Current Events > Finished Bloodborne today. My thoughts: *spoilers for BB and Dark Souls 1*

(+) Yeah! (+)

For reference, the only other Souls game I've played is Dark Souls 1. Anyway, very good game. If I would give DS a 8/10, Bloodborne would probably be an 8.5/10. I should say that my experience of Dark Souls is a little biased because I didn't upgrade any weapons until around Anor Londo (I can't remember if I did it to beat Ornstein and Smough or not) out of paranoia of wasting weapon resources and going down garbage weapon upgrade paths. Eventually I spent an hour or two on the wiki and immediately upgraded my Claymore to like +7 or +8 lol.

Pluses:

• The faster pace of combat (and the game in general) made exploration and traversing environments less of a slog.
• It doesn't overstay its welcome. As much as I liked Dark Souls, everything after Anor Londo was kind of like "we're still doing this, eh?" Bloodborne ends just before it would start losing appeal/steam imo.
• I like the simplified weapon upgrade system, as well as the weapon transformation gimmick. By investing into two weapons (Hunter's Axe and Ludwig's Holy Blade), I effectively had four weapons to choose from depending on the enemy/situation. And I was switching between the four modes actively until the end of the game.
• More shortcuts for immediate runbacks to almost all bosses was greatly appreciated, and losing to a boss felt way less discouraging.
• I don't really like the Lovecraft aesthetic generally, but I actually dug it in this game. I am usually not a fan of disgusting horror type things, but the tone, the aesthetic, and the fact that I had power to stand up to them in this game made this something of an exception for me. It just came together in an engrossing, but not disgusting or horrifying way.
• All the humanoid bosses are an absolute highlight.

Minuses:

• My biggest pet peeve is how loud the enemies are screaming all the fucking time in this game. If I pick it up again, I'll probably mess with the volume sliders so I don't have to hear all this shrieking every time I kill an enemy.
• Fucking winter lanterns.
• Fucking paralyzing brain suckers.
• Those god damn anchor sharks. I honestly believe these enemies are harder to beat than most bosses in this game (largely because of the environments you fight them in, though).

This game has been on my backlog for years and I'm glad I finally played in. My next venture will most likely be Dark Souls 2 (unless you count Jedi Fallen Order as a Souls type game), but I need to take a break from dark/depressing aesthetics for a little before I do it.

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Jabodie posted...

* Fucking winter lanterns.

Welcome to Bloodborne. Fuck you and fuck your sanity.

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fun fact the winter lanterns are modelled after the Doll, and your character just seeing them causes frenzy because the only safe and good thing your character knows is now twisted and horrible

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Jabodie posted...
* My biggest pet peeve is how loud the enemies are screaming all the fucking time in this game. If I pick it up again, I'll probably mess with the volume sliders so I don't have to hear all this shrieking every time I kill an enemy.

first day i played the game, i didn't notice the crows in the starter area and walked over to them.

hooo boy.

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The best part of Orphan of Kos is that it never shuts up. It genuinely makes me chuckle now because the thing is just shrieking the whole fight.

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Those god damn anchor sharks. I honestly believe these enemies are harder to beat than most bosses in this game (largely because of the environments you fight them in, though).

Agreed. Fuck those enemies.

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Murphiroth posted...

The best part of Orphan of Kos is that it never shuts up. It genuinely makes me chuckle now because the thing is just shrieking the whole fight.

YEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

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Jabodie posted...

Those god damn anchor sharks.

Trying to get the Rakuyo is like 3x harder than Ludwig's boss fight and 4x harder than any non-DLC boss jfc. Never could get that weapon :'(

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BB is one of my favorite games of the generation

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any thoughts on the chalice dungeons? dig into those at all?

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BuckVanHammer posted...

any thoughts on the chalice dungeons? dig into those at all?

Do them as you play. The level 4 and 5 ones are meant for NG+ Blood levels (like over 100) but you can attempt them in your first playthrough

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Zodd3224 posted...

Do them as you play. The level 4 and 5 ones are meant for NG+ Blood levels (like over 100) but you can attempt them in your first playthrough

ya i liked them quite a bit, i got the plat for the game and enjoyed that grind.

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I read Bloodborne as Bloodstained and about had a stroke reading in that context

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Random factoid.

Just recently every possible Chalice Dungeon has been generated.

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Do them as you play. The level 4 and 5 ones are meant for NG+ Blood levels (like over 100) but you can attempt them in your first playthrough

Agreed on the "do them as you play" thing. They'd have been a grind if I'd done them at once but I did them to break up the time of playing the main game. Plus you level like crazy when down there so the stat boosts can only help you play the main game. Also love how many cool unique bosses are down there...all the hardest bosses were the ones I met in the Chalice dungeons.

