Shadows of Yharnam

Well, make that two bosses I've now one-shot. Though in this case, it felt slightly cheap. I summoned Henrik (hey, didn't Eileen and I kill you?) and went in. Unsurprisingly, having another guy to draw attacks makes this far more even of a fight (2 on 3 rather than 3 on 1.)

These guys don't have a terribly unusual moveset - there's a sword-guy, a guy who shoots triple homing fireballs, and a guy who does a flamethrower thing. And eventually they have snakes coming out of their faces, which is a motif for the area.

I'm certain there's stuff in the Forbidden Woods I haven't found (like the Graveguard head piece) but I did manage to get the back entrance to Iosefka's Clinic and picked up my Cainhurst Summons and some runes and the last of the real Iosefka's Blood. I'm not fighting fake Iosefka herself, as I want to get one of the Umbilical Cords from her (I know there are four that you can get, with one coming from the Chalice Dungeons, but I'm not sure how much of those I want to do.)

Anyway, I'm off to Byrgenwerth, and I managed to get hit by a brain-sucking dude twice, which really sucks but on the other hand might help with enemies that like to Frenzy you. Getting into Miskatonic University's sister school felt like a pretty good stopping point, so that's where I'm at.

Anyway, I'm thinking I'll get Rom and then either actually do Nightmare Frontier or head on up to Castle Cainhurst and actually get my Logarius Wheel.

I'm enjoying myself enough (and really enjoying that I haven't hit a brick wall like Ornstein and Smough... yet) that I might go ahead and grab the DLC. I'm given to understand it's very difficult, so I might clear through much of the main game first (though I really want that Whirligig Saw - maybe I'll do a bit of it.)

I've gotten a couple of Hunter Tools, and I've got my Arcane skill up high enough to use Augur of Ebrietas. I figure that's just one of those things I'll need to work into my moveset.

It's also funny that I've mostly just used the standard Yharnam Hunter set for most of my playthrough. Gascoigne's set was useful on BSB, and Henrik's Bolt resistance was good for Paarl, but the box-art set has a pretty well-balanced set of stats, so I can't complain.

I've got to say, I really hope that FromSoft does more Bloodborne games. I know Dark Souls is the flagship of the series, and it's true that Souls has more build-diversity than you get with Bloodborne, but I really like the look and vibe of Bloodborne, with every weapon at least somewhat ridiculous and a whole ton of tricorne hats.

There's references to a place called Loran - that may have collapsed into what is now the Nightmare Frontier - and I think the game could stand to expand its lore in sequels. Yharnam is definitely collapsing (unless the whole game is a dream in which the protagonist is purging him or herself of fears and anxieties and that the healing process is actually not as horrific as the game makes it out to be,) but there's no reason to think that there aren't other cities in the world that haven't gotten their hands on some Eldritch Truth.

Anyway, I think I'm now 7/15 bosses down (not counting Chalice Dungeons and DLC.) It's a hell of a ride.