FromSoftware's two gothic masterpieces compared — what's similar, what's different, and what the shift from Sony to Nintendo means.
The moment The Duskbloods trailer aired during the April 2025 Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, the internet had one overwhelming reaction: "Is this Bloodborne 2?"
It's easy to see why. A FromSoftware game directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki, drenched in Victorian Gothic architecture, featuring grotesque monsters, firearms alongside melee weapons, a mysterious moon hanging over everything, and characters powered by blood. The visual DNA is unmistakable. Even outlets covering the reveal couldn't resist — TechRadar's headline read "While we wait for a Bloodborne remake or sequel, FromSoftware just announced The Duskbloods."
But despite the surface-level similarities, The Duskbloods is a fundamentally different game. Here's how they actually compare.
| The Duskbloods | Bloodborne | |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | FromSoftware | FromSoftware |
| Director | Hidetaka Miyazaki | Hidetaka Miyazaki |
| Platform | Nintendo Switch 2 (exclusive) | PlayStation 4 (exclusive) |
| Genre | PvPvE Multiplayer Action RPG | Single-Player Action RPG |
| Players | Up to 8 (online) | 1 (with co-op/PvP via summons) |
| Aesthetic | Gothic, Victorian, Steampunk, Japanese | Gothic, Victorian, Lovecraftian |
| Characters | 12+ pre-made Bloodsworn (customizable) | 1 custom-created Hunter |
| Blood Theme | Conceptual — power, history, fate | Literal & thematic — healing, corruption |
| Firearms | All characters have ranged attacks | Left-hand firearms for parrying |
| Movement | Super jumps, double jumps, jetpacks | Dodge-focused, grounded |
| Structure | Hub-based match loop | Interconnected open world |
| Lore Delivery | Customization items (blood history) | Item descriptions |
| Moon | Moontears — central to story | Paleblood Moon — central to story |
| Release | 2026 | 2015 |
The visual overlap is striking and intentional. Both games draw from the same well of Victorian Gothic imagery: towering cathedrals, cobblestone streets, ornate ironwork, dim gaslight, graveyards, and a pervasive sense of elegant decay. Both use a muted, desaturated color palette punctuated by the red of blood and the pale glow of moonlight.
However, The Duskbloods expands the visual palette significantly. Where Bloodborne was locked into a single city (Yharnam) and its surroundings, The Duskbloods spans multiple time periods and locations — from Gothic cathedrals to early modern industrial environments with trains and steampunk technology. The addition of Japanese and Eastern aesthetic influences alongside Western Gothic is also new, reflecting the game's multi-era, multi-cultural setting.
This is where the two games diverge most dramatically. Bloodborne is a single-player action RPG with optional co-op and PvP elements layered on top. The Duskbloods is, at its core, an online multiplayer PvPvE game — competition between human players is the fundamental experience, not an addition.
The movement systems are also radically different. Bloodborne's combat is grounded and dodge-focused — the iconic quickstep and rally mechanic reward aggression within a realistic movement framework. The Duskbloods throws realism out the window with superhuman abilities: super jumps, double jumps, sprinting, and steampunk jetpacks. Miyazaki described the Bloodsworn's actions as "more dramatic than anything seen in our previous titles."
Character structure also differs fundamentally. In Bloodborne, you create a single custom Hunter and build them from scratch. In The Duskbloods, you choose from over a dozen pre-designed Bloodsworn characters, each with unique weapons and abilities, then customize them through the Blood History & Fate system. It's closer to a hero shooter's character roster than a traditional RPG's blank slate.
The industry context around The Duskbloods is impossible to ignore. Bloodborne was a PlayStation 4 exclusive — one of the console's most beloved and critically acclaimed titles. Fans have been begging for a sequel, a PC port, or at minimum a remaster for nearly a decade.
Instead, FromSoftware's most Bloodborne-like game since Bloodborne is a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive. The timing is made even more pointed by reports in early 2026 that Bluepoint Games' Bloodborne remaster was reportedly cancelled by Sony, amid what multiple outlets described as a strained relationship between Sony and FromSoftware.
The Duskbloods represents FromSoftware's first Nintendo home console exclusive since Lost Kingdoms II in 2003 — over two decades ago. Whether this signals a permanent shift in FromSoftware's platform allegiances or is simply one project born from a specific creative partnership with Nintendo remains to be seen. Miyazaki has been careful to note that FromSoftware will continue making single-player games in their traditional style alongside multiplayer experiments like The Duskbloods.
No — and that's arguably more exciting. The Duskbloods shares Bloodborne's aesthetic sensibility and thematic obsession with blood, moonlight, and the monstrous, but it's a fundamentally different kind of game. It's not a sequel, a spiritual successor, or a Bloodborne-in-disguise. It's FromSoftware using a visual language they've mastered and applying it to a completely new gameplay structure.
If Bloodborne was FromSoftware's love letter to Lovecraftian horror through the lens of single-player exploration, The Duskbloods is their take on competitive multiplayer through the lens of romantic vampirism. Same studio, same director, same impeccable art direction — but a very different game.