Making my way through Bloodborne thanks to Cartographers Heroes
To say last week was stressful for me is a bit of an understatement. Work went absolutely insane from Wednesday morning thanks to hardware issues. I am still trying to get to the bottom of that mess! To say I have been frazzled is an understatement!
But, there have been a couple of shining lights though. Firstly, it’s been 3 years since I first donated my hair to Hair with Heart. Time to cut the locks! The new length will take some readjustment. Getting used to short hair again!
This is going to take some getting used to!
I don’t do the formal fundraiser with Variety. If you would like to show support, please go to https://hairwithheart.variety.org.au/. Click on the Donate button at the top, and accept a virtual high five!
Also, I am doing a little bit of a cheat this week. Technically I started playing Pokemon Scarlet Saturday morning. I am about 15 minutes in, and I don’t think I will be picking up the Switch today. That’s not much of a journal entry. “Started Pokemon, picked a starter, put it down”!
So if you are curious – yes, I went Scarlet. Rabbit will have Violet to explore. And my starter? Sprigatiti! How could I post so many Enzo pics and not pick the purring cat? And now, on to what I did play this week!
I thought I hadn’t played any board games at all this week. Then I remembered I played at least 10 rounds of Cartographers on my phone. The digital nature of Cartographers is a double-edged sword for me.
On the one hand, it’s super quick to jump in and play a round. I can be from unlocking my phone to checking my score within a couple of minutes. This helps make Cartographers an instant ‘one more game’ situation, where I play for at least half an hour.
An interesting start
The downside of Cartographers Heroes is – it’s a great ‘one more game’ design. I don’t record the game score most of the time. It doesn’t matter if I scored super well or poorly – I don’t want to leave the app to record the score. I just want another game. Playing Cartogpraphers Heroes, adding the score between teardown and reset is a break. Digitally, it’s a distraction.
But I have said it about a few games in the past, and I am going to say it again here. If the act of playing a game is so natural that the absence of a round stands out in your memory, the format is a winner. Cartographers Digital definitely fits this description!
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!
The cinematic stare down
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.
Defeating a boss is a satisfying thing. But then to finish with a visceral is a rush of joy!
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!
Time to tackle the Hunters Nightmare
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?
What about you? I hope you got some great games in. Or are you looking forward to a new one? Let me know!
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