Elden Ring streamer Bushy has put more time into FromSoftware games than almost anyone on the planet. After roughly 4,000 hours of Elden Ring, he wants to beat Elden Ring another 726 times, and he's spun up a custom mod to do it.

On August 3, Bushy began a journey to beat Elden Ring using every weapon (and shield), totaling 447 runs. On August 26, he officially expanded this to every weapon, Ash of War, staff, seal, and spell in the game, bringing the run total to 726.

The idea, he suggests, is to create a full video library that shows how every possible attack style deals with all of the bosses in Elden Ring. With that in mind, Bushy's enlisted some help to speed things up.

In a video showcasing the Black Flame spell, Bushy explains, "I've commissioned a mod to make this series even bigger and better." This mod essentially condenses the exploration and progression of each Elden Ring playthrough, making it a lot easier to unlock items like flask upgrades, DLC Scadutree fragments, merchant upgrades, collectible talismans, and so on. If it's just lying around on the ground, it can now be found at a special menu or automatically obtained by beating story bosses which lead to new chunks of the world.

"In order to skip the tedium of picking up all of the same stuff over and over for 726 runs, this is the solution that we have," Bushy says. The mod doesn't affect the experience of fighting bosses, which is the stated point of this challenge, but it does make it a lot easier to get to those bosses over 700 times.

Even with this mod's help, each run still takes several hours, so Bushy will probably be pushing 7,000 hours of Elden Ring if he actually finishes every last playthrough. So far, he's done about 20 by my count.

Bushy's behind many of the strangest and most difficult Elden Ring runs you can find online – from randomizers to a billion Malenias to deathless NG+7 – so I don't begrudge him a little time save. This challenge does feel like a pretty obvious infinite stream content generator, but on the other hand, I've never seen a man kill everything in Elden Ring with the heavy crossbow.

"While I will miss the extra running around content, I fully understand how much better this will be for you to streamline this series even just a little bit," reads one YouTube comment.

"Might actually have another fromsoft game by the time this is done," says another. And they might be right.

Deep in FromSoftware's sicko arc, Elden Ring and Dark Souls boss Hidetaka Miyazaki says "you can't make anything that's as fun" just by following the same old rules.

Elden Ring players were happy to discover there was a glitch that made the game's new $5 Tarnished Pack DLC appear in their multiplayer kingdom, even if they hadn't paid for it. But developer FromSoftware has speedily issued a patch stopping players in their path.

"Patch 1.17.1 has been released for #ELDENRING," says the official Elden Ring account on Twitter. "This update fixes an issue in multiplayer where, under specific conditions, DLC-specific items could be obtained when not normally eligible. No additional content is included. Thank you for your support, Tarnished."

After Patch 1.17 introduced new, paid content that comes included with Elden Ring's fresh Switch 2 edition – the $5 pack contains the Idus Knight and Heavy Knight starting classes, plus more weapons and glamorous horse armor – a helpful bug made it so players with DLC items would automatically spawn copies of those items as pick-ups when entering a multiplayer game with someone who didn't have the DLC. It was the Lands Between's equivalent of dollar bills raining from the sky.

But Patch 1.17.1 smacks players' wrists and tells them to get their own $5. While Elden Ring fans can still trade DLC items with each other, including with people who don't own the Tarnished Pack, they can no longer enjoy a bounty of doubles. And they are not happy.

One exasperated Twitter reply says to the official Patch 1.17.1, "In other words someone found out how to get the $5 Tarnished DLC stuff for free. It should have been free anyway, guys. Charging $5 for a few pieces of gear is the biggest L From Soft has taken in a long time."

"I'll get downvoted for this, but it's crazy they released a whole patch for something as harmless as this," another player reacts in a Reddit thread on the topic, "but they can't bother to give us more balance or QoL changes. You know stuff that would actually improve the game's experience?"

"People love to claim that From soft is somehow beyond criticism," says another Reddit comment in the same thread, "but this was clearly a financial decision. They want more money from people. Simple as that."

As much as it pains me to agree as a hardcore FromSoftware fan (I've played all the games more than once, I've watched a total of at least 100 hours of lore videos), I do. The Tarnished Pack DLC is the developer's first experiment with something close to "microtransactions," and I have to try hard not to see it as the first ember in a house fire. Usually, I fail. But it's clear from Patch 1.17.1 that FromSoftware has the opposite reaction – if $5 DLC is an ember, it wants to keep it glowing.

Deep in FromSoftware's sicko arc, Elden Ring and Dark Souls boss Hidetaka Miyazaki says "you can't make anything that's as fun" just by following the same old rules.

In the wake of The Duskbloods, FromSoftware's Hidetaka Miyazaki says following the exact same rules with every game doesn't result in fun games.

Dark Souls has inspired a mountain of games, it's hard to think of any title in the last 15 years that has had more of an impact on our industry. Well, Fortnite did inspire how we approach live service, battle passes, and publishers chasing the next Fortnite, but I'm talking about positive impacts. This extends to FromSoftware itself, as Bloodborne, Sekiro, and especially Elden Ring all take elements from Dark Souls, yet feel like wholly unique games, and despite all being directed by Miyazaki, the similarities are not the goal for FromSoftware.

Speaking to The Guardian, Miyazaki explains, "There's no intentional FromSoftware [mantra] – 'this is the way we make our games,'" with The Duskbloods set to imbue the combat of a game like Bloodborne with a multiplayer, almost extraction shooter-like loop. He says, "If you start to do that it becomes stale and conservative, and you start having to adhere to a set of rules and philosophies, and it just doesn't become interesting, you can't make anything that's as fun."

Miyazaki notes: "I feel like at least what's worked for us philosophically is trying to adhere to what we find interesting first. I think that has created a good throughline through our games, and that's what we concentrate on to [conceive] a new title."

Yes, FromSoftware definitely has a house style in the same way Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed and Far Cry games share a ton of the same game mechanics in a different genre, or Sony's first-party studios being primarily on cinematic-focused third-person action games for a long time. However, it's undeniable that you are not playing the same game if you play Sekiro and Elden Ring back to back, and that being a mantra from the studio is undoubtedly a factor in its games being the beloved successes they are today.

FromSoftware knows what it's doing with The Duskbloods character Zork, the internet's new obsession: "I have developed a powerful, almost maternal affection."

I already think the standard FromSoftware boss fight in which you're more likely to die the closer you get to touching someone is romantic in the way it makes my palms sweat. So I'm eager to learn if director Hidetaka Miyazaki will be able to scrunch my heart until it explodes with The Duskbloods, which will feature the first overt romance between players in a FromSoftware game.

Switch 2 multiplayer game The Duskbloods is set against the unnatural Dusk of Humanity, where up to eight players filled with powerful blood slash each other in the pursuit of a deeper red. But you don't only have to murder your opponents – you can marry them, too, with the Love Ephemeral sigil that allows one player to actually get down on one knee, take another's hands, and emote their devotion. It might be the most obviously romantic gesture in FromSoftware history, though Miyazaki doesn't necessarily see it that way.

He tells The Guardian in a new interview, "I feel it's less a traditional romance and more a sense of secure trust with a character in the world, and that's something I personally yearn for." And he's right, this is an option given to you repeatedly throughout the FromSoftware catalogue: put your delicate faith in a chosen one, even when you're among bewitched lands where delicate things are picked and burned.

2016's Dark Souls 3 allows players to marry Anri of Astora with the Ring of the Evil Eye, and 2022's Elden Ring makes a marriage alliance possible with Ranni the Witch – provided you slide the Dark Moon Ring onto her chilled porcelain finger. The different firekeepers, shrine maidens, and one special doll throughout Dark Souls and Bloodborne are also technically locked in these practical relationships with you as they remain committed to letting you level up. All these NPCs also have at least some degree of influence over their game's story events or endings, so pursuing them is prudent game-playing, too.

But since The Duskbloods' marriage occurs between two players rather than a player and NPC, it's more of a wild rose… or wildfire. Some The Duskbloods network test players report being killed by opponents while performing Love Ephemeral before they can squeak out a proposal speech, with one Reddit comment saying, "People are too aggressive when theres no reason to be! Im also looking for love."

Love and pain are counterweights, of course. But it seems like Miyazaki would rather not have The Duskbloods' marriage alliances be so contentious. He thinks of it the way a king surveys a soldier with her weapon.

"It's not necessarily a romantic pairing," the developer says, "it's having someone that you can ultimately rely on. This concept is carried through from characters like the maidens in Elden Ring… it's a transient, ephemeral love, which is maybe a motif I'm striving for."

But even if you tell yourself you're only in it for the convenience, handing your heart to another always comes with the risk of severe disappointment. I imagine this is doubly true if you both have guns.

Nintendo denies The Duskbloods' September release date in the least convincing way possible.

FromSoftware president and longtime Souls series director Hidetaka Miyazaki acknowledges the rumor that he has "a bit of a thing for feet" in a new interview, but says he simply cannot fathom where it came from.

Speaking with The Guardian, Miyazaki first examines the hand motif most recently seen in The Duskbloods, FromSoftware's upcoming multiplayer action game.

"It’s not necessarily something I’m consistently aware of – maybe it’s something subconscious coming through," Miyazaki says of the recurring hand theme.

From minute one of the first Duskbloods trailer, hands reach for one another in telling dramatic lighting, just as an early Elden Ring trailer made a big show of multiple hands (that we now know to be Godrick's). Elden Ring itself pummeled players with giant zombie hands, conjured deity-like beings that are just a bunch of fingers, and even let players wield the power of a giant club-like finger for themselves.

"Take a look online and there’s a rumor that I have a bit of a thing for feet, but I’m not honestly sure where this comes from," Miyazaki continues. "I feel like I’m trying to depict some side of human nature or the human existence that is difficult to describe."

Far be it from me to suggest Miyazaki has "a bit of a thing for feet." All I'm saying is: I see where this rumor came from, even if it is absolutely exaggerated, and overplayed as a joke among FromSoftware fans.

Since the original Demon's Souls and its Maiden in Black, FromSoftware has come up with several central, barefoot characters – often a shrine maiden or nun-coded woman, occasionally a boss, and sometimes a man as well. (And really, games like Armored Core 6, where the only people in the story are reduced to voices or the unseen meat engines of giant mechs, don't count.)

There's something to be said for why a character may have bare feet, within and beyond the "human nature" Miyazaki evokes. The Maiden in Black is earthly – literally of the earth. Dark Souls' Crossbreed Priscilla is humanized through her exposed features. This design choice may convey vulnerability, humility, hardship, tradition, or any number of ideas or themes. Sometimes things just stick for no definable reason in art, and in the absence of a clear explanation, players may latch onto – or invent – the funniest possible answer.

The Duskbloods closed network test had more applicants than Elden Ring Nightreign despite being a Switch 2 exclusive, FromSoftware lead reveals.

Elden Ring patch 1.17 will arrive Friday, August 28, alongside the new Tarnished Pack DLC, adding a few classes, cosmetics, NPC events, and buyable items.

The patch notes from publisher Bandai Namco are more substantial than expected, and chock-full of buffs.

The Tarnished Pack itself adds the Idus Knight and Heavy Knight starting classes, three outfits for your mount Torrent, NPC invasions in Caelid and Leyndell, and some "weapons that can be purchased from merchants or found in the Lands Between." The pack is bigger news for Nintendo fans, as it's also bringing Elden Ring to the Switch 2.

Though the Tarnished Pack is $5, everyone will get to experience the changes in version 1.17 for free. The headliner is a change to "certain items found in the field or obtained by defeating certain powerful enemies in the Realm of Shadow." These items will now be of "higher-tier" or "other treasures." FromSoftware is being characteristically vague, but I'm hoping this translates into fewer junk items marked as rare. For years, players have moaned about the onslaught of Arteria Leafs and Rune Arcs. Will we finally be spared?

Most of the patch is weapon, spell, and shield buffs. Importantly, tons of greatshields have had their guard boost increased and their weight reduced, making them more competitive with medium shields.

The once-broken perfume bottles had their attack power increased, the Smithscript weapons will deal more damage with throwing attacks, and Rellana's Twin Blades got a welcome critical hit buff.

Buffed spells include Founding Rain of Stars, Carian Retaliation, Meteorite, Meteorite of Astel, Gravitational Missile, Feather of the Divine Bird, O Flame, and the previously memed Rain of Fire, all generally enjoying more damage, quicker casting, or greater range.

A few parry skills were also buffed. The basic Parry skill, Thops's Barrier, and Storm Wall are all sporting "improved parry performance." Storm Wall and Thops's Barrier are more niche than parrying attacks to set enemies up for critical hits, but deflecting ranged attacks can be handy too.

The only real nerf in here is to Rakshasa's Great Katana, which will cause users to take more damage in PvP mid-attack, and cause a longer attack delay when wielded in the left hand. Rugalea's Roar, Rotten Breath, and Ekzykes's Decay also got small PvP-exclusive nerfs.

Elden Ring is more than four years old at this point, so this Tarnished Edition patch could well be the last sizable update we ever see. "We will continue to make improvements so that you can enjoy ELDEN RING more comfortably," the patch notes conclude.

Meanwhile, FromSoftware is coming up on the release of The Duskbloods, and apparently has multiple other games in the works. After Elden Ring Nightreign and The Duskbloods, the studio will seemingly return to its usual single-player adventures.

Even after Elden Ring exploded, Hidetaka Miyazaki says FromSoftware doesn't make games for anyone: "The motivation is that this is a game I want to see exist"

Elden Ring remains one of the most important and best RPGs of the decade and it's easy to talk me into replaying it. This made a new journey to the Lands Between on Nintendo Switch 2 enticing before I'd even touched the port. While early reports last year weren't exactly encouraging, I trusted FromSoftware to take its time and eventually deliver a conversion worthy of an Elden Lord.

After a more convincing showing in early 2026, we hoped for the best. Ahead of The Duskbloods' launch on Switch 2, the Hidetaka Miyazaki-led studio needed a major win that makes it clear Nintendo's latest console isn't getting second-grade material. Thankfully, Elden Ring Tarnished Edition makes an excellent first impression and feels perfectly fine to play... As long as you're happy with a conservative framerate lock and no major additions.

Tarnished, this port isn't

Despite its cross-generation nature and more than a few aging elements, Elden Ring wasn't a guaranteed win on Nintendo's second hybrid console. Whether it was the in-house engine's limitations or a lack of optimization, this (otherwise) excellent action RPG wasn't a great performer on PS5 and Xbox Series X. A constant 60 FPS lock isn't possible even on Performance mode, so everyone who played Elden Ring on consoles has gotten used to its unevenness.

This could've spelled doom for the Switch 2's Tarnished Edition. Yet the final result is visually convincing. Smart sacrifices prevent it from presenting a lesser version of the gorgeous world FromSoftware introduced in 2022. None of its visual identity is lost, and even with an obviously lower graphical preset when running it in handheld versus docked mode (compared in the gallery below), the final image output is shockingly sharp.

