Reflections and Thoughts on My First Playthrough of Bloodborne, Tackled with the Perseverance of a Master LV353: Part 1 - Introduction and Impressions

While I was getting angry at the messy lectures of the Open University and the bureaucratic runaround, I played Bloodborne for the first time in the background and got the Platinum trophy, so I've decided to write down my thoughts and observations.
My favorite weapon is the Whirligig Saw.
Personally, I think the nickname 'lawnmower' suits the Whirligig Saw better than 'pizza cutter.' Vroom-grrr-grrr-grrr.

This time, it's mostly about my impressions.

Once I've written everything down, I plan to read the setting materials (I hope they're still available for purchase...) to check my answers.

※補足
とはいえ、おそらく物語に余白を持たせて「ご自由にお考えください」的な作品だと思うので、
設定資料集に答えが書いてある訳ではないと思うし、
多分答え合わせのターンも
「こんな手記あったんだ？」
「こうして並べてみると、こういうことなのかもしれない」って感じで、
がっちりした解説は多分しないと思います。
あと、開発者や関係者のインタビューとかの話やら、
設定資料集にも書かれてない没データとかは特に拾わない予定です。
メタ読みも楽しいけど、私は提供された作品だけで色々考えたいタイプ。

Also, I'll be posting screenshots, but I won't include anything too gory or horrific. I will post commemorative photos of me and the Doll in matching outfits, though. I'll post them. Yay. Looking at it like this, the Doll is tall, isn't she? Is she about 2 meters? So cute.

Since this game was released over 10 years ago, honestly, there's no point in worrying about spoilers, but if you haven't played it yet, please be careful.
For those who have already played it, I would be happy if you could watch over me with a grin.

Also, I haven't quite grasped the exact names of the NPCs and enemies, so I've just given them random nicknames.Forgive me.

And the reason I'm writing this here is because,in the main series,I'm usually acting like a professional citizen while getting angry the whole time, and even to me, it honestly looks scary.
I'm not a bad suspicious person,
is the message I want to convey, along with a gift of a newcomer's screams. Rejoice, everyone.

The time is late April 2026.
I finished playing through Ronin and Tsushima, which I had been backlogged.
But it felt like an incomplete combustion, or rather...I want something with even less morality.
I want to destroy everything that moves and feel refreshed.

※補足
ローニンは面白かったけどオープンワールドではなくない？面白かったけどね？
体験型アトラクションというかテーマパークみたいな感じ。
猫ちゃん全部回収しました。

ツシマは通行人助けただけで毎度シーン挟んだり操作パートが怠すぎるし、
そういう設定なんだろうけど、その武士の価値観は江戸後期だろ、
と没入できず、not for meでした。
（ローニンは偉人がターボ移動しているが、それはいいのだ）

一応言っておきますが、私はアクション系はあんまり得意ではありません。
レベルをあげて物理でなぎ倒して判定勝ちをもぎ取るタイプ。
スカイリムとかフォールアウト４とか、
あとはビジーシ、トロピコ、プラネットコースター、AC6とかが好き。
あとは、刀剣乱舞を10年程続けているので、根気だけはある。現在審神者LV353。
あとかれこれ15年くらいSoundHorizonを追いかけてるので考察にはある程度覚えがあります。
制作者の手のひらの上で楽しく踊ったもん勝ちの精神でいきます。
よろしくお願いします。

Due to various circumstances,I was feeling irritated, so when I asked an AI for a good game recommendation, it suggested Bloodborne.
Ah, Hunter. I've heard rumors about you...
I installed it on my PS5 and started it offline (since I don't like subscriptions).

The only FromSoftware game I've played is AC6.
I cried my eyes out while holding the controller, ended up playing through it 5 times, and started building plastic models because I wanted to build that AC.
Right now, I'm in the middle of assembling Kotobukiya's Steel Haze.
I'm so glad I was able to buy it~
I want them to release a Helianthus-type plastic model too. I want to line up three or four of them and display them.

Back to the topic at hand.
Now, FromSoftware games are rumored to have brutal tutorials, but...
I started exploring fearfully and encountered an enemy in seconds.
A dog with bare hands!? Bare hands!?
Are you kidding me!? Just lend me that IV pole!!
I died in an instant, got my weapons (Saw Cleaver and Hunter Pistol), turned on my heels and dashed, talked to a door at a dead end to get a recovery item, went on a rampage there to check the controls, got scolded by a female doctor for being a beast, and somehow or other, my Yharnam sightseeing tour began.

Because I'm bad at the game and have a playstyle of killing everything that comes at me, my weapon broke before I could reach the Hunter's Dream. (Thinking back on it now, I think I just didn't understand the system for going to the Hunter's Dream.)
I swung around a broken Saw Cleaver for a while until I met the Doll, who was in a state where I could talk to her.

While I was consulting the AI about stat allocation and chatting, I accidentally got quite a few spoilers, but I only took a peek at strategy sites when I felt it might be impossible or hopeless, and pushed through with brute force.
For 'Rom, the Vacuous Spider,' I got stuck in a swamp because I assumed the accompanying spiders would spawn infinitely since I had just defeated the 'Witch of Hemwick' recently,
and I also struggled with the 'Undead Giant' and 'Corpse Giant.'
Especially the 'Corpse Giant' with the chains.
I almost broke down, thinking, 'What am I missing!? Is it perseverance!?'

