Watch six minutes of new Dark Souls 3 footage

Over six minutes of Dark Souls 3 footage has been revealed as part of developer From Software's livestream (captured by YouTuber Gilmore Mizzi).

What's most striking about the new footage is how much it resembles From's Souls spin-off (and Eurogamer Game of 2015) Bloodborne. Not only does the dark forested environment look at home in the outskirts of Yharnam, this player chooses to forego a shield in favour of gripping a dagger with both hands.

What's more Bloodborne-like - and new to the Dark Souls series proper - is the player's ability to quickly sidestep rather than roll. If you look closely you'll notice that performing this technique reduces your magic meter rather than stamina, suggesting that it could be one of the new "weapon art" techniques From has teased of this latest entry.

Watching this character strafe behind enemies only to stab them in the back for a very powerful visceral attack bears more than a passing resemblance to the same move in Bloodborne. There's even a familiar shower of blood and sound effect. While backstabs have always been part of the Souls series DNA since Demon's Souls it's worth noting how this latest entry seemingly rips the presentation off verbatim from Bloodborne. I would complain about that except it's one of Bloodborne's most charming features, so I'll roll (or side-step) with it.

Other neat details include what looks like an Estus Flask to refill magic. It's unclear if this will be an item that refills at every bonfire or not, but it along with the new magic meter suggests wizardy will play a much larger role this time around after fans felt like it was given the short shrift in Bloodborne.

Dark Souls 3 will launch 12th April in the western world on PS4, Xbox One and PC.