Though Elden Ring Tarnished Edition on Switch 2 lacks visual modes (or framerate targets), playing it handheld automatically cuts distant shadows, fog density, asset level of detail, lighting, and, of course, resolution. The overall visual features survive the transition, but lighting is an obvious change; the Lands Between seem a bit dimmer if you're not playing docked, at least when exploring outside.

The presence of so many visual changes versus a simpler resolution downgrade to hit a 30 FPS target – yes, as far as I can tell, it doesn't go higher than that – may be explained by the fact FromSoftware's engine isn't compatible with DLSS. Frustratingly, the press materials provided by Bandai Namco neither confirm nor deny what's happening under the hood, so I have to assume the lower graphical preset makes up for the lack of that upscaling crutch.

In any case, the resolution looks to be 1080p on both TV and the console's own screen. It's among the sharpest-looking third-party ports I've played so far on Switch 2 even in its more compromised form, that's for sure. In fact, I'd say it looks better than it did on Xbox Series S, which makes me think some sort of upscaling might be involved. As an extra, the HDR support, even on the Switch 2's below-average screen, gives a depth to darker areas and shaded environments that's often quite remarkable.

Delays and further optimizations have paid off

With a 30 FPS lock in place that generally holds steady, Elden Ring Tarnished Edition on Switch 2 actually feels a lot like playing Bloodborne on the PS4.

Well, except for the load times. On both the internal SSD and a microSD Express, the port is blazing fast to load from the main menu, and fast travel never takes longer than a few seconds. That comparison also means there's a hint of input lag to the experience. It's to be expected, but potentially frustrating for more competitive players.

During my time with the pre-release build, I explored three major areas of the map and cleared several bosses, up to the Raya Lucaria Academy area. Though I'd have liked to see an uncapped framerate option, I didn't feel like the 30 FPS lock was getting in the way of my enjoyment at all. This isn't the disaster other journalists experienced last year, that's for sure.

That conservative target is missed at times, though, as Stormveil's crowded courtyards and rooftops can trigger some frame drops. I think the suddenly higher NPC count might be the issue here, and Liurnia of the Lakes' reflective surface is as problematic as it was on other platforms.

Other obvious hits to the framerate come from abundant particle effects in fire attacks or dense smoke and mist. These are less noticeable in most cases, as they generally happen when you're getting toasted and are knocked down, but trained eyes will catch them. Overall, docked play seems sturdier, but when FPS drops happen, the console's own screen fares better once again. VRR and low framerate compensation to the rescue!

What's surprising is that I've also seen no major drops in open world boss encounters, which adds to my suspicion that nearby NPC counts putting extra pressure on Switch 2's so-so CPU are the culprit here. This has been part of a larger problem with Elden Ring that has affected other platforms since launch. Switch 2 just has less headroom to work with. Considering the faraway enemies are often seen with low-framerate animations, there might be something to this theory.

Judge this book by the cover

But the Tarnished Edition is still just Elden Ring on a new platform. There's nothing that makes it special or markedly different from other console versions, aside from a few extra goodies – sold as a minor DLC for other platforms – that feel like little goodbye gifts.

You could argue there's some value to the two new classes, but they're only a way to start with a different stat distribution and new armor pieces that you won't be using for too long. As for Torrent's cosmetics, they feel like a throwback to Oblivion's horse armor DLC moment. This also wouldn't fully be a complete port to a modern Nintendo platform without gimmicks, so it'd feel wrong not to mention that you can perform all of Elden Ring's emotes with motion controls if that's your thing. I don't care, but someone probably will. Real Wii-era vibes.

Still, Elden Ring Tarnished Edition is a huge reminder of how meaty the third-party support for Switch 2 has become in 2026. With Oblivion Remastered bringing another Bethesda heavyweight to the hybrid console and Diablo 4 likely coming sooner rather than later, there's no better piece of hardware to play modern open-world RPGs on-the-go.

It seems that Bandai Namco and FromSoft knew they had to get this one right. Despite some rough edges, this version of the massive action RPG stands tall beside the others – and I plan on replaying Elden Ring all the way through on Switch 2.

Elden Ring Tarnished Edition might just become one of the best Switch 2 games ever, but time and opinions will tell...

Legendary FromSoftware director Hidetaka Miyazaki says he wants The Duskbloods to take a broad approach when it comes to designing the game's Bloodsworn characters. Rather than be constrained by traditional concepts of vampires or monsters, Miyazaki wanted to allow for design like Zork's.

The Duskbloods network test was a huge success, with more people signing up for it than for Nightreign, despite it being a Switch 2 exclusive. There was one part of The Duskbloods that was more popular than all the rest, and that was the heart-stealing diving bell with a beak, Zork.

In a media briefing reported on by 4Gamer, and translated by GamesRadar+, Miyazaki speaks about how he doesn't want people to think of the playable characters or Bloodsworn as vampires. "In this game, the player character isn't a vampire, but something called a Bloodsworn," he says. "We didn't want them to just be monsters, but to give the impression that they are a species with intelligence and philosophy and culture and history."

Describing the game's style as Victorian gothic, he doesn't want the design to be restricted by existing traditional concepts. "Maybe it's just a quirk of mine, but my style of interpretation is basically 'If it's called a Bloodsworn, then it's a Bloodsworn," says Miyazaki. "Having a traditional conception is important, but I think the approach should be broadened when it comes to character design. I think you'll find that easy to understand if you look at Zork from the network test."

Zork's design is clearly inspired by the masks of plague doctors, a type of medicine man who tried to cure patients by letting their blood, with uninspiring results. I guess that's a kind of vampirism in its own way.

FromSoftware knows what it's doing with The Duskbloods character Zork, the internet's new obsession: "I have developed a powerful, almost maternal affection"

The Duskbloods might be a Nintendo Switch 2-exclusive game, but one FromSoftware lead says that more fans signed up for its closed network test than they did for the multi-platform Elden Ring Nightreign.

Between Elden Ring Nightreign's release last year and The Duskbloods coming this year, FromSoftware is truly in its multiplayer era right now. It's not that the studio is changing its trajectory to ditch single-player games, mind you, as boss Hidetaka Miyazaki says, "both of those ideas just coincided with being multiplayer games. It's not necessarily some big reveal saying that this is the direction we plan to go moving forward."

Perhaps, though, the success of last year's co-op, roguelike-flavored souls game left more folks excited to see what the studio was cooking up with The Duskbloods. In a livestream hosted by Famitsu (translated by GamesRadar+), FromSoftware producer Yasuhiro Kitao reveals that the number of applications for the Switch 2 game's closed network test exceeded that for Nightreign's. "We were really surprised," he notes.

It is surprising, given that the Switch 2 is a single platform – and one that only just launched last year – it's bound to have a smaller installed base than the combined force of PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One, as Nightreign has. Kitao acknowledges this, saying that FromSoftware questions if there really will be more Duskbloods players come launch, and noting that it'll probably be Nightreign that comes out on top.

Even so, it's a positive early sign for The Duskbloods. After all, multiplayer-focused games live and die by how many players they have – their popularity is usually what makes the difference between something being supported for years to come, or being quietly shelved.

The Duskbloods still doesn't have a release date beyond the vague promise that it'll be out sometime this year – hopefully, FromSoftware will have more news for us soon.

FromSoftware knows what it's doing with The Duskbloods character Zork, the internet's new obsession: "I have developed a powerful, almost maternal affection."

There is nothing the internet loves more than collectively obsessing over a surprisingly cute animated character. Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy. God of War Laufey's Phranque the Cube. The Overwatch hero Jetpack Cat, and his Marvel Rivals analogue, Jeff the Shark. Dark Souls developer FromSoftware knows what it's doing, and that's why we have Zork, a new and admittedly endearing playable character from The Duskbloods, the studio's upcoming Switch 2-exclusive multiplayer action game.

FromSoftware ended The Duskbloods' first closed network test early today after players flooded the servers and really put the stress in stress test. People are upset about that and talking about it a lot on The Duskbloods subreddit and elsewhere online, but deep, deep down, they know they can't be too mad. FromSoftware planned for this. Zork.

Zork can only do so much. Server issues are no fun... but you know what is fun? A dorky little armored freak with a beak shooting missiles and yeeting people off cliff edges. Zork. Following in the ancient tradition laid down by characters like Wooloo and Gooigi before it, Zork is here to do one thing: make you love him, and he's already stolen the hearts of so many.

Zork definitely knows how to stand out. Defiant next to Senator Samir Patres in the character selection screen, opting for a wide-eyed, tongue (beak?)-out expression instead of brooding like the rest of his playable brethren, Zork is clearly the class clown of Duskbloods' roster. There's also something indescribably cute about him, which makes him ideal meme material, and that's precisely what's happening.

Over the course of about 24 hours, likely hundreds of memes have turned Zork into a verb (zorking it), and otherwise infantilized what is in reality an extremely dangerous killing machine.

ZORK

— @berardbro.bsky.social (@berardbro.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-08-21T18:24:21.502Z

Despite the frivolity, a question with potentially disturbing implications lingers... what is Zork? Beneath the armor, beneath the three-inch steel veneer of innocent friendliness? Is there a soul in there? The Duskbloods characters are called Bloodsworn, Vampiric entities of a sort, but what does Zork actually look like without his armor? Some have speculated that he may have come from the sea due to various nautical references in his design and moveset, and the beak and propulsion method have led some to theorize he's actually a squid or octopus, but Zork's true nature will likely remain a mystery until launch.

In the meantime, you have to applaud FromSoftware of all studios, the crew famous for coming up with some of the most horrific, grotesque, mind-numbingly challenging monsters in all of video gamedom, for getting the internet to love-bomb a literal war machine.

The Duskbloods is a Switch 2 exclusive because Nintendo was the "right partner" and "very receptive" to FromSoftware's weird idea, says Hidetaka Miyazaki

The Duskbloods is a multiplayer-only game from Elden Ring and Dark Souls devs FromSoftware, that pits eight players against each other in vampiric combat. If you were expecting another Elden Ring: Nightreign but in the style of Bloodborne, that's not what The Duskbloods is promising – this game isn't just about bringing down massive bosses but also putting other players in their place and hopefully emerging victorious as the best Bloodsworn. It is admittedly quite a confusing game though, so here's I've laid out some key details for how multiplayer works in The Duskbloods.

Is The Duskbloods a PvP multiplayer game only?

The Duskbloods is multiplayer only but is a PvPvE game, with a much greater emphasis on fighting enemies and bosses. In short, while PvP does feature, you won't be fighting other players the whole time.

And if the sound of PvP of any kind sends shivers up thine spine, don't fear as game director Hidetaka Miyazki himself said you don't need to be good at PvP games to do well in The Duskbloods – he says he's bad at PvP in other games too.

How does The Duskbloods multiplayer work?

Every Duskbloods match is a sort of multi-round battle royale where you and seven other players compete to earn Virtue Points before facing a final challenge to decide the victor. Round one allows all players to charge around the map doing whatever they can to earn these points, which is usually defeating bosses, collecting them from specific spots, and stealing them from dead players.

Round two is much the same but may have some special events or effects running. Then, at the end of round two, the two players with the fewest Virute Points are eliminated from the game, culled by Dusk. For round three, a Ritual Site opens on the map, beckoning players to battle each other for great Virtue Point rewards. At the end of round three, the bottom three players are eliminated.

That leaves the final three players to duke it out in PvP arena combat, with the last Bloodsworn standing being the ultimate winner. So, while the likelihood of fighting another player increases as a match goes on, it's not necessarily the focus. Having said that, there are ranked and casual match options, so if you want something a bit sweatier, you can queue into a ranked match instead.

If you're also wondering if The Duskbloods on PC is happening, I've got bad news for you.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Is The Duskbloods going to be on PC and other consoles? For now, it's not looking good because the game is locked to the Switch 2. That's obviously quite unfortunate if you wanted to play The Duskbloods given that many of FromSoftware's games, like Elden Ring, its Nightreign spinoff, and the Dark Souls series have all been widely available across PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and even Nintendo's consoles. But there is a chance it could eventually come to other platforms, so I've explained how a PlayStation, Xbox, or PC release for The Duskbloods could happen.

Is The Duskbloods coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X?

No, The Duskbloods will not be coming to PC, PlayStation, and Xbox at launch because it's a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive – if you don't have a Switch 2, you won't be playing it, sadly.

But it's possible that The Duskbloods could come to PC and other consoles after launch. Looking at previous games, Monster Hunter: Rise launched on the Nintendo Switch in March 2021 and came to PC in January the following year, then PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S in January 2023. The Duskbloods could follow suit depending on the agreement between Nintendo and FromSoftware, remaining a Switch 2 exclusive for at least a year or two to help sell a few more units by banking on FromSoftware's following. Then the game can get a second wind from a wider release.

Alternatively, Bloodborne is one of FromSoftware's best and has been infamously imprisoned on the PS4 (though you can play the PS4 version on a PS5 as well) for over a decade. That's partly because Sony owns the Bloodborne intellectual property rather than FromSoftware, so the developer can't just do what it wants with the game.

However, it seems like FromSoftware does own the Duskbloods IP and made the game with heavy involvement from Nintendo instead. That means the studio should have more freedom to do what it wants with The Duskbloods unless there's an extremely long or perpetual exclusivity agreement with Nintendo that specifically forbids bringing the game to other platforms. Fingers crossed that isn't the case and The Duskbloods does eventually reach other platforms, and I really hope crossplay is added too – I'm looking at you, Nightreign!

Want to know how The Duskbloods multiplayer and PvP work? I've explained the basics here.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

With FromSoftware's ever-growing legendary library of Souls games, it's not surprising that other developers are taking a crack at the action-packed genre – but this new Soulslike about a stray dog journeying to save his rescuer might just take the cake as the most precious.

If you've played Dark Souls, then you likely know (and love, because how could you not?) Great Grey Wolf Sif, the boss who faithfully guards the grave of Artorias the Abysswalker – and wields his huge greatsword, too. It's an encounter that sticks with you… but have you ever considered playing as Sif yourself?

Well, Stray Dog: Nobody Cares, a new game from Indie dev Parry Frames Studio, basically lets you do just that.

Although it's not officially Sif or Dark Souls-affiliated, the vibes are impossible to ignore. As per the game's page over on Steam, it places you in the paws of a stray dog that was rescued by a "disgraced knight" (already giving FromSoft vibes, eh?) who is on a journey to rescue said knight following his capture.

In the canine's mouth is a greatsword, of course, which you wield throughout the fantastical medieval-era game.

As per Parry Frames Studio, you can expect all of the Soulslike essentials: "stealth kills, custom levels, precise parries, brutal boss fights," and you name it. I'm sold, personally, and I'm not alone – reactions online show that folks can't get enough.

On Twitter, fans are pulling out all of the best puns to boot. My favorite? "Bark Souls." Bark Souls, indeed. The general excitement is nice to see, too, especially with all of the Sif comparisons.

