EXP Podcast #641: Demakes, Suspect Expansion Packs, and Nathan Drake Goes to Hollywood

That quicktime event prompt was right there!

Bloodborne as an alternate reality PlayStation 1 release?  Nintendo does its classics dirty?  Uncharted and the snake that ate its own tail?  Alright I guess that's why Sony didn't ask for my advice in naming the movie.  This week we catch up on some fall headlines as we start to gear up for the end of the year.

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.

 

Show Notes:

- Run time: 38 min 09 sec

- Music by Brad Sucks

EXP Podcast #420: The Trophy Case

Preying to the platinum holding gods.

Greetings from Mount Olympus, where I preside with the other Bloodborne Platinum Trophy owners, meting out judgement against the casuals down below. This week on the EXP Podcast, I deign to speak with Scott about trophies and the place of achievements in gaming culture today. You may give it a listen, but take care, lest my seraphim-like voice shatter your feeble mind.

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.

Show Notes:

- Runtime: 34 mins 12 sec
- Music by Brad Sucks

EXP Podcast #360: Games of the Year 2015

Geralt isn't on our list. And he looks pissed.

What a year is has been for gaming! We've browsed through police interviews, parachuted through the sky, and dug deep into the earth. Now, as 2015 draws to a close, Scott and I return for our annual Game of the Year discussion. As always, we encourage you to share your favorite games that you've played. Yes, even if that includes The Witcher.

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed.
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.

Show Notes:

- Runtime: 56 mins 30 secs
- Intrio & Outro Music by Brad Sucks

SPOILERS
- Additional music from the Super Mario Maker, Rocket League, Life is Strange, Bloodborne, and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain OSTs respectively.

Bloodborne Revisited

It's time to pay Yarnham a visit again now that co-op is easier. But wait? Is that a Sinister Bell?


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EXP Podcast #330: Bloodborne Debrief

Close your eyes good hunter...

At long last, it is time to cleanse these foul streets good hunter. This week on the EXP Podcast, we discuss the much anticipated system-seller: Bloodborne. Did it meet our expectations? Did Scott prove himself a "filthy casual?" Did we even make it out of this game alive!? Listen to find out.

Bloodborne is a game chock full of mysteries and some fascinating individual stories, so of course we want to hear from you in the comments below. Also, if you are interested in reading more about the lore of Bloodborne, I encourage you to check out the short treatise on the game in the show notes.

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.

Show Notes:

- Runtime: 53 mins 11 sec
- "The Paleblood Hunt: A Bloodborne Analysis," by "Redgrave"

- Music via Bloodborne OST

Bloodborne and Learning to Improve

She just wants whats best for you, good hunter.

This week's PopMatters article, I sort of talk about how Bloodborne is ruining other games for me.

Right before fighting Gehrman for the final push, I went over everything I had experience in my head. I did one more blood echoes run to level some vitality, checked all my runes to make sure the right ones were equipped, figured out which bosses I had not yet beaten and weighed whether or now I should venture out to take on those challenges or not. I stocked up on blood vials and bullets and rang that beckoning bell for the last time. I felt ready. I was ready.

Of course he proceeded to murder me again and again, but each time I grew wiser, adapted better. The fight was one last check in, like a comforting visit from an instructor, one final exam. I never felt like Bloodborne wanted me to fail, in that fight or any fight. I never once felt like the game was unfair or unkind. Everything was clear and I knew exactly what I had to do to improve.

This is why I just don't understand why someone would call Bloodborne too difficult for gamers without first asking them to try. I am not one to judge a person for not finishing a game, so even if I firmly believe you will never beat Father Gasciogne, I still think playing Bloodborne is an incredibly valuable experience. If you walk away, with neither the time or patience to improve, so be it. But if that happens, and you decide the game is not for you, you do so fully aware of what it offered, what it can offer with some persistence. That sense of clarity and awareness is so very rare in games.

And if you persevere, despite your expectations, if you forge on, improve, and learn, completing Bloodborne can be one of the most satisfying and self-validating experiences games can offer.

Fighting FOMO in 'Bloodborne'

Someone is really into the whole straight razor shaving thing.

Attention!  You’re missing out on so much stuff in Bloodborne.  That’s probably OK though.

Bloodborne’s not really what most people think of when the term “open world game” is used.  There’s no quest log or mini-map icons.  There’s no mini-map at all.  The environments are more labyrinthian than sprawling and there aren’t any mini-games. 

