The Duskbloods, the upcoming multiplayer action game by FromSoftware, is a lot right out of the gate. It’s a Switch 2 exclusive that pits 8 people against one another in PvPvE battles across multiple rounds. The network test that ran over the weekend offered a glimpse of what’s to come. What’s here are tense fights and frantic runarounds trying to scrape by into the next round. Major questions and potential pitfalls remain, but so far, The Duskbloods has me more interested than most soulslikes as someone who’s not a fan of the genre.
Right out of the gate, The Duskbloods network test hits you with something uncommon in FromSoft’s games: multiple tutorials. Some cinematics are sprinkled in that look gorgeous but are largely confusing, but given that a run is a complicated beast, the tutorials here are incredibly helpful. Even though you’re given a good idea of what to expect, in classic FromSoft fashion, there’s plenty left unsaid, left to the player to discover out in the wild.
The network test had eight characters to choose from and one map. The characters are structurally similar: light, heavy, and ranged attacks, with a few special moves unique to them. Zork is a totally mechanical man, wielding a heavy weapon and rocketing off, slamming into enemies to send them flying. Senator Samir Patres, on the other hand, is way faster, attacking enemies with a rapier and tossing enemies into the sky with a blood blast underfoot. The Senator ended up being a favorite, fast and furious with good agility and distanced hits.
The Duskbloods network test lets you choose from 8 characters, with some structural similarities.
Your character also levels and gains new abilities and passives during the rounds. Taking down more powerful enemies, mini-bosses, and larger, stronger bosses all drop upgrades. These range from health boosts to more attacks to more powerful Bloodsworn attacks. Every character gets their second Bloodsworn skill at level 6, with the Senator turning into a dinosaur that rushes and mauls opponents. It’s so satisfying to pull off, every time.
Once you load into a match, the game proceeds through stages, culling players at every round change. As you run around, your goal is to collect Virtue, with a number of ways to do so. Do you kill enemies, hoping for some Virtue drops? Do you head into the ritual sites that spawn to fight other players or pledge yourselves at altars, defending them until round up? You can be sneaky and hold positions, or go in swords swinging, with plenty of ways to rack up Virtue to survive.
The Duskbloods is also easily the fastest and most agile FromSoft experience yet. Players can jump and hop in the air three times before landing, along with some fast dodges and rolls. This is one of my favorite pieces of the package so far, as someone who vastly prefers speed and chaos compared to slow, methodical fights. It feels so incredibly cool to collide with another player midair, attacking back to the ground, or chasing down a running away opponent, firing your ranged attack to drop them.
The rounds can be overwhelming at first, with a lot going on all at once.
That speed and agility extends to traversal as well, where the entire map has a ton of verticality but still feels accessible. Crossing gaps takes a handful of seconds, while chasing after players can get pretty cinematic as you both leap across rooftops and drop down cliffs. Motion feels fast and chaotic, especially as you get multiple players, enemies, and bosses all whirling around each other.
All this culminates in a 1v1v1 between the top three players. The network test only had this PvP-focused round as the last one, but according to FromSoft, there will be multiple in the full game. I did enjoy the final fight every time I got to it, a final test to see if you made the most of your rounds leading up to this moment. The first time I got there, I failed to find a companion on the map, where both of my opponents had help. I managed to place second despite this, with some careful dodges and dinosaur tosses, with the fight full of anime moments that made me feel incredibly cool.
The Duskbloods is a lot, and even after playing the tutorials, the rounds are entirely overwhelming at first. Too often, I felt like I was wandering around without direction, getting lost and ending up exactly where I started. The map is busy and confusing to read, with a lot of visual noise that makes it hard to parse quickly. When you’re on the clock and competing against other players for survival, being able to quickly identify your next objective is critical. I kept running into the same bosses in the same places, and that repetition got old quick, even in the confines of the test.
The network test gives us a glimpse of the chaos at the center of The Duskbloods.
A good soulslike rewards repeated encounters with something new to throw yourself at. The Duskbloods doesn’t quite nail that feeling just yet, at least not in the network test, though that doesn’t mean it won’t be there with more room to play with. The fights and bosses were limited, but hopefully the full game offers more variety in enemy spawns and boss locations. I’m curious how quickly new content will hit to keep players engaged, and what overall metaprogression will feel like.
The Duskbloods could be an experience that keeps you coming back for one more fight time after time. It could also quickly become a chore, repeating the same fights in the same places. The network test gives us a glimpse of the fast, chaotic action at the heart of it, and there’s a lot to like and look forward to. How that translates to a full experience remains to be seen, but here’s hoping FromSoft gives us another memorable world to explore and fight through.
The Duskbloods has no release date yet, but will hit sometime in 2026 exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2.