Project Beast Has a Name and it’s Bloodborne

The official name for Project Beast was revealed to be Bloodborne at the Sony E3 press conference. The new game from Dark Souls developer, From Software, will be a PS4 exclusive title. 

This title is not a direct sequel to any Souls game, so early speculation that the game was the second title in the line of Demon Souls would appear to be incorrect. From Software revealed the new game with a CG trailer showing a man clad in a flowing cloak slinking through a dark victorian era city. It ended the trailer with the hero placing his boot on the neck of an infected citizen before shooting it in the head.

The game, looks very similar to a Souls game, but will try to differentiate itself by focusing on a more aggressive style of combat. It has been confirmed that at this early stage there are no shields in the game, which means players won’t be able to use the “turtle” tactics that are so common to both Dark Souls and Demon Souls.  

In place of the shield players will rely on dodging, countering and their trusty blunderbuss to defend themselves. From Software hopes that the shift in focus from a more defense minded style of combat will help every fight feel like players are constantly on the verge of losing their lives. 

Miyazaki, the director of the first Dark Souls, has been hard at work on Bloodborne which is why he did not return to direct the Souls game that came out earlier this year. Bloodborne is currently slated for a TBA 2015 release date.  

***Original Story Follows***

Back in 2009 From Software introduced us all to their brilliant new IP Demon’s Souls. It was published by Sony Computer Entertainment Japan and is still owned by Sony to this day, a fact that many people don’t remember. This is why Dark Souls is not a direct sequel to Demon’s Souls, From Software doesn’t own the IP. 

This is what makes the rumors swirling around their newest project, Project Beast more believable. Word on the street is that From Software is working on an exclusive title for the Playstation 4 and further speculation points to the title being a sequel to Demon’s Souls. 

Shuhei Yoshida, President of Sony Computer Entertainment’s worldwide studios, said “…he loves the action role playing game and would love to see more of it on Playstation platforms.” He also said Sony “dropped the ball” when they decided to pass on publishing Demon’s Souls in the West. 

Could Project Beast be Sony’s attempt to repair past mistakes? With the success of the previous three Souls games it makes sense that they would try and capitalize off of From Software’s biggest franchise. A Souls game that is exclusive to the Playstation brand would also be a huge console exclusive for Sony. 

Earlier in the week screenshots were leaked from Project Beast followed by several short videos showing the new game being played. Since then all of the clips have been stitched together into one longer video. You can see the game in action for yourself by watching the video embedded in this article. 

For now that’s all the information we have about Project Beast, but you can bet on more being revealed at E3, especially now that the cat’s out of the bag. Hopefully we’ll know more by Monday, Souls fans the world over will have to wait anxiously until then.