From Software Bloodborne. Discuss or die!

[Zep Zepo]

Aight...think I need a nap and try again in a bit

Zep--

 

[Turisas]

 

[DragoFireheart]

Just play the god damn game and don't spoil everything.

 

[Phage]

How do you get those gems and shit for your weapons? I got my Axe and Gun to +1, bought the Yharnam armor set. But I haven't had any of those special gems drop yet. Yet I see people playing on the youtubes and they have shit in those gem slots I have not found yet. WTF? Where they at?

Zep--

Most of them are just random enemy drops or treasures laying around. You won't get any until later in the game, unless you fight a certain big guy who has a chance to drop one.

 

[bylam]

Based on the few hours I have played, I think Bloodborne is most certainly easier than the other three Souls games by a fair margin. Obviously that could change as I'm still in the early goings but thus far my experience with it has been surprisingly laid back and I haven't experienced any rough beatings like some of the shit I suffered through in the other games.

I dunno, I'm struggling more with it than any of the other three. But, I used to play a backstab/parry character so...time to relearn some shit and git gud.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Parrying seems easier in this game.

Old games: Make parry attempt. Fail, get hit.

Bloodborne: Make parry attempt. Fail, they still get shot in the face.

 

[toroid]

It seems like each area is fairly complex and non-linear, with lots of branching paths and shortcuts. But it also seems that progression through the game from one area to the next is even more linear than DS2. Is this accurate?

 

[Zep Zepo]

It seems like each area is fairly complex and non-linear, with lots of branching paths and shortcuts. But it also seems that progression through the game from one area to the next is even more linear than DS2. Is this accurate?

Seems less-linear to me, yes. Granted I'm still trying to get out of Central Yarham. I think i opened 3 shortcuts so far in just that one starting area.

I'm constantly lost, although I don't mind it. I honestly can't remember how to get back to LG, but I think i know both ways back to cleric beast..coz..fuck those wear wolves.

Zep--

 

[AN4RCHID]

I must say the release of Bloodborne has made me realize how much I've come to hate this trend of every hack game journalist and dumb console kid streaming their "Let's Plays" of new games. There's just something depressing about the combination of extreme e-celeb narcissism of the validation of mundane activities through an audience, and the disgustingly passive watchers who choose to experience games vicariously for someone else's benefit.

 

[Zep Zepo]

Are there treasure chests in the game? I am still in CY but as far as I remember I haven't opened any I can recall. Just the glowy things on bodies so far I have found/seen.

Zep--

 

[SumDrunkGuy]

It seems like each area is fairly complex and non-linear, with lots of branching paths and shortcuts. But it also seems that progression through the game from one area to the next is even more linear than DS2. Is this accurate?

The first thing is accurate. I'm not following you on the second thing though. Progression through Dark Souls 2 is extremely non-linear compared to 1's. Detrimentally so, to the point that Drangleic completely lacks any feel of cohesion and makes no fucking sense whatsoever. Dark Souls 2 is so sloppily and senselessly put together in a non-linear fashion in fact that it will probably go down in history as one of the finest pieces of psychosis inducing mental gymnastic mind fuckery ever conceived by functioning not-retarded people.

So to answer your question, yes, it's more linear. Bloodborne's environments and progression are more akin to Demon's Souls' in design. Basically less interconnected world type shit (though that's still there), tighter focus on individual areas made up of intricate and complex design.

 

[DragoFireheart]

So I killed

Spoiler

Cleric Beast

first, try, lol.

Those god damn werewolves near his entrance were much harder. Phage I took your suggestions and tried to go through them. Meleeing them didn't work that well so I just threw some molotov cocktails at them. Did the trick.

I can also confirm the areas are complex and have lots of little paths circling around just in central Yharnam

 

[Anthony Davis]

Parrying seems easier in this game.

Old games: Make parry attempt. Fail, get hit.

Bloodborne: Make parry attempt. Fail, they still get shot in the face.

Yeah, but they get shot for like 20 damage and then introduce your face to their teeth/claws/brick hands/etc.

So far, for me... my rating is like this:

Favorite to Least Favorite (notice I didnt say best to worst)

Dark Souls 2
Bloodborne
Dark Souls and Demon Souls tie for me.

I like the speed and more aggressive nature of the game. Your character is pretty fragile now, but can dish it out.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the whip.

anyway, I gotta go get ready for the launch party for PoE.

 

[toroid]

But it also seems that progression through the game from one area to the next is even more linear than DS2.

Progression through Dark Souls 2 is extremely non-linear compared to 1's.

Spoiler

Look at the areas accessible per requirements met ratio: In DS1 you can get all the way to Nito's orange gate by only killing a single boss. You can get all the way to the Demon Ruins orange gate by only killing two bosses (or one boss if you know how to skip Ceaseless' lava). You can get all the way to Sif's fog gate by way of New Londo without killing a single boss. You can get all the way to the Stone Dragon in Ash Lake without killing a single boss. You can do all of this in any order. That's more than 60% of the base game's content, and you only need one key. That's pretty damn non-linear. Didn't even mention all the cross-connectivity.

edit: I forgot, you need Ingward's key to open the gate in New Londo. But you can still explore the upper half of the area without it.