"Bruh, a Sif origins story (it's not really)," as one reads. "I'm sold." Another chimes in, "We can play as Sif?!" And, similarly, a fan exclaims, "Sooo… basically playing the story of Sif?" I can't even argue that, honestly – Stray Dog looks, well, like it's just that. A spin-off Sif-themed game or something.

Here's hoping that Parry Frames Studio gives us a more solid release date or window soon.

Searching for some other new games to experience? Check our roundup of the best Soulslike games to date – you might just find one you've not played.

Being a FromSoftware game, there are dangers on all sides when it comes to The Duskbloods. You'll have the monsters you face, and then your opponents, the other Bloodsworn. If that scares you, don't be too worried – creator Hidetaka Miyazaki isn't great at the PvP, and according to him, you don't need to be to win.

He went through the logic in an interview with IGN. "Personally, I am not very great at these high-intensity action games and things like PvP," he says.

"So, at the start, the audience really is just myself while thinking about how I would go at this," he explains. "Are there systems in place that I would enjoy, that cater to me as a player, not being someone who's really into that intense PvP?"

There's some irony in hearing Miyazaki is bad at aspects of these games, when their reputation is of being relentlessly punishing. But his own experience raises important questions: how prominent should the player-versus-player aspects be? And what should be the alternative strategies? As is pointed after, it's impossible to avoid facing at least one other person directly in a match.

"You will have to fight two other players in the final round. That doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be great at PvP in order to win," Miyazaki says, pointing to the Kin, companion fighters that join you, as an option for dealing with other opponents less.

"The Kin [computer-controlled companions] can be further emphasized, and you can customize your character to further supplement their power to turn them into someone who can fight for you while you take a bit of a backseat," he explains. "There will definitely be a section of the customization that caters towards that play style for people who don't want to necessarily always be in an intense PvP thing, even if they make it to the end and want to take more of a backseat and enjoy the game in a different way."

That's good to hear, because I'm in the Miyazaki camp of just not being very good at these more tense moments. He makes it clear that, "We're trying our best to cater to that playstyle as much as we can, currently," so we might see more mechanics and ideas appear post-launch, too. The Duskbloods comes out on Switch 2 later this year.

The Duskbloods is a Switch 2 exclusive because Nintendo was the "right partner" and "very receptive" to FromSoftware's weird idea, says Hidetaka Miyazaki.

Update, 1pm BST: FromSoftware has now announced that The Duskbloods' first closed network test session today has been canceled following persistent server issues.

In an official post, FromSoftware apologizes to fans, saying that it must end the first day's session immediately. It was originally supposed to run from 3am PDT / 12pm CEST / 11am BST to 7am PDT / 4pm CEST / 3pm BST.

"We regret to inform you that today's session is now closed. We will continue to work on improving the servers and will announce future schedules at a later date," it says.

Original story:

The Duskbloods closed network test went live less than an hour ago, but the drooling hordes hoping to get a taste of FromSoftware's new multiplayer game might be left waiting. The Duskbloods' servers are absolutely swamped.

The first round of closed playtests for The Duskbloods began at 3am PDT / 12pm CEST / 11am BST, and almost immediately, hopeful fans all began posting about exactly the same thing: being stuck on the home screen and staring at the game's daunting logo.

"Let me in," on fan writes over on Reddit. "The screen is taunting us all," says another. "Network successfully tested (it doesn't work)," a third jokes.

FromSoftware acknowledges the rough start, too: "We are experiencing issues with logging into the The Duskbloods Network Test Ver. game server. We are currently investigating the matter and kindly ask for your patience until the issue is resolved. Thank you for your understanding," the studio says.

Numerous online posts all paint the same picture. Everyone online is stuck trying to log into The Duskbloods' servers. Everyone else might already be in and enjoying the upcoming Switch 2 exclusive game, though they probably wouldn't be online if so. At least the main menu music is doing a lot of heavy lifting.

FromSoftware's servers were likely slammed with a torrent of fans banging to be let in the door. Thankfully, players have a few days to try the game since its first closed network test runs until August 24. The crowds should hopefully be a little sparser as the days tick along.

It's worth noting that The Duskbloods' closed network test is being split into multiple four-hour time slots spread across the next few days. You can see the full schedule here to plan ahead.

Elsewhere, Nintendo recently denied that The Duskbloods is launching in September in maybe the least convincing way possible. Before you do jump in with high hopes, game director Hidetaka Miyazaki also wants fans to know The Duskbloods and Bloordborne aren't related. The names are just a bloody coincidence.

The Duskbloods is a Switch 2 exclusive because Nintendo was the "right partner" and "very receptive" to FromSoftware's weird idea, says Hidetaka Miyazaki.

FromSoftware's Hidetaka Miyazaki has explained why The Duskbloods is a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive.

Speaking to IGN, Miyazaki explains, "In terms of the reason that we initially decided to go with Nintendo, we had had an opportunity to discuss the idea for the game with them and I think they seemed very excited and very receptive to the idea, they seemed very forward thinking in terms of how to do it." He adds that this had an impact on his decision before he even thought about the business side of things, saying "that alone was something that I found very appealing and gave me a lot more reassurance for moving forward with this."

Miyazaki adds, "Of course the game isn't out yet so there are more things to consider, but in terms of the relationship currently and how we think it's going," Miyazaki notes that the games systems and rules set are "very unique" and adds, "I think having someone who can constantly give us feedback, support, additional ideas, and the balancing first of all because these features are quite complex and difficult – having this relationship is definitely key to that."

He notes that "the complexity of the systems" was another major factor. "The onboarding tutorials and making sure players understand how the game works and how to succeed in the game is something we've historically not been super great at conveying instantly," Miyazaki explains, adding, "We've definitely just dropped players in and hoped they would figure it out." He notes, "Nintendo is definitely the right partner for better conveying that information in a way that is understandable to the player; it definitely suits their strengths."

Of course, From Software is no stranger to exclusive titles, with two of its most beloved games of all time – Demon's Souls and Bloodborne – being published by Sony and were worked on alongside the now-closed Japan Studio. However, this will be the first time in the post-Dark Souls era that the studio has released a game on a Nintendo console on day one, and not to mention the first Nintendo home console exclusive by the company since 2003's Lost Kingdoms 2.

Hidetaka Miyazaki says The Duskbloods is full of ideas FromSoftware couldn't fit into Dark Souls or Demon's Souls: "That was always at the forefront of my mind"

FromSoftware president and longtime Souls series director Hidetaka Miyazaki says the studio doesn't make games to target a specific audience. In his case, he says he just makes the games he wants to see.

Miyazaki discusses his, and the FromSoftware team's, design philosophy in an interview with IGN. "We don't really have a set audience in mind at the start," he says. "It's very much showing that this is what I wanted to make; the motivation is that this is a game I want to see exist."

The Duskbloods comes at an unusual time for FromSoftware. 2022's Elden Ring proved to be the studio's biggest commercial success – and, to many or most fans, its finest RPG – which is the type of game that many companies would want to make a sequel for, or at least a similar follow-up. But ever since, and for several years now, we haven't gotten even one of the single-player dark fantasy RPGs that the studio is known for today.

2023 saw Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon, the first-in-a-decade numbered installment in one of FromSoftware's oldest series. Per our Armored Core 6 review, the game was great – but it (very deliberately) wasn't more Elden Ring and didn't scratch the same itch. Ironically, neither did Elden Ring Nightreign, an experimental PvE battle royale of sorts forged from Elden Ring assets in a cave.

The Duskbloods is the studio's next game, and while it is a dark fantasy action RPG, it's a multiplayer-first experience with a blend of PvP and PvE. Thanks to a Nintendo partnership, it's also FromSoftware's first exclusive game since Bloodborne, making it another outlier in about 13 years of otherwise consistent action hits.

Miyazaki says there was no grand design behind this brief multiplayer bubble, nor has the studio moved away from single-player games. "At the end of the day, our motivation is always to just make a game that we want to play, something we've been wanting to make," he reiterates.

"There was never really any big plan that these two games [Nightreign and The Duskbloods] would both release next to each other," Miyazaki continues. "I mean, that's a different director, but both of those ideas just coincided with being multiplayer games. It's not necessarily some big reveal saying that this is the direction we plan to go moving forward. We still have a heavy focus on single-player content as well. This is just something that happened to work out the way it did."

The director of Nightreign, Junya Ishizaki, joined by FromSoft producer Yasuhiro Kitao, said as much to me in an interview last year: FromSoftware is dabbling in more multiplayer, but its interest in single-player games hasn't waned.

However, Miyazaki says it is "very fun to make a multiplayer game like this. It's not something we've done a lot and we're looking forward to seeing players' reactions and getting the feedback."

Separately, he explains that The Duskbloods leverages ideas that were brought up years ago but didn't suit the likes of Dark Souls or Demon's Souls.

Similar comments come up in a separate chat with Inven Global, with Miyazaki reaffirming that FromSoftware hasn't suddenly lost interest in single-player games despite a small string of multiplayer releases.

"Our stance remains unchanged even now: 'We make the games we want to make,'" he says. "The timing of planning The Duskbloods and the timing of planning by the [Elden Ring] Nightreign team happened to overlap by chance, and Nightreign just happened to be released first, which seems to have led to this misunderstanding." The Duskbloods actually entered development before Nightreign, which reflects the quick-and-dirty development pipeline that Nightreign seems to have had.

Stop the Bloodborne hunt, Miyazaki says The Duskbloods is totally unrelated: "I almost regret putting the word 'Blood' in the title."

Aesthetic and thematic similarities, not to mention the word "blood," have many FromSoftware fans convinced The Duskbloods is related in some way to the beloved 2015 action RPG, Bloodborne. To be fair, they're definitely related by virtue of the fact that they're both developed by FromSofware with Hidetaka Miyazaki at the helm, but according to Miyazaki himself, that's where the connection ends.

"I expected this question, but it is a game with no connection whatsoever to Bloodborne," he tells Inven Global. "In fact, because we've received this question so often, I almost regret putting the word 'Blood' in the title (laughs). There are merely similar terms and concepts; the themes are quite different."

FromSoft sickos have been begging for a Bloodborne remake or remaster, or even just an official PC port, for years now, but so far it seems their pleading has fallen on deaf ears. In fact, FromSoft reportedly shot down a Bloodborne remake pitch from Demon's Souls remake studio Bluepoint before the developer was shut down by Sony earlier this year.

Point being, Bloodborne hopefuls are desperate for something, anything to suggest FromSoft is aware of their existence. But unfortunately, The Duskbloods ain't it, and Miyazaki says the Switch 2 exclusive will prove itself a very different game from Bloodborne at launch.

"In this network test, not much of the world's lore is revealed, so it might be difficult to feel the differences," he says. "However, in the commercial release (the official launch version), much more of the world lore will be uncovered, and I think by then people will realize the two games are completely different."

Right from its announcement, The Duskbloods has been billed as something fresh and new for FromSoft, a PvPvE action game where groups of up to eight players take part in online matches with varying victory conditions. Miyazaki says it's full of ideas FromSoft couldn't fit into Dark Souls or Demon's Souls, including "things that seemed like great ideas, but didn't really fit in the context of a single-player game or within the context of those games, specifically."

The Duskbloods is due out in 2026, and a possible leak suggests a September release date.

The Duskbloods gameplay footage leaks ahead of network test, showing off slick aerial combat, buttery smooth movement options, and a dude turning into a dinosaur.

Earlier today, a wave of hands-on previews for FromSoftware's The Duskbloods went up around the internet. One of them claimed that the upcoming Switch 2 game is due to be released on September 24. Now, Nintendo says that information is "inaccurate," but it's done so in the least convincing way possible.

"The release date is inaccurate because there is no information regarding [the] release date of the Duskbloods," a Nintendo spokesperson tells Eurogamer. I don't know about you, but that's such a bizarrely specific framing that it almost inclines me to believe that the September 24 date is real. Like yeah, sure, maybe the date is "inaccurate" in Nintendo's eyes because it's not officially been revealed yet.

At least, that was my first reaction – my less conspiratorial side is starting to win out. The September 24 date was originally published in a Duskbloods preview by The Guardian, as a footnote at the end of the article. Author Kirk McKeand later posted on Bluesky that "the editor added that in by mistake. It's not accurate and they're amending it."

In my mind, there are two possibilities for how this date slipped into that preview. One is that September 24 is the real release date, and it was meant to be revealed as part of a later embargo. The other is that an under-informed editor thought the article should note the game's release date, then somehow stumbled upon an inaccurate date and simply inserted it. There are, after all, plenty of other notable games launching on September 24, including Control Resonant and Silent Hill: Downfall, so there's plenty of room for confusion.

Ultimately, I do now think the release date was a true mistake, not a leak. Since the launch of the first Switch, Nintendo has tended to release one game per month for the platform. The Duskbloods isn't technically a first-party launch, but it is a big Switch 2 exclusive that Nintendo is marketing heavily. I suspect that the company's partnership with FromSoftware goes far enough that neither would want to step on the other's toes – and with Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave set to be released on September 17, a September 24 launch for The Duskbloods would certainly be a poor dance partner.

The Duskbloods is officially set to launch in 2026, but we've not yet gotten any information more specific than that. There are only two months in Nintendo's 2026 release calendar left unaccounted for, and only two big 2026 Switch 2 games left to fill them. I think the real question is whether we're getting The Duskbloods or the Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake first.

Hidetaka Miyazaki says The Duskbloods is full of ideas FromSoftware couldn't fit into Dark Souls or Demon's Souls: "That was always at the forefront of my mind."

The Duskbloods, FromSoftware's upcoming Nintendo Switch 2-exclusive action RPG, is partly the result of studio president Hidetaka Miyazaki and the other developers behind games like Dark Souls finally making use of ideas they've sat on for years.

Speaking with IGN, Miyazaki explains (via interpreter) that "a lot of our previous titles, such as Demon's Souls and the Dark Souls series" included "a lot of unique online elements" but couldn't accommodate everything FromSoftware had in mind.

"There were also a lot of other things that we wanted to try, things that seemed like great ideas, but didn't really fit in the context of a single-player game or within the context of those games, specifically," Miyazaki continues.

"Over time, a lot of those ideas piled up, things that you wish you could have done here and there. Having an outlet for them, somewhere we can find a place where they all fit, or can be made to fit specifically in that multiplayer context, is something that was always at the forefront of my mind."

On the heels of Elden Ring, which is essentially Dark Souls 4, 5, and 6 in a trench coat, Miyazaki's comments are especially interesting. And even more so after Elden Ring Nightreign, an oddball spinoff that, itself, leveraged some ideas that dated back to Dark Souls 3, as Junya Ishizaki, who was recommended for the director role by Miyazaki, told GamesRadar+ last year. Increasingly, it feels like The Duskbloods will show us a different, even weirder side of FromSoftware.

