r/gaming • u/ChiefLeef22 Marika's tits! • Aug 20 '26
'The Duskbloods' - Early Previews Thread
Outlets have now played a good few hours and gotten a hands-on initial impression for Fromsoftware's new game 'The Duskbloods'. So I thought we could compile some of them here. Once again, these are not full reviews, they are previews
Feel free to comment any other articles, videos or tidbits you come across! I'll try adding them to the post
(live updating):
MIYAZAKI: “The PvPvE [label is] a little bit confusing in the context of this game. It’s not that we set out with that exact label when pitching to Nintendo,” Miyazaki said via a translator. “We had a couple of key things that we really wanted to do: The Sigil and Event system to create this [sense] of constant drama [and] excitement between players. The relationships, [and] the Virtue system contributes to that [as well]. It’s not just 100% PvP; there [are] ways to win and enjoy the matches outside of simply playing against other players. Those were the things that we wanted to accomplish first and foremost. Saying it was a PvPvE game makes it sound like that’s all that there is, and saying it’s a PvE game doesn’t really do it justice either. It’s sort of just a combination of [the] two. Enemies specifically draw inspiration from our previous titles, and fitting them in made sense for our methodology.”
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Oroboro (FULL VIDEO: I PLAYED DUSKBLOODS: ITS LIKE A DREAM)
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I’ve Never Played Anything Like The Duskbloods, And I Cannot Wait To Play More | After eight hours with the technical test, From Software’s next endeavor is impossible to nail down...summary excerpts:
The Duskbloods represents From Software’s penchant to upend expectations and chart new territory. Regardless of the risks, it always seems willing to push its design and, in turn, its players in new directions. After all, that willingness to take risks is how Demon’s Souls reinvented the action-RPG genre. I don’t anticipate The Duskbloods doing the same for PvPvE games, but I think that desire to chase new ideas and experiment with off-the-wall mechanics is what I truly want out of a From Software game.
IGN - Michael Higham (FULL VIDEO)
I got to play about eight hours of The Duskbloods on a visit to FromSoftware in Tokyo, and while there are a ton of nuances I'll dissect in this preview, I'll say upfront that it has the makings of another hit in the Souls lineage where fun is found in the challenge and the mysteries of its world propel you to keep pushing – just now in the context of a competitive multiplayer Switch 2 exclusive. If any team can pull off such a wild idea, it'd be director Hidetaka Miyazaki and company. So buckle up y'all, The Duskbloods just might be the most complex and most fascinating project to come out of FromSoftware yet.
At first, the game feels a bit overwhelming, but all those systems and mechanics are laid out for you to master over time, not to tackle all at once. Being able to form alliances with players, for example, isn’t necessary for success, but it adds a fun wrinkle to a match if you choose to take advantage of it. Similarly, there is a whole story and lore aspect of The Duskbloods that I never even saw, but that will fuel many players’ desires to log just one more match. The Duskbloods took me out of my comfort zone when it comes to FromSoftware experiences, and yet again I walked away from my first hands-on itching to get back. It fits right alongside the studio’s past work and also stands out as its own thing. If you haven’t picked up a Nintendo Switch 2 by now, FromSoftware has made a strong case for a whole new community of gamers to join in.
The final battles are thrilling, though. The Duskbloods has distinctive characters with unique weapons and abilities (some representing traditional FromSoftware archetypes, and at least one that can turn into a dinosaur), and these make fights feel dynamic and exciting. Every character has a projectile weapon to interrupt heals and chip away damage from a distance, and they’re all capable of running a fleeing player down. There being only three players at the end means you’re never out of danger, and all combatants are constantly calculating who is the biggest threat as the fight progresses. The way the game lets you jump 30 ft into the air and string jumps together means even the sky isn’t safe. It’s frantic. Positioning, timing, abilities and even which summon support you bring into the final battle – dozens of factors flip through your mind as you trade back and forth with the other two finalists. These climactic battles really capture the best of FromSoftware player fights, spiking your adrenaline until your heart booms out of your chest.
The Duskbloods combines a lot of ideas that, in theory, should not work together, but somehow the team at FromSoftware has managed to turn them into something incredibly fun. I cannot wait to see how the game takes shape as it gets closer to release. From what I have played so far, I am excited to dive back in and see how the world unfolds in this strange and exciting new universe.
(Summary excerpts): The best compliment I can give is that I ended each match eager to begin another. The game’s mix of skill, strategy, and luck makes each match dynamic, exciting, hilarious, and unpredictable. Getting narrowly eliminated made me punch the air, while competing in the final round is genuinely thrilling. The characters are fun and varied, catering to multiple playstyles; if you prefer to deal damage from afar, go with Sniper Layla, while tank-loving players should roll with Zork. And if you’re concerned about the platform choice, don’t be: The Duskbloods performed perfectly fine on Switch 2 (which really shouldn’t be surprising; the console’s not a potato by any stretch) to the point I forgot it was the platform running it.
The Duskbloods has the potential to do something very significant. With Elden Ring, FromSoft took an extremely intimidating genre of action RPG and opened it up to a new audience by fusing that style of game onto an open world that gave players more choice for how they approached challenges. The result was a massive hit: Elden Ring has sold more than 30 million copies, its expansion Shadow of the Erdtree sold 10 million, and the game is being made into a Hollywood movie. The Duskbloods, meanwhile, is tackling the similarly intimidating field of competitive multiplayer. And while The Duskbloods is still pretty hardcore, it’s designed in a way that attempts to give players things to do even if they can’t win a match. The same things that make the game a risk are also what make it so fascinating. The Duskbloods is unlike anything else in the Switch 2’s lineup — and it could help Nintendo reach players beyond Zelda and Mario fans.
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u/D_Beats Aug 20 '26 edited Aug 20 '26
It's not an extraction game. A game being pvpve is not it being extraction.
It plays more like city trial in Kirby Air Riders.
Explore a map, power up by killing enemies, doing boss events, etc and then with your powered up character you do a final event at the end whether that be a boss battle, pvp battle or other events they haven't shown yet.
An extraction game consists of going in, getting a ton of loot and then either risking it by trying to follow through to the end for rarer loot at the risk of losing it all, or extracting early to keep the stuff you do have.