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 Let's Play Bloodborne, not blind, no HUD What? Bloodborne is a game made by FROMSoftware, the Dark Souls guys, and published by Sony for their slick and new Playstation 4. You might've heard of it. A departure in setting from Dark Souls, Bloodborne takes place is "Victorian Times" where shields are for scrubs and guns are all the rage. It features a slick-as-gently caress combat system that lets you regenerate health if you are quick to retaliate to an attack, enabling you to trade blows like never before. While lacking in the number of weapons the souls series is somewhat known for, it makes up for it with high-quality. Every weapon has two move sets, a transformed and untransformed mode. This is somewhat akin to the 2-handing and dual wielding modes available in Souls 2 and 3, but doesn't offer exceptionally high bonus damage or extra stamina use in return. Also you can run for loving ever in Bloodborne thanks to how it manages stamina. A good example of a transformed move set is the Threaded Cane. A general purpose short-sword in its untransformed state, it can be transformed into a serrated whip, think Ivy from Soul Calibur, or more likely, the Castlevania series. Whips are really good in Bloodborne, even if I'm loving awful with them.  Why? I love this game. It's one of my absolute favorites, because of how the mechanics and story and setting all meld together. Consider the way weapons transform and infer that the game is basically about that: transformations. Things aren't as they seem. The way FROM Software is good at doling out ~lore~ in a fragmented way in dark souls is perfect for Bloodborne's world, one where you start as an outsider and slowly become more and more "inside" as you progress (and get better at the game to boot) It's perfection itself. I mean, my major gripe with the game is the developers mentioned you could generate a boss-rush chalice, which still hasn't turned up 2-3 years out. That's it. I guess parts of how the game progresses is a bit confusing, but I think I can help elucidate that in this Let's Play.  How? I'm gonna try something a bit different here. I want the game to speak for itself generally, so I'll be silent on the majority of the videos. I'll begin each update with a short "letter" synopsis of what we've learned up to this point, what we've tried, and what our general goals are to progress. This is new ground for me, so we'll see how that shakes out. Additionally, because of "the game speaking for itself" idea, I'm gonna play without a HUD. This means interesting things aside from not knowing HP, Stamina, Blood Vials (HP Potions) and Bullet counts offhand, it also means the game doesn't tell me what I'm targeting, if I'm poisoned or losing my mind, and of course, no knowledge of how dead a boss or monster is during a fight. The game has interesting ways of giving you this information regardless. For example, the amount of time you have to "regain" or "rally" back your HP after taking a hit is generally shown as an orange section of your red HP bar, which slowly fades away. In game, your character model glows a soft orange and feathers float off your character during the time you can rally HP. Hits that connect during this time burst with light and a sound effect plays signaling the regain mechanic. Poison is similar to dark souls and with no HUD that means no meter or "POISONED!" call out, you can only really tell by a faint purple haze that comes off your player model during a fight. Other than that, I have to judge my general usage of bullets, health vials, and my hp and stamina through trial and error and know-how. I'm not perfect at the game, but I am decent at it. I have 300 hours on my main account, and have practiced speed running it a bit. While I won't likely be able to show off "everything" due to how I'll structure the narrative, I'll try and show off a reasonable amount of content. I'll be tackling the entire base game, including side areas, and all the DLC. I'll be killing ALL the bosses. Earlier videos will be somewhat frontloaded with in-game dialogue, but as we progress further, they'll become more boss-rush in nature. I hope this "makes sense" mechanically in relation to the thread's progress through the game. Lot more "thinking" early on, less killing, with that inverting as the game goes on. Let's Play: I've recorded some videos already and edited some together, but am totally open to suggestions for progression (such as players suggesting where we should explore or look next) or weapons we should use/try out/ level the hell out of. While I CAN take advantage of continuity since I'm playing HUDLESS, I'll try my best to be transparent about my progress (or lack thereof). I'll try to keep updates on a consistent schedule. Progress should move at a decent clip. This isn't a blind run though, so I don't expect to run into too many confusing issues in relation to back tracking or throwing myself at a boss over and over again. Of course, I also can't predict (or remember exactly) what it was like going through the game blind, so I hope I don't skim over stuff that needs more attention. If I do, let me know and I'll try to go into more detail. This could be anything, such as "what does that statue look like," or "show me more of [area]". It can be done! My briefing "letters" as I'll reference them through the game and let's play are too long or not detailed enough, I can always