I also got a few codes for premade dungeons and used those to get some high stat-boost items from the creature drops down there.

BuckVanHammer posted...

ya i liked them quite a bit, i got the plat for the game and enjoyed that grind.

Only games I have ever bothered to plat are Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3, and Sekiro

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BuckVanHammer posted... any thoughts on the chalice dungeons? dig into those at all?

I actually just started going through them in NG+. They're pretty enjoyable, but I'm not going to be blood gem farming or going outside the fixed ones tbh. I might go for the Plat, because going through the game now is extremely fast. I have two OP +10 weapons (Ludwig's, and now Whirligig with a Blood Rock I got form Insight), and I am overleveled (122 or so rn) and am decimating the main story bosses rn. I'm at the Forbidden Forest. The only side content I'm going to do for sure is get to the Fishing Hamlet, since the only pieces of Gear that I'm missing are the Beast Claw and the Accursed Brew. Edit: I also have a Hunter's Axe that's +10, but either I'm getting tired of it or LHB and the Whirligig are just a more effective.

My next Chalice is the Ailing Loran Chalice, my first depth level 4. Naturally depths 1-3 were pretty easy. But I'm going between Chalices and NG+ and gaining power. I am okay with being overleveled right now tbh.

Jagr_68 posted...

Trying to get the Rakuyo is like 3x harder than Ludwig's boss fight and 4x harder than any non-DLC boss jfc. Never could get that weapon :'(

It took a bit of luck and LHB spam, but I got it. I imagine it's a lot easier in NG. But I'm pretty sure I'm never taking the time to fight one of those things again. Luckily there are only two you have to go past if you want to fight Orphan, and those are easy to spring past.

Edit: I'll also grab the Djura gesture. I'll probably still kill him though, because fuck that guy.

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Which boss did you find the hardest

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Jabodie posted...

It took a bit of luck and LHB spam, but I got it. I imagine it's a lot easier in NG. But I'm pretty sure I'm never taking the time to fight one of those things again. Luckily there are only two you have to go past if you want to fight Orphan, and those are easy to spring past.

I fucked up and I'm on NG+. Even at lvl 170 they still gangbang me to death in seconds lmao. I've used the Shaman's bone blade trick but it has to be right on point and I suck.

Oddly enough 1 shark is decent to take on as well as the other bosses but 2 of them is pure madness on the alltime FromSoft enemy scale.

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Jagr_68 posted...

I fucked up and I'm on NG+. Even at lvl 170 they still gangbang me to death in seconds lmao. I've used the Shaman's bone blade trick but it has to be right on point and I suck.

Oddly enough 1 shark is decent to take on as well as the other bosses but 2 of them is pure madness on the alltime FromSoft enemy scale.

The two sharks were a pain for sure

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Did you find the secret area in Nightmare of Mensis?

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kuwab0 posted... Which boss did you find the hardest
Well I was definitely most frustrated with Father Glascoigne, and I wouldn't be surprised if that took the most attempts because I didn't know how parrying worked and I kept backstepping into graves.

I had a lot of trouble with Ebrietas actually. I later learned it's because I was trying to stay on her right side (from her perspective), and it turns out her left side is a lot safer.

I had some trouble with Maria, but not too much when I learned the timing of her moves.

And frankly, I only got through Orphan's second phase because he spammed the crap out of a move I figured out how to punish.

Martyr Logarius was also a nice challenge, but I nearly killed him before I knew you could stop his sword storm attack. Once I knew that I think I beat him on my next try.

I'll say Orphan for now, but Father Glascoigne was definitely my biggest and most frustrating roadblock. Once I got through him, I "got it" and didn't have too much trouble for the rest of the game. While many of the bosses I mentioned weren't cake walks, I wouldn't say they were notably difficult compared to the others I've listed aside from maybe Paarl and BSB, which I found more irritating than challenging.

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CapnMuffin posted...

Did you find the secret area in Nightmare of Mensis?

With the blood rock, or the brain after it drops?

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Jabodie posted...

With the blood rock, or the brain after it drops?

Yeah the brain and what you can do with it

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Haha, when I found the brain I looked up what it was for, so I got that Rune.

Just murdered Alfred and Eileen in my NG+ for couple blood dregs. Pretty fun not worrying about their questlines. I also killed the fuck out of the guy who always thinks you're lying, and now the poor church guy is so confused lol. I was hoping he'd drop a blood dreg, but alas.

I'll probably let Adella kill Arianna this playthrough, and kill fake Ioefska early just so I can't get the three cords. That way I can use the ones I find for Insight without worrying about triggering the wrong ending by accident.

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Game of the generation

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Weird how people randomly started responding to this thread two days after I made it.

"A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one."

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Man, Ludwig's must be OP as fuck when you have 50/50 in Str/Skl.

