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Elden Ring: Nightreign is the closest game to start with if you want a FromSoftware multiplayer loop built around repeatable expeditions, teamwork and pressure from other players. Choose Elden Ring for the studio’s broadest modern combat and exploration, Bloodborne for gothic blood-horror atmosphere, or Hunt: Showdown when the main attraction is high-stakes PvPvE tension rather than Souls-style combat.
The Duskbloods is planned for worldwide release in 2026 as a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive. Nintendo describes Bloodsworn characters fighting in online battles of up to eight players, with both player-versus-player and player-versus-enemy play. A precise launch day, final price, complete roster and detailed network requirements have not been published in the official material available so far.
What The Duskbloods promises—and what remains unknown
The Duskbloods is a new online multiplayer action game from the creators associated with Dark Souls and Elden Ring. Nintendo’s product description says players become Bloodsworn, supernatural beings whose abilities are empowered by blood, and enter battles involving up to eight players. Nintendo’s Creator’s Voice material describes a multiplayer design that combines PvP with PvE rather than limiting matches to one type of encounter.
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That gives us a useful target for choosing games, but not a complete specification. The official announcements do not establish a confirmed solo campaign, a particular matchmaking format, a fixed session length, a final character count, a price or a launch day. They also do not identify the game as taking place in Bloodborne’s setting. The recommendations below therefore match documented goals—FromSoftware combat, gothic mood, cooperative or competitive pressure and PvPvE tension—rather than claiming that any game is a confirmed influence.
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Quick comparison: which game fits your reason for waiting?
| Game | Best match for | Combat identity | Multiplayer format | Atmosphere | Progression shape |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elden Ring: Nightreign | Closest structural substitute | Fast Souls-style action with builds and coordinated encounters | Short, repeatable expeditions with cooperative and competitive pressure | Dark fantasy | Run-focused expeditions alongside character choices |
| Elden Ring | Learning modern FromSoftware combat and exploration | Flexible melee, magic, ranged tools and build experimentation | Primarily solo, with optional multiplayer elements | Large-scale dark fantasy | Persistent character and world progression |
| Bloodborne | Matching the blood-soaked gothic mood | Aggressive melee, firearms and rally-based risk taking | Primarily solo, with optional cooperative and competitive play | Gothic blood horror | Persistent character progression |
| Dark Souls III | Focused, boss-centered Souls progression | Deliberate timing, stamina management and weapon variety | Primarily solo, with optional online play | Medieval gothic ruin | Persistent character progression through a compact campaign |
| Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice | Precision, parries and mobility | Posture-breaking sword duels and vertical movement | Primarily solo | Mythic feudal Japan | Persistent skills and story progression |
| Hunt: Showdown | High-stakes PvPvE matches | Deliberate gunplay, sound awareness and information control | Teams fight AI threats and rival players in the same match | Gothic frontier horror | Risk-based character and equipment economy |
| Escape from Tarkov | Maximum extraction pressure | Realistic firearms, logistics and survival management | PvPvE extraction raids | Grounded modern survival | Run-based extraction with valuable gear at risk |
Availability differs by title and platform. The Duskbloods requires Nintendo Switch 2; the alternatives span console and PC ecosystems, so check the current store listing for your system before buying.
1. Elden Ring: Nightreign — the closest structural match
Start here if your main question is, “What can I play that feels most like the multiplayer premise?” Nightreign is built around repeatable expeditions rather than a single uninterrupted open-world journey. That makes it a better preparation for The Duskbloods’ online focus than a conventional solo Souls campaign.
Why it fits
- Session-based play: You make decisions inside bounded expeditions, so each run creates a clear beginning, escalation and end.
- Team decisions: Builds and roles matter because players must coordinate movement, target priority and resource use.
- Enemy and player pressure: Hostile encounters are not isolated from the possibility of competition, giving PvE and PvP decisions a shared context.
- FromSoftware combat language: Positioning, attack timing, stamina awareness and readable enemy patterns remain central.
Where it differs
Nightreign is not identical to The Duskbloods. Nintendo has confirmed only the latter’s broad PvP/PvE format and maximum battle size; it has not said that its sessions, objectives or progression will copy Nightreign. Treat Nightreign as practice for the rhythm of preparing, committing to a run and adapting with other players—not as a preview of unannounced systems.