adapt to that feedback. For boss names and the like, I'll include "translations" as the player character might not have that information early on. For example, an early boss named the Cleric Beast will be referred to as a "Greater Beast," but context should provide the information in a general sense. Other times, NPCs or flavor text will give us the information, and we'll learn through that. I hope you enjoy. I'm already having fun at how "different" the game feels without a HUD. I really have to pay more attention to my surroundings, and without status bars or numbers to keep track of, I can get more immersed. I hope you will too. Let's Play Bloodborne. updated May 21 Letter #0: Heading to Yharnam Video #1: Central Yharnam and Gilbert’s Advice Letter #1: A Greater Beast Slain Video #2: Central Yharnam and The Path Into the Sewers Letter #2: Viola's Husband Video #3: Cathedral Ward and Alfred Video #4: Old Yharnam and the Blood Starved Beast Letter #3: Alfred and Old Yharnam Video #5: Hemwick Charnel Lane and the Memory Altar Workshop Tool Video #6: Vicar Amelia Letter #4: Cathedral Ward and The Old Blood Video #7: Henryk and Eileen Video #8: Unseen Village and Darkbeast Paarl Video #9: The Forbidden Woods and The Clinic Letter #5: The Woods and the Cainhurst Summons Video #10: Forsaken Castle Cainhurst Letter #6: Forsaken Castle Cainhurst and The Unseen Video #11: The Shadows of Yharnam, Byrgenwerth and The Vacuous Spider Video #12: The Nightmare Frontier and Amygdala Video #13: The Red Moon Rises over Yharnam Letter #7: The Red Moon Video #14: The Unseen Village and The One Reborn >>Video #15: Nightmare of Mensis and Micolash<< ziasquinn fucked around with this message at 03:47 on May 22, 2017 |
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May 4, 2017 02:13
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Update #1 Letter #1: Heading to Yharnam Letter 1: Heading to Yharnam posted:I’ve been sick. Nothing catastrophic yet, but I’m not getting any better and the doctors here don't know what is wrong with me. I keep hearing whispers about some city in the west called Yharnam, that apparently is a haven for people like me, sick, no one knows what’s wrong with them. They go to Yharnam, and get better. I thought it burned to the ground years ago. Apparently not. The last doctor I saw was amiable and generally open with me, until I mentioned Yharnam, then he dropped his voice as if someone was listening to us. He said he doesn’t generally talk about Yharnam, but… Video #1: Central Yharnam and Gilbert’s Advice [Mechanics]  quote:”This lamp now transports you back to the Hunter’s Dream. Upon death, you will awaken at this lamp.” Checkpoints: Bonfires / Lanterns In Dark Souls you have bonfires as check points and 'save areas' scattered throughout each level. Reaching a bonfire unlocks it and lets you catch a breather, resting at one replenishes your healing items and restores your health. Finding one is always welcome. In late game in Dark Souls 1 you could teleport to specific bonfires, and in Dark Souls 2 and 3 you can teleport to any bonfire from any bonfire. Bloodborne does away with the resting mechanic, but allows you to teleport back to the dream, which then lets you teleport to any lantern you've unlocked, barring specific circumstances.  quote:”Special blood used in ministration, Restores HP. Healing In Bloodborne, you have blood vials instead of Dark Souls' Estus flasks. Estus was generally limited to a small number at the beginning of the game (say, 5 charges) and were always replenished whenever you rested at a bonfire/checkpoint. Resting at a bonfire would reset the level/enemies. You can't "rest" at bonfires/lanterns in Bloodborne, but you are generally "topped off" on your supplies and health when you use them to teleport. Blood Vials are FAST. The most recent iteration of Dark Souls seems to have included some aspects of the vial regeneration system, the most obvious between Dark Souls 2 and 3 and Bloodborne is the ability to "keep moving" while using your healing item. (You can move when using gems in DS2, but not Estus, plus the regen rate is slower). Bloodborne's blood vials are so fast you barely break your sprint when you pump one into your leg. However, they aren't recharged when you teleport or use a lantern. You have an inventory of them. You spawn into the world with a maximum capacity of 20 blood vials, and they always heal roughly 30% of your total health, which is good, since you don't have to worry about "leveling them up". This presents a sticky problem. Dark Souls rewards careful use of estus by allowing you to freely recharge them at any bonfire, the only price you pay is re spawning the enemies you just defeated. Bloodborne's inventory system means you are punished for over-using your healing items, which is easy to do if you're fresh faced and not as confident in utilizing the rally system in reclaiming lost health. You don't always have an opportunity to strike back and gain health, and if you're used to playing somewhat defensively, you'll miss even more opportunities. When the game released you could hold 20 vials on your person, and store 99 in storage. Any additional vials picked up go to storage if you're full, and you are replenished from storage whenever you use a lantern. Thankfully, one of the first updates increased this storage capacity to 600, which is... extremely nice. Once you get into a groove and learn to dump bonus echoes/souls from leveling up into vials, you'll generally be good to go for the rest of the game. There is a way to increase your standard count of 20 vials, but you have to sacrifice other bonuses for it. (Say instead of 30% bonus visceral attack damage, you want +4 vials; none of these choices are permanent.) This was definitely one of the bigger issues with the game on release. If you were face-rolling Central Yharnam, you were gonna have a bad time because you could only store about 5 respawns worth of vials, and it's EASY to pump through them if you keep taking glancing blows. The werewolves on the bridge alone can chew through a dozen easily if you are fresh faced. I tell anyone who picks up Bloodborne: if you can get through Central Yharnam, you can beat the entire game easily.  