As a PvPvE game, The Duskbloods leans more into the asynchronous multiplayer that's come to define the Souls games and leverages it in new, still largely unknown ways. Miyazaki mentions one approach here.

"There will definitely be a section of the customization that caters towards that playstyle for people who don't want to necessarily always be in an intense PVP thing, even if they make it to the end and want to take more of a backseat and enjoy the game in a different way," he says.

The Duskbloods has a closed network test rolling out this month ahead of a still-undated 2026 launch on Switch 2.

In June, as FromSoftware owner Kadokawa worked to fend off investors clamoring for a regime change, Miyazaki teased multiple games in the works.

The Duskbloods gameplay footage leaks ahead of network test, showing off slick aerial combat, buttery smooth movement options, and a dude turning into a dinosaur.

The Duskbloods' closed network test kicks off tomorrow, but gameplay footage of FromSoftware's next multiplayer romp has leaked online ahead of time, giving us a fresh look at how we can expect it to play.

As highlighted over on ResetEra, footage has reportedly made its way online after a preview for the game seemingly went live early – although this original source has since been taken down, folks were quick to reupload things. Specifically, a two-and–a-half-minute clip shows off a Moon Blood Bestowal – described in-game as "the final battle, on the night of dusk. The grail beckons three Bloodsworn, but the moontears will flow for one and one alone."

What follows appears to be a PvP fight between three players, and if I wasn't already excited for this game, I am now. Combat looks incredibly smooth and fast-paced, with plenty of mobility options – there appears to be a high degree of air movement with double jumps and even mid-air attacks.

Of course, there are plenty of different attacks and skills shown off, too. From typical sword and axe slashes to guns and even one move that sees a character turn into some kind of dinosaur before charging at an enemy, biting them, and throwing them off the stage, there's a lot going on here.

FromSoftware fans have had somewhat mixed thoughts so far, though the criticisms largely seem to be from folks who are less interested in PvP to begin with. "It looks like a fake video game (positive)," one optimistic viewer writes. "Holy fuck i can't wait to play it." Another adds: "Graphics look very solid and those are some super inventive attacks/kills. I'm impressed. I wouldn't have guessed this was a Switch 2 game if I didn't know already."

On the flip side, another says: "Infinitely less worried about not playing this one. The PvP is by far the least interesting aspect of FromSoft games for me, I like invasion/invaders only so far as it adds a little spice to clearing dungeons but I've never really spent much time in the arenas or looking for fights." And they're not alone – one comment reads: "Looks like the parts of Souls games I hate. Not a fan at all of the PvP."

There's still a lot we don't know about The Duskbloods – this leak aside, it's kind of wild how little gameplay we've seen of it ahead of the network test tomorrow. We're bound to have a much better idea of the overall feel for it then, and hopefully it won't be too long before FromSoftware narrows down its vague 2026 release window.

They can never compete with Elden Ring, but FromSoftware owner says Nightreign "performed strongly" and The Duskbloods is still coming in 2026.

Some fans credit 2009 action role-playing game Demon's Souls with establishing many conventions now considered synonymous with its developer FromSoftware, like crumbling Gothic kingdoms, dark fantasy monsters, and challenging gameplay to make you cry like you've ingested a whole lemon. But before it became some discerning masochists' medieval horror of choice, Demon's Souls was an experiment by defunct Sony developer Japan Studio and FromSoftware.

Video game cut content kingpin Lance McDonald gives rare insight into these infant days of Demon's Souls with a previously lost prototype presentation Japan Studio put together in 2007, to show off at a conference called Gameshare 4. Company notes indicate the publisher introduced developer FromSoftware as the brain behind "real-time 3D classic" King's Field – the 1994 graveyard quest that's the true grandfather of Dark Souls – which emphasizes how much time has passed. This is decades before Elden Ring, Bloodborne, and Dark Souls itself.

The presentation also shows off the 2007-era "photorealistic quality" of Demon's Souls lorn wastelands and mad, mutated enemies, many of which didn't make it to the final version of the game – like a serpent knight with a squiggly neck and tall boots.

A video demo of Demon's Souls prototype' also shows an optional first-person perspective – like King's Field – that would have put your face right in the middle of bosses' formidable, scaly bellies.

Otherwise, Japan Studio distinguishes Demon's Souls from other RPGs by calling online games too time consuming – and the company literally includes a screengrab from that South Park World of Warcraft episode to demonstrate a "stereotype image for MMO RPG gamers" – and it calls exclusively offline RPGs limiting. It emphasizes the importance of Demon's Souls network connectivity and those ghosts the Souls games continue to proudly flounce around – those see-through phantoms of other players who were killed in battle, or who can be summoned to help you with your own problems.

So I'm struck by the clear parallels between this baby Demon's Souls and the games FromSoftware is still making. A piece of early concept art, for example, shows a luxurious grass field haunted by a large ring of stone in the middle, which looks so much like a Stonesword Key boss area in Elden Ring's verdant Limgrave.

Other concept art of a gnarled dragon stuck in a black pit glowing softly with red magma – Flamelurker, maybe – is reminiscent of several FromSoftware bosses from over the years, like Demon Firesage in Dark Souls.

According to McDonald, Japan Studio's notes emphasize that, while you may feel lonely in Demon's Souls' solitary journey, you are not alone because of all the other people playing, too. And after all this time, I think FromSoftware is still prioritize this heady mix of fear and belonging in its titles.

"Like watching the mona lisa being painted," agrees one comment on YouTube.

"If FromSoftware released the full Dark Souls design document, no one would be debating the lore": Creator of one of the highest-rated new roguelikes on Steam says hands-off storytelling was key.

FromSoftware just remembered it's got a new game scheduled for release this year, as it's now confirmed that The Duskbloods' closed network test will take place next month.

During last month's Nintendo Direct, FromSoftware mercifully acknowledged the existence of its elusive Switch 2-exclusive multiplayer game. Things have been very quiet about The Duskbloods since its announcement last year, but we were assured we'd be able to try it out at some point "soon," and now we know exactly how soon that is.

FromSoftware confirms the network test will kick off on August 21 and run until August 24. Each day boasts at least one four-hour time slot, with some clearly more in mind for specific time zones than others. For example, the first slot on August 21 starts at 03:00am PDT (equivalent to 12:00pm CEST), but a second test later in the day begins at 19:00pm PDT (04:00am CEST the following morning). With that in mind, hopefully everyone will be able to join in at a time that isn't meant to be spent asleep at some point during the test days.

If you're interested in taking part, you'll have to register on the official site – you can do so from next Wednesday, July 22, with those selected set to be notified on August 7.

"We plan to conduct large-scale network load tests to check different technical aspects of the game's online systems," FromSoftware writes. "We look forward to you taking part and helping us make The Duskbloods as good as it can be!"

The devs note that the test is planned to trial the game's servers, multiplayer experience, as well as game balance, so if you encounter a particularly broken weapon, there's no promise that the devs won't go in to tweak it. "The Duskbloods Network Test allows for up to eight players to participate together in each of the multiplayer matches while the game is still in development," FromSoft adds. "We ask for your understanding that bugs may occur during gameplay."

We still don't know exactly when The Duskbloods is meant to release beyond the vague promise of sometime this year – hopefully, the imminent network test is a good sign of an announcement to come. At the very least, fans being able to get their hands on it is going to provide plenty of news about what we can expect from the full launch whenever that does arrive.

The Duskbloods' winged rat "elderly gentleman" was actually FromSoftware's rare attempt at something "Nintendo-esque" and "cute."

Former Tekken series lead Katsuhiro Harada says FromSoftware boss and Dark Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki is a "unique" developer with a "'mad scientist' side," thanks to his "deeply serious, obsessive approach to creativity." However, when it comes to Dark Souls, it's not the notorious difficulty that makes Miyazaki's creation stand out – it's the world.

Harada and Miyazaki are both legendary games industry veterans in their own right, but asked about the Dark Souls mastermind on Twitter, the ex-Bandai Namco dev has plenty of thoughts to share.

"Miyazaki is a rather unique, yet extremely serious game developer," Harada begins, noting that the FromSoftware lead "didn't become a game developer until he was almost thirty years old," meaning he wasn't even in the industry for "the dawn of the polygon era" – making his impact on the scene "remarkable." It's that latter part that makes Miyazaki's career path "exceptionally unusual," Harada adds.

As for Dark Souls, it's not the difficulty of the game that stands out to him – in fact, Harada actually hits us with a 'skill issue' midway through his essay, as he notes his belief that "Dark Souls has fairly simple action mechanics, and I don't actually consider it to be an especially difficult game." Damn, OK. Rather, Harada says, "Miyazaki's true creativity shines through in the world he created."

To be fair, I'm sure Harada's not the only one who thinks this. The Dark Souls games aren't just notoriously difficult; they're also famously complex when it comes to their world-building and storytelling. As Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 lead Guillaume Broche discussed recently, the majority of Souls players will "finish the game the first time and haven't understood a thing." However, look a little closer under the surface, and you can uncover deep, fascinating lore and cleverly built locations full of details.

It's no doubt partly thanks to this that the series has cemented itself as such a firm favorite amongst fans, especially over time. Speaking from his experience "overseeing both production and marketing" of the Dark Souls games and Elden Ring, Harada says: "Dark Souls didn't suddenly become a massive success overnight. It was the result of everything Miyazaki and his team had built up through their previous titles."

In fact, there were times when "his team were struggling," which Harada looks back to now that Miyazaki "receives offers from all over the world," making him feel like some folks have had "complete reversals in attitude" to FromSoftware's work since it's become so successful.

Reminiscing about Miyazaki's approach to game development, Harada also looks back to the creation of the VR game Summer Lesson (which was released in 2016, and sees you take on the role of a tutor for a high school student), when the Dark Souls lead tried an early build of the game.

"While everyone else was laughing, chatting, and having fun with it, Miyazaki alone played it with incredible seriousness," Harada recalls. "Then, after everyone had finished and started discussing their impressions, he remained completely silent, staring intently at the preview monitor, deep in thought.

"Everyone became curious and finally asked him, 'Miyazaki, what are you thinking about?' He suddenly smiled and said, 'Oh… I got completely absorbed in thinking about what I would do if I were making this, and what kind of game I'd create,'" he continues. "What he talked about after that was, in the best possible sense, completely insane. It was one of those rare moments when I caught a glimpse of what I'd call his 'mad scientist' side – his deeply serious, obsessive approach to creativity."

The former Tekken boss wraps up by discussing why Miyazaki tends to avoid appearing in live streams and video interviews, and it might not be the reason you'd expect. As well as disliking seeing "himself moving around on video," which any camera-shy person can understand, Miyazaki apparently thinks there are "many people in this industry who know games far better than he does," which makes him believe "his own understanding is still shallow," so "he's not yet in a position to be the one talking about games."

This is, of course, a wildly modest thing for the creator of Dark Souls to think, which Harada acknowledges. "I mean… it's common for well-known developers to say, 'I still have a long way to go.' But whenever someone like him says that, my reaction is always, 'Come on… if you say you're still not there yet, then the rest of us won't feel qualified to talk about games at all.' (laugh)"

In the same enormous post, Harada also speaks about Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai, who he clearly also has immense respect for. In what might be the best form of compliment, he compares him to a Dragon Ball Saiyan "who genuinely believes he's just another ordinary human" – and apparently sometimes says things that make him sound "exactly like Goku."

Hideo Kojima and Dark Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki's games have something other AAA titles don't, former PlayStation boss says: "You can tell it's their visions."

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 creative director Guillaume Broche found inspiration in FromSoftware gems like Dark Souls and Elden Ring while developing his own RPG.

And, if you're wondering why, it all boils down to challenge – something FromSoftware just so happens to excel at – but in this case, maybe not in the way you'd first expect. He explains as much in a new episode of Video Game Club via Konbini on YouTube (below), first outlining what makes Elden Ring (and Souls games in general) so special.

"For me, what I love about Elden Ring is the exploration, not understanding everything, and trying to piece the puzzle together," he says. "I've played every single Souls game to death, but it's an obsession." Not a bad one, eh?

"In the Souls games, it's clearly something else entirely from what we're doing in [Clair Obscur: Expedition 33], but there's still that aspect where there's a story," he then notes, describing how most Souls players "finish the game the first time and haven't understood a thing." Yep, that checks out – and he had that same experience himself.

"Even though I loved the game, I didn't understand a thing," as Broche admits.

"Then, when you look into it, the lore is really cool – but you still get the sense that everything is written out, everything is well-crafted, and everything is incredibly coherent. Even if you don't understand it, you can feel it. That's what I love about it, whether it's in movies or games. It's that aspect where you can really put your brain to work to understand everything that's going on."

In Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, the lead states there's a similar dynamic. Even though it's easier to follow story-wise, folks don't totally get it all unless they truly give it some thought.

"There's still a story, there are cutscenes," Broche describes. "Overall, everyone more or less understands what's going on – but to fully understand it, I really wanted people to rack their brains too and be prompted to think for themselves."

He concludes, "I didn't want to spoon-feed the player all the answers" – which makes sense. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 might not be as "difficult" as the Souls games, per se, but it's not a surface-level ordeal by any means… and that's why I love it.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 lead doesn't "care" if his next game isn't as popular as Sandfall's GOTY RPG, because "we're just going to do what we love again."

Elden Ring Nightreign, FromSoftware's surprise roguelike spin-off game, seems more or less over when it comes to new updates. After the release of the Forsaken Hollows DLC, there hasn't been any hints at more to come.

While desperate fans despair at FromSoftware's silence, the rest of us can enjoy the fruits of some fans who are making their own fun. Animator and artist Keith Garces—who made some of the best "Hop on Nightreign" videos out there—and programmer Spagato just dropped an endless runner based on Nightreign.

It's called Revenant Run and it stars the short doll Nightfarer and the gigantic sword that players love to give her in every meme. Your goal in it is pretty simple: smack monsters, collect runes, level up, and avoid running into trees.

There are some clever nods at some of my favorite enemies from Nightreign, like the big guy with a pumpkin head and the little pot boys. Revenant slashes through them with one swipe and keeps moving like someone just told her there's a bigger sword somewhere to the right of the screen.

If I had access to this game in the computer lab of my middle school I would've never went back to class. Flash games might be gone, but at least we have people on Itch.io keeping the dream alive.

Garces says the game was made to "celebrate a very dedicated community," in a message below the game on Itch.io. They also thanked all the players who enjoyed their videos in the description of the YouTube trailer. "It really is a pleasure to know that the same videos I do for fun is something that can resonate with others," they wrote.

We can only hope The Duskbloods cultivates a similarly creative bunch of players who will keep the game alive much longer than FromSoftware will. Or whatever games studio president Hidetaka Miyazaki was talking about in a recent statement about what's on the docket for the future.

Elden Ring Nightreign was a bold yet flawed Soulslike experiment, but I think it could shape the entire industry's future

FromSoftware is in a curious position. It released Elden Ring, its most successful and arguably best game, and ever since has exclusively released games that are very different to Elden Ring. And yes, that does include Elden Ring Nightreign, an experimental spinoff that cleverly reuses some assets and shrinks the world, then builds a PvE battle royale experience around it.

