The Duskbloods is less Dark Souls and more Elden Ring Nightreign with "over a dozen characters" who can only "be customized to a certain extent"

Two fighters jump down to attack a massive frog-like creature that has massive teeth and a tongue wagging out of its mouth in a screenshot from The Duskbloods. — (Image credit: FromSoftware / Nintendo)

FromSoftware's Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive, The Duskbloods, doesn't let you create a custom character like Dark Souls but instead has you picking and customizing a set of premade characters like Elden Ring Nightreign.

Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Elden Ring, and The Duskbloods director Hidetaka Miyazaki himself broke down how the upcoming Switch 2 game works in a new Creator's Voice blog, revealing there are "over a dozen characters for the player to choose from, each with their own identity and appearance." Some of them, like the Rocketeer-esque jetpack man, can be seen in its reveal trailer.

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"I think there are a lot of unique elements to the character designs and the weapons they use, so hopefully players can find one or two favorites among them," Miyazaki continued. "Also, each character can be customized to a certain extent, allowing players the fun of building a character that feels like their own."

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You won't be rejigging their entire faces or buildcrafting like you would in, say, Dark Souls, but you can "customize all sorts of things, from their abilities, appearance, and inner characteristic to the role they play in the world and relationships with other characters." That last point in particular is especially interesting. You see, The Duskbloods is an eight-player PvPvE game and roles give everyone their own personal objectives, in addition to whatever everyone needs to do to 'win' the match overall.

For example, the 'Destined Rivals' role means you'll need to hunt down a designated rival somewhere on the map, meanwhile, the 'Destined Companion' role gives you a designated ally to seek out instead - and "roles can be assigned to any character via blood customization, allowing players to enjoy role-playing in the literal sense and hopefully adding to the drama of these engagements."

Not a fan of the game's multiplayer focus? Don't worry. FromSoftware boss Hidetaka Miyazaki says "we still intend to develop single-player focused games" even as The Duskbloods follows Elden Ring Nightreign into multiplayer.