I'm very bad at hit-and-run tactics.
I charge into the enemy's chest, take damage, regain health, and then,
'Uwooooo, you die!!'
I fight in a way where I'm covered in blood from head to toe, becoming all muddy.
Even if I'm accused of being a beast, I can only say, 'Well, I suppose so.'

I don't really understand, but with a Sanada-like mentality that everyone who comes at me is an enemy,
I swung around my shotgun, Saw Cleaver, and axe, and pushed through with perseverance and a competitive spirit.

I felt it was pitiful for a girl to keep waiting for her mother who would never return, so I gave her the mother's memento, and she (presumably) took her own life right after,
I got a flamethrower after talking to a sick man every now and then,
and I had heartwarming interactions with the local residents, like being insulted by an old woman.

I ignored the warning not to enter Old Yharnam and went sightseeing,
got shot at by a Gatling gun,shotand went home dejectedly,
then Gehrman told me, 'That's a nice location. Go get the Chalice,' so I said, 'Alright, I'll go,' wiped out Old Yharnam,
continued with that momentum to raid graves,
and gave up on the Chalice Dungeon with halved HP because I thought, 'Amygdala is impossible!'

I found a handwritten note saying 'Seek the Paleblood' in Iosefka's Clinic, which I broke into through a window.
And why is the firefly squid that was deep in the Forbidden Woods dead?
Is it a research sample? Is squid blood blue? No, that's an octopus.
While I was wandering around the clinic, I was threatened, so I thought,
'Hello. I'm the beast that went on a rampage in front of the door right after receiving blood treatment.'
I barged in, and since I was ambushed from right next to the entrance, I intercepted them.
Ah, I ended up killing a medical professional (probably) in the heat of the moment, but
I was given some incomprehensible treatment at the beginning and
was made to fight a terrifyingly large dog with my bare hands, sooh well.

I found someone eating a corpse deep in the woods.
They wanted to know a place to evacuate to, but I thought, 'Sending them to Oedon Chapel, where there's a grumpy old woman, is a bit much,' so I left them there.

Not really understanding the Insight and Frenzy systems,
I would rush into the Nightmare of Mensis with 90 Insight and die at lightning speed,
I encountered Patches and immediately beat him to a pulp thinking, 'Ah! A bonus enemy that drops Blood Shards (a misunderstanding)!',
only to have him mutter curses at me,
and when I found'Great One's Coldblood (Blue)'in the Chalice Dungeons, I thought, so this is the Paleblood.Does that mean the handwritten note meant, 'Get tons of EXP from the blood of Great Ones, level up, get stronger, and hunt down all those tough guys!'?I wondered.
...But I don't think the blood of the Great Ones I've fought so far was blue?
Are Great Ones with blue blood going to appear from now on?
As mysteries piled upon mysteries, I just kept getting stronger and stronger.
In the end, it's all about physical strength. Physical strength is the strongest.

Honestly, I didn't even know what was DLC and what was the main game. I slashed through the unclaimed dead in Yahar'gul (I call them that because they're stuffed into coffins way past capacity),
and when I was told to kill the infant, the key to the door I headed toward was named
'Orphanage Key.' If it's an orphanage, at least add a little more light.
It's like a darkroom... I thought,
I tried using the 'Make Contact' gesture next to a corpse that died while doing it,
and when I defeated the 'Daughter of the Cosmos' but the infant's crying didn't stop, I wondered if it wasn't her...
and I poked at the omnipresent Amygdala, got grabbed, and was thrown into the 'Hunter's Nightmare'.

In the Nightmare of Mensis, which I re-challenged after reducing my Insight, I was taunted with a victory pose after being defeated by an NPC enemy. I solidified my resolve to kill everyone in this castle and went on a rampage, only for Micolash, who was wearing a radio tower on his head, to flee.
'Are you fleeing from the enemy, you coward!!'
'You're fighting me, yet you're talking to invisible friends? Your upbringing must be questionable!'
'You use such fancy phrasing like 'grant us eyes,' so didn't you just get eyes granted to your brain physically!? When praying to a god you don't understand, check your prompts properly and convey your message clearly! Even Apollo left a baby in a womb for three years because someone 'wished to be pregnant but didn't wish to give birth!'
'Damn it! Can't I break this warp mirror!'
I shouted (silently in reality) and beat him to a pulp until I won.
It's true that being run away from stimulates the hunting instinct.
Micolash seemed to be having fun the whole time, and even though he's a resident of the FromSoftware world, he's breathing such good air that it's a little annoying.

While visiting (ransacking) the late Micolash's home,
after dealing with the bird-dog chimeras (there are dog-birds and bird-dogs, mind you), I encountered a spider with a human face and
'Human chimeras are forbidden, aren't they!? What about the rules, what about the rules!' I slashed it to pieces, and beyond it was a lever. I pulled it without thinking, and a cutscene played where, uh, a giant brain fell into the abyss.
W h a t w a s t h a t .
I don't really know, but apparently you can get the final upgrade material for weapons, so I'm going to go pick it up.

