The Duskbloods Is Not The PvPvE Experience I Expected

The Duskbloods Weaves Bloodborne’s Essence Into Something Entirely New Published Aug 25, 2026, 8:00 AM EDT Although Kaitlyn grew up with a passion for both video games and writing, she never imagined she'd eventually combine them into a career. Now, with several years of experience in the industry across Guides, Features, News, & Reviews, Kaitlyn enjoys nothing more than continuing to deep dive into the games she's passionate about and share her findings with readers. In her downtime, Kaitlyn enjoys unwinding with her favorite horror films, despite being a major scaredy-cat. Sign in to your TheGamer account When I logged on to join the first session of The Duskbloods Network Test and was immediately met with a login error, my stomach dropped. I tested everything I could think of to fix the problem before FromSoftware finally announced that the issue was widespread, so the first session was being prematurely closed to address network issues. Now, given that this is entirely the point of a Network Test, I couldn’t be too disappointed. After all, it’s better that this happens now rather than on release day, but thankfully, I was able to get into the later sessions and didn’t experience any other major issues during the Network Test. With several hours in The Duskbloods now, I’m excited to say that it’s simultaneously the spiritual Bloodborne successor we hoped for and not at all the traditional PvPvE experience we feared. We might never see an official Bloodborne sequel or Bloodborne Remake, though I’m more than happy to put on my clown makeup with everyone else and keep wishing, but The Duskbloods is the next best thing. Familiar Elements And Fresh Faces My time with The Duskbloods kicked off the way most FromSoftware games do. After watching the same opening cutscene shared in the initial announcement trailer, I took on the role of Albert, one of the Bloodsworn available in the test. Albert was used to progress players through the tutorial, where I learned the basics of combat, movement, and features unique to The Duskbloods, such as howling to stagger enemies and drinking blood to drain an enemy's HP while restoring my own, which can also turn weak-willed enemies into minions. In terms of combat, I’d say things feel very similar to Bloodborne, especially with the ranged secondary weapon, but the mobility is closer to that of Sekiro. The Bloodsworn are light on their feet and use a triple jump to get around, so you can expect to spend more time hopping across the rooftops of the cities in the Lands of Dusk than you will running through their streets. Naturally, fall damage is no concern here either. Following the tutorial, I was brought to the House of Night, the hub for The Duskbloods, where I interacted with the Blood Wheel to view the other Bloodsworn available for this test and test out a few Dusk Battles for myself. The Great Withered Book, where customizations will eventually take place, was also present in this room but restricted during the Network Test. Though more Bloodsworn have yet to be formally revealed, the Network Test did give me the chance to try out six of them, including Albert, Bloodhand Jan, Trang Lanh, Sniper Layla, Senator Samir Patres, and Zork. If the name alone wasn’t enough to convince you, Zork is already a fan favorite, and you’ll likely be seeing his jet-pack-flying body all over your feed soon enough. I won’t get into full character breakdowns, but here’s a simplified summary of each of the playable characters featured in the Network Test: Albert — Uses a Jeweled Saber for melee combat and an SMG for ranged. His blood-based Bloodsworn Skills are nothing special, but he’s fairly balanced and seems to be a strong choice for players who are looking for a character that’s easy to master. Bloodhand Jan — Uses a Bloodstained Battle Axe for melee combat and a Stone of Sorcery that spews fire for ranged combat. His Bloodsworn Skills increase his evasiveness and allow him to deliver powerful AoE attacks. Trang Lanh — Uses a Circular Blade made of silver that can be used for melee combat and thrown like a chakram for ranged attacks. Being an assassin, Trang Lanh’s Bloodsworn Skills unsurprisingly allow her to shroud herself in shadows and summon a giant snake to aid her. Sniper Layla — Dual-wields dagger-like blades for melee combat and a large sniper rifle for ranged. Layla’s Bloodsworn Skills include turning into a swarm of insects to teleport short distances and whipping out a Gatling Gun. Senator Samir Patres — Uses a rapier that doubles as a cane for melee combat and summons a Spectral Bird for ranged. As for Bloodsworn Skills, well, you remember the random dinosaur from the trailers, right? That’s this guy. Patres can also summon a large bloodstake from a pool of blood a short distance away. Zork — This borderline-hysterical diver uses a severed undersea cable with an active electric current to perform melee attacks, and a speargun for ranged attacks. Zork was the only bulky Network Test Bloodsworn with a heavy weapon. Zork’s Bloodsworn Skills include a cannon that can be fired at enemies and a jetpack for both combat and evasion (and a good laugh). FromSoftware has stated