We've had Armored Core 6 and we've got The Duskbloods coming, but FromSoftware hasn't announced a new single-player dark fantasy RPG of the kind it's known for. This has left many fans revisiting the RPGs FromSoft has already released, most especially Elden Ring and its gargantuan world and DLC. It's hard to think of anybody who has gotten more out of Elden Ring than Bushy, a challenge runner who's beaten this famously long and difficult RPG over 400 times by his best estimate.

On Twitch and YouTube, Bushy is known for completing challenge runs in Elden Ring, and occasionally other games, that put restrictions on how he plays. Across hundreds of clears, he's amassed a huge collection of absurd rule sets. You have the classics, like one-hitting bosses, never dying, never getting hit, always getting hit, or kicking enemies to death. Mods, some of them commissioned by Bushy just for this purpose, also allow for stranger runs with teleportation, mismatched areas and enemies, or randomized items. Then we get to the truly specific stuff, like his most recent video: "Elden Ring But I Can Only Use White Items".

It was this color-specific video series that pushed me to reach out to Bushy. Man, I thought, this guy has done everything. And it's easy to think that Bushy must be running out of ideas or growing sick of the game by now, but he tells me he's every bit as in love with Elden Ring as he has been for the past "3,500 to 4,000" hours of game time.

"I think it's the greatest game that's ever been made," Bushy says. "I always just have a ton of fun with it. If I didn't have that much fun with it, I wouldn't still be trying to come up with new, inventive ways to beat it. Don't get me wrong, part of that is absolutely that it's my job, and there are external forces that are encouraging me to play Elden Ring. But I think it's honestly more of a blessing than it is a curse."

The release of Elden Ring Nightreign did give Bushy some space to play another game, and the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC was a refreshing injection of new content and items, but he always comes back to the game.

He considers the pessimistic read of his position. "You could look at that in a negative light," he says. "You're playing Elden Ring because you have to, because it's the only thing that makes you money. But that's not really how I look at it. Elden Ring is a game that is big enough, massive enough, deep enough, that has such a breadth of content, that having motivation and a reason to actually play it that much is really quite the blessing. I get to play it a whole lot more than other people do."

Bushy's putting every last grain of Elden Ring under the magnifying glass. Like a speedrunner, he talks about individual bosses as things to "practice". His videos often see him deliberately rotate through spells, weapons, and items in order to explain and engage with multiple parts of the game rather than simply using the first winning option he can find, and his rule sets regularly lead to interesting discoveries about overlooked items and strategies. I'm reminded of MMO players running self-sufficient accounts, whose self-imposed challenges force them to play the game in novel ways.

His favorite challenge runs are those that dramatically change the game and are "higher effort" overall, like the one where he was teleported to a random checkpoint every five minutes. He also played the game with an aggression mod that made every enemy follow and attack him at all times, with basically no way to lose or avoid aggro. It didn't go well.

Now, Bushy can just throw out obscene sentences like this: "I've on average beaten the game probably twice a week since the game came out." This schedule wasn't immovable, but his channel history bears it out. I've learned not to underestimate FromSoftware fans, but I certainly haven't met anyone else who's rolled credits this many times. Additionally, Bushy says, "the longest I've gone not playing Elden Ring since it came out has probably been like three weeks."

Bushy is certainly looking forward to future FromSoftware games, but somehow reckons he's got more than enough Elden Ring challenge run ideas left in the tank. When he started playing the game for a living, building on years of streaming other games, he was "hopeful" after his early challenges got some attention. "I made lots of very bad videos and got more views than I had ever gotten at the time," he recalls. Elden Ring's massive audience was enough to turn the game into a career for him, not unlike how creators like VaatiVidya make a living by interpreting FromSoftware lore.

"I still want to do them," Bushy says of his challenge runs. "Simply because it's cool to talk about all of the unique interactions that I can find with specific weapon types and what I think they're strong at, what I think they're weak at, and share the experience that I have in this game with the people that are interested in it. As long as people are interested, I'm more than happy to do it."

FromSoftware boss Hidetaka Miyazaki teases unannounced games, says the studio should do what it wants as the investor that told Nintendo to charge "99 cents just to get Mario to jump a little higher" fights its parent company.

Destiny world design lead Niles Sankey recalls that one of the game's early challenges was inspired by Dark Souls.

Maybe not as much in the modern era where we all know what a Souls game is, but the first Dark Souls was a magical moment. After the introduction boss area, you arrive in the Firelink Shrine, and I'd wager a lot of us didn't realize we had to go into the aqueduct behind us first thing, and instead ventured straight into the graveyard in front of us. In said graveyard, you'll inevitably have gotten rocked by a group of skeletons and pondered if the game was really this hard. But this was an important lesson in where not to go in this vast world.

Sankey recalls working on Destiny's Cosmodrome area and hiding mysterious areas behind high level enemies. After a fan mentioned the "skull health bar knights" (the Hollowed Knight enemy from the Destiny beta), Sankey reveals: "I specifically placed the 'skull health bar knights' in Cosmodrome for this reason. It was inspired from my experiences playing Dark Souls."

However, Sankey also says that he had to fight a lot to make sure these enemies stayed in the game. "There were situations where other devs would say 'These knights are too high level, this must be a bug. Delete them.' and I would say 'Nooo!!! Please leave them please, it's by design.'" But over ten years later, Sankey is "happy to know players still have fond memories of these guys."

He also teases a "really tragic but also funny development story about these Knights," but says it'll be saved for "another time."

Personally, I do have an appreciation for games that will let you get your ass kicked as a learning experience, but I am also ashamed to admit that those Dark Souls skeletons I mentioned earlier got around an hour or so of battering me before I realized what the game was trying to tell me.

Destiny 2 and Bungie as a whole were "very close" to closing before Sony buyout, according to ex-community lead: "It was an emergency acquisition."

FromSoftware owner Kadokawa has locked horns with investors over a proposed plan for the company's leadership. Amidst the crossfire, FromSoftware president and Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki shared a simple message: we just want to make games, man.

Japanese outlet Denfaminico published a statement from Miyazaki today, June 12, after inquiring about his thoughts on Kadokawa's ongoing fight. A June 12 news release from Kadokawa confirms that it's elected to oppose shareholder proposals regarding its "medium-term management plan."

Miyazaki's statement (which I'll quote very sparingly, as it's been machine translated from Japanese) affirms that he and FromSoftware are familiar with Kadokawa's situation, but is quick to stress that the whole thing is complex and largely beyond them, and his thoughts here are purely his.

Miyazaki says he's "satisfied" with FromSoftware's development environment, which has seen it produce multiple hit games following Elden Ring, the studio's critical and commercial magnum opus. Armored Core 6 and Elden Ring Nightreign both performed well, and Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive The Duskbloods is 2026-bound with a closed network test just announced for this summer.

It's not that FromSoftware can't make improvements to its processes, Miyazaki adds, but the studio is already able to "freely" create the games it wants to make, which is his priority. Preserving that development environment, which he says is one of the main reasons it's been able to make games "of value" in the past, and letting FromSoftware concentrate purely on making those games is "of the utmost importance."

Additionally, Miyazaki tells fans reading his message that they can look forward to upcoming titles, both announced games like The Duskbloods as well as "the unannounced titles yet to come."

The investor fight, per a June 5 Kadokawa news release, relates to "the company proposal to elect director candidates Takeshi Natsuno and Hiroo Unoura." In other words, some investors want to get rid of the CEO, citing alleged underperformance, and change the company's strategy.

As Denfaminico reports, the driving force in this pushback is investor Oasis Management Company, which, per Kadokawa's June 1 shareholder meeting notice, holds (a non-exact) 20,500 shares, or 13.76% of the company, making it the largest shareholder, beating Sony's 11.01%. Oasis has steadily raised its stake throughout the year, per Automaton.

Oasis even created a whole website, called "A Better Kadokawa," to air its grievances against the company – namely, that it "fails to capture FromSoftware's full value, ceding economics to external partners" and its "'quantity over quality' strategy for core Publication / IP Creation business has weakened profitability" as earnings per share declined "89% during [CEO Takeshi Natsuno's] tenure."

"Oasis Calls on KADOKAWA Investors to Vote AGAINST CEO Takeshi Natsuno," the website reads. Kadokawa said in a May 28 presentation that it "believes" this website "contains statements that differ from the Company's understanding and do not fully reflect the Company’s initiatives."

Oasis, you may recall, is the same company that once implored Nintendo to inject microtransactions into its games. An immortal letter from Oasis founder and still-CEO Seth Fischer, to late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, reads: "We believe Nintendo can create very profitable games based on in-game revenue models with the right development team. Just think of paying 99 cents just to get Mario to jump a little higher."

So, you can imagine why Kadokawa and, by extension, FromSoftware might hesitate.

Ever since Elden Ring, FromSoft fans have been awaiting the studio's next traditional single-player-focused action RPG. Armored Core 6 is its own beast, and Elden Ring Nightreign and The Duskbloods are more experimental multiplayer titles. However, Miyazaki's said that FromSoftware hasn't made some internal pivot away from single-player games, and Nightreign director Junya Ishizaki told us games like it are an extension of the studio's philosophy, not a change to it.

"We've had these two titles, Nightreign and the recently announced Duskbloods, with multiplayer at their core. But that's not necessarily to say that we are leaning in that specific direction going forward," Ishizaki told us in May 2025.

"FromSoftware is making steady progress" amid push "to develop IP in games" and film, says owner Kadokawa as Elden Ring movie looms.

The Duskbloods, FromSoftware's Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive, will hold a closed network test this summer ahead of a still-unannounced launch later this year.

The Duskbloods made an extremely brief appearance during today's Nintendo Direct live show. A few environment and character shots – featuring the likes of Pajama Hammers and Magic Rat, as I've dubbed them – and some light narration leads us right into a simple closed network test reveal.

The test is "coming soon," the trailer description adds, and I'd certainly hope so with summer starting June 21. It's currently unclear how long the test will run, or how we'll be able to sign up to participate.

Notably absent was any trace of a release date. The Duskblood was one of the first games announced for the Nintendo Switch 2, a rare exclusive game for FromSoftware, yet we still don't know exactly when it's coming out.

The Duskbloods is an oddball in more ways than one, and it's come at a strange time for FromSoftware. After the monumental success of Elden Ring, the pinnacle of the dark fantasy action RPGs that the studio's become known for, we've seen the return of Armored Core in Armored Core 6, and the experimental multiplayer of Elden Ring: Nightreign. The Duskbloods, a PvPvE game of some sort, is in a similar space. This has left many fans wondering when the next full-fat, Dark Souls-style RPG will come along. (I wouldn't complain about a Bloodborne or Sekiro-adjacent single-player experience, either.)

The blurb on the new trailer reads: "Step into this new PvPvE multiplayer action game from FromSoftware, where you take on the role of a Bloodsworn. Fight through a world overrun with enemies using unique weapons and abilities, while occasionally forming transient alliances on your path to victory."

They can never compete with Elden Ring, but FromSoftware owner says Nightreign "performed strongly" and The Duskbloods is still coming in 2026.

As Summer Game Fest continues amid rumors of a Nintendo Direct coming next Tuesday, we're expecting to finally get that Elden Ring on Switch 2 release date… oh wait, never mind, they just tweeted it out.

Over on the Elden Ring Twitter account, a post confirms that Elden Ring Tarnished Edition is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on August 28, 2026, finally bringing the beloved RPG to the portable console after it was literally the first third-party game featured in the big Nintendo Switch 2 Direct.

The Tarnished Pack DLC adds some minor new content, including armor and starting classes, will be released for all platforms on the same day.

The Tarnished Edition was delayed until 2026 for "performance adjustments," after reports that the port was real rough came out of the Gamescom 2025 demo.

And while it's coming out later than expected, Bandai Namco is finally delivering in a couple months. Our more recent hands-on impression found that the port is feeling a lot better, so hopefully it'll end up a great way to play the RPG– at least on a handheld that is.

And while the game won't be getting a reissue on other platforms as far as we know, the account also confirmed that the additional content that is being added to the game as part of the Tarnished Edition on Switch 2 will also be available to purchase on other platforms the same day as 'The Tarnished Pack DLC.' This DLC will include the two new starting classes which includes the heavy knight, who probably has the best starting stats in the game. Plus there some new armor sets and a nice bit of horse armor for those Elder Scrolls enthusiasts out there.

Elden Ring player achieves "the hardest one-shot kill" in the game, downing an 89,000 HP boss after 8 hours of punishing trial and error: "It's absolute hell"

Of all the Elden Ring challenges out there, defeating serpent demigod Rykard in just one hit might stand as the most impressive to date – or, at least, it's certainly up there.

Now that the FromSoftware RPG has been out in the wild since 2022, players have found all sorts of creative ways to challenge themselves. Heck, folks have managed to tackle no-hit saxophone runs and more… if you can believe it. There have also been plenty of attempts at one-shot boss takedowns – and successes, as Reddit user Cheppitos survives to prove.

In his latest post, he announces that he's not just killed any boss in a solo hit, though.

Cheppitos has done the seemingly impossible and dealt nearly 100,000 damage in one shot, as he writes, to Rykard – a boss he describes as "the hardest one-shot kill in all of Elden Ring, including the DLC." It took the skilled player a whopping eight hours to do, too, and a whole lot of luck thanks to RNG. Cheppitos explains just why this part of his one-shot journey was so difficult in the comments, noting that the stars had to align.

"It's RNG," he says, "Rykard in phase two needs to perform the specific breath attack, which is the rarest. Furthermore, the angle and timing of the spell need to be perfect, or the lightning bolts won't kill him, and the buffs might expire."

In a separate reply, he expands on this, calling Rykard "the only boss in the entire game that's truly impossible to One-Hit Kill legitimately compared to all the others." He has the "highest HP pool in the whole game," after all.

The Elden Ring mastermind concocted a strategy that involved damage stacking with poison debuffs to "burst him down" and then the Sacred Bloody Flesh, White Mask, and Lord of Blood's Exultation for the second phase – and he did it.

His attached clip proves as much, highlighting how Cheppitos destroyed Rykard without breaking a sweat… er, at least during that one pull, anyway. His conclusion? "It's absolute hell."

It sure sounds like it is – but somehow, I feel the community will somehow manage to go on and pleasantly surprise me with an even wilder challenge run, honestly.

Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis boss fight lead points to Elden Ring as a stellar example of how to make sure they're fair

Terrifyingly, Bloodborne was released on PS4, a console apparently doomed to be the game's forever tomb, on March 24, 2015. A substantial DLC, The Old Hunters, hit the game in November. Ever since, one player, who goes by Noahman90 on Reddit, has been up to his eyeballs in The Old Hunters for one specific purpose: the Orphan of Kos, one of the hardest bosses on FromSoftware's roster, absolutely must die.

