Technologies

Bloodborne Is My Favorite FromSoft Game. I’m Dreading Switch 2’s The Duskbloods

Though the new Switch 2 exclusive game has real Yharnam vibes, the main multiplayer gameplay loop has me raising an eyebrow.

I’m not the biggest player of FromSoftware’s notoriously tough Souls games out there, not by a long shot. I’ve dabbled in the original Dark Souls and the Demon’s Souls remake and I’ve conquered the Lands Between in Elden Ring. Let me tell you something though: There’s not a single PlayStation game that means more to me than the PS4-only title Bloodborne.

From the grisly streets of Yharnam to the tenebrous floating islands that make up much of the Nightmare Frontier, few games capture the futility of cosmic horror quite as well as FromSoft’s gothic action RPG. The interconnected layers of the world boggle my mind, and the rich lore that connects old gods, ancient humans and the modern Healing Church feels like it could’ve been ripped straight out of an H.P. Lovecraft story.

When The Duskbloods appeared in the Switch 2 Nintendo Direct, my heart caught in my throat.

There was an establishing shot of a clocktower and a character yapping about the moonlight and the introduction of player characters who are a group of monster hunters that “transcended human strength thanks to their special bloods” — I wasn’t the only one baited into believing this was the Bloodborne sequel we’ve all been waiting a decade for.

When the more steampunk-y elements started appearing (a jetpack and automatic firearms weren’t on my bingo card), I was a tad deflated to see that this project didn’t have any direct connections to my favorite FromSoftware game. The aesthetic of The Duskbloods is still appealing to me, however, so I was still excited to see how the game would turn out.

Now that more details about FromSoft’s latest game are trickling out, I’m starting to suspect that this isn’t a game for me.

A player-vs.-player FromSoft game doesn’t inspire confidence in me

Your average Soulsbourne game is an epic singleplayer experience that encourages players to take advantage of their character’s strengths to overcome unforgiving challenges. They’re long, grueling campaigns that are, most importantly, solo quests into the dark unknown.

If you’re able to commit yourself to learning enemy attack patterns, figuring out how to attribute your stat points properly and master the game’s combat, you can conquer any legendary knight or towering monster the game throws at you.

Occasionally, players will invade your world, and for five minutes the gameplay loop degenerates into a chicken fight hack-and-slash or spell-dodging simulator until you win or you die. In my eyes, these are some of the low points in a FromSoft game.

Compare that to The Duskbloods, which is an eight player “PvPvE” experience that pits players against each other as well as the monsters throughout the map.

No single player mode has been confirmed for the game and this isn’t a cooperative experience with a more threatening Souls challenge like Elden Ring: Nightreign, at least as far as we can tell. There’s always the chance that FromSoftware sneakily puts some PvP element into its Elden Ring spinoff to make these games more alike than we suspect.

The Duskbloods will force players into PvP combat, and I have never enjoyed FromSoft’s brand of PvP. No matter how many cool things I spot in the trailer, I can’t get excited about what is essentially a FromSoft battle royale. It’s not the style of game that many Souls fans are used to, and I find the sudden shift in gameplay to be extremely alienating.

Don’t get me wrong, there are parts of this game that sound absolutely thrilling. FromSoftware director Hidetaka Miyazaki revealed that not every match will be a knockdown drag-out free-for-all, and between Nightreign and The Duskbloods, it will certainly be fun to see how the developer builds cooperative play between multiple players.

“Players may be tasked with teaming up to take down a powerful boss enemy, or find themselves in other special circumstances,” said Miyazaki in an interview on Nintendo’s website. In fact, part of the game’s character customization will see players choosing the type of goal they want to commit to during a match.

“In online play, roles give players special responsibilities and objectives that often lead to unique interactions and relationships between players based on their corresponding roles,” Miyazaki said. “[One] example is “Destined Companion,” where one player is required to seek out another designated as their companion, which results in a special reward if they form a bond with one another.”

I’m happy that there will still be an outsized focus on delivering some kind of co-op experience in The Duskbloods, but the forced PvP action still threatens to drive me away from the game. Like most of FromSoftware’s older Souls games, Bloodborne let you tag in friends for boss fights, but the main quest was — importantly — a solo journey.

Of all the games for FromSoft and Nintendo to partner on, why The Duskbloods?

Some FromSoftware fans have voiced their anger online that Duskblood will only come out on the Switch 2. Frankly, I don’t mind FromSoft partnering with Nintendo to create an exclusive game for the latter’s new console.