quote:”Special bullets used with hunter firearms. Parrying/Guns/Magic Aside from the rally/regain mechanic we see in this video, there is also the parry system. While you might assume at first that the replacement of shields with guns means you can shoot your way to victory in Bloodborne, this isn't the case (at least, not so much early on). Guns are your method of parrying enemy attacks. The principle is the same, you fire your gun just as the attack wind-up finishes and they're about to hit you. If your timing is correct, you're rewarded with a satisfying THUNK sound, and the ability to VISCERAL attack. This is the games version of a riposte, but you don't use your weapon for it. Your character's right hand grows into a claw as they thrust it into their victim, and tear something out. This damage is generally 1.5x to 2x your normal weapon damage, and is modified by Attack Up Modifiers on your weapon and your SKILL (dexterity) attribute. Some white gloves you can find in the game reference this: "in some instances you must reach in and extract the cancer directly from the source." Like Vials, you do not have an unlimited supply of "bullets". Each parry costs a bullet if you pull it off, but it is very easy to similarly chew through bullets on missed parries. You can give yourself 5 “blood bullets” at the cost of roughly 30% of your health. You can do this if you’re at 20/20 bullets, or 0. Since each gunshot does a pittance of damage, these 'missed shots' don't really contribute to your damage in a real way. This changes if you focus on leveling your gun or gun damage attribute: Bloodtinge. Some guns benefit greatly from focusing on this stat, and even some swords and other weapons see some benefit from it as well... This presents an interesting inventory management. You have to watch your stamina, your health, and your vials and bullets. Not just your current amount, but how much you have in storage. You can generally judge your performance based on how quickly you're going through your reserves. This also presents issues with beginners, where they need vials to fight a boss but can't afford them or take too much damage when farming enemies of them. While you can also occasionally restore estus defeating specific enemies in Dark Souls, you can pick up blood vials and bullets almost everywhere. This adds somewhat to the scavenging, hunting themes, which... is kind of a stretch, but I'll assert it anyway. Like Vials, there is a way to increase your “standard” load out of 20 bullets later in the game. This is useful because some weaponry requires more than one bullet, since it acts as both the charge for parries, and magic system in the game. Crippling / Bonus Damage While you can generally "parry" any enemy that is roughly your size, you cannot "parry" a majority of larger or boss sized monsters. You can inflict visceral damage by crippling them though. On our first boss, The Cleric Beast, we cripple its arms several times, and its head twice. In that fight, we can target either the Head or the Body with our R3 Lock-On. Targeting the head, the pistol has the range to cripple it within 2-3 shots, which sets us up for a visceral. (The Blunderbuss is more of a shotgun, which we'll see soon enough, and the bullet spread falls off before it can reach the head. I may be wrong, but it is nearly impossible to cripple the Cleric Beast's head with the blunderbuss unless it is recovering from an overhead attack and it's head is close enough to the ground) The limbs are crippled similarly from taking enough damage. Crippling is a huge bonus in Bloodborne, not only because crippled limbs take additional damage, but because it grants you something you rarely get: CONTROL. While human sized enemies can be stagger-locked with normal attacks, bosses and larger monsters cannot always be staggered in this way, you lack a finer edge of control over the fight's progress. You feel defensive, trying to dodge and just "get your hits in". With the combination of the Rally Mechanic and the Crippling mechanic, you can turn the tables to regain Control over a boss fight. If the boss is aggressive, become more aggressive, and you'll be rewarded with reclaimed HP. Become focused in your aggression and you'll cripple it. A crippled limb ALWAYS stuns a boss momentarily as it grasps at the limb that's crippled, and will always force the boss to "heal" the limb later in the fight. Crippling a limb guarantees two instances when the boss won't be attacking you. Some bosses are especially weak to being crippled repeatedly, which can turn a headache into a cakewalk. Generally, Heads that can be crippled will grant Visceral set ups. Limbs that can be crippled