Bloodborne features multiplayer support, but it isn’t something that you’ll access from a menu as you would in most games. The process for playing with others can be somewhat convoluted, so Sony has provided some tips on getting it all to work.
One thing to note first is that the PS4‘s long-awaited suspend/resume mode, which lets you suspend a game, put the system into Rest mode, and then resume after turning it back on, causes issues with multiplayer. In order to get matchmaking working, you’ll need to restart the game and reconnect to the online servers if you put your PS4 into Rest mode while the game is running. According to a PlayStation Blog post by Sony Computer Entertainment Japan Studio’s Masaaki Yamagiwa, this problem will be dealt with in “an upcoming patch.”
Assuming you’ve dealt with that, you have to follow a certain process when trying to engage in cooperative play. Up to three players (one host and two guests) can join together and fight through an area. If you successfully do so and defeat a boss, the guests will receive a reward and then be kicked back to their own single-player sessions. Should the host or a guest die, those players will be separated without receiving the bonus.
Follow these steps to get co-op going:
- Host uses/rings the Beckoning Bell
- Guests use/ring the Small Resonant Bell
- Host and guest (up to two guests) are connected, and play within the Host’s game
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It sounds relatively simple, but there are caveats not explicitly outlined in-game. Players can’t use a Beckoning Bell if they’ve killed the boss in the area they’re currently in, but can still use the Small Resonant Bell. To be matched together, players’ levels can’t be “too far apart.” Yamagiwa doesn’t specify, but players have found you need to be within about 10 levels of each other to play together.
Also not noted in the blog is the need for Insight–a currency you earn for various feats, like encountering and defeating bosses, or by using certain items. The Beckoning Bell is given to you for free in the Hunter’s Dream once you’ve obtained one Insight. Once you’ve collected 10, a new store in the Hunter’s Dream (pictured) opens up that allows you to buy the Small Resonant Bell and other items.
As announced prior to launch, players can make use of passwords to ensure they are only put into co-op games with others players using the same password. This is done from the Network menu and only affects co-op, not PvP.
Yamagiwa goes on to provide some hints on initiating PvP mode (which involves a bell-ringing woman and the Sinister Resonant Bell item) and Chalice Dungeons, which you can see here.
Bloodborne this week received an important update that fixes a game-breaking bug involving a key not dropping. There’s no word yet on when the next patch will arrive, but we do know developer From Software is at least looking into the possibility of reducing load times.
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