Choose Nightreign when
You want multiplayer first, accept repeatable runs, and would rather learn how FromSoftware combat behaves when teammates and competing objectives influence every decision.
2. Elden Ring — the best all-around FromSoftware preparation
Elden Ring is the strongest choice for readers who want to understand the studio’s modern combat before The Duskbloods arrives. Its world is much larger and more exploration-driven than the announced multiplayer premise, but it provides the broadest tutorial in spacing, weapon movesets, status effects, ranged options, mounted movement and character builds.
What to practice
- Try different weapon categories instead of committing to the first item that works.
- Learn to read attack tells and punish recovery windows rather than trading damage.
- Use exploration to find upgrade materials and alternate routes when a fight is beyond your current power.
- Experiment with melee, spells, bows and other ranged tools so you understand how distance changes an encounter.
The important trade-off
Elden Ring is primarily a single-player journey. Its optional online features do not turn the entire game into a shared competitive session, so it cannot reproduce the social pressure promised by The Duskbloods. Pick it for combat fluency, build experimentation and hostile exploration, not for a one-to-one multiplayer replacement.
3. Bloodborne — the closest gothic blood-horror mood
Bloodborne is the natural atmosphere pick for anyone drawn to The Duskbloods’ blood-themed presentation, supernatural imagery and gothic tone. Its streets, hunters and transforming weapons create a concentrated horror experience that remains distinct from the open expanses of Elden Ring.
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Why the mood match works
Bloodborne rewards forward momentum. Its rally system lets you recover some recently lost health by striking back quickly, while firearms can interrupt an enemy at the right moment. The result is a more aggressive rhythm than the cautious shield play many players associate with earlier Souls games.
Set expectations correctly
The official announcements present The Duskbloods as a new online multiplayer action game. They do not place it in Bloodborne’s world or announce a sequel relationship. Bloodborne is therefore an atmosphere and combat comparison, not evidence of shared lore, characters or setting.
Choose Bloodborne when
You care more about oppressive architecture, blood rituals, grotesque transformations and aggressive melee than about a large online party. Its optional online play can add cooperation or invasions, but the campaign remains fundamentally a solo experience.
4. Dark Souls III — compact, boss-centered gothic combat
Dark Souls III is a good bridge between Bloodborne’s darkness and the more measured combat of classic Souls games. The campaign is comparatively focused, with tightly connected areas and a strong sequence of memorable bosses. That makes it suitable for readers who want to complete a full FromSoftware game before 2026 without committing to Elden Ring’s enormous world.
What it teaches
- Deliberate timing: Stamina, invincibility windows and recovery animations matter on every difficulty spike.
- Weapon commitment: Each moveset changes your spacing and punish opportunities.
- Boss learning: Repeated attempts teach pattern recognition, phase changes and risk control.
- Online fundamentals: Optional summons and invasions demonstrate how another player can alter an encounter without making the entire campaign multiplayer.
Dark Souls III does not offer The Duskbloods’ announced battles of up to eight players, and its progression is not built around a PvPvE expedition format. Choose it for focused gothic Souls combat and the clearest historical connection to the lineage Nintendo highlights.
5. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice — precision and mobility practice
Choose Sekiro if the part of The Duskbloods that interests you most is demanding action rather than online structure. Sekiro centers on a single protagonist, but its combat is an intensive lesson in reaction speed, parry timing, posture management and movement through vertical spaces.
How it differs from Souls games
Blocking indefinitely is not the goal. You are expected to meet attacks with well-timed deflections, maintain pressure and break an opponent’s posture. Stealth, grappling movement and resurrection opportunities add another layer of tactical choice. Those systems make Sekiro a poor multiplayer substitute, yet an excellent mechanical workout for players who want to enter The Duskbloods comfortable with fast decisions.
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Choose Sekiro when
You prefer a defined character, a more concentrated moveset and duels that reward precision over build crafting. Skip it as your first pick if your priority is party play, persistent equipment variety or PvPvE tension.
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6. Hunt: Showdown — high-stakes PvPvE tension outside the Souls formula
Hunt: Showdown is the best non-Souls comparison when your priority is the feeling of entering a dangerous match, dealing with AI threats and listening for rival players. Its gothic frontier setting supplies horror atmosphere, while its match structure makes information and extraction decisions as important as aim.
