Hey, so the only experience I have with the Souls series is Demon's Souls and I fell off after killing 3 bosses according to my trophy list. I went into that game thinking I'll need all the help I can get, so I followed a walkthrough, a decision which now looking back, doesn't seem like the best way to experience the game. I remember falling off when i got to the point where the walkthrough was telling me how I should care about world tendency and explained the tedious way to effect it. I very quickly felt overwhelmed and lost interest.

So I just bought Bloodborne, thinking I'll give it another shot. Playing RPG's I like to be as informed as I can and try my best to not miss key items and such. So my question is, what would be the best way to not feel like I'm fumbling through, anxious that I'm "playing it wrong." Should I stick to message boards? Read a wiki? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Honestly I wouldn't read anything and just play. Don't feel anxious. Just play. A huge part of these games is discovery.

just wing it, thats pretty much what i did with all these games. They're not that complex.

I would read up on some of the "advice for new players" stuff. It's sorta important to know stuff like not getting too sad about losing some souls(blood), and understanding how the gear and stat system works. But try to stay away from more specific "guide" info, at least until you've given it a try for yourself. If you're playing the game and there's something you just can't figure out yourself, checking a wiki isn't the end of the world.

To me that's exactly the appeal of the souls games, not knowing what the f is going on. You just explore and inevitably die and hopefully learn from that. You need patience, and you need to play at a methodical pace. The games are not that hard that all in the end and the confusing game mechanics Demon's Souls admittedly (at first) had, have since been streamlined.

don't play if you're in an impatient or testy mood, a calm nerve prevails. that's the only rule i have for a souls game, otherwise work with what you discover, you don't 'need' anything.

Did you see the movie Edge of Tomorrow? That serves as a good analogy on how to approach these games. I dunno how it is with this game in particular but the series in general makes New Game+ worth your time, so even if you don't do everything perfectly on your first playthrough there is plenty of incentive to come back, by which time you'll naturally have a much better understanding of the game in general. I don't usually play games more than once, even these ones, but they are good for it if you care enough. Either way the first playthrough should always be accompanied by that anxious feeling of the unknown, it's what makes these games so damn unique.

Play for three or four hours and just discover. If you haven't figured out what a certain item or stat does, look it up online. Other than that, just go with it. A great part of these games is exploration and discovery!