With Dark Souls III possibly marking the end of the series, Dark Souls fans slowly and painfully play their way through what could be their last adventure through the dark punishing realms created by Hidetaka Miyazaki. With FromSoftware moving on to a brand new IP, will it possible for another developer to pick up where Miyazaki leaves off?

What’s on most every Dark Souls fan’s mind lately is the question of if Miyazaki will be planning any spin-offs or tie-ins to the franchise and continuing to milk it for as long as the cow provides cash (cough-Assassins Creed-cough). Nevertheless, Miyazaki has shot down hope of creating another Dark Souls game after Dark Souls III in the foreseeable future. “There’s absolutely no plan right now for any sequels, spin-offs or tie-ins. But I can’t say for certain the possibility is zero per cent, for example, if a From Software developer come to me five years from now and beg ‘please let me make another Dark Souls’ then I will not rule out the possibility to let my subordinates start a new project.” Said Miyazaki, during an interview.

There is still hope for fans of the series and the genre. If you are someone who loves a classic challenge of video games past and seek to mumble swears and pound your fist out of frustration until finally achieving sweet, sweet, victory, then Nioh might just be the game for you. Nioh, first came into the spotlight ten years ago and since then had seemingly vanished until most recently emerging during PlayStation Experience late last year and has since gone on to release a playable alpha demo that is currently available on PlayStation Network for a limited time.

After spending some time with the game, although feeling very Dark Souls like, it’s clearly able to stand perfectly well on its own two feet. The inspiration behind the Dark Souls games that Team Ninja has drawn from hasn’t jelled into a “Dark Souls clone,” as some might call it. In fact, the demo takes the best bits of previously developed games from Team Ninja, such as Onimusha and Ninja Gaiden, and perfectly blends them with Souls-inspired elements to create a fresh new take on the niche hard modes of video game past.

Dark Souls lovers should pick up this game when it releases later in 2016. Keep in mind, however, that this is a different game than what you might be used to, as Nioh has a more Bloodborne pace feel to the combat, while the actual gameplay is still focusing on the defensive approach to fending off enemies. Nioh also takes hits a lot more punishingly than Dark Souls, as my max amount of hits taken by enemies was three strikes and my lowest was one before a death screen once again greeted me. Nioh is just a bloody good time and if the final game turns out to be anything like the alpha, then it’s safe to say that Team Ninja has a brand new hit on their hands.

Nioh’s Alpha demo ends on May 5, so be sure to download it and give it shot before it is taken off of PSN.