Bloodborne (2015)

Hard stuck on the first boss, so I casually look up a ranking of Bloodborne boss difficulty, so I can get a feel for what I'm in for...

Great first boss and test of skill, he introduces new players to the gameplay mechanics of Bloodborne. Only difficult if you’ve yet to get a handle the parry mechanic. Once you understand how to parry, this fight is a lot of fun.

...

Me: "There's a f'n parry mechanic??!!? That would've been a good thing to mention on those loading screens I stare at as my life slowly drains away."

I guess now I need to go look up how to parry.

About to take on Vicar Amelia. I bought the Hunter Chief emblem this time, so this is a change in my regular order of play.

I have been watching hbomberguy's critique of why Bloodborne is so good. I could not agree more. In the first year I owned Dark Souls, I made two attempts, and experienced more frustration than fun. But, I did not put my finger on the reasons. A year later, I made a third start on PS3, and made it to Ornstein and Smough, and then I just stopped. I felt that I could only progress as a turtle, and that whenever I forgot myself and became a hare, the game just punished me. On first contact, Bloodborne was no less difficult, and there were choke points to my progression, but as I played I improved and had more fun. When I stopped it was because I found the horror elements too much.

Could not help myself. I love this game, and having just finished reading Lovecraft Country I really wanted to go back in.

This will be the 4th character I've played in this game, but in the past I have struggled in the last couple of bosses and moved on. This time, I am going to take the build process a little more seriously, and push through

https://zkjellberg.github.io/bloodborne-cheat-sheet/

This is getting old real quick. I have to fight the same townspeople over and over again. The werewolves are ridiculous.

There's not enough here to make me endure all the pain and frustration.

The camera keeps getting messed up so I end up looking at a handrail as I die. The axe sucks, too many enemies to too few check points.

Every run feels like a waste of time. I think I'll just uninstall this and move on to something less punishing and more fun.

There's way more to this than I originally thought. I like how you can save up blood echoes between runs if you keep going back to a bonfire (I think that's the term right?). I also like how blood echoes are currency, makes grinding not feel like grinding. I'm getting a lot better and got to the werewolves but keep dying. I almost killed one of them, my heart was beating like crazy, then I got mauled. I think I played 3 hours of this tonight. It brings back a particular nostalgic feeling or rather a level of excitement I don't feel for a lot of games. Of my recent games, I felt that feeling for Dead Cells and MTG:Arena.

Thank you @bmo for helping me take a break from digital card games. This is a perfect recommendation!

FYI, I didn't know this was a thing, but apparently it is....

Every year, to celebrate the release of Bloodborne, several gaming communities hold a "Return to Yarnham" event (March 10th to March 24th). It's basically to get the player base active again and get everyone back online and partake in some jolly co-op etc. This year it's the 5 year celebration of the games release.

There are posts on reddit and discord giving details, e.g.... https://www.reddit.com/r/bloodborne/comments/fd8qqy/five_years_and_ongoing_return_to_yharnamreturns/

...may the good blood guide your way.

"A hunter is a hunter even in a dream"