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My favorite setup is 50 Bloodtinge/25 Skill with Chikage and Evelyn.

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Abhorrent Beast (chalice boss) is probably top 3 hardest now. Really not looking forward to the Defiled and depth 5 dungeons now lol.

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the more I think about blood borne the more I realize its one of the best games ever. Nothing has lived up to its hype since it

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Jabodie posted...

Man, Ludwig's must be OP as fuck when you have 50/50 in Str/Skl.

Not at all if you have an ally, and his 2nd form when he has the Holy Moonlight Sword is less stressful because his windup moves become more telegraphed for dodging. Least that's where he falls in with NG+.

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I think he's talking about the sword, not the boss.

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Jagr_68 posted...

Not at all if you have an ally, and his 2nd form when he has the Holy Moonlight Sword is less stressful because his windup moves become more telegraphed for dodging. Least that's where he falls in with NG+.

He meant Ludwig's Holy Sword, the weapon.

And yes, it's absurdly overpowered.
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DeadBankerDream posted...

He meant Ludwig's Holy Sword, the weapon.

And yes, it's absurdly overpowered.

Ohhhh gotcha!

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You know I never actually beaten Bloodborne. I got up to the "final" boss but once I got the Burial Blade I just fucked off to do other things like the dungeons and never got around to them.

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Banana_Cyanide posted...

You know I never actually beaten Bloodborne. I got up to the "final" boss but once I got the Burial Blade I just fucked off to do other things like the dungeons and never got around to them.

Did you NG+ and not do the "true ending"? Or did you just leave the very last boss there?

Edit: Also, been rushing through NG+. I'm at the Research Hall in the DLC (going to get the Accursed Brew, probably won't fight Orphan), the Unseen Village in the main game, and the defiled P dungeon for the chalices. Once I have the Accursed Brew and the trophies (and maybe the betrothal ring), I'll probably be done with the game.

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I got to the Moon Presence but I never killed it because I really wanted that weapon and once I got it I went and did other things in the game.

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But you could have just started NG+ with the weapon.
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Well that boss is easy as fuck anyway, so if you ever decide to beat it I doubt it'll be too hard to get back into.

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I only got Bloodborne after it went free on PSN then took a year to play it. I got through Amelia and put it down for 6 months. I just didnt get it, thought it was too hard and boring.

But, started again out of boredom and really enjoyed it after that.

i still think DS3 is a better game. DS3 gives you way more ways to play and the game is more varied and grander.

My main complaints about BB are how so much of the game is technically optional, wish it was weaved into the main narrative more. Also, fuck the unseen village.

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Wow. Ran into defiled chalice Amygdala and got one shot. I've heard this is the hardest fight on the way to the chalice trophy and I can see why.

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Ludwig's Holy Blade is exceptionally good against Amygdala cause the greatsword mode has an overhead attack that can land a good hit on the arms at most times.
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I used Ludwig R2 cheese I found online to do it. Phew, that was cancerous lol.

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My journey with the Chalice Dungeons is almost over... I'm at level 2 of the final Phtumeru Chalice after having done all the other unique chalices. I'll be done with this by tomorrow. I've also gotten the Deep Respect Gesture from Cainhurst, snuck up on Djura for that other Gesture, gotten the Accursed Brew from the Fishing Hamlet (and picked up the Blood Rock while I was there), and crushed 5 vermin for my main man Valtr. The only thing I'd like that I'm missing is the Betrothal Ring, but apparently you can't look up code dungeons if you don't have PS+ so I'll just take the L on that. Aside from that, I have all the essentials.

I'm going to finish this playthrough (need to beat the One Reborn, then run through Nightmare of Mensis), then I'll do my last playthrough basically only bum rushing required bosses (with Cleric Beast thrown in there probably). I'm not going to go for the Nightmare or Fishing Hamlet Blood Rocks anymore, since it'll be a pain in the ass to get either. I think I have two I'm not sure what to do with and I have enough Insight items to get two more (might waste one on my Hunter's Pistol for the lols).

I've just been pumping my echoes in levels so I'm like above 180 now lol. Got Vit/End/Str/Skl to 50/40/50/50 and I'm leveling Arc until I hit 50. If I get over that before my trophies are in, I'll pump some levels into Bloodtinge while I finish up.

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Finished the chalice trophy and got the second ending. It's kinda crazy how little is required to strictly beat the game.

My last playthrough will just be:
1) Sprint to Glascoigne, maybe beat Cleric Beast for the lamp.
2) Sprint to Amelia.
3) Run through the Forbidden Woods to the Shadows.
4) Kill Rom.
5) Sprint to the One Reborn.
6) Run to Micolash.
7) Kill the Wetnurse.
8) Profit.

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Well, it took like three hours to get through the last playthrough for the last trophy.

I did it, CE. Now to put the game away satisfied.

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