 

[StaticSpine]

is there an enemy respawn limit like in DaS II?

 

[Phage]

Parrying seems easier in this game.

Old games: Make parry attempt. Fail, get hit.

Bloodborne: Make parry attempt. Fail, they still get shot in the face.

Depends. In Bloodborne you use up a resource every time you attempt a parry (granted, I've had too many bullets in my storage to even pick new ones up a while now) and the damage you deal is pretty negligible unless you are specced for guns and have a strong firearm. Either way, Parrying might be a little less punishing, but that's likely because you HAVE to parry or dodge since there's no blocking.

It seems like each area is fairly complex and non-linear, with lots of branching paths and shortcuts. But it also seems that progression through the game from one area to the next is even more linear than DS2. Is this accurate?

Not entirely sure. It seems that there's typically 1-2 bosses you can access at any time, but for the most part you're going through a somewhat "linear" progression. Really not a problem in my eyes since the areas are so large and nuanced.

Also, I just have to mention that throwing up those diagrams is pretty deceptful. In reality, without the master key in DS1 (which has to be chosen as a starting gift) , DS2 typically as more options at a given time of areas you can make progress in.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter though, like at all. Openness for the sake of openness doesn't make these games better or worse, it's entirely dependent on the pacing. I think that Bloodborne's slightly directed progression makes sense for the kind of pacing they were trying to achieve. Dark Souls 1 on the other hand presented a large strange world that intentionally wanted to allow you to wander into the ruins and get raped by ghosts. Both have their strengths for their respective designs.

 

[Phage]

is there an enemy respawn limit like in DaS II?

Not that anyone knows of. Vaati made a claim that enemies drop less vials the more you kill them, but this has been by and large considered false by everyone who's played the game.

 

[Murk]

I suggested this to Distortion2 to be able to use the Cannon more, and it apparently works.

So you use 'blood bullets' before regular QS bullets. So if you blood bullet buff, even at 20, your cannon will use the 5 blood bullets and only 5 quicksilver bullets. Doing this you effectively get 4 shots of the cannon instead of 2, which if upgraded is something like 1-1.5k of damage of damage depending on where you hit and the enemy you're hitting.

I imagine this works for magic too.

 

[Phage]

final boss is mercilessly raping me

 

[Phage]

Took a break to eat some food and gathered material to upgrade my weapon then defeated said boss.

Spoiler

dat ending. at least I get the waifu to attend me.

very interested in NG+, chalice dungeons and playing through it again for the other ending and stuff I may have missed. probably won't start on that until early April though.

 

[Alfons]

How significant are the trick weapons? Do you guys perform the transformation combos often or is it more like weapon switching in the previous titles?

 

[DragoFireheart]

How significant are the trick weapons? Do you guys perform the transformation combos often or is it more like weapon switching in the previous titles?

Well, the Hunter's Axe can turn into a halberd of mass destruction. The charged power attack is spin-to-win. Wipes out everything with amazing ease.

2nd boss I came across:

Spoiler

Just beat Father Gascoigne. His first form is easy: his second form is stupidly aggressive. Died three times before beating him. Music box was useful for first form but kinda unneeded.

I just got the Wooden Shield. This thing is a fucking piece of shit joke weapon.

 

[Phage]

How significant are the trick weapons? Do you guys perform the transformation combos often or is it more like weapon switching in the previous titles?

Depends on the weapon. For the most part though, the transformation attack itself won't be something you use often. Most of the time it's just deciding if you want a slower/longer range weapon or a faster shorter range one.

Then there's weapons like the electric baton mace thing I ended up maining where the transform button simply activates a special property of said weapon.

All in all, if you're someone who (like me) tended to just stick to a couple weapons in souls games and left it at that, then the lack of weapons won't be a big problem as the ones in the game are p. cool. If you were a massive weaponfag though, you might be disappointed.

2nd boss I came across:

Spoiler

Just beat Father Gascoigne. His first form is easy: his second form is stupidly aggressive. Died three times before beating him. Music box was useful for first form but kinda unneeded.

Spoiler

I didn't even know about the music box. I did end up molotoving the wolf form though because I made the association that beasts = weak to fire early on.

I just got the Wooden Shield. This thing is a fucking piece of shit joke weapon.

Yeah, if you read the description it's obvious its inclusion was a playful jab at the shield-centered nature of the souls games.

 

[bylam]

Yeah, after a rethink and learning how and when to use my firearm correctly, it's a lot more on par with the Souls series difficulty.

 

[Echo Mirage]

For the console-less among us. EpicNameBro has finally returned with a Walkthrough.