I got the disc turned around. I watched the intro, created a Violent Past character, watched the next cutscene, and then back to the main menu, because apparently the game is still offline. What the heck? This is the whole reason I paid for a year of PS+. How long is this going to be offline? If I wanted to play it offline, I could have done it for free.
Kolbex
1584
It was online for me earlier today. Must have gone offline again? Balls.
Kolbex
1585
Apparently sometimes it just works but mostly doesn’t, and it’s been happening for three days with no statement or acknowledgement of any kind. Bad timing, for sure. I’m gonna put my playthrough on hold until they fix this.
I was able to play online last night! I unlocked the first two lamps. I haven’t unlocked the ability to level up yet. I got kind of obsessed with killing this bigger fat guy after the second lamp. I finally got him by using the parry/gun mechanic, and beat him. Only to discover there was no real reward for beating him. All those souls/blood I lost in going up to him repeatedly was just useless I guess.
I’m using a weapon I’ve never used in the game before, which is the cleaver thing. I have used the cane/whip thing and the axe before, so this is kind of new. I still haven’t decided whether I like the weapon to have longer reach or not. It seems to do more damage in the shorter mode, I think?
Kolbex
1587
Nice. You’re supposed to switch between them as needed. The short form is fast and good for single enemies, whereas the longer one is good for groups. There is a decent enough YouTube video showing how to find the first Madman’s Knowledge, which will enable you to unlock leveling without running face first into a boss (and almost certainly dying). Just Google that phrase, first Madman’s Knowledge. It’s not the most direct route, but it gets you there. I like the cane whip, but I’m going strength because I plan to use the beast cutter, so for now I have the axe.
Scuzz
1588
Eventually you will use it in the longer mode but you have to get comfortable with the timing of the attack. It is great for mobs and in the big swing will do a lot of damage to a boss.
I do wonder when I’ll be able to go into that Old Hunter DLC tombstone. I’d love to get that Whirlygig Saw as soon as possible so that I can get used to it over the course of the game. I don’t think I want to go into the DLC for any other items. If I design this character from scratch as a Strength character, the Whirligig Saw should be an interesting weapon.
Matt_W
1591
I never beat Bloodborne because I stupidly went for the Old Hunter DLC and got bogged down fighting some really fast lady in an attic or something. Could’ve easily beaten the main game at any time. You guys talking about made me think for at least 15 seconds about starting over again, but then I remembered having to visit the Hunter’s Dream and the Chalice dungeons and noped back out.
Kolbex
1592
I don’t like the forced hub, either, but it’s not that bad. As for chalice dungeons, I went through the entire game and DLC solo and hardly even touched them (just for curiosity’s sake, really). They are totally optional.
I’ve never been curious about the Chalice dungeons. I heard them described in this thread and they didn’t sound great, so I put them out of my mind.
That sounds like it could be Lady Maria. Though she wasn’t in an attic, but it looked kind of like one. I never beat her. I did go back to the main game and was making progress though. Remember you can go back any time. The hard part is remembering where to go next.
Scuzz
1594
It took me forever and about 15 extra levels to beat the Hunters Dream bosses. I didn’t even screw around in the Chalice Dungeons.
The Hunters Dream is the end of the game bosses, right? Or have I confused it with another area.
Kolbex
1595
I mean, yes, but the way he talked about it vis-a-vis “starting over” made me think he meant having to troop back there to level up and travel around, which is kind of a pain after Dark Souls.
Then again maybe he meant the Hunter’s Nightmare, which is another kettle of fish altogether.
Matt_W
1596
Yeah, Hunter’s Dream… load screen to go there. Find the doll. Level up and do other stuff. Load screen to get back to the game. In the Souls games you don’t leave the game world; you use a bonfire. I just got really tired of having to keep going back to the Hunter’s Dream.
Kolbex
1597
I could comfortably go the rest of my life without hearing that doll say, “very well,” I’ll give you that.
Cleric Beast is down. That was some good progress tonight.
Matt_W
1599
Right. I loved Bloodborne. One of my favorite games ever, but it would be really hard to drag myself back into it. I’m following along with you guys though.
So, looking back on last night’s play, I really was hoping that this time, I’d play through the start of the game and say to myself, hey, I’m used to everything being so shiny and looking like a pickup, and it doesn’t bother me anymore, so I enjoy the opening area of the game more now. But sadly, it still bothers me a lot because my brain once again looks at these shiny puddle reflections and steam coming out of sewer vents, and they look just like fucking pickups, and I hate the art direction in this game so much for doing it like this.
On the other hand, I did run around a lot more than I did in my first couple of playthroughs of this area. Like that lamp which has a locked gate next to it, I became obsessed yesterday with finding out how to get to the other side of it. And for the first time, I actually tried to keep my bearings in this game despite the horrible art direction of the opening area and everything looking the same. And I realized, holy shit, it looks the same because it is the same. A lot of the areas that converge back into that central area with the bonfire do so because there’s only one central bonfire area, not several. There’s basically just that one street where everyone is patrolling, there’s hardly any other patrols in this level.
So once I started just trying to keep track in my head of where that gate would be, it become much simpler to just keep looking for ways to go left, and when I found some, I knew had to go hard left one more time somehow, and once I did, I found the other side of the gate. Once I unlocked the gate, the starting area becomes even less mysterious and you realize how small it actually is.
God, I can’t wait to leave this place, I just hate the constant shiny street reflections and shiny glint off the railings and shiny looking sewer smoke.
Kolbex
1601
It is extremely shiny. I’ve always complained about the sameness of the environments in this one. I feel like Bloodborne really falls down in that area compared to Dark Souls, which is too bad because I also feel like it was where the Miyazaki style of storytelling reached its apex.
I want From to make a Castlevania game. I think that could be amazing. Partly the reason I’m going beast cutter is to live out that fantasy just a little bit.
Chaplin
1602
I am very tempted to play along here as I definitely plan to do a from scratch Bloodborne run in the next 6 months (or more depending on CMON). I just want to time mine to be shortly before I get my Bloodborne boardgame. That said, I am also curious how one goes right to Whirlygig Saw or other Hunter DLC weapons as I plan to focus on one of those when I do do my restart.
