The Duskbloods network test got off to a rough start, with connection issues putting a swift end to the first planned session. I was finally able to play a couple of hours over the weekend – long enough to win a few matches – and rough is the perfect description of my experience. Between significant performance issues, convoluted rules, and frustrating PvP, I really don't like The Duskbloods so far.
If you've played Elden Ring Nightreign, you're halfway to understanding The Duskbloods. This is an eclectic multiplayer action game that combines PvP and PvE with board game-like mechanics. As one of multiple vampiric characters known as Bloodsworn, you spend three rounds gearing up for a finale that pits three players against each other in free-for-all PvP (at least in solo matches).
But the whole is less than the sum of its parts. The PvP and PvE segments in The Duskbloods feel inferior to previous FromSoftware games, and even without those unfavorable comparisons, The Duskbloods test felt measurably awful due to technical problems. I always keep my Switch 2 docked, and I noticed framerate dips, latency issues that sabotaged hit registration, and a jerky camera worsened by an ugly smear effect that muddies the game's otherwise gorgeous world. FromSoftware PvP has been janky since Demon's Souls, and building an entire game around that PvP without resolving the jank has gone exactly as I'd feared.
Night rain
The preparation stage is the bulk of The Duskbloods. To get stronger, you run around the map killing weak enemies, picking up consumable items, hunting elites and bosses called Trespassers, and summoning and strengthening NPC allies called Kin. You'll earn experience to level up, and collect Virtue to stay in the game. Each round will cull a few players with the lowest Virtue, so the scoring feels like outrunning a polar bear with a group: all you have to do is run faster than another guy. You'll also receive bonus health based on your Virtue in the finale, but I was never the top-scorer even in the rounds I won, so I'd say this bonus isn't too powerful.
I've played a lot of Elden Ring Nightreign, and this knowledge worked for and against me. The same core strategies have served me well in The Duskbloods, but also put a little devil on my shoulder. It would whisper doubts in my ear every time the game annoyed me, which was frequently. I fear that little voice is right: maybe this is just a worse version of Nightreign. At least in Nightreign, every repetitive match ends with a cool boss fight. Here, my reward for surviving three rounds of grinding is bad PvP.
This may sound familiar. In round one, I focused on killing basic enemies and grabbing easy upgrades. Different areas of the intensely vertical map lean toward specific reward types, and you're able to pick your spawn point at the start of each round, though you can also freely fast travel all over. If too many people pick the same spawn, some players get randomized.
You'll find weapon enhancements lying around. Some environmental fixtures award Virtue just for interacting with something. Quickly summoning a Kin, who'll level up as you do, is essential. Little blood goblins drop upgrades for your skills, improving their damage or cooldown. This is the low-hanging fruit you want early. At most, I might go after a standard elite enemy in round one to plunder a passive bonus like increased stamina or healing, but fighting anything stronger will just waste time at this stage.
For this test, I played as Albert. He comes with a saber, a submachine gun, and two skills that feel a lot like spells from previous FromSoftware games. The Bloodsworn are said to be pretty customizable in the full game, but the barebones test build came with fixed skills, with one unlocked by leveling up. I'd compare Albert's base skill to the Elden Ring spell Glintstone Arc, which also fires a piercing crescent projectile. His second skill is like a worse Comet Azur: a big laser beam.
Everyone has access to ranged attacks in The Duskbloods, and this is one reason that combat, and especially PvP, didn't click with me. You have an unhinged four jumps, can dodge mid-air, and you can fire your gun while jumping. All of the people in my lobbies quickly deduced that spamming ranged weapons while flying around is an incredibly effective strategy, though everyone does have a blood shield that can block many hits. Duos may fare better, but the finales in solo matches are a mess. It's you, two other Bloodsworn, and three summons chucked into a small arena like marbles in a blender. Skill is not high on the list of factors that determine the winner. Whoever happens to get dogpiled or catch more stray shots is often just out of luck. This feels less like FromSoftware PvP and more like Beyblade.
Player vs problems
The Duskbloods at least opens up in round two. Here, now joined by my summon, I'll start to take on Trespassers, either by hunting them myself or joining fights initiated by other players through an invite system. At the end of each Trespasser hunt, everyone gets bonuses based on their contribution to the fight (seemingly, how much damage you dealt). But even in these encounters, The Duskbloods is hamstrung. I have dodged 10,000 boss attacks in FromSoftware games, and there is just something wrong with this one. I don't know if it's coming from the connection, or hitboxes, or the framerate, but I found it impossible to reliably dodge boss attacks, and there's a similar veneer of clunk all over the combat.
PvP is more centered in rounds two and three. In round one, killing other people seems to just slow down your leveling, though there is an interesting vendetta system that gives you a marked target of sorts. Later rounds spawn tribute sites halfway through. Here, you can pledge red and hunt down fellow players for rewards, or claim a gold area and defend it. Both are key methods of earning Virtue, and the core design is fascinating, but two problems spoiled many tributes for me.
Firstly, the map. Alice: Madness Returns taught us that giving your character four freakin' jumps forces you to blow the maps out, and The Duskbloods is so big and vertical that it is a nightmare to find anything that isn't out in the open. There's a ton of stuff underground, and good luck navigating any of it. Map knowledge will surely help here, but that makes the optimistic assumption that I want to play a lot more of The Duskbloods to learn the ins and outs, and the fact remains that the compass and UI are unhelpful. Also: opening your map mid-round is just asking to get shot.
Secondly, alliances. You can temporarily ally with other players in The Duskbloods. All alliances are disabled for the finale, but they're a key part of the tribute stage. If they're smart, the first two people to reach a tribute site can ally and gain a massive advantage over everyone else. If you thought 1v1v1 PvP was frustrating and hard to parse, try 2v1 on a timer.
So far, The Duskbloods is more interesting than it is fun. If the technical issues present in the test aren't resolved, it's a non-starter. And even if everything is tightened, FromSoftware better have some real heat in reserve. The customization and PvE options discussed by director Hidetaka Miyazaki could help, but I'm not eager to return to The Duskbloods. If only because I love seeing studios make weird stuff, I'm glad this game exists. But this is the first FromSoftware game in 17 years to fiercely and immediately put me off.
