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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Kirk McKeand

The Duskbloods: the best of FromSoftware fights in a frantic multiplayer battleground

A caped character with a gun in one hand and a sword raised in the other faces two others. A big red moon fills the sky above.
The surviving three … The Duskbloods. Photograph: Nintendo

Lowanro City’s skyline is dominated by an oppressive clock tower, silhouetted against a moody red sky and an impossibly large, ominous moon. A retractable bridge splits the map in two, and a network of slimy sewers runs beneath the city streets, offering flanking routes for crafty players. This layered and multi-tiered map bears all the hallmarks of the team behind some of the most memorable stomping grounds in video games.

But The Duskbloods, which I recently spent two days playing in Tokyo, is a strange departure from developer FromSoftware’s usual offerings. These have included massive single-player RPGs with light, experimental multiplayer components such as Elden Ring and Bloodborne. Those games have always attracted duellists – players who love to invade other people’s games to fight them to the death – but this Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive is a different proposition entirely.

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