grant bonus damage and control. Of course, dealing more damage is control. Bosses will always "heal" a crippled (or all crippled) limbs at once. We see this in our Cleric Beast fight when he sort of hugs itself and red light glows on each limb and it's head. This is what enables use to cripple the head again and visceral attack it twice in one fight. I also wanted to mention that if there’s anything specific that people want shown off or would like to see, I can make it happen. Even if I’ve already done the content or something, I can do it. Like, “What would the Cleric Beast Fight be like with only [this weapon]” or “I never got to see [area/weapon/etc] in a previous LP or whatever, can we do X?” I guess if it hasn’t been shown off yet (or we haven’t reached that point) use spoiler tags. Spoiler tag stuff! ziasquinn fucked around with this message at 23:26 on May 13, 2017 |
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May 4, 2017 02:15
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Bloodhound started out as my least favorite Souls game, but gradually became possibly my favorite for many of the reasons you mentioned. Starting out, especially when using DS2 as your jumping point, is really rough. I'd go so far as to say that some of the habits you learned in DS will be an active hindrance in this game. But the further I got and more comfortable I became with the systems, the more I loved it. The lore gets a bit nonsense and murky even by DS standards at times, but its still all in good fun.
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May 4, 2017 05:13
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Update #2 Letter #2: A Greater Beast Slain quote:The air is thick here in Yharnam. Not like home. I vaguely remember how I got here. Fever gripped me most of the night, I swear I saw a wolf climbing into my bed. I couldn't move. Then... fire? Small skeletons clawed at me, but it didn't feel like they were attacking me. They were shielding me. I think? Dreams don't make much sense to begin with, but whatever the good doctor administered, I think I'm... better. When I woke up, he was gone. The door is open, and there's a note I must've written down. I don’t remember. It's in my hand: "Seek Paleblood." I heard some movement in the front entry so I moved to investigate, hoping it was the minister and he could explain himself to me. >>Video #2: Central Yharnam and The Path Into the Sewers<< The Letters will act as more overviews or debriefings about the previous videos, collecting information or new stuff we've learned. So while the first letter was more of an entry point to the first video, this one acts more as a debriefing. I think this will 'make more sense' when things are put together in a longer sense. We meet our first NPC who wants help and Eileen in this video. I forget to mention her directly in upcoming, but she's important, not to mention she insists we kill some beasts: a hunter must hunt. "Without fear in our hearts, we're little different from the beasts themselves." We also upgrade to the saw spear for two main reasons: The spear favors Skill slightly over Strength (not that ours are misaligned currently) and most of its attacks are just as fast as the cleaver. Plus it is serrated in both extended and short forms. Serrated is a damage type that grants 20% bonus to beasts or transformed monsters. The Cleaver is only serrated in it's short form, losing the status in it's extended form. The Saw Spear is serrated in both forms. If the spear is a bit boring though, I can switch it out. I'll try to show off other weapons and the like when we start collecting them.
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May 4, 2017 06:56
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Update #4 Letter #2: Viola's Husband quote:I haven't been fatally wounded since the wolf attacked me, but every time I fell another monster, be it man or beast, I feel a prickling sensation. When I went back to the dream after killing the Greater Beast and finding the way forward blocked, the Doll was awake... It was standing. When I talked to it, it offered to heighten my power, using "blood echoes" when I accepted, she took my hand and I felt that same prickling sensation... drain out of me like water. Down my spine, a drip, drip, drip of ... something liquid. When she released my hand, it stopped immediately. I felt better. More than better. Something had changed. >>Video #4: Old Yharnam and the Blood Starved Beast<< We kill the Blood Starved Beast in this run of Old Yharnam. I gently caress around in my inventory for way too long cause I couldn't find "antidotes" (HINT they're the first item doh) cause I figured I was gonna be poisoned. Upon review, I got poisoned someway into the 2nd phase of the fight. The most interesting part of not knowing the boss health is it's impossible to get greedy. I was totally surprised when it fell over dead. Boss fight is at 15:10s EDIT: I totally messed up and forgot an entire section of exploring Cathedral Ward before this part, which I only realized that I was referencing stuff I hadn't uploaded/seen. Whoops. I'll be plugging that gap soon. ziasquinn fucked around with this message at 03:10 on May 5, 2017 |
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May 4, 2017 20:34
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BSB feels about as aptly placed as smelter demon does if he replaced the old dragonrider in dark souls 2.