Noahman has spent over a decade, and some 3,500 hours across multiple characters, playing Bloodborne. The vast majority of that playtime was spent helping other players fight the Orphan of Kos, much like Elden Ring hero Let Me Solo Her's famous Malenia support. But with the Bloodborne population dwindling to the point that Noahman doesn't even "get summoned anymore," it's finally time to hang up his hunter's hat.

Speaking with GamesRadar+, Noahman explains that he originally focused on the Orphan of Kos because it is "easily the highest demand boss in the game for summon requests," which makes for fast runs. Eventually, he caught the bug. "I started to really like the boss even more than I already did," he tells me. "Fighting the Orphan was so, so much [fun]. I started to get good and I liked the feeling of helping people out."

The nature of FromSoftware's multiplayer summoning system is perfect for players like Noahman, who says he isn't very social. "The relationship between Summoner and Cooperator is like two ships passing in the night," he reasons. "Except in this instance I'd help the ship get to port safe and be on my way."

Noahman has helped a lot of ships get to port. After the first few years of play, he says there were "very few losses" during his summoning sessions. By his best estimate, he's helped anywhere from 5,000 to 6,000 hunters beat the Orphan of Kos. You can find years-old clips of him running circles around the boss on his Reddit profile.

Slowly plugging away, mostly on Fridays and weekends, Noahman mastered the fight and dialed in his character. "My favorite setup for the Orphan of Kos was the Blade of Mercy and that's it," he says, referring to a pair of trickshop daggers that combine into a short sword. "No guns (the parrying trivializes that fight). Blade of mercy is a very, very close-range weapon. Usually used by people in PvP settings. Although against the Orphan the BOM (if used well) matchup was like a dance... nothing in any other Souls game quite like it."

Bloodborne was actually Noahman's first Souls game – that is, his first exposure to the modern FromSoftware action RPGs – and even as "every boss in that damn DLC kicked my ass," the Orphan of Kos proved to be an especially fierce nemesis. This neatly mirrors the origin story for Let Me Solo Her, who likewise struggled with Malenia before resolving to help others through the fight.

Noahman reckons the Orphan isn't the hardest boss in Bloodborne, though. For his money, that crown goes to either Laurence himself or the Watchdog of the Old Lords, but they're kind of cheating with their difficulty. "They are hard because they are not designed well with bullshit AOE hitboxes and fire splash damage," Noahman says, speaking pure facts.

I always have the same question when I speak to players like Noahman, who stick to self-imposed challenges for years on end: why? Noahman's answer is a perfect summary of what pushes people to engage with games at all, setting and chasing their own goals: "Because it was fun."

"After a while it became an obsession trying to perfect that battle with the Orphan," he concludes. "Even now I feel as though there are areas that I can still improve."

Jordan writes: I couldn't love Dark Souls or Bloodborne, but Phantom Blade Zero is the action RPG I wanted them to be.

Separating the goods from the greats is never easy, and the best DLCs prove why that is. This list began as a humble collection of five must-play video game expansions, but after careful (see: impassioned) deliberation with my colleagues here at GamesRadar+, we've expanded our rankings to seven.

If you're here off the back of the new Witcher 3 DLC announcement, you're in the right place. There's something magical about the transformative power of an excellent DLC, whether it sees a glorious journey come to a well-rounded conclusion (as per one of the best Witcher games) or a beloved FPS shown in a whole new light. Many games on this list count among the best RPGs, but rest assured: we're thinking broadly for this one, meaning no genre has been ruled out.

We'll be keeping this list updated as more new games deliver post-launch offerings, but for now, join us as we crown the best DLC of all-time.

7. Dragon Age: Inquisition - Trespasser

Base game: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Platform(s): PC, PS4, Xbox One
Release date: September 8, 2015

Serving as an essential epilogue to Dragon Age: Inquisition, the Trespasser DLC was the final major expansion to come to BioWare's third fantasy RPG. With so many narrative threads still to wrap up in the main story – which left us with a major revelation regarding companion Solas' identity and motivations – the Trespasser DLC allows you to confront the complex elf and perfectly sets up what's to come in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

Set against the backdrop of Thedas' political tensions, you also get caught up in a curious plot, and eventually determine the fate of the Inquisition in a satisfying conclusion. It's as necessary as it is enjoyable, with the bonus of being given the chance to spend more time with the loveable companions (and your chosen paramour).

6. Lies of P: Overture

Base game: Lies of P
Platform(s): PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
Release date: June 6, 2025

Lies of P charmed me as one of the most impressive and best action-RPGs of 2023, and Overture somehow managed to top it. Introducing difficulty levels in what has to be a first for the Soulslike subgenre, Lies of P: Overture sees our steel-armed hero sent back in time to the moment the city of Krat fell apart. The new map areas breathe life and dimension to the otherwise Belle-Epoque gothic vibe of the base game – think snow-capped mountains, mutated zoo animals in a deviation from all those puppets, new status effects, and brand new weapons to craft. It's a beautiful, engaging DLC that adds plenty of narrative backstory to the events of the base experience, and it really should be top of every Souls fan's list to try out.

5. Dishonored: The Knife of Dunwell

Base game: Dishonored
Platform(s): PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Release date: April 16, 2013

Casting you as one of Dishonored's antagonists, assassin leader Daud, Dishonored: The Knife of Dunwall manages to both complement the main adventure and stand relatively alone. In fact, with three dense missions that the superpowered stealth assassin can complete in a variety of ways, the greater focus lends this side-tale more replayability – I've probably zipped through this one twice as much as the main game. This expansion allowed developer Arkane room to experiment as well, many of Daud's powers having their own twists on Corvo's moveset, like how Blink actually pauses time while you aim, allowing for ultra-precise assassin moves (can comes with its own charms, for further refining abilities, too). In fact, I'm redownloading it right now.

4. Mass Effect 3: Citadel

Base game: Mass Effect Legendary Edition
Platform(s): PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
Release date: May 14, 2021

Saying goodbye is never easy, particularly when it comes to an RPG trilogy that made you fall in love with its characters so deeply. So, when Mass Effect 3 first came around, it was hard to let go of Commander Shepard and the Normandy crew. Thankfully, a year later, BioWare dropped the Citadel DLC to round off the adventure. Not only did it serve as a fond love letter to the series and its fans, but it also delivered the perfect, bittersweet way to bid farewell to the RPG's beating heart: the companions.

Centered around putting on a party on the Citadel during a much-needed spell of shore leave, you get caught up in an incredibly wild conspiracy involving your own clone (because Shepard can never catch a real break). Packed full of self-aware jokes, meaningful moments, and incredibly entertaining scenarios, it has everything you could ever want from an expansion.

3. Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

Base game: Cyberpunk 2077
Platform(s): PC, Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X
Release date: September 26, 2023

How CD Projekt Red managed to turn one of the best first-person RPGs into a spy thriller is a feat in and of itself, but Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is proof of how well it works. As both a polished-up "do-over" of sorts that saw multiple in-game systems and processes reworked as part of the major 2.0 update it released with, Phantom Liberty has become essential material that no playthrough would be complete without.

There's new weapons, new characters, and a whole new district of Night City to explore – oh, and a couple of new endings, if collecting 'em all is your thing – and it's more than deserving of being one of the best DLCs ever made for the sheer magic of how it makes Cyberpunk feel the way it was always meant to.

2. Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

Base game: Elden Ring
Platform(s): PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
Release date: June 21, 2024

A long two-year wait separated the base game from Shadow of the Erdtree, but the Elden Ring DLC was more than worth it. It offers a uniquely narrative-driven approach, offering a glimpse into the Land of Shadow and how Queen Marika rose to power – and yes, you need to touch a withered arm to make that temporal jump.

It's a suitably gruesome, fascinating expansion that peppers the already rich tapestry of Elden Ring with even more lore-bites, a new host of weapons, a reworked magic system, and some of the cleverest open world design among any of the other best DLCs on this list. It's easy to see why fans call it a vital part of the overall experience, so you don't want to miss this one.

1. The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine

Base game: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Platform(s): PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Switch 2, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
Release date: May 21, 2016

Geralt's journey to Toussaint is an unmissable experience that truly completes the base game, and a decade later, I think our Witcher 3: Blood and Wine review was a little harsh on the best DLC of all-time. The lush expansion sees Geralt taking up the moniker of wine baron in a picturesque land – one with a vampire problem on its hands.

It stands out not only for its thrilling storytelling and worldbuilding, as is par for the course for CDPR, but for how beautifully it ties things up for our monster slayer (though you can still engage with the open world and clean up those side quests once the credits roll). Blood and Wine is everything a DLC should be, the definition of a must-play RPG expansion, and I won't hear a word against it.

FromSoftware parent company Kadokawa has just released new financial results revealing the Dark Souls developer is committing to more self-publishing and self-funding while it works on converting video game IP to big deal movies like Elden Ring's.

The Elden Ring movie is already in production under A24 and 28 Days Later writer Alex Garland, who is serving as both its scriptwriter and director, and it's due to release on March 3, 2028. But 2028 feels so far away when Kadokawa predicts 2026 profits will drop something like 40.3％ "due largely to ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN main game and DLC," the company exclaims in its financial report. So, since FromSoftware's catalogue is getting stale, Kadokawa wants another round of everything – more game IP, more film adaptations – as it relies on the Dark Souls developer for business.

"FromSoftware will steadily advance initiatives aimed at maximizing earnings by developing titles using its own capital and optimizing the business scheme including its publishing structure," says Kadokawa. "We are making steady progress in strengthening the ability to develop IP in games and the cultivation of human resources."

On that last point, Kadokawa later explains in its report that it's beginning to roll out a "special early-retirement program" for employees aged 45 and older.

It seems the aim of this program, which will begin on July 31, 2026, is to cull staff numbers, but in a nicer way. Anyone who meets the age and job rank requirements, and has been with Kadokawa for at least five years, will, seemingly, be helped to retire extra early.

"This initiative is expected to optimize fixed costs and improve productivity, directly contributing to improved profitability," says Kadokawa. The company doesn't explicitly state if the program is exclusive to parent company employees, or if it will extend to properties like FromSoftware, too.

Kadokawa is clear, however, in saying it wants FromSoftware to "make further advances in the development of the media mix, including adaptation into videos." Several projects have already been announced in pursuit of this goal: in addition to the Elden Ring film, FromSoftware has a Sekiro anime coming to Crunchyroll this year, and there's an R-rated Bloodborne animated movie in the works.

Side note: I consider myself a Tier 1,000 Bloodborne fan, and even so I'm skeptical when I say fellow superfan and YouTuber JackSepticEye is producing the movie. I'm curious about why Sony prefers a, however well-meaning, gaming personality to manhandle its beloved IP rather than another studio. But, you know. At least we're getting more Bloodborne.

A strong message throughout Kadokawa's report is, go big and FromSoftware. The parent is eager to "further expand the fan base globally," it says, while "FromSoftware is making steady progress in revamping its business model to maximize earnings."

The developer, an expert in punishing dark fantasies, is a strange cash cow with weird lumps and boils. But Kadokawa is clearly hoping that's what game and film audiences want – and, based on all the hours of the day I've lost to Yharnam, I'm inclined to agree.

They can never compete with Elden Ring, but FromSoftware owner says Nightreign "performed strongly" and The Duskbloods is still coming in 2026.

We might not have The Elder Scrolls 6 yet, but that's all right – a talented Elden Ring modder is working to get one of Bethesda Game Studios' classics to us instead, bringing Morrowind to FromSoftware's own fantasy RPG.

In case you've not heard of the big project yourself, legendary Halo and Elden Ring modder InfernoPlus has been working to port Morrowind to Elden Ring for quite some time now – heck, he first unveiled his plans in 2025, explaining that he was "about halfway done."

A good while has passed since then without much word from the creator, but a new update from InfernoPlus proves the mod is indeed still happening. Explaining the current state of the project in a YouTube video, he dubs it "the most complex mod ever created" – and, yeah, I can see why. Morrowind is 24 years old, and Elden Ring is, you know, a completely separate game.

"It's been some months since the last update, and we have made tremendous progress on the mod," InfernoPlus says. "Many things that I thought would be impossible have taken shape, and the game has entered a fairly playable state."

That's good news, to say the least – but that doesn't mean the mod is ready. "It's still got a ways to go before it's done, but what we have built here is actually really quite interesting," as InfernoPlus states.

He goes on to show it off, from the functional combat to spells and gear, and it's certainly a sight to behold. There's plenty to anticipate, but he does clarify that it's not been easy. Elden Ring doesn't provide too much to work with.

For example, crime and punishment are big in The Elder Scrolls. Guards will arrest you – a system that's not actually in Elden Ring itself. So, InfernoPlus and his team of modders have had to do everything from coding to scripting to bring the decades-old Bethesda RPG to life in the FromSoftware game, and they're still working on it.

He leaves a call for volunteers in the video, too, asking for artists and voice actors to hop on board the project.

That's not to say the mod isn't chugging along well, however – InfernoPlus reiterates that it's "progressing quite well," all things considered. So, we might just get to replay Morrowind in Elden Ring soon… sooner than The Elder Scrolls 6, I'd wager, anyway.

A new Elden Ring world record was set just 2 weeks ago, and like everyone else I keep rewatching the same part of the 52-minute speedrun.

A new Elden Lord has been crowned. On April 21, Elden Ring speedrunner N1ghtglow, a Chinese player sporting a respectable profile picture of Persona 5's Haru on Speedrun.com, set a new world record for the glitchless any% category of FromSoftware's open-world epic, beating the previous holder, fellow Chinese runner Okkotsu_Yuta, by just four seconds at 52:12. That's how tight the Elden Ring races have become, but this run stands out not just because it's a bit faster, but also because it makes for incredible TV.

The YouTube version of the run mirroring the bilibili video is a one-hour Elden Ring masterclass (run time pauses during loading screens, hence the time discrepancy). Like the other world record contenders, it starts with a mad dash to one of the most overpowered weapons in the game: Death's Poker, a frostbite-stacking weapon capable of deleting bosses in seconds. The Death Rite Bird that drops it rather clumsily and mysteriously falls off a ledge – a running theme for these speedruns.

The part that kills me – and, according to YouTube's watch timeline, the part everyone else keeps coming back to – is the workaround for the Draconic Sentinel fought outside Leyndell city. And by the way, this fight, much like Radahn, is done before Margit, which is the main boss most people fight first in standard playthroughs.

Around 23 minutes in, N1ghtglow kills this mini-boss, once known as a reasonable difficulty wall following Elden Ring's release, in a single hit. The execution is spellbinding.

The Draconic Sentinel, like some other mounted enemies, has a unique stagger animation. When you hit him with enough attacks, or simply parry him flat, he'll buckle and pause rather than fully collapse like humanoid bosses. If hit during this state, he'll sort of limp away in the opposite direction of your attack.

