10 Tips For Playing Bloodborne

Yharnam can be an intimidating place, especially when you don't have a guidebook. Or, more accurately, an instruction booklet. Those floppy pamphlets that would slowly ease you into a new gaming world, explaining all the controls, the basic form of play, the characters, setting and plot (with requisite room for notes, of course) have been lost in the next generation age, with newly-purchased copies of Bloodborne coming with just a brief explanation of which button does what. From Software have never really been in the trade of hand-holding, it's just this is a ridiculous extreme. And, to be fair, the Dark Souls games that preceded this spiritual successor (of which the first, and its predecessor Demon Souls, were the work of Bloodborne director Hidetaka Miyazaki) had instruction booklets that weren't much help. These are games which invite a different kind of play style than most modern titles. Much like The Matrix, nobody can really tell you how they work €“ you have to see them for yourself. And, much like The Matrix, if you're struggling to get your head around Bloodborne, heading onto the internet to find some answers is a good idea. So with equally as much critical acclaim as people bemoaning how ruddy hard it is, new players might be somewhat flummoxed when it comes to picking up the title. Hush now. It'll all be okay. For some broader hints and advice about getting into the game €“ if you want a full walkthrough, well, you've heard of YouTube right? €“ here are ten tips for playing Bloodborne.