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May 4, 2017 21:29
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I can only think it's supposed to be like the sister church to the one full of werewolves wit the beast strung up from the ceiling since they have ritual blood there. It'd probably have made more sense if it was also full of wolves and the chalice was on the altar instead of a drop. The way chalices are incorporated into the game feels lacking. Like Gehrman tells you about them, but there's not really a reason to use them. It'd have been interesting if you were forced to plunder a couple tombs from byrgenwerth since they have that trap door. The beginning of the game is rough as hell. Progress from central yharnam to night time is kinda foggy. I guess we're in a fine haze and should kill a few beasts.
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May 5, 2017 00:15
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I'm almost certain Chalices were originally part of the main game, at least the Pthumeru ones were, and you'd be able to enter at one point and come up at another or something. Also I think the BSB is where he is because the Healing Church was poisoning the people of Old Yharnam to force them to use the Healing Blood, the BSB is just the end point of the other poison beasts. More importantly is that it's clearly been experimented on, seeing as that floppy stuff hanging over it's face is it's skin that has nearly been flayed off it's back. Old Yharnam in general is meant to be a bit weird, considering it's only half the original city anyway. Lord_Magmar fucked around with this message at 01:26 on May 5, 2017 |
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May 5, 2017 01:24
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I like the thought that the blood starved beast (or at least, some incarnation) was something that the church was using to infect people so they had to get blood ministrations. I just realized I totally bombed an entire section of exploring cathedral ward and talking to Alfred (who is very important for helping clarify some poo poo you have no idea about this early) so I'll be plugging that. I'm also going to start re-numbering the letters/exposition arcs to more closely align with the previous videos since that makes more sense. The first opening one is kind of a preamble (letter 0 if you will), but the overviews talk about previous videos so it makes more sense to have then denominated in that way. The flaying is an interesting visual if you align it with like, self flagellation or the like. Letter #3: Alfred and Old Yharnam quote:I found the paths forward blocked by gates and locked mechanisms. Finding the only path forward, I encountered a man named Alfred, a church hunter. He greeted me warmly, his grey clothing standing out in contrast to my blood stained leather. The missing video Video #3: Cathedral Ward and Alfred No boss fight in this. ziasquinn fucked around with this message at 06:23 on May 5, 2017 |
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May 5, 2017 03:12
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Oh man logarius was a blast at 38 with no hud. I'll catch up soon.
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May 8, 2017 18:51
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Powered through all of the videos yesterday and just want to say they're great. I often watch LP's more because I'm interested in a game I know I'd never play and less for "color commentary" so this is really great for me. Keep up the good work, it's nice to see a competent run that doesn't have 20 videos of grinding and failure.
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May 9, 2017 02:08
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Thanks man! It means a lot. I intend to catch up soon, sometimes my uploads crap out when I start them before bed. I got about 3 videos to post.
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May 9, 2017 04:18
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Clayren posted:Powered through all of the videos yesterday and just want to say they're great. I often watch LP's more because I'm interested in a game I know I'd never play and less for "color commentary" so this is really great for me. Keep up the good work, it's nice to see a competent run that doesn't have 20 videos of grinding and failure. Same, really enjoying this LP. I've tried watching a few, but this is the first one I want to continue.
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May 9, 2017 20:27
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Update Video #5: Hemwick Charnel Lane and the Memory Altar Workshop Tool Video #6: Vicar Amelia Video 7 through 10 are enroute. Fun fact, I learned Charnel is a house for bodies. It's been discussed in other forums and this one that Hemwick's primary export may be bone ash, which is a medium used to enhance the power of quicksilver bullets. We may be using this items later in the game, as they buff your next gunshot by roughly 2x damage. There's a gun we haven't picked up yet called the repeating pistol which fires two shots at once, consuming two bullets at once. The advantage of it is, you can only carry 10 bone ash at one time, and a single application buffs both bullets. Other guns, such as cannons, use 12 quicksilver bullets. It is also used as a kind of mana for some spell-like tools we'll encounter more of as we progress. I'll try to show these off in a separate videos since I anticipate I won't be leveling Arcane or Bloodtinge enough to either equip them or show them off. ziasquinn fucked around with this message at 23:24 on May 13, 2017 |
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May 11, 2017 23:30
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I'm really enjoying your take on it. Seems neat how everyone's now starting to get back into one of the best souls game.
