BLOODBORNE - Gamescom gameplay trailer

I can't believe I only just now discovered transform attacks. Happened by accident and then realized it was a game mechanic. Granted I'm only about 20% into the game - been taking it very slow and making sure to uncover every secret area and pathway, but still cool.

This is part of why I intentionally avoided all reviews, spoilers and even discussions about the game - so everything is fresh. Tempting as it is to want to look up a boss's weakness after being insta-killed by it ten times, gotta resist cookie cutter "this is how you beat it" bro guides. I still think that's best way to play Souls games.

Game is easily 9/10 or even 9.5/10. I'd say 10/10 if there was more armor/weapon diversity, and the bosses were more than just "stay behind it and slash". Granted I haven't seen all the bosses yet but a distinct common denominator has emerged. LOVING THE HELL OUT OF THE EXPLORATION and clever map design, which for me is really the killer feature in Souls games anyway.
 
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one thing that's always annoyed me about the Souls games is the summoning aspect...being able to summon 2+ players into your game takes away any and all challenge and makes the game too easy...for a game about challenge, learning from your mistakes and skill it completely takes away all of those things...summoning can still be in the game but there needs to be some penalty or tradeoff for using it...maybe only being able to summon a set number of times each playthrough or cutting your health in half each time you summon or limiting the amount of health viles available...you could not summon anyone for some of the bosses in the previous games but too few in my opinion (DS2 Belfry Gargoyles, Royal Rat Authority etc)

if you're playing the Souls games and just summoning all the way through then it's not really a victory...it's cheap and you should be playing another game where your skill matches the game
 
I haven't tried summons in Bloodborne. The only time I saw another player in Dark Souls they were trying to kill me.

This game isn't getting any easier. I am down in some place where these tall, creepy, robed hulks can take me out in 2 hits. I have ,managed to kill one but died about 4 times fighting them. I was on one and counted 8 of my Ax swings making solid contact and he still had 1/3 health left If that's not enough fun, no worries, they team up on ya too.
 
polonyc2 said:
if you're playing the Souls games and just summoning all the way through then it's not really a victory...it's cheap and you should be playing another game where your skill matches the game
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A mechanic that has been the staple of the series since the first game, is mostly balanced out with the additional boss HP, and almost seems encouraged at times, I can not agree with this statement. What about battles where its actually harder when summoning people, like Fume Knight? I think From balances these battles the best they can, it doesn't necessarily make the boss easier 100% of the time. Summoning and being summoned is the way to play these games, there is no point in purposely avoiding it unless you specifically want to fight alone, which is fine, but calling the other way "cheap" is surely not what the developers intended when they made this co-op system 4 games ago. You are never guaranteed a victory just because you have a summon, past games maybe harder than BloodBorne, but still.
 
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LeviathanZERO said:
A mechanic that has been the staple of the series since the first game, is mostly balanced out with the additional boss HP, and almost seems encouraged at times, I can not agree with this statement. What about battles where its actually harder when summoning people, like Fume Knight? I think From balances these battles the best they can, it doesn't necessarily make the boss easier 100% of the time. Summoning and being summoned is the way to play these games, there is no point in purposely avoiding it unless you specifically want to fight alone, which is fine, but calling the other way "cheap" is surely not what the developers intended when they made this co-op system 4 games ago.
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the developers did not intend for people to play co-op all the time...the only areas where it was intended are those optional Challenge Areas in Dark Souls 2...it's meant to be played solo...learn the enemy/boss tactics and get better...summoning does increase the boss's health but the only times I noticed it making any real difference was in the Lud/Zallen DS2 fight and the Four Kings DS1 fight...those 2 fights get harder with more players...summoning makes every boss fight easy 98% of the time (as long as the summoned player has some sort of skill)

the co-op system is surely not how Miyazaki wants players to play...it's for extreme situations where you might quit the game out of frustration...rather then have players quit he will give them a way to progress
 
Then they made it too easy to use. It should be more restricted if they didn't want people playing that way all the time. Don't get me wrong, I don't advocate using it all the time, at least on first play through(boss fights are exhilarating alone), but its accessibility at hard points in all the souls games are deliberate and most areas before a boss usually encourage summoning by placing signs right in front of the door or plain sight. Bloodborne, they took the entire searching aspect away, made it even more accessible.
People saying the game is too hard, should maybe play like that...
 
Poordevil said:
I haven't tried summons in Bloodborne. The only time I saw another player in Dark Souls they were trying to kill me.
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I haven't been able to get the beckoning or small resonant bells to connect to another player a single time. I've tried for hours having the resonant bell going passively to see if I join anyone else while I'm playing. Set networking to both local and worldwide and no dice.

