Bloodborne

So I have been making a lot of progress in Bloodborne last week. So much progress, that I have managed to finish the game! Well, I say finish. In true FromSoftware fashion, Bloodborne has multiple endings. But playing on two consoles this time around has worked out in my favour!

Thanks to the weird PS5 handling of PS4 saves, I had a save file just as I could trigger the endgame. So I got to see the Yharnam Sunrise and Honoring Wishes endings with little more effort than a reload!

Yharnam Sunrise is the ‘I’ve had enough’ ending. You choose to end Bloodborne right there. Honoring Wishes is a little more involved. You have to face Gheman the First Hunter, and don’t be fooled by the ‘old man in a wheelchair’ look of him!

Every boss fight has been a challenge. It took me almost 7 years to play Bloodborne again because of the challenge of the Cleric Beast. Gherman was no exception to this. The spry old man leaps like Yoda in his youth, and hits like a very angry Hulk!

So when I finally not only beat Gherman, but did so with a visceral attack, the Bloodborne Platinum attempt was all but guaranteed.

So there are two Bloodborne trophies left for the Platinum. – beat the Moon Presence (the secret final boss) and the Pthumerian Queen. I used my save to beat Gharman one more time and trigger the Moon Presence fight. This lets me continue on my game to clean up everything without playing the whole game again.

Yharnam, Pthumerian Queen is going to take some time. There are random maps called Chalice Dungeons, which I have used to bring a bit so far. Yharnam is the final boss of the hardest level of these Chalice Dungeons. This is going to take some time to clear, so I also need a distraction in the middle.

Normally, this would be Pokemon or another ‘light’ game to switch to. But I want to 100% Bloodborne, so a new plan has been conceived. This is only possible because I am coming to Bloodborne so late. That plan? The Old Hunters DLC!

Yes, I am going to take a break from fighting bosses by fighting other bosses. For the Old Hunters, I have found a guide that outlines a path to collect all weapons for a trophy. but leave the boss’s strategies a surprise for me.

I don’t mind a guide for Bloodborne’s DLC, as I am still tackling enemies and bosses myself. Using the Old Hunters as a diversion, the item collection guide is a timesaver. And why do I want to save time?

Because Friday, The Callisto Protocol is released. Sorry Kratos, Ragnarok may be something I need to come back to just like God of War 2016! I finished that in 2021, so Ragnarok in 2027 to keep the tradition alive?

I did it. I Platinuned Bloodborne. And the feeling is so satisfying. As I talked about last week, I did use a guide to take me on a path through The Old Hunters DLC. Doing this while exploring Chalice Dungeons did save a lot of time. Maybe a little too much time though?

Yes, it sounds weird to say that I saved too much time. But Bloodborne’s Chalice Dungeons are a grind. The dungeons have random elements. Not quite roguelike, but not super predictable either. Even so, they are so ‘samey’ it takes more endurance than I anticipated.

So I managed to defeat the last DLC boss well before I started the final Chalice Dungeon. Oops!

I did get a little worried after defeating the Orphan of Kos and then checking my trophies. The trophy for collecting all the DLC weapons hadn’t popped. This is part of the reason I was using a guide in the first place! What did I miss? Did Bloodborne distract me with enemies when I should have picked up items?

Nope. It was all on me. Because I was looking for a guide without spoilers that took you down a path, I didn’t buy one item. That was it. All I had to do was buy the one weapon missing, and bang – The Old Hunters 100% complete!

So now it was time to tackle the Chalice Dungeons again, and Yharnam the Pthumerian Queen.

What followed was a couple of days of boss fights, exploration and item collection. It took some time, but I finally faced off against Yahrnam herself. I had watched PlayStation Access take Rob through this fight, so I had some idea of what abilities she had. In true Bloodborne fashion though, I overestimated how prepared I was.

I thought I would jump into the fight and wear her down a reasonable amount while I learned her animations and timing. I got in a few good hits, then got absolutely destroyed. Oops. So I rolled up my sleeves and repositioned myself on the couch, and settled in for a battle! So imagine my surprise when I took her down on the next try!

This meant all I had to do was finish the Moon Presence fight. The final boss of Bloodborne has been patiently waiting for me to return for a rematch. So off I ran, and long story short I managed to take the Moon Presence down.

Finishing Bloodborne led to a strange emotional mix. The excitement of facing the hardest bosses in the game had the adrenaline pumping. Defeating them though had me drained. It was done. Bloodborne was defeated. So what was the first thing I did? New game plus of course! I did pretty well here, not dying until Father Gascoine after Enzo… Helped me with the battle.

So for now, my FromSoftware adventure is done for 2022. Elden Ring and Bloodborne Platinums in one year – quite the journey! Now, I can join the hordes of others hoping for a Bloodborne 2 someday.

But I will take on Jedi Fallen Order before Sekiro I think. Another game I need to finish at some point, but not this year!