The everlasting hope of a new Bloodborne reveal at PlayStation State of Play was once again dashed, but PS5 owners are still getting an exclusive Soulslike—Ballad of Antara. It hasn’t got anything to do with FromSoftware, but the announcement trailer from May 31 looks promising.
Ballad of Antara is from Tipsworks Studio, and it calls the game an action RPG where you play “an adventure of two intertwined fates through exotic landscapes.” You can play as multiple characters with unique builds and combat styles, and the game’s multiplayer feature means you don’t have to take on the massive monsters from the trailer alone.
The combat in Ballad of Antara remains unclear. Only a little was shown in the announcement trailer, and most of the visuals are purely cinematic. The design of this game’s nightmarish creatures and level art, full of dark fantasy locales and haunting structures, looks heavily inspired by games like Dark Souls 3 and Lies of P.
Tipsworks Studio previously worked on Pascal’s Wager, another Soulslike title from 2021. The game has mixed reviews on Steam, but Ballad of Antara looks far more polished and stylized. Tipsworks said Ballad of Antara will be free-to-play, and the game will receive post-launch updates with new levels and playable characters.
The important reveal of Ballad of Antara is the combat. On the surface, the game looks enticing— the free-to-play status and post-launch support are major profile boosters—but a game like this falls apart if it feels too floaty or sluggish to fight its enemies.
The lack of in-engine combat footage in the announcement trailer could be cause for concern, but Tipsworks promises a Ballad of Antara beta in the near future that may put any worries to rest. The game is slated to launch in 2025.