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May 11, 2017 23:59
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Letter #4: Cathedral Ward and The Old Bloodquote:The newly opened passage is the way forward. Did the chapel dweller open it, or did Gehrman somehow do it? The Doll said that he can't be seen in the waking world, so I know how he would’ve. Unless picking up the chalice down in Old Yharnam is somehow connected to this stone door opening. I'm at a loss.
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May 12, 2017 00:35
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Treuan posted:I'm really enjoying your take on it. Seems neat how everyone's now starting to get back into one of the best souls game. Man I love this game. Someone said it works so well with how FROM Software doles out the lore cause it's so focused. Whereas Dark Souls 1 and 2 and 3 kinda became... a little bloated? Things talk about areas you'll never see or witness, whereas the most extreme you'll hear in Yharnam is "a foreign land" in the DLC. We'll see more of this as we go along. >>Video #7: Henryk and Eileen<< The Doll posted:Hunters have told me about the church. About the gods, and their love. ziasquinn fucked around with this message at 00:59 on May 12, 2017 |
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May 12, 2017 00:38
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>Video #8: Unseen Village and Darkbeast Paarl<< Where we explore some more changes to Yharnam with the Night arriving, and kill Darkbeast Paarl >Video #9: The Forbidden Woods and The Clinic<< Letter #5: The Woods and the Cainhurst Summons quote:A man told me “A night of curses, a night to remember…” I can’t disagree. ziasquinn fucked around with this message at 23:06 on May 13, 2017 |
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May 12, 2017 18:39
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>>Video #10: Forsaken Castle Cainhurst<< The funniest thing about playing without a HUD is the lack of tilting from "barely losing". There's no such thing as "he was so close" or even greed when you can't tell offhand how much health you or the boss have. Marytr Logarius has two phases: first phase he is easily staggered with normal hits or gunshots, and parrayable unlike most bosses. I knew from dying that I could push his second phase after nailing two visceral attacks on him, so I figured it would take about 2 more to finish him off. How wrong I was. I think I ended up doing 6-7 viscerals in his second phase to kill him. I forgot to mention this earlier, unlike dark souls which only require a standard light attack to an enemy's back to riposte them, you must fully charge a strong attack against an enemy's back to visceral/riposte them in Bloodborne. This nearly totally removes the "circle strafe and backstab" technique. Most of the time you can only get fully charged strong attacks off on enemies that are recovering from a long animation, and most bosses aside from human-sized ones, can't be backstabbed anyway. Normally, when he transitions to phase 2, he charges up. This opens a window to get a charged attack off on his back and visceral him, knocking him out of the animation and power up. If you allow his power up to occur (which is usually accidental because he'll back up against a wall from fighting you before initiating the charge-up, preventing you from backstabbing him. This is inadvertent on his part, and an accident from the player's aggression that makes him continually back up against the edges of the arena. I spend a lot of time waiting for him to come to me since I can't easily tell when he will enter phase 2 at 50% health). During phase 2 he becomes more aggressive, and if you let him power up, he becomes unparryable and cannot be staggered by attacks any longer. This makes him a complete nightmare. I knew this boss would be tough at this level (roughly level 38-40) since a lot of people don't head to Castle Cainhurst until kinda late game. Most don't find the clinic the first time through the woods, or if they do, they are too focused on progressing forward to detour over to the Charnel and go to the castle. For the purposes of this LP though, there's pretty much no other time to go to Castle Cainhurst. Judging from how long the gargoyles and ghosts took me to kill, I tried pumping two vials every time I got struck by Logarius, since I died a handful of times from just not healing enough. It's strange when you can't tell how much health you have immediately, because you don't become overly cautious when you're low and can't really get upset from a "close one" since you never know when that really is. I'm not as practiced at Logarius since I haven't rushed him early in a long time. Most of the other bosses are somewhat practiced, such as Vicar Amelia, who was the screaming beast in the grand cathedral. I knew crippling her limbs would kill her within a minute. The only