By early accounts, this is a far more powerful piece of hardware than the original iteration of the console. If the Switch 2 can run Elden Ring or Cyberpunk 2077 (albeit at 40 frames per second, even while docked) then it can likely run The Duskbloods perfectly fine. I fell in love with Bloodborne while playing it at 30 frames per second, so this isn’t exactly a problem for me.

What I can’t abide by is the fact that the one game FromSoft chose to partner with Nintendo on is its multiplayer-only project. Look, Switch Online is better than any of Nintendo’s other stabs at facilitating an online multiplayer experience, but it’s still one of my biggest pain points on the console.

Frustratingly, many Switch games still use peer-to-peer connections instead of dedicated servers — and FromSoft has historically done the exact same thing, so although we don’t yet have all the details on The Duskbloods, I don’t expect a break from tradition with this game.

I see the potential peer-to-peer networking, buggy netcode and exclusivity on the Switch 2’s hardware and it’s throwing up multiple red flags for me.

Will this game really be able to consistently handle putting eight people in one lobby and ensuring all of them are able to play at the same level of fluidity? I don’t know if I buy that.

Getting ganked by someone you effectively can’t hit never feels good: The main conceit of The Duskbloods is that you’re constantly at risk of getting jumped by another player. That’s just not my idea of a fun time.

Perhaps Nintendo and FromSoft will be able to pull this off and The Duskbloods will become one of their most lauded games yet. But I think I’ll stick to my co-op adventures in Yharnam and the Lands Between.

Technologies

Anthropic warns investors of AI’s ‘existential risk to humanity’ in IPO prospectus, reports say

Anthropic’s IPO filing dedicates 80 pages to the risks of AI, nearly double the 48 pages it spends discussing its business plans, according to Reuters.

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Technologies

U.S., Iran hold separate mediator talks as Mideast oil exports hit war-time high

Iranian and U.S. officials reportedly met separately with mediators Monday to push for a ceasefire, as Middle Eastern crude exports rebounded to war-time high.

Iranian and U.S. officials reportedly met separately with mediators Monday to push for a ceasefire.

Middle Eastern crude exports rebounded this month to around their highest level since the war began in February.

An outright export ban by Washington on diesel would keep roughly 1.2 million barrels a day at home, and risks overwhelming Gulf Coast storage, according to Kpler.

The building of the destroyed Shajareh Tayebeh primary school is pictured surrounded by rubble in Minab in Iran’s Hormozgan province on August 10, 2026. Six months on, a team of AFP journalists obtained rare access to the school which has remained largely in ruins, its collapsed walls and twisted steel now surrounded by portraits of the children killed as Iranian flags flutter above the rubble. Iran says the attack on the school involved two separate US Tomahawk missiles but neither the United States nor Israel has officially claimed responsibility for the strike. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images) /

Atta Kenare | Afp | Getty Images

U.S. and Iranian officials have reportedly held separate indirect talks with mediators on Monday, reviving efforts to end seven months of war as Tehran presses for a response to a revised ceasefire framework and Middle East crude exports climb to their highest level since the conflict began.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Qatari mediators in New York, where he remained after the United Nations General Assembly, and reportedly said he expects Washington’s reply by Tuesday. “We talked about ideas and how to find solutions to fulfil Iran’s conditions,” Araghchi said, adding that he planned to return to Tehran once a response arrives. “Whenever the Qataris have a response, they know how to get it to us.”

Iran’s proposal, first presented on the sidelines of last week’s General Assembly, calls for a four- to five-day U.S. timeline to release frozen Iranian funds, lift sanctions on Iranian oil and end the naval blockade of Iranian ports, with nuclear talks beginning within seven days. Tehran has tied any reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to those steps.

President Donald Trump had on Sunday called the plan “unacceptable” and rejected it, telling reporters Iran wants a swift deal because of the economic pressure it is under. Speaking at the White House Monday, Trump said U.S. officials had spoken separately with mediators but gave no further details, adding: “We’re going to win. It’s going to go pretty quickly.”

The diplomatic push comes as physical supply data shows the war’s toll on the oil market easing. Middle Eastern crude exports rebounded this month to around their highest level since the war began in February, Kpler data showed. “Middle East crude exports at just under 80% of pre-conflict levels,” the tracking firm said in a note on Monday.

The Strait of Hormuz itself remains far from normal. Kpler’s real-time tracking showed total clearance through the strait at 10,591 kilobarrels a day on Saturday, against a pre-war baseline of 17,133.

Technologies

Oil prices fall as crude exports recover at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea ports

Saudi Arabia has restored flows through the pipeline to around 3.5 million barrels per day, according to media reports.

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