Bandai Namco teased an upcoming game announcement today with the tagline Prepare to Dine.
The publisher promises that the official reveal for this new game will happen April 20 according to a press release. The 30 second trailer is heavily stylized and features more than a few images of blood and Gothic imagery. It ends with a female character using what looks like a gun with a bayonet attached to it. She battles a few monsters before coming face to face with a huge creature.
Bandai Namco didn’t offer any other details on the game. The Prepare to Dine tagline is eerily similar to the Prepare to Die line used by the Dark Souls series. The gun-like weapon used in the trailer also gives off a Bloodborne vibe, although Bandai Namco doesn’t own the rights to that franchise. Perhaps we are looking at a vampire Souls-like.
The developer is also shrouded in secrecy. Hidetaka Miyazaki, who serves as From Software’s president as well as game director for most games in the Souls series, said in an interview with Kotaku last year that he would be leaving the Souls franchise behind. While he may be done with the series, he isn’t stopping others from continuing.
“If someone other than myself, like another staff member, wants to make a Dark Souls, then I don’t want to deny others from making future installments,” said Miyazaki during that same interview.
While From Software hasn’t formally announced their next title, there is some indication the studio is working on a spiritual successor to the Souls series. With the similarity in taglines it’s possible this reveal is tied to that game. Bandai Namco could also be developing a new Souls game using another developer. With little to go on speculation will surely run rampant until the game’s official reveal on April 20.
