BLOODBORNE given Feb '15 Euro/NA release date, deemed worthy of own thread by ilxor

Yesss, lemme know when you have that insight.

Died SO many times to the blood starved beast these past two nights. Jesus. Just finally got him on my last swing before I was poisoned to death. Phew...

Helped somebody kill that boss today, then failed solo. I was sooo close using those pungent whatevers but panicked in the end. Might try and summon somebody tomorrow.

okay so here i am getting killed repeatedly by two wolves on a bridge. i think i just started.

Apparently playing co-op in the forbidden woods can lead to a game breaking glitch (key quest item fails to spawn and stops you getting any further) so don't do that.

Managed the blood-starved beast after summoning an npc, which helped a ton.

Vicar Amelia bugged out on me. Sat there stationary as I killed her. Feel guilty about cheesing that one :/. I'm only cheating MYSELF.

Can't seem to summon or be summoned to save my damn life. Got it to work once.

does it feel like there are a diversity of viable builds a la the souls games? asking for a friend

No, unfortunately. The potential for diversity is less immediately obvious anyway.

cleric beast beaten. i get the sense i'm barely started?

Well, yeah, man. That's like the first boss. Depending on which route you take. He's optional.

I like the fact that they've gone back to the DS1 way in that respect. Fewer bosses but they seem to be more memorable. DS2 had a zillion bosses but I remember like 4 of them.

Yeah one of the reviews said the boss fights were all memorable if not quite as intense as Ornstein/Smough, the first two I did definitely pretty distinct atmospheres

Is it possible to do Gascoigne first depending on path or did I miss something totally optional?

i'm making a point of not reading much about the game and going in blind. I should maybe read a bit more about game mechanics though... i played a half hour before figuring how to equip my weapons.

xp

I did Gascoigne first too. The Cleric Beast is an optional boss in that general area. It's definitely best to go in blind, but I like to read up on a spot that I just cleared just to see what I might've missed.

I'm seeing some rumblings about hitting Resume Game instead of Load Game can lead to the multiplayer function not working. Might explain my summoning issues. Will test out tomorrow.

cleric beast is down! stumbled into father gasgcoine by accident while exploring with no blood vials to hand and got torn to shreds :(

am i right in thinking there's no easy way to reset downed enemies for xp-farming purposes? my usual m.o. in souls games is to go out collecting xp, rest at a bonfire, then repeat until i've got enough xp to level up. using lanterns to go to the hunter's dream and then back to yharnam is easily 90 seconds of loading in-between grinding runs and it's wearing pretty thin tbh.

ok fuck it bought this (and a ps4). beat father gascoigne before work this morning so i'm ~feeling pretty productive~

loading times are a drag but i look at it as a time for reflection

using lanterns to go to the hunter's dream and then back to yharnam is easily 90 seconds of loading in-between grinding runs and it's wearing pretty thin tbh.
― bizarro gazzara, Monday, March 30, 2015 4:36 AM

thinking maybe it could work like demons souls where you farm then die and reset at checkpoint to pick up bloodstain. would save at least one loading screen

yeah, its not like this is a dragon age type thing where you might need to reload the same encounter, die and try a different strategy several times in a row

if you die you're not fighting the boss again for like five minutes until you practice killing all the guys on the way, not that big a deal to get 45 seconds to focus on your breathing

the warping thing is definitely more of a pain, if you can warp anywhere from the HD you might as well be able to warp between lanterns as well, the only effect it has is more load times

Apparently playing co-op in the forbidden woods can lead to a game breaking glitch (key quest item fails to spawn and stops you getting any further) so don't do that.
― JimD, Saturday, March 28, 2015 3:29 AM

i'm at forbidden woods now, glad i havent done co-op there yet

From Software and Sony Computer Entertainment Japan are working on a hotfix to resolve the issue, expected to arrive next week. You should be safe as long as you fly solo in the Forgotten Woods until then (as safe as you can ever be in Yharnam, anyway).