thing we missed on her fight was, very late fight when she has bout 30% health, she'll start healing. This can be a nightmare if you don't have the crippling focus or damage to outpace her, as your only other option is to use numbing mists on her-- a primarily PVP item that prevents healing for victims it hits. Some people will rush Cainhurst castle and boss because unlocking the covenant and picking up the items in Cainhurst is a great way to start a bloodtinge build. I mentioned in an earlier post that guns don't do very much damage, but this is only true if you don't pump your Bloodtinge stat, which primarily affects your gun damage. Under normal bloodtinge conditions, say 8-12 that you start with your pistol will probably do chip damage, 20-25 to normal enemies around Central Yharnam. They have about 100-150 health each in new game 0 cycles. Beating Cainhurst unlocks the ability to buy the Chikage, a katana that scales off your Skill (dexterity for dark souls) in normal, untransformed mode, but scales off bloodtinge if you transform it (it also slowly drains your health at about 1% a second when transformed. New players will see a lot of blood stains in the hunter's dream when they're playing, and almost all of them are from people killing themselves either on purpose or accident with the chikage). There are other weapons that scale off bloodtinge too, including stronger pistols and guns. The Evelyn gun we picked up in Cainhurst scales to an S ranking at +10 reinforcement, versus the A ranking of the Hunter's pistol. It has some hit box issues, where the length of the gun can sometimes penetrate an enemy model and make you miss a parry shot. on my Bloodtinge 50 character, my evelyn +10 does about 350-450 damage a shot, unbuffed. I reckon we're halfway through judging by my route. ziasquinn fucked around with this message at 23:21 on May 13, 2017 |
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May 13, 2017 23:06
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Letter #6: Forsaken Castle Cainhurst and The Unseenquote:Before I went to Cainhurst I was assaulted and knocked out by a large sack-carrying man. I woke up in a jail cell, and I could hear chanting in the distance, seemingly close and far away all at once. A note on the ground said a ritual was being done, to beckon the moon closer. I found a woman of the church cowering in a corner, who wouldn't speak with me until I presented my own church garb to soothe her nerves. She took my advice to head to Oedon Chapel, where I’m sure she’ll be safe with the others I’ve sent there.
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May 15, 2017 03:51
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So now that you've got there it's interesting you didn't go back at the start and check in on Iosefka, as that makes what's happening in her Clinic even weirder when you get to this point.
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May 15, 2017 09:37
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Yeah I forgot to talk to her before the imposter takes over. I always forget cause the trigger is oedon chapels gate, and gascoigne can be killed with 4 minutes of starting a new game 
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May 15, 2017 17:32
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Oh if we're not spoilering that I'll come out and say what I was gonna say. There are a bunch of clues that the Doctor after you enter Odeon Chapel for the first time is not the Iosefka who owns the clinic and talks to you early on. The original Iosefka refuses to take patients/people in during the night of the hunt, whilst the imposter asks you to bring as many as possible to her door. If you go back to Iosefka enough and keep taking her blood and using it she starts flirting with you and being very familiar, but the Imposter doesn't continue to do so and in fact seems surprised that you would come to her. The voices are also subtly different, and they use different speech patterns. I'm also assuming that much like you the Imposter came up from the Forest, and considering where she's from it makes sense that she had the Giants protecting her, meanwhile the other enemy down in that swamp shows up a whole lot in Castle Cainhurst for what it's worth. Onto the Letter from Cainhurst, whilst many people like to assume that's why the character came to Yharnam in the first place I have a different thought, which is that Cainhurst clearly has Gargoyles and based on the fact that you can take a letter to Alfred it seems that it's just a particularly clever postal service, not that you brought the letter with you. Why it cannot be found at the start but can later is another mystery, but seeing as you have to kill the Vicar of the Healing Church to even access Iosefka's clinic from the back maybe Annalise keeps track of people who cause strife within the Church, they are sworn enemies by this point after all.
