With E3 2018 right around the corner, it’s never too late to hop on a few hype trains and few things are more hyped than a new game by From Software. When Geoff Keighley revealed the teaser trailer at The Game Awards last year for what we can only call for now, “Shadows Die Twice”, there was a sense of excitement and uncertainty. He fueled the hype when he mentioned it was coming from Japan. The internet didn’t set on fire until the very end when the From Software logo showed up and speculations ran wild. While all we have still is speculation, there’s strong evidence to suggest this new title by From Software is in fact, Bloodborne 2. Follow me hunter, as we uncover the truth behind Shadows Die Twice.
5. Bloodborne Surpassed Sales Expectations
Although Bloodborne sported a 92 on Metacritic, many were wondering if it would sell enough copies, given the fact it was a PS4 exclusive, hard-as-nails RPG. These worries were quickly dashed when Sony announced Bloodborne had sold more than 1 million copies worldwide just a mere month after it’s launch. This was a major surprise to Sony, they finally had a legit system seller for the PS4 on their hands. The risk paid off, Bloodborne was and is a bonafide success and a new IP to boot. What other validation does Sony need to see that PlayStation fans want more Bloodborne? With sales approaching 3 million copies lifetime, now is the time to strike and the fans are ready.
4. Fool Me Once…
When Shuhei Yoshida (President of Worldwide Studios) played a build of Demon’s Souls, he was not impressed. In fact, he admitted that he misunderstood the game. According to an interview with Eurogamer, he spent nearly 2 hours stuck in the beginning of the game and after not progressing he said, “This is crap. This is an unbelievably bad game.” Of course, luckily, Atlus published the game in North America and Namco published it in Europe.
“We definitely dropped the ball from a publishing standpoint, including studio management side. We were not able to see the value of the product we were making.” -Shuhei Yoshida
Dark Souls, it’s spiritual sequel, would release 2 years later and, well, you know what happened after that. Sony is not going to let this happen again. Bloodborne is like a second chance at this and it’s safe to say their eyes are wide open. When Shuhei Yoshida went on stage during Sony’s E3 2014 presser to announce Bloodborne, you can tell he was humbled yet proud that he was able to make it happen.
3. Shadows Die Twice in Yharnam
The word ‘Shadows’ is very interesting. We can attribute it to a few things in Bloodborne and while not ultimately conclusive, we do feel pretty good about some of it. There’s a boss in Bloodborne called, Shadows of Yharnam, which has you battling against a trio of hooded, sword-wielding mages. That is one potential link but not a very strong one but trust me we have more compelling evidence. At the end of Bloodborne’s The Old Hunters DLC, you face a final boss called Orphan of Kos. At the end of the fight, you have to attack a shadow to complete the fight and end the DLC content. Once again, the word Shadow comes into play. Couple that with the fact that you are essentially killing the Orphan of Kos twice by killing it’s shadow at the end and all of a sudden the phrase, “Shadows Die Twice” doesn’t sound too crazy.
2. A Samurai from a Distant Land
Some of the counterpoints most commonly used against Shadows Die Twice being Bloodborne related is the traditional Eastern music playing faintly in the background. There is also what appears to be ancient Kanji written in the background and apparently a Kunai pegged to a wall. None of this sounds like the gothic,victorian horror we were treated to in Bloodborne does it? But wait a minute. In the Bloodborne DLC, we get to meet Yamamura The Wanderer. Who is Yamamura The Wanderer? Take a closer look down below for a chin-stroking item description.
This isn’t the first time From Software has injected an out-of-place character in their games only to return in future games. If you remember back when the Artorias of the Abyss DLC released for Dark Souls, there was a character that wildly did not fit in the world of Dark Souls. His name was Chester and he unmistakably looks like a hunter from Bloodborne. Could this be a hint like Yamamura The Wanderer?
1. Eerie Sounds
In the Shadows Die Twice teaser, we see what looks like a gruesome torture device. Many have speculated it could be a trick weapon but there’s no mistaking it’s grotesque nature, something Bloodborne had in spades. The look of this teaser looks eerily similar to Bloodborne’s first teaser. In fact, it’s alarmingly similar even in lighting. Check it out down below.
The tiny burst of music towards the end, right before the From Software logo appears, sounds like the beginning bit of the Bloodborne reveal teaser. Listen very carefully.
From Software has been remarkably hush about Shadows Die Twice. The last “update” we got on the game was on the night of its world premiere when From Software dev Yasuhiro Kitao tweeted this:
More details to follow in the next 12 months. We hope you look forward to it! https://t.co/YvshapWDYl
— FROMSOFTWARE／Kitao (@YasuhiroKitao) December 8, 2017
We haven’t heard anything since then. Could this be Bloodborne 2? Hopefully we’ll find out at E3 2018. Have some theories to share? Leave them down below.
