Bloodbornecame out when I was in my first year of university. I was living in halls where the drinks were plentiful and the Wi-Fi was terrible. To connect myPS4, or any console, I had to create a hotspot on my PC or phone and awkwardly connect it, so anything could be downloaded or accessed. The British education system clearly believes gaming will bring forth the antichrist. It sounds like something this broken country would do.
This meant my vanilla experience for Bloodborne was an unpatched physical copy with awful loading times and none of the balance changes that would come shortly after launch. I totally raw dogged this masterpiece, and it took me months, but it was so worthwhile. A close friend of mine was playing at the same time, so we would meet up in the early morning hours and head to the gym, using the 15-minute walk as an excuse to talk about our top strategies and boss battles that were giving us a hard time.
I will never forget how long it took me to conquer Rom, the Vacuous Spider, and the cheer I let out as he finally met his death. Bloodborne took me months to beat, but I’ll remember how this single-player masterpiece turned into a bonding experience as I explored my adult life for the first time, giving me an epic adventure to hang onto as I made new friends away from home. It was harrowing, gothic, and kicked my butt more times than I can count, but it will always hold a special place in my heart. The Old Hunters DLC is a different story.
Don’t even get me started on how long it took me to beat Orphan of Kos. That weird Eldritch foetus monster can do one.
No longer living in halls, the same friend and I reunited to play through the expansion over a long weekend, but failed to realise that the save file we were using was two layers deep into New Game Plus, meaning that enemies were tougher to defeat, alongside a handful of other fun additions designed to punish and challenge the player in equal measure. But given there was only a single save file and reaching the expansion starting point in a new playthrough is something that takes a dozen hoursat least, we pulled up our socks and pushed onward.
This was a mistake. A grave mistake where we would die countless times with nary a soul to summon for assistance. You see, summoning for help is limited to your level, whether you’re in New Game Plus or not, meaning we were left high and dry when taking on The Old Hunters. Even standard enemies would give us a hard time as we navigated myriad new environments for the first time, swapping the controller after each death to try new strategies that would hopefully see us through unscathed. I took to luring enemies into tighter passages and doorways, knowing they’d get stuck, or eventually turn around and leave themselves all vulnerable for a stab in the back. Yes, it was cheap, but I needed to get by somehow.
We must have spent entire days trying to break through, with a couple of the smaller bosses proving surmountable with the right tools and a guide by our side, but there was one who put an immediate stop to our plans - Ludwig, The Holy Blade. This absolute munter defeated us hundreds of times, sporting two phases and a moonlight greatsword pulled from his stomach that could end our run in a single strike. This would be easier if New Game Plus wasn’t in the running, but we had to sleep in the bed we’d made no matter how much blood had ruined its sheets. We kept trying, and when all seemed lost, a summon sign appeared.
Going by the username Macaulay Culkin, who I believe to this day is the Home Alone star, being summoned into our game to save the day. He was well-equipped, and rushed towards the boss arena without so much as a wave in our direction. Macaulay meant business, so we decided to follow his lead. As we entered Ludwig’s domain, everything was going well. I kept to the sidelines, rolling in to deal damage while trying to remain cautious, learning swiftly that Macaulay was happy to do all the work. And he did, until we entered the second phase and Ludwig killed him with a single slash of his greatsword. Sadly, we weren’t far behind.
Upon returning to the lantern, Macaulay’s sign was nowhere to be seen. We waited for ages, even reloading our saves with the faint hope that he’d return to lend a hand. After a couple of failed solo attempts further, we threw in the towel. Until the next evening, when I decided we should haveone more tryafter a night out having drinks with friends. To my delight, there he was. Like Kevin McAllister sitting at the top of the stairs looking down at a hapless Joe Pesci, Macaulay had returned and was ready to lay the smackdown. I summoned him, and after yet another hard-fought battle, we emerged victorious. Ludwig, The Holy Blade was no more.
I’ll always remember this ordeal, andhow New Game Plus in FromSoftware games is not to be trifled with. But we made it through, and left with a moonlight greatsword for our troubles.
Bloodborne
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Bloodborne is a PlayStation 4-exclusive title developed by Dark Souls and Elden Ring creator FromSoftware, and launched in 2015. A critically acclaimed action role-playing game, you must traverse the city of Yharnam seeking a cure for a mysterious illness.