Hi, giant brain-kun.
I heard I needed to attack it, but I felt bad about suddenly hitting an opponent who wasn't resisting, so I bowed before dismantling it. Later, the AI told me, 'You're supposed to use 'Make Contact' here!' Sorry, I already defeated it.
(In my second playthrough, I properly collected the 'Moon' Caryll rune,
and in my third playthrough, I tried 'Make Contact' for no particular reason and got Insight.
Thank you. As a token of my gratitude, I'll deliver death. *Grind grind grind*)
I climbed the tower in Micolash's house, slaughtered the multi-eyed pigs and passersby, and opened the elevator!
...Wait, wasn't there someone just now doing fire-breathing tricks with a face that said 'This is Arcane!'?

Is the lady in the white dress the person who appeared after I defeated 'Rom, the Vacuous Spider'?
She doesn't seem to be attacking, so I'll leave her for now, return to the Hunter's Dream, prepare my equipment, and head out!

As I triumphantly boarded the elevator, I got the direction wrong and fell to my death.
The lady in the white dress laughed at me mercilessly. (Or so I thought.)

Pulling myself together, I set out again.
I took the elevator in front of the lady in the white dress and was greeted by corpses wearing radio towers.
Come to think of it, I confirmed that I had stripped a radio tower off Micolash earlier.
Wait,high defense.
Is this made of steel? But I don't know about having the inside exposed as bare steel.
Micolash was headbutting me as a last-ditch effort at the end, maybe that had some power to it.
There were corpses wearing radio towers in Yahar'gul too, but the School of Mensis is a bigger group than I thought. Are the small ones children?
Thinking that, I arrived at an open area that I assumed was the boss event...?Nothing there?

Just as I thought that, 'Mergo's Wet Nurse' appeared.
Wait, isn't it Kos or some such?
Who was Micolash talking to?
Oh, is this Wet Nurse Kos or some such? (*Note: It is not)
While confused, I slashed at her with my saw cleaver and defeated her easily.
Huh? Weak... are there reinforcements? I was on guard, but the 'Prey Slaughtered' message appeared.

But, wait? Can I still hear the infant crying? Is it my imagination? I wandered around,
and when I went to check on the lady in the white dress from earlier, she bowed and vanished.
Could that be the real one? I went to kill her with my axe in hand.
She bowed and vanished just outside my reach.
I'm sorry for pointing my killing intent at you based on a false accusation.

Feeling unsatisfied, I returned to the Hunter's Dream, and
Huh??
What???
The house is on fire!?!?
What happened!? Is everyone okay!?!?

The Doll said, 'The night is near its end' and 'Master Gehrman awaits,' but isn't this more important???
The house is burning down, you know!?
And where is under the great tree anyway??
As I ran around, I found that the gate that had been closed was now open.
Oh, so that's under the great tree.
I called out, 'Gehrman, long time no see, are you okay?' and
he said, 'I will use this to release you from this dream.'
That's sudden.

But my base is burning, did I mess up?
'My lord, this is the end. I shall perform the kaishaku.'Maybe that's the situation.
If so, it would be shameful to panic or waste time with idle talk.
Following the Satsuma samurai who had smoothly appeared in my brain, I immediately accepted the kaishaku.

...However, judging by the subsequent depiction,
my interpretation as a Sengoku warlord was probably wrong (of course it was),
and it seems that the kaishaku was a ritual to escape Yharnam, or rather, the nightmare.
Once I understood that, I watched the ending credits while regretting, 'Oh, I left the Doll behind. I at least wanted to say goodbye. I'm sorry.'
And that's how the first playthrough ended.

In the opening movie of the second playthrough, I finally realized that the person giving the blood transfusion isn't Iosefka. Who is that old man who looks like the beast plague is progressing in him?
When I wake up, wait, is this different from where I woke up in the first playthrough? It's the room with the handwritten note.
As I wandered around, I found a corpse that looked like the old man who gave me the transfusion earlier. I wonder if he was just a regular Yharnamite (nurse) working at Iosefka's Clinic.

I looked at the handwritten note again.
'Seek Paleblood to transcend the hunt.'
The 'transcend the hunt' that Gehrman spoke of and the 'transcend the hunt' in this note are not equal.
Because 'Paleblood' doesn't necessarily seem to be required for Gehrman's 'transcend the hunt.' In fact, I wasn't even told to 'hunt the Great Ones.'
(Even so, it doesn't seem like Gehrman or the Doll have any intention of deceiving or using me.
Aside from the Doll and the Messengers, Gehrman probably doesn't have any malice either.)

Then, what is the hunter's 'transcend the hunt'?
I think it probably changes depending on the player's choices and stance leading to the multiple endings, butthe 'transcend the hunt' of the Hunter (player) and the Protagonist (the existence before the player operates them, before they became a hunter) are probably not equal either.
They probably overlap in some places for all three, but maybe it's something like this?

And, this is just a guess, but
I don't feel like 'Paleblood' simply refers to 'the blood of a Great One.'
So, next time, I'd like to write about Paleblood.