I have been dreading this particular challenge from the moment I considered it several months back. I may be mostly decent at games, but I’ve never played a From Software game, and I’m certain I’ve never played a game from a developer known for making the player die repeatedly, sometimes from seemingly innocuous causes.

As you may have suspected, my October game challenge is to play (and complete) Bloodborne.

I’m already completely intimidated.

I knew I wanted to tackle this game in October (Halloween month and all), and it just so happened that one of my favorite gaming co-op partners (Grunts!) agreed to help me along. His advice and guidance are invaluable to me, and not just because he is a good friend and a good gamer. He has great familiarity with the souls games, and that can only work to our advantage.

In honesty, I’m actually kind of proud of myself for venturing out of my comfort zone with this game. As I said before, I’m mostly decent at games (some games I’m better at than others), but the souls series has always intimidated me to a ridiculous degree. They look intriguing, but punishing. I don’t quite know yet if I will be able to cut the mustard.

Also, “cut the mustard” is a weird expression. I just looked up the origin of the phrase and it’s a bit odd.

Still, I like it.

So, yes. I’m concerned about my cutting the mustard, or being the mustard, or eating too much mustard. Whatever I’m feeling, let’s just assume mustard is involved.

Grunts seems to have faith that I will be able to make it through, so I am borrowing some of his confidence and hoping for the best. I will absolutely give it my all.

In addition to Bloodborne, I’m certain I will be playing more Destiny. Over the weekend, I was fortunate enough to be a part of a great fireteam that took Oryx down! It was a great moment. I do have to say, when Oryx made his first appearance, I sort of freaked out a little. That jerk was HUGE (yes, the moment deserves all caps). I saw him clawing his way up the side of a platform and he just kept filling the screen with his scaly/bony presence. I wasn’t expecting him to be nearly as massive as he was. It was one of the more epic moments in Destiny thus far.

Perhaps it was because of the fireteam, perhaps it was Oryx’s size, or perhaps it was just glee with success, but it was wonderful. I was fortunate enough to come out of the deal with the raid shotgun and raid hand cannon, and so far, I absolutely love them both. I’m definitely looking forward to attempting the raid again this coming week and I’m hoping to improve with each subsequent pass.

Also, I’m hoping to get in some time with The Evil Within. Perhaps it is the October rush, but I’m feeling the urge to finally sit down with the game. In all honesty, if there is time for it that would be great, but if not, I’m not going to worry about it. Just tackling Bloodborne is a big enough task. I hope I’m up to the challenge.

Today Grunts and I will travel to Yharnam to begin our journey through the Lovecraftian world of Bloodborne and I couldn’t be more excited (or more intimidated, for that matter). This will be an interesting journey for sure.

Is anyone else working on a monthly game challenge? If so, what is it? How do you feel about your prospects?