A bunch of outlets just published previews of The Duskbloods, FromSoftware’s upcoming PvPvE game for Nintendo Switch 2. And man, there’s…a lot to parse in there!
The Duskbloods seems like a very weird game, not really like anything else we’ve seen before. It’s got both PvP and PvE components that can shift and reverse at a moment’s notice; it’s a bit like Elden Ring sometimes and a bit like Nightreign other times and sometimes it’s like neither of them. I really enjoyed reading all the perspectives this morning and catching up on the new official materials from FromSoftware explaining what the hell this game even is and how one plays it, which is information we really didn’t have up until now.
Here’s what I learned about The Duskbloods today from all that reading, for those who just want the highlights of what to expect from FromSoftware’s latest.
It’s kind of a battle royale. Sort of. Ish.
You play as one of several Bloodsworn, and you get dumped into a level with a bunch of enemies as well as the other players you’re playing with. You then go around and do stuff in the level such as killing enemies and completing other objectives given to you to collect as much “Virtue” as possible. These objectives might include exploring, fighting bosses, or finding a bunch of items. You might do a little PvP, or you might team up with another player you meet to collect Virtue together. It’s essentially like a miniature single-player Souls campaign, but with a handful of other individuals out in the world.
At two separate intervals, the game will eliminate individuals who haven’t collected enough Virtue, until there are only three left at the end. Those three remaining are then sent to an arena to fight it out with one another. Alliances are dissolved, and the work you’ve put in up to that point to collect items, make pacts with NPCs, and build your character up is put to the test, along with your actual skill.
Dying doesn’t mean you lose (until it does)
If you die during the main part of a round of The Duskbloods, you just respawn with all your Virtue. It’s not until the final phase when you face off against the remaining players that death becomes permanent, and even then you apparently have some lives to spend. You have to die three times in that final phase before you’re eliminated entirely.
All the playable characters look like total weirdos
There’s a guy in it named Zork. Need I say more?
But they also have some cool abilities
There are six playable characters we’ll be seeing in the network test this weekend, out of ten total in the game. We’ve got:
- Albert, who has dual sabers and…a freakin’ submachine gun, for some reason? and is kind of the all-around balance guy.
- Bloodhand Jan, he’s got an axe and can shoot fire from his hand.
- Senator Samir Patres uses a rapier, shoots ghost birds, and can turn into a dinosaur (what).
- Trang Lanh has a sick ring blade, can turn invisible, and summon a big snake.
- Sniper Layla has daggers, but mainly uses a rifle for, you know, sniping. She can also turn into an insect swarm and rip a Gatling gun out of her chest because why not.
- ZORK!!! Zork. A slow, armored guy that wields an electric cable, shoots a speargun and missiles and can even shoot itself at stuff.
All of these guys can also do big jumps (even over buildings), can sprint, and can bite the necks of staggered enemies to suck their blood and do damage which will also let them gain some health back. This last thing will also turn weaker enemies into allies for a bit.
You can temporarily team up with other players, or just freakin’ murder them
During the main three phases of a match, you’ll run into other players. You can just fight them if you want, or you can propose an alliance with them which, if accepted, will make it impossible for the two of you to hurt one another. These alliances will vanish in the final round, though, so if you expect to make it to the final three, be wary of partnering with someone who you know can kick your ass.
There’s also a Duos Mode that you can select at the start that allows you to partner with someone for the entire game, with four teams of two playing and one team eliminated each round. In this mode, you’ll win or lose with your partner, not against them, in the final battle.
But you can also just kill people you meet. As mentioned, it doesn’t eliminate them from the game, but you may have some quests that encourage you to attack other players to obtain Virtue.
You can also team up with “Kin” for an NPC buddy to fight with
Kin can be summoned out of portals around the map and are basically NPC pals (not unlike Elden Ring‘s spirit summons) who will stay with you the whole rest of the match and get stronger with you. There were eight available in previews to test out, and they included a big singing monster that can also suplex enemies, a fireball-shooting mage, a cowgirl, a wolf, and someone named “Undead Marlowe.” Hell yeah.
There are…quests? Kind of?
Items called Sigils will grant your character an objective of sorts, such as killing a particular player or forming an alliance with them. You start the game with one equipped, and completing it gives you a big pile of virtue. There are also various objectives around the map that will pop up: areas where you’ll be rewarded for killing other players or capturing a point, bosses that spawn for you to kill, hidden items, and so forth. All reward Virtue!
You do gain EXP and level up
It feels weird to have to break this out but given how much else is going on in the game, it’s probably worth throwing in here. You get EXP from killing guys, and your character will level up and let you learn new abilities, get more HP, and so forth. You want to do this, because otherwise you’re going to get destroyed at the end of the game by players who leveled up harder.
The maps seem pretty big, and random events can happen
Previewers only got to see one map: a big town with a church, a cave system, some ruins, and (obviously) a poison swamp. There will be two other maps on rotation at launch that we haven’t seen yet. The space seems like it’s pretty large, especially given the powerful jump players have at their disposal. These maps will be further shaken up by events, which can transform areas of the map by doing stuff like causing a rain of fire, or shooting players with lightning that teleports them to different places, or sending a shooting star crashing somewhere.
Character customization is coming
It wasn’t in the preview build, nor will it be in the network test this weekend, but don’t worry. You can, apparently, dress up these guys.
Matches take around 30 minutes
Give or take. I’m grateful that they seem to be shorter than Nightreign runs, but I also have no idea how anyone fits all this into a 30-minute session.
There will be (sort of) ranked matchmaking
Though it doesn’t sound like rankings will necessarily be visible to players, Hidektaki Miyazaki told IGN that the matchmaking system will tend to prioritize putting players who win a lot with other players who win a lot, so that those of us who aren’t as good at Souls games aren’t constantly getting stomped.
FromSoftware says it is not abandoning single-player games
In that same interview with IGN, Miyazaki also offered reassurances that the back-to-back releases of Elden Ring Nightreign and The Duskbloods are not an indicator that FromSoftware is moving away from single-player experiences. It’s a bit of a coincidence that the two released so close together, he says, and The Duskbloods was really just something the team wanted to do. “Personally, it’s very fun to make a multiplayer game like this,” he said. “It’s not something we’ve done a lot and we’re looking forward to seeing players’ reactions and getting the feedback. But it’s like, the more you work on something multiplayer for a long time, if anything, it scratches that itch only to want to make something single-player again.
There’s no release date yet
The September 24 date shared was seemingly in error.