The Duskbloods has been one of my most anticipated games of 2026 ever since it was announced back at that first Switch 2-centric Nintendo Direct. Now, having finally had the chance to play it briefly in the game’s recent network test, I’m pretty confident it will be one of the best Nintendo Switch 2 games... For the most part.
It all began with a tutorial segment that lulled me into a false sense of security. Being a solo instance, it taught all the basics of The Duskbloods like melee and ranged attacks, character skills, general game flow, and what you should be planning to do during an online match. I was able to go about these tutorials at a leisurely pace, which absolutely isn’t the case when you hop online against real players.
My biggest takeaway from The Duskbloods network test is that, during an online match, you should always be on the move. Much like Elden Ring Nightreign, it’s massively beneficial to be thinking several steps ahead. And that turns out to be quite difficult; avoiding bloodthirsty players is hard enough, but it’s even harder when you’re so tempted to stop and whiff the blood-tinged roses of The Duskbloods’ delectably macabre world.
It’s Zork’s world now, we’re all just living in it
To quickly go over the rules of engagement, matches in The Duskbloods take place over several phases, each around five minutes in length.
After selecting a Bloodsworn (the game’s playable characters), you’ll choose a point to spawn in the small-but-dense map. During the first phase, you’re encouraged to start building up Virtue by killing enemies, looting items, and lighting the skulls of corpses sat on thrones (it’s a FromSoftware game, did you expect anything less?).
Virtue comes in many forms, and can also be accrued by fulfilling your character’s Sigil requirements in each phase. Sigils are optional, but can drastically alter how you play. Sigil of a Sworn Enemy, for example, tasks you with defeating a marked opponent in each phase. Sigil of an Old Friend is the opposite, and has you seeking out another player to ally with. These are extremely useful for gaining Virtue, and you’ll need a lot of it, as the two players with the least amount of Virtue at the end of a phase are ‘culled’, removing them from the game.
On that note, I think The Duskbloods features one of FromSoftware’s most compelling approaches to co-op I’ve seen in one of its games to date. At any time, you can highlight a player you come across and request an alliance with them. If they accept, you’ll no longer be able to harm each other and can work together to build up Virtue. However, the bond is broken in the final phase in which the remaining players battle it out in good old-fashioned PvP.
Players can also engage in co-op by answering calls to help against formidable boss enemies. Doing so and defeating the boss will net you huge amounts of Virtue. However, it does so for all other participating players, too, so knowing when to partner up and when to go it alone is an important decision in and of itself.
In short, I’m already in love with The Duskbloods and its uniquely fast-paced approach to PvPvE multiplayer. Its playable characters have universal aspects, but differ greatly in skills and appearance. Deep-sea diver and human rocket Zork is a clear standout, and while he seemed a little overtuned in the network test thanks to his tremendously powerful ranged abilities, not a single one felt weak or disadvantaged.
I really can’t wait to see how The Duskbloods opens up in the full release, especially as we know there’ll be even more maps and Bloodsworn to experience. There’s no release date for The Duskbloods just yet, but it’s expected to launch sometime in 2026 exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2.
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