Respawned in the Hunter's Dream, Song Ren stared at his nearly depleted Blood Echoes and the few remaining Flasks of Crimson Tears, feeling utterly devastated.
This Priest Big Bro was treating him completely differently than when he'd helped him fight BOSSesâwhat a drastic change in attitude!
When fighting monsters, one swing of the axe dealt barely over a dozen points of damage. But when attacking Song Ren? With his total health exceeding 600 points, each strike dealt twenty times more damage.
Was there no justice? No rules anymore!?
At this point, Song Ren had more or less grasped some insights: this Priest in front of him might actually be the Gun Parry instructor from Bloodborne.
Because his aggressive intent was like a Mad Dog, relentlessly charging at the player, giving the player countless opportunities to Gun Parry.
Easier said than done, though.
Compared to the Perfect Guard in Dark Souls, the punishment for failing a Gun Parry was indeed much lower.
As long as you created distance, there was no risk of being hit after a failed parry.
But the real problem was that if you were too far away, even if the Gun Parry succeeded, by the time you reached the BOSS, the window for a Visceral Attack would have already passed.
And another thingâunlike fighting mobs, when fighting a BOSS, specifically this Priest BOSS, a failed Gun Parry only dealt damage to the BOSS but didn't interrupt its actions.
Which meant the BOSS could still rush forward and smash you with an axe mid-attack, teaching you exactly why the flowers were so red.
âŚâŚâŚâŚ
Players sharing Song Renâs slight sense of despair were far from few.
Regarding the overall framework of Bloodborne, Chen Xu had largely followed the Bloodborne from his previous life.
Of course, he'd made significant optimizations in areas such as visual presentation and details.
While preserving Bloodborne's distinct art style, the game saw a qualitative leap in model precision, character actions, physics collisions, and other visual effects.
In the VR version of Bloodborne, it would undoubtedly deliver the most intense and thrilling experience to players.
Additionally, Bloodborne's map design was exceptionally intricate. On a large scale, Bloodborne resembled Dark Souls 3 in allowing teleportation to various checkpoints.
But on a smaller scale, it was more akin to Dark Souls 1, with its levels filled with puzzle-solving elements.
Moreover, before defeating any BOSS in the gameâaside from the lamp at Iosefka's Clinicâthere was only one other lamp located in Central Yharnam.
This seemed excessively harsh, but in actual gameplay, once players discovered the shortcuts, reaching either Father Gascoigne's Oedon Tomb or the Cleric Beast's bridge took less than a minute.
Climbing ladders through the sewers, taking elevators, or traversing the boar passageâthere were three different routes for players to choose from.
Compared to Dark Souls 1, where dying before BOSSes like the Bed of Chaos meant enduring a grueling 365-li-long run back, Bloodborne was clearly more merciful when it came to parkour.
For veteran players, once shortcuts were unlocked and the map routes mastered, Bloodborne could essentially be played as a parkour game.
As for newcomers?
Well, letâs move on to the next topic.
Regarding difficulty, Bloodborne and Dark Souls represented two entirely different styles. Bloodborne featured a faster pace and actively encouraged players to attackâmechanics like Gun Parry existed precisely to support this.
But what if you couldnât perform a Gun Parry? Could you still beat the BOSS?
Of course you could. Chen Xu had preserved some classic mechanics from the original game.
Partly because they fit the gameâs setting, and partly to ensure players could continue to suffer later on.
Cheesing in the early game and making up for it in the late gameâwasnât that only natural?
âŚâŚâŚâŚâŚâŚâŚâŚ
Inside the Oedon Tomb, facing Father Gascoigne, Song Ren felt as if he'd discovered a whole new world, his face brimming with excitement and surprise.
Because he realizedâwhether due to the Priest descending into madness and losing his sanity, or simply because of game designâwhile being chased by the Priest like a stray dog, the Priest actually got stuck behind a cluster of gravestones.
The only way the Priest could hurt him now was by shooting, but the bullets couldnât kill him!
And in the game, his axe could switch to a long-handle mode, allowing the Whirlwind Attack to pass straight through the gravestones and hit the Priest.