that Bloodsworn Skills will be customizable in the full version at release. The Duskbloods Bloodsworn playable characters have been the heart of the Network Test, and there’s no doubt this will remain true upon the game’s full release. Though I wasn’t able to test the full game’s roster, the six made available here are promising. Each Bloodsworn feels unique, and this selection already accommodates a variety of playstyles and skill levels. Don’t Let PvP Deter You, The Duskbloods Is So Much More Like many of you, my excitement for The Duskbloods also deflated a bit when I learned the game was being described as a PvPvE experience. While I have enjoyed PvP games in the past, it’s not something I generally seek out now and definitely not what I’m looking for in what’s being considered a spiritual successor to Bloodborne. However, after being hands-on with the game, I have to say that the simplified PvPvE descriptor does not do The Duskbloods justice. The PvP aspects are a small portion of the overall Dusk Battles, and The Duskbloods actually encourages a fair amount of cooperation among players by allowing them to form alliances and share Virtue, which determines who survives the Culling to the next phase. Before we get into that, though, let's talk a little about the actual options available in the House of Night. The first are Remembrance Battles. These are NPC matches that allow players to learn the basics of the game. While learning the ropes, this is a great place to try a practice Dusk Battle. Dusk Battles are 4-phase fights in which eight Bloodsworn will compete to earn Virtue and survive each phase’s Culling. The Lands of Dusk have several maps where these battles will take place, but only Lowanro City was utilized in the Network Test and was your average gothic Victorian city. This is where things began to get overwhelming quickly. To survive a Dusk Battle and reach the final phase, no minimum amount of Virtue is needed. Instead, you just need to earn more Virtue than the other players and avoid the chopping block. Depending on the group I was matched with, the Virtue needed to survive ranged from ten points to 70+ points. Thankfully, Virtue can be earned through several methods, including exploration-related tasks, collaborative efforts to take down large bosses known as Trespassers, and traditional PvP combat, so I never found myself lacking options. The various methods mentioned are also why I don’t want players thinking The Duskbloods is some Soulslike version of Fortnite. PvP is not even an option for points in Phase One, and has strict limitations in Phases Two and Three. Ritual Sites, where PvP takes place on the map, do net a lot of Virtue, so if you didn’t participate in them, I’d imagine it would be extremely difficult for you to survive the Culling and reach the final phase in most matches, but it’s not impossible. Regardless, I can assure you that you won’t spend the whole battle looking over your shoulder. If playing alone still sounds too intimidating, alliances can be privately formed to share Virtue points and help each other. Some Sigils even offer extra Virtue to players who form specific alliances with other characters. I didn’t know anyone else participating in the Network Test, but still received several alliance requests and paired up with total strangers to reach victory, so don’t feel as though you’re entirely on your own if you don’t want to be. That said, I did prefer Compacts with Kin over player alliances, even though the two aren’t exclusive. Kin are NPCs with unique abilities that can be summoned and bound to you at summoning circles found throughout the map. Only eight different Kin were featured in the Network Test, but even this many offered enough variety to shake up nearly every Dusk Battle I was part of. In combination with the blood-drained minions, I was beginning to build up my own little squad. If you’re able to make it to the last phase of the Dusk Battle, the Moon Blood Bestowal, this is where the real PvP happens. The Moon Blood Bestowal is a free-for-all between the top three players until only one remains standing. Between the different Bloodsworn and the variety of Kin in the game, the whole thing quickly devolves into chaos, but in the best way. FromSoftware Continues To Make Promising Strides With Multiplayer Games Trust me when I say I somehow only scratched the surface of everything The Duskbloods showed off in the Network Test, but I think the most important thing to know is that it’s already fun and addictive. It may not be the Bloodborne game we were all hoping for, but Bloodborne's influence is undeniably present, and The Duskbloods already does a great job of balancing competition and collaboration among players in a way that I think everyone will enjoy. You will still likely run into the occasional sweaty match, of which there were even a few in the Network Test, but that’s going to be the case with any online multiplayer game. The Duskbloods is arguably one of FromSoftware's most unique experiments in the multiplayer space yet, and I’m excited to see more. For now, though, I can confidently say things seem to be off to a strong start, and I’m glad that most of my initial concerns were for nothing.