When you look at the character select screen in The Duskbloods, you’re probably wondering what kind of nightmare blunt rotation FromSoftware cooked up here. Each of these Bloodsworn have their own playstyles and backstories and are all pulled from different eras in time, but if you look all the way to the right of the screen, you’ll see Zork. Who the hell is Zork, and why is this armor-clad lad in a deep-sea diving suit with a beak sticking out? What’s the deal with his worm-like sword? Why does he have a jetpack and rocket launcher backpack? And why is he all over your social media feed where The Duskbloods players are “Zorkin’ it”?
As part of an interview by GameSpot, director Hidetaka Miyazaki was asked about Zork specifically and said, “I think the ultimate inspiration was Ultraman and Ultra Seven specifically, so it’s those [kinds of] monsters that rise from the depths of the ocean.”
He continued: “That was probably included in the design notes at some point. The end result is a bit different, but that’s kind of the general direction that that thought came from.”
One of Zork’s abilities is to charge his jetpack and launch himself at a target to inflict damage and cause a knockback, and Zork players became my nemesis during the preview event I went to at the FromSoftware office in Tokyo. I was more fascinated with the rockets on his back that function like a mortar you can manually aim, almost like adding an Armored Core twist to the Souls format (both of which are FromSoftware’s territory). On top of catering to a different playstyle, it’s pretty cool to just have a goofy guy to contrast a roster of dark fantasy characters.
“Zork is basically as far off to the side as you can get, where he’s a bit of a wild card. It’s always fun to have characters like that,” Miyazaki said in the aforementioned interview. And he spoke about the era-spanning approach to The Duskbloods’ premise, saying, “We wanted to have something that wasn’t frozen in the Victorian Gothic era, but something that went past the Industrial Revolution as well, and I think Zork is probably the far end of that.”
You might be wondering if there’s going to be more story to dig up on Zork with The Duskbloods being a multiplayer-only game, and in my own interview with Miyazaki, he explained how you can unlock story cutscenes back in the game’s hub area. There will be unique character interactions and bits of backstory tied to the gameplay itself, and these are things you’ll be able to see regardless of whether or not you can win matches.
The Duskbloods has a vampiric edge to it where staggering enemies allows you to bite them for big damage, HP recovery, and turning weak enemies into your minions. So, how the hell does Zork do this? Miyazaki hinted at some of the details you’ll find, and told GameSpot: “Yes, if you ever win with Zork, you’ll get a cutscene that will probably reveal that a little bit more. [His] beak thing extends like a straw, and sucks [blood] up like a mosquito.” Hell yeah, man.
Lastly, Miyazaki seemed to have a bias toward the deep-sea robot chicken, saying, “At least in the network test version, Zork is one of my favorites.”
For more on FromSoftware’s multiplayer Switch 2 exclusive, check out my hands-on impressions of The Duskbloods and read my interview with director Hidetaka Miyazaki where we talked about the Nintendo partnership, maintaining a playerbase for multiplayer, and what’s next for FromSoftware.
Michael Higham is an editor at IGN who regularly contributes with reviews, previews, features, and news in written and video form. He’s usually entrusted with covering long RPGs and tech products, but he’s got range when it comes to games. You’ll also catch him at events and hosting video content, including IGN’s weekly podcast Unlocked.