Bloodborne Diary, Part 1

Feels good to be home 

 

DAY 1 (3/24/15) 

[NOTE: UNLIKE WITH MY FFIV DIARY POSTS, I'M NOT POSTING THE PLAYTIME. REASONING? IT DOESN'T DISPLAY YOUR PLAYTIME (UNLESS I'M MISSING IT)]

     After I put the game in, waited for it to download that large day one patch (will a game ever get released again WITHOUT a day one patch?), and sat through the brief introduction, I was ready to create my character. My lovely wife had expressed her desire to create my character, so I said, "sure! Why not?" She loves that kinda stuff. I also like it, but she is more precise with it. She ended up making me a pretty kick ass vampiric female Hunter named Silas. Here are some pics!

What a smile!

The finished product!

 
    I wanted to get a pic of my starting stats. I'm not sure what Skill, Bloodtinge, or Arcane do. But I noticed that the amount of upgradable skills is far less than the previous games. That's fine by me!
    After this character creation, the game starts proper. You are in a sick room. There's a werewolf creature (I don't know if this is actually a werewolf or one that just resembles one) that is munching on some poor bastard. Try as I might to defeat it with karate chops, I'm killed. This is the "supposed to get killed" portion of the game. After death, I awoke in the Hunter's Dream. This is the safe hub of the game.
    After admiring the great scenery and stumbling around, not sure what to do, I found a spot where I was able to pick out a starting right hand weapon and a starting left hand gun. I chose the Hunter's Axe and the Hunter's Blunderbuss. The damage output from the 'buss is far lower than the pistol, but I knew I wasn't going to be using it for straight offense anyway.
    After messing around a little more here, I found my way back to that sick room (via a transporting tombstone). Before I go on, I should say that there are a lot of things in Hunter's Dream right now that I can't do. The fabled Chalice Dungeons, a couple of baths that say something like, "they link to the nightmare, but something something something". There's also a closed gate and a house on a hill, with three closed doors. Seems like there's a lot of potential for cool stuff here.
    Back in the sick room, I retrieved my lost Blood Echoes and properly whooped that werewolf's ass with my Axe. It's a great weapon, and it has some nice combos. With the elongated version (the "trick" part), it has great range and a lot of variety. After I left here, it was time to really explore this wonderful new game.

Despite the grisliness, it's beautiful

    Overall, through my first several hours, I only died once. I went pretty cautiously throughout, and I didn't take any dumb risks or try to plow through stuff. I was very deliberate and careful. I'm sure I still missed a bunch of stuff, but I was as thorough as I personally can be. I did find lots of items in the ruined, desolate (save for crazed villagers) streets of Yharnam, but they were nothing spectacular. Almost everything was Blood Vials and Quicksilver Bullets. Certainly useful, but not exciting. I also opened up a few shortcuts, which was great.
    The combat felt familiar, yet fresh. I was just amazed at the way my Axe swung and transformed, mid-combo. Is breathtaking too strong a word for a video game weapon? Fuck it, I don't care. It's awe-inspiring. I would also say it's very satisfying to get off two attacks, transform mid-combo, and finish off a monster with the new version of the weapon.
    At any rate, I wandered around the labyrinthine streets, lost for long periods at a time. I had no idea where to go. The environments all looking similar didn't help. There were several closed doors I found that I could "knock" at. Unfortunately, no one behind these doors wanted to let me in. I don't blame them. In fact, I only found one NPC outside of the Hunter's Dream. I don't remember his name (if he even introduced himself, for that matter), but he gave me some items that allow me to keep my Blood Echoes if I die (I think that's what it does).
    So, I'm roaming around, killing everything and feeling pretty good. I accidentally found the first boss, the Cleric Beast. I'll describe it more in the boss post, but he's a large, semi-hairy beast. He has werewolf characteristics for sure. He also has one very large arm, and one very tiny arm.
    I took him out on my first try, easily enough. After I did beat him, there is a lamp that can be lit and used as a checkpoint. The area seems to be a dead end though. I did decided to finally go back to the Hunter's Dream and level up. I levelled from 10 to 14. I also got the Bell item that allows me to summon people to help in my game. Plus, the house is now open. The old man from the opening is in their. I can't do anything else here.
    I transport back to Yranham, and I eventually (accidentally again) found the second boss, Father Gascoigne. After several failed attempts to kill this Hunter, I decided that that was a great time to go to bed for the night. I would try the following day to kill that bastard. Oh, I did find a new weapon, called the Kirkhammer. It's a straight sword in its normal form, and when you transform it, you shove the sword into a giant hammerhead, and it's now a large, crushing hammer. It's one of the coolest-looking weapons I've ever seen in a game. Also, I had to upgrade my "Skill" skill from 9 to 10 to use it. Hhmm.
    My first day was mostly great, but partly irritating. The realization that repeatedly dying to a boss means farming for Blood Vials and bullets dawns on me. And that really sucks. But overall it was thrilling to be back into a brand new Souls (ish) game.

DAY 2 (3/25/15 & 3/27/15)

     Day two was technically two separate morning play sessions. I played for an hour on Wednesday morning, then I woke up early to play a bit this morning. I didn't accomplish a ton, so I'm gonna lump both sessions (about two-and-a-half hours in total) together.
    I left off my first night playing trying to kill the second boss, Father Gascoigne. He killed me 5-6 times that night. The next day, I had an hour to play before I had to get ready for work, and I was determined to bring him down that hour! Unfortunately, I did not bring him down. I spent about 15 minutes farming Quicksilver Bullets, and the remaining time fighting him. By the time I shut it off that morning, my death count to him must be near a dozen or more.
    Let's fast forward now to this morning. My very first attempt at Father G almost resulted in success. I had him to probably 30-40 HP left (which would be one more hit to kill him), but I got killed myself. Such is the life, I guess. It took me four or five more attempts, but I eventually did persevere over him! It felt pretty damn good. Don't believe me? I'll SHOW you!

Trophies for days! ( I have two in this game so far)

    The Playstation 4 just got an update where it automatically takes a screenshot when you get a trophy. Pretty cool.
    After this, I explored the next area, the Cathedral Ward, for a few minutes. I ultimately shut it off and went back to sleep, because I had a pounding headache and I felt like shit. But in the Ward, I did find the first treasure chest in the game (well, first for me). I got a tool to use in Hunter's Dream to modify or imbue weapons (I think that's what it does). Speaking of weapons, I fortified my Axe (also back at Hunter's Dream, in the house) to +2, so it's more powerful than it was before.
    Otherwise that's all I did. I played for 90 minutes this morning, and that's all I accomplished. And I'm glad I did!
    Going forward, if at all possible, I'll try to post two diary updates a week. Maybe one on Wednesday and one on Friday, or something like that? One a week just doesn't seem to be enough. And this way, each post can be a bit smaller.
    That's all for this week folks! Check back in a few days for next week's (part 1) week 2 post. Thanks for reading, and happy (or sad) hunting!