The Duskbloodsis the first Soulslike by FromSoftware that takes place across completely isolated, instanced maps. Where most of the studio’s past works have tried to be set in one time and place, this switch-up has allowed FromSoftware to set the arenas in various time periods, some more medieval, and others closer to real-life Edwardian.
It is not the first time, though, that different times have crossed over in a single game.Dark Souls’Artorias of the AbyssDLC took players back to old Oolacile to save Dusk and fulfill the legend of Artorias. But there is much more to this lore fromDark SoulsthatThe Duskbloodsis making a callback to.
Time Is Convoluted in the Duskbloods
Many old-time fans will remember Solaire’s famous expression, as it has become one of the oldest memes within the franchise. Yet, for all the jokes, it is a fundamental part of Miyazaki’s storytelling. Many heroes have set out tolink the First Flameacross many worlds, and the player can follow their paths through messages, bloodstains, ghosts, and jolly cooperation.
TheSoulsseries stands apart from many others like it as it established a need to tie game mechanics into the world’s lore. Co-op is not done through menus and joining lobbies, it’s through placing signs on the ground so that a player might be summoned to another world. It’s by creating this mythos of multiple stacked worlds, and time shifting around them, so that the more video game elements could be justified within the story the developers wanted to tell.
The Duskbloodsborrows from this theme of convoluted time by presenting a story where heroes, each from their own time, fight in different periods of the past and future alike. The in-universe goal is obtaining First Blood, the reward of winning a match, which draws these powerful heroes in. FromSoftware has always hinted at characters from other times, such as theDark SoulsNPCChester, who looks mysteriously like he came fromBloodborne, and used them to reinforce the sense of the player being an alien in a strange land.
Because of this, there is no exact presenttime period inThe Duskbloods, which raises questions about how the game’s lore and narrative will evolve. Time seems to end at the Twilight of Humanity, where First Blood flows, but as the Twilight can be at all times, perhaps it implies that linear time does not flow in the same way that collective or personal timelines do.
If that does not make much sense, there are examples of similar ideas from other IPs. Take Doctor Who, where a character can follow their own timeline across many periods, past and future, and still reach a final destination that is the culmination of everything leading to that single moment.
The Bloodsworn Reflect Another Trend of Fromsoftware’s Storytelling
An important theme in theSoulsgames is that the protagonist is often only called upon because heroes greater than themselves failed or abandoned their duties. The player is considered a nobody that overcomes all the obstacles to do what the warriors of legend could not. The Bloodsworn being powerful heroes from their own times is very reminiscent of this setup and even implies that The Duskbloods’ setting is in a moment before the type of scenario that would require aTarnished, Ashen One or Chosen Undeadto come and fix the mess.
This would be a refreshing twist on the typical narrative, and show that just likeDark Souls 3did, the world and its people are all slowly converging on one place, at one time.The Duskbloodsraises many questions aboutthe future of FromSoftware, and where its game design goes next, and it’s certain to be very interesting indeed.
WHERE TO PLAY
Developed for the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2, The Duskbloods is a PvPvE title with online multiplayer at its core, where up to 8 players vie for supremacy among themselves and against challenging foes.
Play as the “Bloodsworn”; a group that has transcended human strength thanks to their special blood, and throw yourself into a violent fray for “First Blood” as the twilight of humanity approaches.