The studios are also working on a patch to reduce load times and improve overall performance, but you'll have to wait a bit longer for that one.

this is really great, unsurprisingly. clicked for me over the weekend and now i am rolling. interested to know what ppl are doing regarding weapons and levelling. both dark souls games were close enough to demons that i knew from much from the outset how i wanted to level but i am less sure of my direction at the moment, at least in terms of attributes that contribute to damage dealt. i've tried out all the starter weapons now and i like the axe best, the stagger on the R2 seems really important. i know there aren't supposed to be many weapons but has anyone got something else good already? any of the gems reward you for a high attribute?

i got frustrated with the Shadow of Yharnam after many close attempts and risked summoning help. i was sooo relieved when the key was there in the next section, so maybe the bug doesn't affect the boss or i just got lucky.

am i right in thinking there's no easy way to reset downed enemies for xp-farming purposes?

i guess you could keep buying Bold Hunter's Marks to jump back to the lantern, without having to go to Hunter's Dream. i don't mind the loading times, i've been taking the opportunity stretch out my rickety body, do some core exercises, y'know.

i keep trying new weapons that i find but going back to the axe. i had a little bit of regret during some of the npc hunter duels, wondering if i should have gone with the cane for speed, but really those fights just teach you how to parry.

i've used the cane almost exclusively so far, maybe more for castlevania aesthetics more than any practical purpose. what other weapons draw on skill rather than strength? haven't figured out the mechanics yet.

i'm curious about people's experiences with the npcs that you save, i feel like i've missed most of them. the only one that's still around is the prostitute lady.

i may need to start avoiding thread for spoilers i guess

sorry! i have a friend who has way more free time than i do, and he has been driving me crazy texting about things i haven't seen yet. i've been looking up info about sections after i finish them to see all the crazy shit i missed.

i'll just say that it seems like a good idea to periodically revisit places you've already been to talk to people, look for paths that weren't open or available before, etc.

spoiler away, it's my own damn fault!

i will say that, on contact, this absolutely hits the dark/demons spot
very frustrating, very fun

the only small nits i have to pick with this game:

-when the message about trying to summon or be summoned pops up, it covers up any messages about the items you're picking up. it would have been so easy to place it above or below.

-that message when you try to pick up vials or bullets and your storage is full, no need for it to appear in the middle of the screen and black everything out, am i right?

other than that, i love it.

omg so frustrated with the Byrgenwerth boss

guys
THE PIG

knocked out crazy father in the graveyard and am going back over the early game spots to look for hidden treasures and talk with all the people behind doors before moving forward.
i like to play methodical

i felt really bad about killing the pig! he was just chilling in his sewer, minding his own business :(

fucker came at me bro

the pig was cool

i went into vicar amelia three times total before concluding i have zero idea right now how to beat this. i can't remember any boss in the series where i haven't at least had some ideas to try. anyhow, it does not appear to be immediately impeding my progress and i have a lot of other shit to do so i am kind of ignoring it for the time being.

the pure joy of shortcuts in this might be at its highest since demons souls.

I think killing the pig can feel worse, later...

the pure joy of shortcuts in this might be at its highest since demons souls.

executing a successful parry/riposte and opening up new shortcuts are so viscerally satisfying

my favorite pig is one later on who tends to burn himself to death on a nearby bonfire.

i hate the dogs in these games but their pitiful reaction to getting shot got to me a little

I think I found at least two shortcuts that said "locked by a device" and just went AH FUCK and stomped off oblivious to the lever being right there

it's so weird having ambient dialogue/snarled deathbed curses etc from the things trying to kill you

i didn't know ANY of this; looking forward to trying it out soon.
http://www.polygon.com/2015/3/26/8296155/bloodborne-how-to-backstab-front-stab-parry-riposte-jump-attack-break-shields

xp "this is a nice hoouuuuuse"

you've not been parrying at all, forks?!

like how it sets the dogs up as a threat early on then gives you a bunch of helpless ones trapped in cages and dares you to be enough of a cunt to slaughter them all just to be on the safe side

they can break those cuffs cages fyi

i've not been parrying at all; LOADS of strafing and dodging. beating those twin brutes and werewolves was a challenge but the bosses thus far have been challenging but reasonably easy once you get strafing down

parrying really makes things a lot easier - you can one-shot a lot of enemies with a riposte