I have a theory that resuming the game from standby breaks the networking. Just occurred to me that I pretty much only play the game from standby. Will have to test it from a cold boot to see if it makes any diff.

Edit: yep that was it. Got summoned within 5 seconds after cold booting the game. Hopefully the next patch resolves standby-resume bugs.
 
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I don't mind the summoning aspect, even if I only used it twice. It gives normal players a chance to enjoy more of the game without being stuck at a brick wall level or boss that is blocking their progress. The bosses have more life, so there's at least a little bit of a trade off. It would almost certainly make certain areas (like the woods) overly easy, though. I'm guessing there's no time out and you can just play co-op as long as you feel like? If so, having a scout would be borderline overpowering in the later levels.
 
Took out Darkbeast and Rom last night. Finally making my way through the unseen village (fuck those bell maidens). Might finish it this weekend, taking my sweet time soaking in every detail, love this game.
 
Is Darkbeast Paarl supposed to be much harder the second go around? On my first run through, I completely missed the switch that opens up the area to the sniper. So when I entered that area by beating Darkbeast, I was already almost at end game. I thought he was one of the easiest bosses in the game (I was at least level 70). Same with Rom. Just ran in, avoided the little ones and just focused on slashing him. One shot.

Now at almost level 120 in NG+, I'm having quite a bit of trouble with Paarl. Did anyone else experience this?

I summoned for two bosses in NG: Vicar Amelia and the triple forest boss. I'll probably end up having to do more than that in NG+.

Also, I got through 95% of NG with the Kirkhammer. Should have done my research on that final upgrade item before finishing NG because I really want +10!

What's considered the best weapon in the game? I had my strength pumped to 43 by the half way point in NG because I saw how well the Kirkhammer scaled with it.
 
I beat him at 60 and he was one of the easier bosses for me. As long as you get under his legs he can't really hit you unless he does his AOE attack. Killed him on my first try. Rom on the otherhand was a PITA for me. Couldn't circle around fast enough and couldn't dodge his falling ice. Took atleast 6 attempts.

The best strength scaling weapon is the Logarius Wheel. Supposedly it hits like a mack truck when fully upgraded and put into R2 buffed mode (which causes health to drain from you btw). Best current weapon is a sort of broken weapon called the Spear Gun, it's incredibly broken and does ridiculous damage with a certain combo of gems.
 
NickJames said:
I beat him at 60 and he was one of the easier bosses for me. As long as you get under his legs he can't really hit you unless he does his AOE attack. Killed him on my first try. Rom on the otherhand was a PITA for me. Couldn't circle around fast enough and couldn't dodge his falling ice. Took atleast 6 attempts.

The best strength scaling weapon is the Logarius Wheel. Supposedly it hits like a mack truck when fully upgraded and put into R2 buffed mode (which causes health to drain from you btw). Best current weapon is a sort of broken weapon called the Spear Gun, it's incredibly broken and does ridiculous damage with a certain combo of gems.
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I don't have the option to buy Logarius wheel (never found the dude in NG) and i don't think I have Spear gun either. I really need to look at a spoiler guide before I get too deep into NG+ and mess up my chances at certain things I didn't get in NG.
 
^ You don't need a spoiler guide to find all the secret stuff, you just need to not rush through the game, as it rewards patience and exploration with a lot of hidden areas if you take some time and look around.

For example the rifle spear was in a hidden area of Old Yarnham. Same place where you find the charred armor set. Always look below when standing at edges of buildings, cliffs, etc to see if there are places to jump down to that aren't obvious, or off the beaten path. because that's how many of the hidden areas are accessed.
 
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DPI said:
^ You don't need a spoiler guide to find all the secret stuff, you just need to not rush through the game, as it rewards patience and exploration with a lot of hidden areas if you take some time and look around.

For example the rifle spear was in a hidden area of Old Yarnham. Same place where you find the charred armor set. Always look below when standing at edges of buildings, cliffs, etc to see if there are places to jump down to that aren't obvious, or off the beaten path. because that's how many of the hidden areas are accessed.
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Without the spoiler guide, I would have never figured out on my own what you need for the "real" ending!

As for the rifle spear, I may or may not have it, just can't seem to remember because i used one weapon for the vast majority of NG and NG+.
 
Tzzird said:
Without the spoiler guide, I would have never figured out on my own what you need for the "real" ending!

As for the rifle spear, I may or may not have it, just can't seem to remember because i used one weapon for the vast majority of NG and NG+.
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Have you been to cainhurst yet?
 
NickJames said:
That place is awesome, anyway, there's a storyline revolving Cainhurst Castle and Alfred. That's how you unlock the badge to get the Wheel.
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Yeah, so much missed plotlines. The only people I seemed to have talked to in NG was Alfred in two places and all the people behind shut doors.
 