Instead, Bloodborne has a approach to “open.”  It’s liberal in the classical sense: the game is almost absurdly hands off when it comes to guiding you.  Entire stages stages full of unique enemies are entirely optional.  If you’re not paying attention (as I wasn’t) you can walk by sections that hold the keys to major game mechanics.  It’s hard to improve more and also obtain proficiency with more than a handful of weapons.  You will almost certainly miss out on significant chunks of what the game has to offer.

Accepting that fact is freeing.  Your average mortal won’t see everything, which means that you have to turn to the community.  Maybe it’s the in-game notes left by phantom players in other games or perhaps it’s verbally swapping stories with friends.  However you get it, the full picture of Bloodborne basically requires that you share notes with others.

I almost played through the game without Caryll runes and only learned about the gesture that lets you shout like a maniac from Jorge.  Then again, I learned that the doll will sometimes mimic your actions and that there’s more to the spider NPC than is first apparent.  Everyone’s Bloodborne experience will have gaps.  This gives it a sense of mystery and discovery most other games don’t have.

Bloodborne and Firewalking: Play As Social Ritual

Yea. Bloodborne is kinda like that.

If Dark Souls is like chopping off your own arm, Bloodborne is like walking across a bed of hot coals.

I am not a spiritual person, but I do enjoy looking at games through the lens of ritual. The social performance of ritual has always been fundamental to my experiences with religion as well. As a kid, church was a shared public time of reflection (or castigation) depending on the sermon. Youth groups, on the other hand, were excuses to hang out with friends under the guise of religious teachings. There is a feeling of being part of a larger whole in both, a sense of fitting into a complete circle. It can be deeply self confirmation.

Firewalking is often described with spiritual connotations and fits into the same shared space, shared vein of religious experiences. The crowds that attend these events not only create the tone of a spirituality with the physical trappings and strict rites related to the event, but their presence is both a form of pressure and of support. They can remind you that they too went through this same rite of passage, and that therefore you can also confront your fears and prove yourself more than human.

The discourse around Bloodborne strikes me as familiar, from the in-game encouragement to the meta-chronicling fans do to document the lore of the game or tips for other players to employ in their own journey. Even if they're invading your world or trolling you with fake messages, I get the sense every single Bloodborne player has your back. They want you to succeed because they know how empowering it can feel to face something that appears brutally difficult and overcome.

In the darkest stretches of Bloodborne's nightmarescape, I'm actually optimistic and inspired by the gaming community.

Bloodborne: Pro Status Speed Run!

Hey, we didn't say it was a successful speed run! Well, I guess running headlong into a being of unimaginable horror could be considered a success, depending on what you're shooting for.

 

Self-improvement Through 'Bloodborne'

Dude is shredded

This week on PopMatters, I'm breaking a sweat with Bloodborne.

It started off as a joke on Twitter, but there was actually a good mount of truth to it.  I was getting supremely bored by Bloodborne's load times and I needed to do something to pass the time.  Might as well get off the couch and channel my rage into some pushups.

Video games are often compared to movies or sometimes plays.  I think the best analogue for the Souls games and Bloodborne is exercise.  Playing them requires a level of patience because the rewards are slow and hard-earned.  You train to improve your technique and grind your way to more strength.  Sometimes you make a dumb mistake that ends your set or loses you the game, but it's all in pursuit of a long-term achievement.

You go through recurring cycles of actions and examine each step: Could I have been quicker here?  Is this the right item?  Am I remembering the proper attack routes?  Even if you fail, you can see where things went wrong and work to be more mindful of them in the future.  The meditative aspects of these games could fill up an entirely separate post.

Until then, I'll be working on my upper body strength every time I die in Bloodborne.  I can already feel myself getting sore.

EXP Podcast #324: Bloodborne Early Debrief

The face of horror...

We are still in the early days of exploring all that Bloodborne has to offer, but the critical conversation about the game is happening right now. If we wait any longer, Yarnham may be inundated with snake-meatballs and ravens! This week on the EXP Podcast, join us to discuss the madness, the beauty, the painful, painful glory of Bloodborne.

Are you playing Hunter? Tell us your stories in the comments below!

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.

Show Notes:

- Runtime: 43 mins 14 secs

- Music by Brad Sucks