The Bloodsworn are the new protagonists of The Duskbloods, the upcoming game by FromSoftware. Fighting battles for First Blood at the Twilight of Humanity, they are super-human fighters charged with special blood, granting great speed, strength, and the ability to manipulate the world around them.
This is in stark contrast to past games from the studio, where the player character was nobody. Looked down upon, sneered at, they had to overcome their status as nothing in order to selflessly mend the world. Tarnished, Unkindled, or Cursed, millions of nameless individuals sacrificed themselves for no promise of reward, but all of that is about to change in The Duskbloods.
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The Bloodsworn’s Super-Human Powers Break a Massive FromSoftware Tradition
Chosen by someone, or something, the Bloodsworn channel powerful abilities through the special blood imparted upon them. They use these abilities to compete in periods of time, known as the Twilight of Humanity, where they fight for First Blood, seemingly for the power it grants. Through this simple set-up, FromSoftware has redefined the relationship between the player and their character by making them somewhat of a legend right from the start.
Each Bloodsworn is different from the last, embodying all kinds of aspects, from a beetle-ridden skeleton to a mysterious armored warrior with a jetpack. Vampirism plays a large part in giving the characters their identity, but it has been stressed that blood is a little more metaphorical, as opposed to Bloodborne. There is power in blood, but it may not be the same as the stuff physically flowing through them.
Typically, the player character has been treated as nothing but dirt in past games. There has been a long-running tradition of giving players a completely blank slate character to make their own. By building into stats, certain weapons, spells, and through quest choices, it is up to a player to transform the empty canvas into their own legend.
This has been one of the core appeals to FromSoftware’s catalog. The bleak worlds the studio creates are the perfect backdrop for a great hero to save the day, but all the heroes are long dead or downtrodden, and now it is just this small husk of a warrior, ready to try again.
This then raises an interesting question: that perhaps The Duskbloods’ setting represents a point in the game’s world where things have not yet reached a terminal collapse, and these are the heroes that have still not met their demise. There are many instances in Soulsborne games of the many defeated heroes providing the player a link to the world’s past, so it’s a fascinating reversal being able to make that history in The Duskbloods.
There Are Still Customization Options in the Duskbloods
Not everything has been stripped away in favor of giving players all-powerful protagonists. Between matches, Bloodsworn can be improved by customizing their blood history and fate. This not only improves the Bloodsworn character but also unlocks new fragments of lore about the world. Naturally, the customization will be a little more limited than in past games, but it has been confirmed that even appearance can be changed to some degree.
In this way, players get the satisfaction of being able to customize specific characters to their desires, but lets FromSoftware have its cake and eat it too. It can craft individual heroes while allowing players the freedom to make them truly unique, similar to how they could in past entries. Through many victories, players can unlock the secrets of the world and build a legend that is theirs once again.Do
