Feline soulslike with Sekiro vibes made by Bloodborne-obsessed devs finally gets its early access release next week

Kristala, an upcoming action-RPG Soulslike that has you playing as a humanoid cat, has an early access release date pencilled in for next week. 

Announced just earlier today, Kristala will be arriving on Steam Early Access next week on June 6 and will be Steam Deck Verified from day one. You can see the announcement trailer for Kristala's early access debut just below, and it's a game that we just can't help but describe as a 'cat Soulslike.'

You're a young feline warrior tasked with harnessing the power of six ancient Kristals scattered throughout a dark fantasy land, and that apparently involves beating the crap out of a lot of what look like humanoid rats. These enemies were apparently once docile, but some strange curse has turned them into bloodthirsty beasts, and you need to find out why. 

You can easily see why Kristala can be described as a Soulslike from the trailer above, but perhaps a better comparison would be Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. The upcoming early access game employs a lot of the same traversal elements FromSoftware's action game did, like effortlessly gliding across tightropes and dropping onto enemies above for a brutal stealth kill.

Just in case all this hasn't whet your appetite for Kristala, its developers previously told GamesRadar+ that they're absolutely obsessed with Bloodborne. So while you wait for the Bloodborne remaster that probably isn't coming, you could do a lot worse than checking out a game that pays plenty of tribute to FromSoftware's 2015 hit.

Kristala might launch into Steam Early Access next week on June 6, but its full launch isn't scheduled to hit until 2025. When it does, though, it'll be arriving on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch platforms all at once. Wishlist Kristala on Steam to keep apprised of its latest announcements.

Check out our upcoming PC games guide for a look at all the other titles, early access or not, that are set to launch this year and beyond.