Hunters still return to Yharnam each year in March to celebrate Bloodborne’s anniversary (10 years ago now!), and we still hold out hope for a sequel that might never come. When discussing Bloodborne, however, one thing that doesn’t get mentioned enough are its Chalice Dungeons. They are in some ways a proof of concept for FromSoftware’s weird multiplayer experiments beyond summons and invasions.
Chalice Dungeons offer hunters procedurally generated levels of varying difficulties. You can successfully tackle them solo or play as a pair with a buddy (unlike Elden Ring Nightreign, which doesn’t support two-player co-op… yet). They include tough bosses, mobs of enemies, and all the bullshit ways FromSoft enjoys killing you. This weekend I died to a hiding skeletal enemy who threw flame vials at me and to a mob of enemies who were unexpectedly summoned after I stepped on a tile.
Similar to Nightreign, which returns old Dark Souls bosses to the fray, hunters can find already-bested Bloodborne bosses in the Dungeons, like Rom or the Blood-Starved Beast. For trophy hunters, you’ll need to scour the depths of the game’s Chalice Dungeons to find Yharnam, Pthumerian Queen, and defeat her on your quest for the game’s Platinum.
Perhaps the best thing about Bloodborne’s Chalice Dungeons is that they’re included as part of the base game. During or after your 50-hour journey through Yharnam, you can take a detour through some randomized dungeons at no extra cost. With Nightreign, the feeling of “This couldn’t have been a free update?” is hard to shake.
Both Bloodborne’s Chalice Dungeons and Elden Ring Nightreign show FromSoftware isn’t afraid to experiment within its tried-and-true Soulsborne formula, and it’ll experiment further with next year’s The Duskbloods, exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2. “Not Bloodborne II” will feature PvPvE online multiplayer “for a broad range of game-design ideas, while also letting us leverage our experience of designing challenging enemy encounters,” according to director Hidetaka Miyazaki. The Duskbloods will make for back-to-back experimental multiplayer releases for the studio, leaving fans wondering when its next big single-player adventure will drop.
At the moment, though, FromSoftware is going all-in on multiplayer releases. So if Elden Ring Nightreign ain’t for you, Yharnam will always be there waiting, good hunter.