N1ghtglow combines all of these behaviors to parry the sentinel right next to a ledge, swiftly run behind him, and send him flailing over a cliff with one hit to his horse's rear, the movements perfectly mirroring those samurai film parodies where the hero sheathes their sword at lightning speed and entire trees fall to pieces behind them. I would be furious if I were this Draconic Sentinel.

Commenters on YouTube flagged another exceptional moment: the Maliketh fight 59 minutes in. By setting up frostfire with Death's Poker, N1ghtglow is able to beat the first phase of the fight the moment it begins, and a stylish mid-air stagger angled upward makes short work of Maliketh proper.

The entire run is just Death's Poker and gravity making hamburger beat out of some of the most feared bosses in gaming, and one mad lad samurai starter class beating all of Elden Ring faster than I usually get through a few bosses. It's no wonder Elden Ring has a famously long sales tail – people are still actively pushing this game beyond its limits.

Elden Ring movie set photos suggest the Loathsome Dung Eater and Raya Lucaria will appear in the A24 adaptation.

Even though Markiplier found huge success with adapting Iron Lung into a film, Jacksepticeye isn't planning on enlisting his help for his own upcoming Bloodborne adaptation.

Jacksepticeye, real name Seán McLoughlin, is a producer on the film – and he's also a superfan of the game, so it would seem Bloodborne is in excellent hands.

When asked by Radio Times at the BAFTAs if he'd be speaking to Markiplier to get any tips, Jacksepticeye responded: "No. This is my thing. I have to figure it out on my own, and do it on my own. But the team we have around me already are already incredible, and that's kind of my job is to figure out who those people are. I can handle it. I'll do it."

Markiplier wrote, directed, and starred in his adaptation of Iron Lung, which turned out to be a surprise hit at the box office. The Bloodborne adaptation, meanwhile, is an R-rated animated movie announced at CinemaCon during Sony's panel, and it was teased to be "very true" to the beloved FromSoftware action-RPG.

"I know a lot of you are gonna be surprised to hear that my name is attached to this thing. Again, I'm a producer. I'm not the writer or director of this. That stuff will come out later, about who's involved. But as the producer of it, whatever is within my power to be able to do, I will do it," Jacksepticeye said in a video after the announcement.

"I will fight tooth and nail to make this thing the best it possibly can be from my standpoint. I assure you. I promise you. I'm not going into this and taking it lightly. I know what an absolute gigantic honor it is. No one knows that better than I do."

The Bloodborne movie doesn't yet have a release date, but, while you wait, check out our guide to the most exciting upcoming video game adaptations for everything else worth getting excited about.

An Amazon listing has been spotted for the delayed Elden Ring Nintendo Switch 2 port, and we're looking at an $80 Game-Key Card

As spotted by Wario64, the Amazon listing for Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition on Nintendo Switch 2 is live on the site, and while the delayed FromSoftware hit doesn't have an official release date yet (instead, it currently lists a December 31, 2026 placeholder), Amazon has released a price for it. The Tarnished Edition for Switch 2 will seemingly be $79.99 in the US, and it's also going to be a Game-Key Card – one of Nintendo's somewhat controversial physical games with nothing on the card.

Elden Ring was the first third-party title announced for the console during the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, but after reports that the port was real rough when shown to fans at Gamescom 2025, the port was delayed until 2026 for "performance adjustments." And, after a recent hands-on, GamesRadar+'s James Daly reported that the port is feeling real good now, signalling that it may be closer to release.

The $80 price may seem like a lot for the now four-year-old game, and it is, but this price does match with what Bandai Namco is charging for the Shadow of the Erdtree Edition of the game on other platforms. And, with the Tarnished Edition including the DLC, it makes some sense why its priced this way. A user on Reddit notes this, but given that it's called "Tarnished Edition" unlike the Shadow of the Erdtree Edition, "They better put a big blurb on the front saying it's included though, because if they don't the only thing people are going to see is '$80 GKC.'"

However, we've seen the likes of Square Enix and Capcom price games differently when bringing them to Switch 2, with the likes of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Street Fighter 6, and the Resident Evil Generations Pack allowing players to pick up Resident Evil 7 and Village alongside Requiem for about £10 more, so I understand why some are shocked Bandai Namco is sticking to its guns with this release. As one Reddit user puts it, "I think these companies don't understand that they need to not maximize per unit revenue, when they are trying to break into a new audience."

4 years later, new Elden Ring cutscene uncovered with massive lore implications for DLC star Miquella.

Elden Ring is still keeping secrets, but dataminer Lance McDonald is good at easing them out – the YouTuber just discovered a piece of cut content illuminating more of FromSoftware's arcane story.

Lore spoilers for the 4-year-old game to follow! Turn back if you want to watch a VaatiVidya video first.

McDonald has uncovered a new cutscene showing demigod Miquella planting the Haligtree legacy dungeon – and a literal, crooked tree – with his own pale hands. While I believe everything in Elden Ring is intentionally vague enough to warrant your own interpretation, regardless of director Hidetaka Miyazaki's vision, this missing scene shows Miquella didn't just settle on the towering Haligtree as his refuge – he created it with the hope of lending its strength to his sick sister Malenia.

In the deleted scene, a young Miquella kneels with his shadow of white-gold hair trailing down his back. The Haligtree sapling sits delicately in his hands before he sinks it into the dirt and smears it with his blood, dictating, "Young seedling. Young seedling. Grow larger, stronger.

"My dear twin. Accept this gift. A gift of abundance. My last drop of dew – let all things flourish, whether graceful or malign. If thou covetest the throne, impress my vision upon thine heart, in the new world of thy making, all things will flourish. Whether graceful or malign." Watch the scene for yourself below.

Miquella seems to address the Haligtree and Malenia, whose Scarlet Rot is eating her limbs, at once – he encourages both to siphon his power for the sake of cultivating their own.

To me, this signals the Haligtree is not only an alternative to Elden Ring's religion around the Erdtree, but also physical proof of Miquella and Malenia's success – or lack of it. Though a fellow lore hound on Reddit posits, "This implies that the Haligtree was a gift from Miquella to Malenia. So, maybe the Haligtree project didn't 'fail' by rotting and was abandoned by Miquella. He simply gave his gift and focused on his own ascension plan." Either way, I'm crying.

Being a FromSoftware fan requires recognizing that the studio often cuts enough content from its fantasy games to populate several other planets, but I would have liked to see more of Miquella's history in the base game in addition to the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.

That said, if the developer had kept this Haligtree scene, I'd have less to speculate on – and how is that any fun?

Even Elden Ring legend Let Me Solo Her can't always solo her, as he admits defeat to Malenia: "Bro has sometimes known defeat."

The mighty have indeed fallen, knee-deep in a puddle of shame at Miquella's Haligtree. Who could have predicted that the storied Elden Ring player Klein Tsuboi, best known as Let Me Solo Her, would end up this way?

Oh, sorry. Let Me Solo Her, who's been collecting a cabinet of bruises while helping Elden Ring players as a summon over the past four years, actually says it wasn't him who recently died screaming and in pain during a battle with the indefatigable goddess Malenia. See? Look at what he wrote on Twitter: "If you summoned me for Malenia on March 27th, 2026 at 7:14PM CST and I died in 2nd phase that wasn't me haha."

Haha. Right. However, on the off chance that Let Me Solo Her's apparently intimate knowledge of the situation on March 27th, 2026 at 7:14PM CST means that it actually was him who perished, Elden Ring community members have begun kindly paying their respects.

"Imagine being that guy, it's like summoning mahoraga and seeing him die," says a Twitter reply with 10,000 likes, referencing Jujutsu Kaisen's mythically powerful cursed spirit Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General Mahoraga. That's nice, comparing Let Me Solo Her to such a formidable being.

"Bro has sometimes known defeat," another reply with over 2,000 likes says. That's generous of them to include "sometimes."

Placing the final rose on Let Me Solo Her's casket, a player cries out, "MY GOAT IS WASHED." OK, everyone, that's enough. We must recognize that the message of Elden Ring – and life itself – is that death is inevitable, even if you have a giant, sexy jar on your head. And frankly it's a small comfort to know that Let Me Solo Her is still out there, soloing her, with a success rate that may or may not be below 100%.

Let Me Solo Her has finally been freed from Elden Ring jail after getting a 180-day ban for using a Fortnite dance mod.

Someone in the bowels of FromSoftware had the difficult task of playing Demon's Souls and Dark Souls before they were out. Imagine being those playtesters; the Undead Burg must be seared into their brains. A researcher at CD Projekt Red wishes he could've been a part of that team, just to see how the findings impacted the games.

"Either the original Demon's Souls or Dark Souls, even though I'm not a Soulslike player," says Dawid Zalewski, research operations coordinator and senior UX researcher, on the CDPR AnsweRed podcast, when asked about what game he wishes he could've seen early builds of. Zalewski has experience on both Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 4, according to his LinkedIn profile.

"That would be a very interesting challenge, because it was something new," he believes. "It was people waiting in queues, and some saying this is the worst experience they ever had, and the other going back to the queue to play it again and again."

Within that divide, what would've been illuminating is finding just the right amount of push-and-pull for players. "Where do you draw the line between challenge that motivates you to push forward, to try again and again until you reach the mastery?" he muses. "And at what point it becomes plain frustration and you need to change something."

As he says, "the game is supposed to be challenging," so how are changes decided? What's a problem and what's something where people simply need to get better and understand what they're up against? Necessary debates, and things I imagine the devs at FromSoftware agonized over extensively for both Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, all overseen by Hidetaka Miyazaki.

There aren't many simple answers, and the general obtuseness of those games will tell you From has no problem being vague or esoteric. The studio certainly found a good balance for those releases, and maybe one day developers like Zalewski can get insight into the research involved to help their own endeavors - or just defeat From's bosses quicker in future.

The Witcher 4 is "steaming ahead" as CD Projekt rapidly expands with 220 new developers in the past year, and nearly 500 in total working on the RPG

8.86% of FromSoftware's majority owner, Kadokawa Games, is now owned by an investor who infamously made a terrible pitch to Nintendo a decade ago.

As reported by GameBiz (spotted and translated by Automaton), Oasis Management Company, a Hong Kong-based international hedge fund management firm, has acquired an 8.86% share of Kadokawa, the Japanese media conglomerate behind a number of manga, anime, and video game properties. Oasis describes its acquisition of shares as being for "important proposal activities."

Most notably, the company is a majority owner of Dark Souls and Elden Ring developer FromSoftware, with Sony its next-largest shareholder after talks to acquire the company.

In a 2014 request, Oasis urged then-Nintendo president Satoru Iwata to develop Nintendo games for mobile devices, which it later did with games like Super Mario Run, Pikmin Bloom, and Fire Emblem Heroes. That wasn't an uncommon request. However, this same group is best known for saying, "We believe Nintendo can create very profitable games based on in-game revenue models with the right development team. Just think of paying 99 cents just to get Mario to jump a little higher," and have since been ridiculed for it in the decade since.

Of course, Nintendo did not, in fact, charge players 99 cents to make Mario jump higher, because Nintendo understands how video games work. That being said, that was over a decade ago now. Nintendo did enter the mobile game market, and aside from Super Mario Run and the best Nintendo mobile game, Dr. Mario World, it seems to have been pretty successful. And perhaps a decade of ridicule over that comment would have caused the minds behind it to understand games a bit more. Regardless, I don't expect we'll be paying 99 cents to post "try finger, but hole" in Elden Ring 2.

I played Elden Ring Tarnished Edition on Nintendo Switch 2 and rolled through the Lands Between as the new Knight class.

I've spent too many hours in the Lands Between. I've gone from a lowly Prisoner to Ranni's consort, delved deep below Leyndell in pursuit of the infamous Flame of Frenzy and, like most players, massacred countless Albinaurics along the way. Having earned every achievement across PC, PS5 and Xbox, I figured I was finally free of FromSoftware's open-world action-RPG masterpiece – but after playing Elden Ring Tarnished Edition on Nintendo Switch 2, I fear I will once again be charmed by the Grace of Gold.

Despite my initial concerns about the Nintendo Switch 2's limited hardware compared to the other platforms I've played on, I'm delighted to say Elden Ring runs very well in handheld mode, which is the only way I tested the game during my session. Although, I did briefly see the game running in docked mode and observed some lightly choppy visuals.

Field trip

Starting a new game run, I sprinted out of the Chapel of Anticipation. I was on a schedule, having been challenged to beat Margit before the playable demo timed out. I'm no speedrunner, but 15 minutes proved ample time to take a few swings at the Fell Omen – although that wasn't really my priority.

This brief scouting mission into Limgrave was to see how Nintendo's hardware handled FromSoftware's enormous title: the frames stayed consistent throughout, the audio was crisp and clear, the controls were responsive, and the Erdtree looked as majestic on Switch 2 as when I first laid eyes on it back in 2022.

The only downside I found while playing in handheld mode is the initial loading screen when beginning my session, which was long enough to awkwardly make eye contact with myself in the screen's reflection. Uncomfortably long wait over, I had as enjoyable an experience in Elden Ring Tarnished Edition as ever, dashing across the Tree Sentinel's path, before acquiring Torrent and galloping through the winding hills that precede Margit's spawning point. However, I did delay my assault to slaughter Varré because I've simply no time for anyone who calls me maidenless in 2026.

Having chosen the new Knight class for my playthrough, I immediately fell in love with the starting curved greatsword. It's huge (no, not too big to be called a sword), feels naughtily hefty when two-handed, and comes with an Ash of War that, when unleashed, sees the player character strike with a flamboyant spin that is reminiscent of Link's Beyblade-esque attack in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, albeit without the cartoonish lack of control.

As someone who enjoys playing strength builds in FromSoftware games ever since picking up the Zweihander in Dark Souls, I felt right at home with the Knight and their strikingly large suit of armor. However, the character type starts off on the overencumbered side, which means we're reduced to fat-rolling – dodging slowly, in lighter layman's terms.

This isn't how I'm used to playing Elden Ring but it's something I learned to live with quickly enough. Sadly, I made the discovery that my character was carrying too much weight when I tried to dodge one of Margit's attacks and took a comically hard hit to my helmeted face. I then realized the curved greatsword wasn't as long as I'm used to, resulting in another emphatic blow to the jaw. This time I didn't get back up.

Flattening Varré with my new weapon was over too soon, but Margit proved a perfect sparring partner for getting to grips with the Knight class. It's a hardy build that makes most field encounters feel trivial, but against a relatively agile boss character the vibe shifts to a more balanced, fair match up. I'll no doubt need to level up the starting blade, but otherwise this Tarnished Edition exclusive is exactly what I want for my next run of Elden Ring. Now I just have to wait for it to be released this year. Oh, and buy a Switch 2 now that I know Nintendo's device is capable of handling such a massive and magnificent game.

