IGN’s Logan Plant says The Duskbloods, despite its dark Bloodborne-like style, feels surprisingly well suited to Nintendo hardware. After roughly eight hours in a Switch 2 network test, he found its fast, unpredictable PvPvE matches resemble Nintendo party games by making comebacks, experimentation and enjoyable losses as important as outright victory.

Players enter a large map, gain levels and powers, face random events, then compete in a final round for the win; Plant compares this structure to Kirby Air Ride’s City Trial and Smash Run. Nintendo is publishing the game outside Japan, making the collaboration with FromSoftware notable given both companies’ limited history with this type of online multiplayer and Nintendo’s usually family-focused catalogue. Plant highlights an item that added 30 seconds to a countdown, allowing him to steal enough points to reach a finale despite ultimately losing.