The useful comparison
- Shared danger: AI enemies create noise and pressure, but human teams can exploit the same information.
- Information management: Sound, sight lines and timing often reveal as much as direct combat.
- Risk: A successful run can be valuable, while a failed encounter can cost the character or equipment invested in it.
- Team communication: Partners must decide whether to pursue a target, disengage or secure an objective.
Do not treat Hunt as a confirmed inspiration for The Duskbloods. Its gunplay, objectives and extraction economy differ sharply from FromSoftware fantasy action. It belongs on this list because it demonstrates how PvE threats and rival players can create one continuous tension curve.
7. Escape from Tarkov — an optional choice for maximum extraction risk
Escape from Tarkov is for readers who are attracted to the phrase “high-stakes PvPvE” more than to gothic swordplay. Its raids ask you to enter a hostile area, gather useful equipment and reach an extraction point while other players and AI-controlled enemies threaten the run.
Why it may appeal
Every decision carries logistical consequences. Weight, ammunition, healing, route planning and the value of recovered gear all affect whether you should push forward or leave. That risk-management mindset can prepare you for the emotional pressure of a multiplayer game in which a failed attempt matters.
Why it is only an optional comparison
Tarkov is grounded, firearm-focused and deliberately simulation-oriented. It does not provide Souls combat, supernatural abilities or the announced Bloodsworn fantasy. Choose it only if extraction pressure and valuable runs are your priority; otherwise, Hunt offers a more accessible atmosphere bridge and Nightreign offers the closer combat lineage.
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If you want the closest multiplayer loop
Play Elden Ring: Nightreign first. Its repeatable expedition structure and cooperative or competitive pressure address the same broad design question as The Duskbloods: how does FromSoftware combat change when other players are part of the core session?
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If you want to learn FromSoftware fundamentals
Play Elden Ring. Its open world gives you room to test builds, find alternate routes and return to difficult encounters after improving your character.
If you want blood-soaked gothic horror
Play Bloodborne, followed by Dark Souls III if you want a more medieval and boss-focused variation. Neither establishes what The Duskbloods’ setting will be, but both cover the mood readers commonly associate with its announcement.
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Play Sekiro. It is the least useful multiplayer comparison, but the strongest choice for learning to react, parry and stay aggressive under pressure.
If you want PvPvE tension above all else
Choose Hunt: Showdown for a gothic, team-based match or Escape from Tarkov for harsher extraction risk. These games explain the format, not The Duskbloods’ combat or lore.
A practical play order while waiting
- Begin with Elden Ring: Nightreign if you already know Souls combat and want the most relevant multiplayer structure.
- Use Elden Ring next to broaden your understanding of weapons, builds, exploration and enemy design.
- Add Bloodborne or Dark Souls III for gothic atmosphere, selecting Bloodborne for aggression and horror or Dark Souls III for compact boss progression.
- Use Sekiro as a skills challenge when you want to sharpen parries, movement and reaction timing.
- Finish with Hunt: Showdown or Escape from Tarkov if you want practice making decisions while AI threats and rival players compete for the same objective.
You do not need to finish every game. Match the choice to the skill or mood you want, and stop when the experience becomes repetition rather than useful preparation.
What to prepare for The Duskbloods
Because The Duskbloods is announced as a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive, the console is the only confirmed hardware requirement. Nintendo and FromSoftware have not published a final price, launch day, complete roster, performance specification or detailed network requirement in the official material covered here.
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- Expect online play to be central rather than an optional add-on, but wait for Nintendo’s final explanation of matchmaking, subscriptions and account requirements.
- Do not buy another title expecting its exact player count, progression or setting to transfer directly; the alternatives above match separate parts of the announced concept.
- Recheck official product information when a launch date and final system details are published, since those details may change how well each recommendation fits.
Bottom line
For one game, choose Elden Ring: Nightreign: it is the closest documented match for a repeatable FromSoftware multiplayer experience with cooperative and competitive pressure. Choose Elden Ring for the best overall combat and exploration education, Bloodborne for gothic blood horror, Dark Souls III for focused Souls progression, Sekiro for precision, Hunt: Showdown for accessible PvPvE tension, or Escape from Tarkov for uncompromising extraction risk.
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