Tzzird said:
Yeah, so much missed plotlines. The only people I seemed to have talked to in NG was Alfred in two places and all the people behind shut doors.
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Yeah I felt I was being pretty thorough and missed almost all the NPCs and a few bosses as well >_>
 
Domingo said:
If you want the wheel the easy way, just kill Alfred. Done and done.
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lol thanks. I think I'll do it the "real" way though. Cainhurst sounds fun.

ocellaris said:
Yeah I felt I was being pretty thorough and missed almost all the NPCs and a few bosses as well >_>
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Yeah... I tried to do it as blind as possible. I didn't miss nearly this much on my first playthrough of DS1 and DS2. Then again, I spent 60 hours on each of those first playthroughs.
 
Tzzird said:
lol thanks. I think I'll do it the "real" way though. Cainhurst sounds fun.
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You can do both. I ended up killing him after completing Cainhurst as I didn't notice the item that ends his quest.

I used almost no plot spoilers and it seems like the only major plot point you can screw up by killing NPC's is the umbilical cord thing. Every other NPC (except the vile queen) in my game bit the big one without consequence.
 
Tzzird said:
lol thanks. I think I'll do it the "real" way though. Cainhurst sounds fun.



Yeah... I tried to do it as blind as possible. I didn't miss nearly this much on my first playthrough of DS1 and DS2. Then again, I spent 60 hours on each of those first playthroughs.
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I am playing through DS2 right now (PS4) and I think DS2 lays out the content much more intelligently to reward thorough players. Only about 20ish hours in, however I like the DS2 world a lot more than Yharnam, it feels like much more of an adventure and has color.
 
anyone who says they can find all the secret things in the game without a guide or some sort of online help is LYING...complete 100% BS...some of the NPC side quests/covenants are so obscure and hidden away that it's easy to miss...I take my time and explore everything in every game I play and I missed some important things in Bloodborne during my first run- Eileen the Crow's quest, Alfred's quest, umbilical cords etc

as far as the best weapon from a numbers standpoint it's probably Logarius Wheel...but it looks goofy...I love Ludwig's Holy Blade...fully upgraded it's a beast with quick strikes when needed and hard hitting power damage as well...best of both worlds...I don't really like thrust weapons but I've gotten used to Ludwig's
 
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What's the trick to beating the 3 big bertha bosses in the first chalice dungeon? They camp up on the platform and refuse to come down the stairs to fight which is really annoying. Am I supposed to lure them down with the pungent blood cocktail?
 
jaguax said:
What's the trick to beating the 3 big bertha bosses in the first chalice dungeon? They camp up on the platform and refuse to come down the stairs to fight which is really annoying. Am I supposed to lure them down with the pungent blood cocktail?
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don't know if it's an exploit or the way it's meant to be but they never seem to come down the stairs...walk close to the top of the steps and cheese them off easily...there's a big pillar at the top which you can use for cover...swing when one of them gets close...you can easily take out 2 of them like this...the shotgun guy usually will be the last guy standing and once the first 2 guys are dead he's easy to kill

the chalice dungeons are the most challenging part of the game...the cursed one is very annoying as the bosses can 1 shot you
 
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In a later chalice dungeon you run into those guys again, only the room is flat and they're ultra aggressive. That's one of the few instances where I used every one of my flasks and barely managed to win. While not necessarily tough, those guys hit super hard and are tough to deal with if they knock you down and swarm you.
 
Looks like the new patch is out:
http://www.psu.com/news/26573/Download-Bloodborne-update-103-now
:)

I have been playing this a lot lately and I am really enjoying it. I have to say this Ludwig Sword I just got is great. I spent all my upgrade twin bloods to get it to +4 and I think it will be the first thing I want to get to +10. It hits hard like the Axe, but can be fast like the Cane. The only real downside is the really long R2 charge.

Quick question
In the Cathedral Area, I was killed by this bag carrying thing and I woke up in this area in a cage. I lit the lamp in there, and died a couple of times, but I wasn't done exploring the area but I wanted to go back to the Hunter's Dream to level up my weapons, but I couldn't go back to the area as it wasn't on the list. So is the only way back to die by the bag guy?
 
The gravestone closest to the building in the hunter's dream can get you back to that lamp.
 
While Ludwig's Sword is a good weapon, I always hated that the attack I usually wanted was mapped to to L2 instead of R1. It just felt awkward.
While essentially only a NG+ weapon, I wish the Burial Blade was an option earlier in the game. It has a cool moveset and tons of reach. It's a great alternative for people that like the Axe. For anyone nearly finished with the first pass of the game - stock up on upgrade supplies so you can buy and upgrade it. It's uber-weak in NG+ until you get it to at least a +6.
 
