Ahead of The Duskbloods' network test next week, veteran Soulsborne YouTubers VaatiVidya and Oroboro have uploaded long gameplay videos and explainers for the Switch 2 exclusive PvPvE game, while IGN and Automaton have published new interviews with project lead and Soulsborne commander-in-chief, Hidetaka Miyazaki.
As a veteran Souls sicko, here are my biggest takeaways from the footage and conversations around the game, which we'll surely get on PC eventually, right?
It's structured like Nightreign
Instanced, run-based gameplay. A timer ticking down as the difficulty/stakes increase. Characters with set fantasies/abilities (maybe even equipment?). While the objectives and specifics may differ, Duskbloods' overall structure feels like an evolution of Nightreign's. Out of the gate, though, Duskbloods will have three maps—one more than Nightreign even after its Deathly Forsaken Hollows DLC.
It's more PvP-focused than Nightreign, but has options for PvE-likers
Rather than hunting down your fellow players like in Tarkov or Marathon, a Duskbloods match sees you trying to complete more PvE objectives than the other players in your lobby. Objective completion raises your "Virtue" score, and the high scorers at the end of each timed round survive to the next. It looks like there are PvP map events and optional objectives, and the default final battle is a PvP slugfest between the players who made it to the end.
Vaati mentioned, though, that there's an unlockable option to make the final battle a co-op PvE boss instead, more akin to Nightreign's Nightlords. On the opposite end, there's an item to heighten the PvP focus, giving you Virtue for hunting down and killing another player in the lobby.
The Bloodborne (and Souls) of it all
It wouldn't be FromSoft if we didn't see returning motifs and designs in a new context. It's been part of the conversation from the beginning, but Duskbloods really does look like a Bloodborne sequel:
- Those hooded ogre guys sure do look like the Church Giants from Bloodborne.
- The map shown in the preview screams Yharnam, particularly the scenic view of the clock tower.
- There's a cathedral roof boss whose arena bears a striking resemblance to the Dark Souls Gargoyles or Bloodborne's Martyr Logarius.
- I spy Elden Ring/Bloodborne whirly saw weapons.
- There's a cathedral interior straight out of Upper Cathedral Ward.
- Gotta have a fight in a field of white flowers.
Shadow of the Erdtree vertical design is the future
Rather than the sprawl of Elden Ring's Limgrave/Limveld, Duskbloods' one revealed map has the breathtaking vertical density of the Land of Shadow from SotE, or Nightreign's Great Hollow. The former is, I think, the best level design we've yet seen out of FromSoftware. The latter, unfortunately, is a great zone let down by Nightreign's frantic time restrictions. We'll see soon how well this style of level design fits The Duskbloods.
What about sustain and follow-through? What about singleplayer? What about PC?
FromSoft has a poor track record of support and balance for its multiplayer. This has been less of an issue—or at least, easier for me to forgive—when this multiplayer is supplemented to some of the best singleplayer action-RPGs in the industry. But less so with, say, Nightreign feeling like a dead game just over a year after launch.
I once again find myself hoping, praying, crying, pissing, and shitting for the next Big Thing, Complete Package from FromSoft, be it an Elden Ring sequel, Armored Core expansion, or secret third thing. Surely there's something closer to completion than not that we can see soon?
And, of course, the Switch 2 elephant in the room: Whatever Nintendo offered to sweeten the pot, this game would find its truest home on PC. I hope we see that version soon, rather than Duskbloods imitating Bloodborne in the worst way possible. Whatever comes next, stay tuned for our coverage of Duskbloods' upcoming network test.