Here are 10 games like Elden Ring for when you've conquered The Lands Between

From Demon's Souls to Elden Ring, the obtuse, challenging dark fantasy RPGs FromSoftware is known for trace their roots back to King's Field, which launched in 1994 just weeks after the PS1 debuted in Japan. In hindsight, building an ambitious, open-ended RPG on a brand-new console with then-cutting-edge 3D graphics was a bold choice for a debut game, but it seems FromSoftware's very inexperience is what allowed it to lay out the blueprint.

At least, that's how Shinichiro Nishida saw it at the turn of the century. Nishida was one of the developers on the original King's Field, and still works at FromSoftware to this day, having most recently served as a systems designer on Elden Ring and Shadow of the Erdtree. In an interview for the King's Field Verdite Trilogy Perfect Guide in 2001, recently translated by Shmuplations, Nishida laid out his feelings on the series up to that point and how it came to be.

"We considered various ideas" for a debut game, Nishida explained, "but since we were going to develop for the PlayStation, we decided fairly early that it would be a polygon RPG. It was the type of challenge a first-time game developer naively takes on – a kind of ignorance, in a way. Our president said, 'This game absolutely must be full polygon. We will be the first to release a full polygon RPG.' But it was tough in the beginning. (laughs)"

FromSoftware had existed for nearly a decade before it started making games, and it originally developed business applications. Nishida credited that experience in software development for how well the programmers were able to transition into making games for a platform that hadn't yet gotten a ton of development tools.

"We were originally an application developer and everyone was a programmer," he said. "In the very beginning we couldn't figure out how to display polygons, but once we got that working, it was like, 'ah, so that's how it's done.' So I don't recall the lack of development tools being particularly troublesome for us."

Nishida described the contract work FromSoftware was doing as a "tough business," which is part of why the company wanted to transition into making games. "We had concerns that continuing down that path would lead to a shrinking market, coupled with a desire to release our own creations to the world," he explained. "So it wasn't exactly a revolution for us, but we decided to try making games. The PlayStation was about to launch, and SCE was very supportive."

Sony and FromSoftware have ended up having a long relationship, with PlayStation having a hand in publishing both Demon's Souls and Bloodborne many years later. The King's Field series never proved to be more than a cult hit in its day, but it gave FromSoftware the formula that continues to power its biggest hits to this day.

Dev of acclaimed Persona-like says he "could find you 10 companies" that have pitched Bloodborne games, but it won't happen until FromSoftware thinks it's time.

"Hey, do you remember that Donald Duck game we used to play as kids?" My sister casually asks me, while watching Mickey Mouse Club House with my 10 month old niece. My eyes fog over. My heart races, and I'm seized by memories of a giant yellow bird hurling eggs at me.

Of course I remember Donald Duck: Quack Attack (or Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers if you're from outside Europe). How could I forget Donald Duck: Quack Attack? I don't think it's physically possible to forget the first game that ever truly scorned me and made me rage quit. Donald Duck: Quack Attack is worse than any FromSoftware title I have ever touched – it may look innocent from the outside but I assure you it's anything but.

"But Maddy, it's a Disney game, how bad could it be?"

Strap in and let me take you on a little journey through the horrors of this almost 26-year-old title.

Absolutely quackers

The premise of Donald Duck: Quack Attack is simple. Daisy Duck, who is now an investigative journalist, has been kidnapped by the evil magician Merlock because she went into his evil volcano lair on live TV and tried to tell the world his evil schemes.

Donald is racing against his arch-rival Gladstone Gander (an obscure character who I believe was only in Disney Comics, two episodes of Duck Tales and this game) to get Daisy back to safety. Luckily for Donald his friend Gyro Gearloose (another obscure Disney character) can get Donald to Daisy as he invented the brand new Gyro Gamma Tubal Teleport System – but it's too weak to reach Merlock's lair, so Donald must spend the game planting Gamma-Weather Vanes to boost its signal.

What ensues is essentially Crash Bandicoot via Disney. There are four worlds with four individual stages, plus one bonus one involving Huey, Dewey, and Louie which are only there if you really want 100% completion.

Much like Crash, it's a 3D platformer where you have to reach the end of the level, defeat enemies who are in your way and kill a big bad boss at the end to plant a Gamma-Weather Vane. It is a game for kids at the end of the day, so it has pretty simple controls and story, but oh boy is it anything but simple to actually play.

It may seem like I was hyping up the difficulty of this children's game by comparing it to the likes of Bloodborne and Dark Souls, and I really wish that was the case.

Here's the thing: I've completed those games. I have beaten bosses in the best FromSoftware games after hours of trial and error. I have come out of those titles with my head held high. But, and I'm ashamed to admit this, I have never bested Donald Duck: Quack Attack.

I know, I know, let's all point and laugh at me. Ha! Ha! I have never been able to beat a Disney game made for kids in my numerous attempts throughout the years.

Perhaps it's just me, maybe I just need to git gud. Or maybe it's the absolutely awful controls, camera and insanely large hit boxes for all enemies and harmful objects that are stopping me from completing this game.

The normal Crash-style sections are awful, as the camera constantly trails behind and struggles around corners. I can never actually tell how close I am to a hole or an enemy. I will die on the hill that Donald Duck: Quack Attack has the worst hit boxes in any video game I have ever played. Sometimes when I feel I am several steps away from an enemy I inexplicably get injured, causing Donald to fly off in a blind rage until he gets his hand on a milkshake.

Yes, that is how your health system works in this game. A little icon on the top right hand side of the screen shows a happiness meter for Donald, which is essentially your health bar. Get hit once and he becomes "Angry-Donald, hehe!!". This turns Donald into a cartoonish cloud of smoke who screams what I can only assume are the duck equivalent of expletives. This cloud of smoke makes you briefly invincible, which is nice – I'll give the game that. Get hit again though, and it's back to the start. That's right. Two hits and you're done for. Now I don't mean to sound like a baby, but it's that a little unfair for a kids game?

Then you have the side scrolling platforming sections, which are an absolute nightmare. The camera lags constantly, and Donald just seems to float around the place. I can never guess if the jump is actually going to land Donald on one of the platforms or send him into the abyss. The platforming is so difficult and precise that I fully expect to find a Dark Souls-esque message on the floor reading "Try jumping off" before I immediately fall to my untimely demise.

All of this cumulates into the absolutely gruelling boss fights. Forget Malenia, Blade of Miquella, she is absolutely nothing in comparison to Bernadette the Bird. This duck-chicken-thing was the bane of my life as a child. I hate her more than I hate the Godskin Noble, and that is saying something, because that roly-poly bastard still haunts my dreams.

Water off a duck's back

I've sifted through YouTube comments where people claim this game is easy, where the nostalgia wave hits and they say how much they love this game. I can't help but think they actually haven't picked this game up since they were seven. Watching YouTube playthroughs is one thing, actually picking up the controller and replaying it is another.

I was so confused about people saying it was easy that I actually sat my FromSoftware fanboy of a fiancé down and told him to play this game to see if I was just a bad gamer (I am, but that's not the point). He laughed, but after 40 minutes the laughter turned into despair, then despair to rage. He managed to reach the second boss fight, the Beagle Boys, before he rage quit and told me he never wanted to touch the game ever again. I have seen this man beat pre-nerf Malenia solo with a nasty bout of Covid. I have seen him power through some of the worst boss fights in FromSoft history and come out grinning. Yet, he was defeated by Donald Duck: Quack Attack.

Classic Disney games are a weird mix of pleasant nostalgia and pain. My father to this day still happily quotes the "OOF! What the!?" from the Mulan PC game in the part where you have a snowball fight. I remember happily baking cakes in My Disney Kitchen. But then when I think about the platformers Disney produced during this time I get a cold sense of dread. Many people bring up The Lion King for the SNES when they think about gruellingly difficult Disney games, but if you want something that'll make you fly into a blind rage like Donald, then try and get your hands on Donald Duck: Quack Attack.

Check out the best PS2 games of all time if you're hunting for more retro classics (ouch, I feel old)

Now that Sony's announced the closure of Bluepoint Games, the studio behind the Shadow of the Colossus and Demon's Souls remakes, the dream of a Bloodborne redux seems that much further away. A solo dev, who was purportedly told to stop working on his own take on FromSoftware's horror action RPG by Sony, has expressed his frustration and bemusement at the move.

"Sony sent me a cease and desist letter regarding my second Bloodborne remake project that I posted about in November 2024," Maxime Foulquier says on Twitter, with an image of the mail in question. "I told myself, 'OK… I expected this might happen. Maybe it's because a real Bloodborne remake is actually in development, with Bluepoint leading it for the PS6 launch?'"

This happened in March 2025, and he went on to repurpose the work he'd done for a new game influenced by Yharnam. The hope was to discuss it when this project was ready to be revealed, contextualizing its roots. Recent events make it more pertinent, though.

"Unfortunately, plans have changed. I'd rather speak about it now, as my disappointment is immense," he states. "The disappearance of Bluepoint is a tremendous loss for the industry and for the dream of a Bloodborne remake."

To be clear, there was no confirmation Bluepoint had anything to do with a Bloodborne re-release, but given the studio's success with Demon's Souls, it seemed somewhat probable. I mean, Sony bought the outfit after Demon's Souls came out – as a launch game for the PlayStation 5, no less.

"Why are you making such absurd decisions, Sony?" Foulquier asks, saying what I suspect many are thinking. "Shutting down such a talented studio while you're not even making a Bloodborne remake and on top of that, sending cease and desist letters to small fan projects? Are you serious?"

He's since shared a clip of his Bloodborne-inspired game, involving the player wielding a blade and a gun, taking out demonic entities in a gothic take on Paris. It's looking good, and definitely worth keeping an eye on, regardless of anything Bloodborne-related we see in the future.

Bloodborne "is a special game for me" says Hidetaka Miyazaki, and it's "the strongest reflection of my type of flavoring of a game that one can experience"

Fine, its post-apocalypse wasteland isn't as sexy as the thigh-high boots you'll find in a comparable game like Stellar Blade, and some people may not even see the romance in a chunky man made of steel, but Armored Core 6 Fires of Rubicon has its admirers. In fact, a whole fleet of fans in Japan have just decided FromSoftware's 2023 mecha shooter is actually an otome game, and they're in love.

This international update comes courtesy of Automaton, which has translated some posts fans made in support of a new decree: Armored Core 6 is a game for girls, because we said so.

More traditional otome games include popular titles like Piofiore or my beloved Love & Deepspace – they usually ask you to take on the, no doubt, tiresome role of a woman being pursued by many handsome men with no pores or facial hair. To the untrained eye, FromSoftware's stern robot game about being a laser-blasting mercenary may not seem very similar to this average, biscuits-and-tea otome experience.

But otome professionals in Japan can see Armored Core 6 blends right in with other suitors, particularly because the Augmented Human Rusty is so debonair.

"As an otome game player who was forced to play AC6, my impression is that it's an otome game," says one translated post. "Rusty is literally the typical guy from an otome game. That's why, my comrade, I don't want you to get killed by anyone except me. Let's kill (and love) each other like we should. Since you're gonna die anyways, let it be by my hand."

Another post explains, "His mecha is handsome, His weapon is handsome, His voice is handsome, His personality is also handsome, His theme is handsome," and on, and on.

So how can you resist? Trick question. As one player puts it, "I think Armored Core 6 is such a strange game because, though it wasn't made with women as the target audience, even when people call it an 'otome game' nobody gets mad.

"And the reason is because it turned everyone, even the guys, into pure-hearted girls. Yeah, I get it."

World's most popular horny RPG with over 50 million downloads gives up on decorum in "divine" update that's probably illegal somewhere: "WAITT WHATT??? FROM BEHINDD?"

Elden Ring and The Duskbloods both felt like very likely choices for games that had a chance of showing up during today's Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase, but after yet another presentation with no news for either, fans are starting to get slightly worried about FromSoftware's upcoming titles.

Elden Ring Tarnished Edition and The Duskbloods were both revealed to be coming to Switch 2 during the big dedicated Direct properly unveiling the console last year, with the former originally supposed to arrive last year and the former pitched as a 2026 release. However, Elden Ring ended up being delayed last October "to allow time for performance adjustments," while news on The Duskbloods has remained basically completely silent out of its series of Creator's Voice interview posts shortly after the reveal.

Needless to say, it feels like we're about due for an update on both, but that's not what happened today, and fans aren't taking it particularly well.

"NO DUSKBLOODS NEWS? I'M FALLING TO MY KNEES IN THE PARKING LOT," one dramatically writes. Riffing on the comparisons folks made to Bloodborne when it was reveal, saxophone-playing Soulsborne legend Dr. Doot jokes: "Man, Duskbloods really IS Bloodborne 2 (we're never seeing it)."

"Starting to think Elden Ring on the Nintendo Switch 2 has gone back to the drawing board," says another, while another concerned fan tweets: "I'm worried about Elden ring, maybe they're working on 60 FPS mode or something. I hope they didn't cancel it."

Meanwhile, if you've looked at any of Nintendo's tweets from today's Direct, you might have noticed perhaps the most dedicated Elden Ring on Switch 2 advocate in the replies. "Where is Elden Ring? god damned!" they write… 21 times. As you might expect, Nintendo hasn't replied.

So, disappointing as it may be, it's really just a waiting game for now – hopefully Nintendo and FromSoftware have news for us soon. The Duskbloods never got a narrower release window, so if it's looking to release nearer the end of the year, it might be a while yet before we hear anything.

The Duskbloods' winged rat "elderly gentleman" was actually FromSoftware's rare attempt at something "Nintendo-esque" and "cute."

Nintendo has confirmed the rumored Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase is, in fact, taking place later this week on February 5, 2026.

Rumors of a Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase arose last week, and it turned out to be on the money, so apologies to the fans disappointed that we won't be finding out about a new Mario or Zelda. Nintendo confirmed via the Nintendo Today app that the showcase will air later this week on Thursday, February 5 at 6am PT | 9am ET | 2pm GMT and will run for "roughly 30 minutes."

Obviously, Nintendo didn't say what would actually appear in this Nintendo Direct, aside from "upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch games from Nintendo’s publishing and development partners." But a pretty safe bet would be Elden Ring, which was meant to come out on Switch 2 last year before being delayed to improve performance following a poor showing at conventions. And given how much Square Enix loves a Nintendo Direct, The Adventures of Elliott: The Millennium Tales is probably a shout too.

Speaking of Square, when it comes to surprise predictions, it may be time for the Kingdom Hearts series to finally arrive on Nintendo platforms in a form it deserves after the terrible cloud versions plagued the original Switch – like Capcom is doing with Resident Evil 7 and 8.

Plus, Capcom is bound to show a Resident Evil Requiem, Monster Hunter Stories 3, or Pragmata trailer, or maybe go even further with a port of Monster Hunter Wilds or Onimusha: Way of the Sword. And surely a port of a game like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 would be a no-brainer.

So in closing: I'm expecting only farming games and JRPGs, as is standard.

As Nintendo Direct rumors swirl, an updated Splatoon Raiders trademark releases copium