I just bought a PS4 for this and DSII. Then learned about Demon's Souls and bought a PS3 for that.

Started this last night and had my ass handed to me. I love it. I havent gamed in quite a while, the sound on this gave me goosebumps. Haven't experienced that feeling on this level since the shareware floppies of Doom 1.
 
so how's new patch and improved loading speed?
I might go back for another run if loading time is significantly improved
 
aardvark sandwich said:
I just bought a PS4 for this and DSII. Then learned about Demon's Souls and bought a PS3 for that.

Started this last night and had my ass handed to me. I love it. I havent gamed in quite a while, the sound on this gave me goosebumps. Haven't experienced that feeling on this level since the shareware floppies of Doom 1.
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You're in for a hell of a ride. Seriously, you have no idea. And you're coming in at a good time since DSII now has all the DLC and was improved to 60FPS in the PS4 remaster, and Bloodborne just got its faster loadtime patch which makes a huge diff. As I've said before, take it slow and explore EVERYTHING - every corner, look under every rock, these games reward exploration. And avoid spoilers and walkthroughs. The lore and story may seem light or nonexistent but its there, its meant to be unraveled slowly as you play the game.

As for the sounds, I still marvel at some of the creepy ambient sounds and distant grunts heard when walking into strange new areas or abandoned buildings. Playing in a living room with 5.1 surround cranked up to 10... Good times.
 
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PeeWeePee said:
so how's new patch and improved loading speed?
I might go back for another run if loading time is significantly improved
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Awesome. Especially in the respawn times. Granted I replaced the stock 500GB drive with an SSD - and now loading into Hunter's Dream for example only takes like 7 seconds - but Eurogamer did a compare and the reduction is very good. I'm pretty sure what FROM has done is instead of resetting the entire world state every time you die, now it just resets the delta - meaning only the objects that have been interacted with and modified from their default state. Why they couldn't have done it that way from the beginning, who knows, I'm sure they had their technical reasons and changing it involved tradeoffs.

Almost every area selected via the Hunter's Dream hub now loads 5-15 seconds faster. It's a success across the game's early spots especially, but there are also areas where From Software over-delivers.

The real game-changer is Bloodborne's improved respawn loading times. Previously players were forced to wait up to 44 seconds to revive in complex areas like Central Yharnam. But with the patch now installed, a whopping 26 seconds is cut off that loading screen after dying. This means respawns at the Central Yharnam lamp now take just 18 seconds on a stock PS4 HDD.

Better than that, respawns in Old Yharnam are now 32 seconds faster, with our test taking only 21 seconds total after dying just crossing the initial bridge. It's an upgrade that puts the stock PS4 HDD close to the results on a Hybrid SSD without the patch - and also narrows the gap when patch 1.03 is installed on that drive.
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DPI said:
Awesome. Especially in the respawn times. Granted I replaced the stock 500GB drive with an SSD - and now loading into Hunter's Dream for example only takes like 7 seconds - but Eurogamer did a compare and the reduction is very good. I'm pretty sure what FROM has done is instead of resetting the entire world state every time you die, now it just resets the delta - meaning only the objects that have been interacted with and modified from their default state. Why they couldn't have done it that way from the beginning, who knows, I'm sure they had their technical reasons and changing it involved tradeoffs.



laACAAw.png
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Damn I gotta look into getting one of those SSHDD for my PS4... How do console backups work? Can I just back to any USB storage?
 
^ Yes you can backup your game saves to USB storage, or with PSN+ the saves can back up to cloud (in fact I think this happens automatically anyway - on some set interval - but you can you can also initiate it manually right before you switch drives to ensure you back up the latest savedata). Hell, back up to both.

In my experience it was dead simple changing the PS4's drive. Just need a tiny philips screwdriver and a flash drive formatted FAT32 to load the OS from. This is the guide i followed: https://support.us.playstation.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5107/~/upgrade-ps4-hdd
 
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I put in an SSD before booting up the stock config even once. The 1tb vnand from samsung.

Only thing I fucked up is I kept trying to install the update patch, not the 'complete system' update patch. (~200 mb file vs ~700 mb). Duh.

I haven't bothered with the wifi setup yet, will try to do that tonight.
 
-When the PS4 is put into Rest Mode during online play, the game will now return to the main title screen upon resuming play. This will resolve matchmaking issues related to Suspend/Resume.
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Don't forget the next most important fix.
You can turn on suspend on your PS4 again.
 
In other news I'm absolutely loving these runes that give you back health and bullets on successful visceral attacks. I'm sure there are even better runes later on but this has really encouraged more gun parrying instead of abusing spin-to-win too often as I tend to do with the fantastic hunter axe.

The loadscreen info/tips ala DarkSouls in the new patch are also a welcome change.
 
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