Bloodborne (PS4)

[Tain]

This DLC seems great, though I'm only on the first boss of it (on NG+, it's bruuutal).

[Pineapple]

Agreed that the DLC is excellent so far. I'm also on NG+ and it's putting the hurt on. These hunter type enemies are tough but luckily they telegraph their attacks pretty well for semi-easy countering. If you miss, there's half your health (which I did finally pump up to 50 after helping like 10 people beat Vicar Amelia). The world itself seems like an awesome re-imagining of the early stages of the base game, and there are enemies eeeeverywhere. By the time I get back to my blood echos after inevitably dying, I have 150k new ones to add to them. Finally got frustrated enough to turn it off after getting past the blood belly guys and going into a dark cavern with a hunter who has a fucking minigun. He will unleash that thing at point blank range and stifle any attack I attempt, then he takes one backstep and it's dark enough that I can't see him anymore. A message promised great treasure, so hopefully I'll figure out a way to down him, as it seems he has incredible health compared to the others . I know where the boss should be because I caught it on a stream while trying to figure out how to access the DLC, but I'm trying to exhaust the entire new area before I go for it.

[icarusfall]

Watched Elijjas plow through all the bosses in about 2 hours the other night. Looks great.

[BioMechanic]

Finished it with a NG++ character. The Old Hunters is an awesome bit of addenda. It does a great job tying into existing lore without being too vital to the overall experience. There's some incredible level design: one took me right back to Latria and The Duke's Archives, while another had my inner Lovecraft fanboy giggling with gleeful abandon.

Four of the five boss fights are From's typical brand of exhilarating viciousness - tough without being cheap - while the other is similar to one of the more unusual bosses from the main game (you'll see what I mean when you get there).

Two of the new weapons were immediately awesome for me. The rest didn't seem that useful, for me anyway.

From recommended level 65 for this, but I think that's too low; if you were to tackle this during a first playthrough your gear might not be close to appropriate (I'm going to try it to see). The DLC is tough going for sure, mostly because the enemies are so relentless and lethal; I chewed through vials like crack even though I could deal respectable damage. Some of that comes from facing new enemies, yes, but when they hit, they really hurt. It'll be interesting to see what the difference is between game cycles.

I'll be playing through it multiple times - it's that good. I had sky-high expectations, and am in no way disappointed. The Old Hunters is also the strangest section of what's thematically a very bizarre game; From jumped off a creative cliff rather than playing it safe.

Pineapple, that Hunter eventually needs to reload.

Now I really can't wait for Dark Souls III.

[Pineapple]

Watched Elijjas plow through all the bosses in about 2 hours the other night. Looks great.

That's the only person I watch play Souls games anymore, the kid is awesome and a genuinely nice guy.

Thanks Bio I'm going to have another go at him tomorrow night, and I'm going to try two handing my blade to hopefully stagger him more.

[BioMechanic]

I've been thinking about how The Old Hunters ties into Bloodborne's lore, and I want to take back something I said previously: in terms of the game's mythology, The Old Hunters is a vital part of the overall experience. It does present some new mysteries, of course, but it provides something of an answer for more than was immediately apparent, and it's done in a typically understated manner. It also plays off the bits of lore found in the chalice dungeons.

The more I think about it, the more I appreciate what From has done, and how they did it.

Oh, and the difference in difficulty between NG++ and a first-cycle runthrough for the DLC is immense. It's almost if From intended to make things particularly difficult for fans who've already beaten the base game.

[Pineapple]

So is that to say that it's much easier on a first playthrough as opposed to NG+? Do you think thats because you know the game and its systems very well and were already familiar with the new areas?

[BioMechanic]

Yeah, maybe! What I meant to say was first-cycle enemies appear to have neither the same HP reserves nor damage output, which makes sense given how NG+ scaled.

For example, it took me 6-8 hits to kill a blood-addled hunter in NG++, but only 3-4 in my first-cycle run, using similar weapons. Also, the first of these you meet - the dude with the beast cutter - was taking half my life bar per hit at first, but this time, less than a quarter (this character has better defense). Seems about the same as the base game, wouldn't you say?

I will add, though, that the first boss went down much quicker, and a big part of that was familiarity. It wasn't killing me in 2-3 hits either.

I'm curious now, too, to see if there are any details from the base game that have now been given more meaning from the events in the DLC. I can think of a couple off the top of my head, but I'm sure there are more....

I think now that this version of Bloodborne is my all-time favorite game. I can't think of one that tops it, from the technical to the conceptual. It just clicks with my own preferences in a way no game has since the original RE, and this is leagues more sophisticated.

[Yoshi]

I went to jump into the DLC and didn't realize that continuing after you beat the last boss automatically puts you into NG+. I wish I could remember where I backed up my saves to get the different endings, as I'd like to play the DLC without the whole game again. Actually, I wish I had time for the latter, but it's tough these days. Maybe over Christmas vacation, if there is no squirrel in the tree.

Also, I obviously have a shit ton of Blood Echoes from the last boss(es). I got to Hunter's Dream, but the doll isn't active. Is there a quick way to activate her to level up before I manage to lose all those?

[BioMechanic]

I believe the doll becomes active after you first encounter the cleric beast. Which means, then, that you'll need to kill him to cash in your echoes.

One more thing: the DLC access point doesn't become available until after you beat Amelia and move the time to night. A bit of a ways to go, but at least the entrance isn't somewhere towards the end of the game.