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May 15, 2017 19:03
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>>Video #11: The Shadows of Yharnam, Byrgenwerth and The Vacuous Spider<< I was gonna just have a shadows of yharnam fight but ended up pushing through and killing Rom too. This is where poo poo goes sideways in a big way for the entire game. The truth is revealed, whatever that means. Boss fights at 12:29 and 21:50 ziasquinn fucked around with this message at 19:34 on May 15, 2017 |
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May 15, 2017 19:28
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Lord_Magmar posted:Oh if we're not spoilering that I'll come out and say what I was gonna say. There are a bunch of clues that the Doctor after you enter Odeon Chapel for the first time is not the Iosefka who owns the clinic and talks to you early on. The original Iosefka refuses to take patients/people in during the night of the hunt, whilst the imposter asks you to bring as many as possible to her door. If you go back to Iosefka enough and keep taking her blood and using it she starts flirting with you and being very familiar, but the Imposter doesn't continue to do so and in fact seems surprised that you would come to her. The voices are also subtly different, and they use different speech patterns. I'm also assuming that much like you the Imposter came up from the Forest, and considering where she's from it makes sense that she had the Giants protecting her, meanwhile the other enemy down in that swamp shows up a whole lot in Castle Cainhurst for what it's worth. Oh yes, they talk differently and are even voiced by different actors! I didn't know she gets kinda flirty with you if you keep coming back, that's a neat detail I'll have to look into following up with. I'll try to make a bigger "missed things" video near the end. I intend to do a "best of" for the chalices too, since doing them in a straight video might be kind of a slog but seeing boss fights and unique areas/layouts might be something fun. I believe the appearance of the summons is something tricky that can be chalked up to 'dream memory' or the like. In reality, I don't think it was left there by accident or anything, since you can't retrieve it when you're first leaving the clinic in either case. For our character though, I wanted some kind of justification why they'd go off to Cainhurst when they were so close to reaching Byrgenwerth which has been their "goal" since talking with Gilbert and Albert early in the game. I think a lot of people leave it for a kinda lull later on in the game, somewhere after the next couple areas. I'd never considered the summons was PRE yharnam though, which I think is an interesting thought/idea. The thought that the gargoyles kinda act as messengers (like the demons in dark souls that ferry you about) is a fun thought too.
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May 15, 2017 19:32
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Yeah, people generally leave Cainhurst for later because like most of the optional areas in this game it's much more difficult than the area you gain access to it. Considering the Nightmare Frontier and Castle Cainhurst are both unlocked when you get to the Forbidden Woods, and Hypogean Gaol is available after beating the Blood-Starved Beast. In fact I'd say the only equally difficult side/optional zone is Hemwick Charnel Lane itself, seeing as it's about as difficult as Cathedral Ward if you go there before you move time forward to night, and then the new mechanic that Night-time adds makes it about as difficult as the Forbidden Woods. I'm honestly really sad there's no way to ever save certain characters in this game, it's appropriate and everything but I really wish you could escort Gascoigne's daughter to safety and save Iosefka somehow.
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May 15, 2017 19:47
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>>Video #12: The Nightmare Frontier and Amygdala<< I died an embarrassing amount of times in the Frontier from falling off the cliffs the wrong way and even down the shortcut elevator. I think I died 4 times. For SHAME. Amygdala is a tricky boss. She has really great range capability and her third phase extends this EVEN more. A safe strategy for beating her in the third phase is to linger near her legs and whack on them. They take incredibly reduced damage, even if they are crippled. This takes forever, and makes for a really boring video. I tried to instead attack her arms or head during this phase to make the video somewhat more interesting. I've always had really good luck with standing still when she leaps and surviving the hits. Pumping my health helped too, since it usually will one shot you. At least, from what I remember in the defiled chalices when you have to fight her with 50% of your max health. You get good at those bosses, you must. ziasquinn fucked around with this message at 21:40 on May 15, 2017 |
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May 15, 2017 21:35
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>>Video #13: The Red Moon Rises over Yharnam<< Just like when the Night came, we check on the Yharnamites locked in their houses to see if anything has changed. Things have taken a chilling turn. The red moon hangs low over the world, the clouds pass behind it. Something is amiss. The giant Amygdala's towering over the buildings in Cathedral Ward are visible, and we can see it all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg_cwI1Xj4M
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May 15, 2017 23:27
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Letter #7: The Red Moonquote:… What is the purpose of the Hunt? To cleanse the streets of beasts? Or is it something… grander? Something more… something more…?
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May 16, 2017 00:16
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>>Video #14: The Unseen Village and The One Reborn<< Stupid One Reborn, killing me like 3 times cause of my carelessness. The vomit attack I avoid in the actual video by just deciding "ohh I should probably take off" after dealing what I considered was "enough damage". It's fun using the kirkhammer. I never utilized it on any other run before and it has such a great heft to it. Even the short sword animations have a really meaty feel to them that you only get from, maybe great swords in dark souls.
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May 17, 2017 04:06
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>>Video #15: Nightmare of Mensis and Micolash<< My God the first hunter in this clip, Edward, killed me 4 or 5 times. Humiliating. I got a lucky run on Micolash, since I didn't land next to him at the end of the fight and let him cast his Call Beyond which almost always inevitably kills me on at least one run against him. We also get a blood rock and drop a huge brain monster into an abyss, and upgrade our saw spear to +10. We're gonna need it, because next is either Chalice Dungeons or DLC. I might do chalice best-of first since it'll help shore up some of my levels (I'm only level 49 right now I think) and get me some better gems which will be a boon for tackling the DLC.
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May 22, 2017 03:49
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