there. Ah, memories...
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Ominous ... Well, I'll find out eventually.