"Did Mr. Chen miscalculate, or was this intentional?"
"But thinking about it, it actually makes sense! Since the Priest has lost his sanity, his intelligence mustâve plummeted. Otherwise, why would the Priest Big Bro who once fought alongside me now attack me?"
Song Ren excitedly whittled down the Priestâs health with the Whirlwind Attack.
"Canât hit me, canât hit me! So frustrating! Nyah nyah, you just canât touch me!"
Facing the Priest, Song Ren let out the maniacal laugh of a Big Villain.
Soon, the Priest entered his third phase, transforming into a werewolf and smashing the surrounding gravestones to pieces.
Yet Song Ren remained completely unfazedâafter all, he hadnât used the music box yet.
Music flowed from the box, and the fully beast-transformed Priest began to writhe in agony, falling into a state of Chaos.
Without hesitation, Song Ren hurled an Oil Urn at the Priest, followed by two Molotov cocktails.
Instantly, the Priestâs health plummeted. By the time the Priest regained clarity, Song Renâs fully charged Whirlwind Attack slammed into him.
ăHunted Prey Slaină
Blood-red letters flashed across the center of the screen.
In-game, Song Ren burst into laughter after defeating the Priest.
His methods mightâve been a bit underhanded, but heâd cleared it.
He approached the Priestâs corpse and picked up a glowing white item.
ăObtained Oedon Tomb Keyă
"So thereâs no way to save the Priest?" Song Ren sighed involuntarily. At first, heâd thought defeating the Priest might trigger a story event that could save him.
But now it was clearâthe Priest had to be killed.
If not, the subsequent story couldnât progress.
And if he was guessing correctly, the little girlâs mother was likely already in grave danger.
Exploring the Oedon Tomb, he found an item on a battered female corpse, confirming his suspicions.
It was the Ruby Brooch the little girl had mentioned earlier, engraved with the name of the Priestâs wife: Viola.
Clearly, the body lying on the rooftop was the little girlâs mother. The grotesque wounds and spreading bloodstains left much to the imagination.
Especially when paired with the music box the little girl had given Song Ren earlierâthis raised even more questions.
Had the girlâs mother come searching for the Priest, only to be unexpectedly attacked and killed by beast-transformed Yharnam villagers?
And witnessing this, had the Priest lost control and transformed into a beast himself?
Or had the Priestâs sanity eroded over time until he ultimately killed Viola with his own hands?
The truth remained unknownâboth explanations seemed plausible.
But Song Ren still preferred to believe the Priest hadnât murdered his wife, but instead descended into madness because of her death.
"Itâs just tragic for that little girl."
Looking at the Ruby Brooch in his inventory, recalling the little girlâs pitiful appearance, Song Ren sighed inwardly.
For now, he decided not to tell her this heartbreaking news.
Song Ren resolved to explore the path ahead first.
He steadily progressed through the story.
Entering the Oedon Chapel, he encountered an old woman draped in red cloth. She informed players that the small chapel was a safe haven.
Incense had dispelled the beasts. If they met normal humans, they could bring them here.
For their people, the chapel was a safer place than their own homes.
At this moment, Song Ren remembered the little girl, Gilbert whoâd given him information, and that sharp-tongued old woman.
Clearly, these few were still normal humans within the game.
But Song Ren didnât return immediatelyâhe decided to explore a bit more first.
After defeating two large men wielding staff-like weapons near a closed Conduit, at the foot of a staircase, Song Ren discovered something that sent him into raptures.
What did he see?
A shield! A shield!
Mr. Chen really hadnât liedâthis game actually had shields!
Staring at the newly obtained shield, Song Ren could only describe his feeling as pure joy!
With a shield, would he have feared that Priest earlier?
Though this shield⌠why did it look like a broken plank of wood?
ăWooden Shield: A log shield used by villagers on the eve of the Hunt to defend against monsters. The shield itself is functional, but skilled Hunters avoid using it, as it lowers their efficiency in the Hunt.ă
(End of Chapter) <