Elden Ring Nightreign is for the true Elden Ring junkies

Elden Ring Nightreign isn’t what I was expecting. I knew from the game’s announcement last year that it would be a co-op Elden Ring spinoff, that it would task players with surviving for three nights and facing off against a variety of new and old FromSoftware bosses. What I didn’t know until I played the game at a recent Bandai Namco event, ahead of this weekend’s Network Test, is that in many ways it would feel more like a frantic, PvE battle royale than it would the original Elden Ring. What’s even more surprising is just how well all of these elements mix together into a package that feels both true to the Soulslike genre, and totally new at the same time. 

Every match of Nightreign starts with each player selecting their character, each with their own set of starting gear, specific stats, and unique abilities. There’s a Guardian, who starts with a massive shield and whose abilities allow him to crowd control enemies and protect his allies; there’s the Wylder, a traditional strength-based character focused on dealing damage above everything; the Duchess, a dexterity character that can turn her allies invisible or amplify their damage; and the magic-focused Recluse, who has abilities that feel unique and different from anything FromSoftware has made before. The Network Test only includes these four archetypes, but the game will eventually include eight characters for players to choose from. 

After players have selected their characters, the battle royale comparisons start to arise. Everyone is air-dropped, via a magical bird, onto a randomly generated map full of enemies, terrain, and gear you’ll recognize from your time in The Lands Between. The Network Test only has a small variety of random elements, but we’re told the base game will contain significantly more. After you hit the ground, your team can immediately start killing enemies that range from tiny cannon fodder to named bosses; you scavenge for new weapons and Souls for upgrading, all while a giant ring slowly closes in, forcing you to one spot where a boss will eventually spawn. 

The one thing I can’t stress enough is that all of this happens fast. Many of Elden Ring’s mechanics have been cleverly streamlined in service of helping players get from point A to point B as quickly as possible. Sites of Grace are activated simply by sprinting past them, detailed stats have been succinctly condensed into simple levels, enemies can be killed in a dash as your team rushes to get as many Souls as possible, and hurdles like fall damage are a thing of the past, meaning players can now launch themselves off cliffs to reach their destination just a little quicker. 

All of this may sound anathema to some people’s experience playing the original Elden Ring, but it’s shocking how well that game’s mechanics fit this new experience. The combat is just as crisp and satisfying, and while smaller enemies may roll over when faced with three Nightfarers wailing on them at once, bosses still feel like a genuine challenge, particularly the tougher ones that spawn at the end of each night. Enemy attacks still need to be dodged, timing still needs to be precise, and the bosses have been tuned to be just as deadly to three people as they could be to one in the original game. In other words, it all still plays like Elden Ring. 

Someone at our preview session compared playing Elden Ring to riding a bike, and I think it’s surprising how true that is. But if Elden Ring is the bike in this analogy, then Nightreign is more like a motorcycle. All of the same basic mechanics apply, but it requires you to use those skills in a slightly different way. It’s faster, it’s ridiculously fun, and it’s a great group activity. 

One of the highlights of our play session was coordinating as a group to figure out which parts of the map we were going to explore, how to help each other with fights, and how to distribute the gear and weapons we’d find along the way. Like much of the rest of the game, this feels like an excellent remix of the original game’s focus on exploration, while expanding it to a group activity that just happens to go by at a breakneck pace. Each day only lasts a short time, and entire matches go by in under 40 minutes, at least in our tests so far. 

Because of this, Nightreign doesn’t feel like a game designed for the meditative Elden Ring player, whose time in The Lands Between was a contemplative journey of self-improvement and self-reflection. Instead it’s a game for the speed demons and the degenerates. It’s a game for the players who sought out every weapon and tried to kill the Elden Beast with it. Or perhaps more accurately, it feels like a carefully thought out, official version of the randomizer mods that FromSoftware players have used for years to keep the games they love fresh.  

All of this makes Nightreign’s existence feel both surprising and perfect for FromSoftware all at the same time. It’s not really a follow-up to Elden Ring — at least, it isn’t the studio’s next full game (something its $40 price tag makes clear) — and it isn’t trying to give people an expansive new experience. Instead, it’s a fantastic remix designed for the most hardcore Elden Ring fans there are. 

Based on what we’ve played so far, Nightbreign isn’t the broad open invitation to new fans that Elden Ring was — though the chance to tag along with their FromSoft veteran friends will certainly attract some new players. Instead it’s a love letter to the fans who are looking for a fresh way to experience the game’s mechanics with a thousand random challenging twists on top. And if you are a Soulslike veteran, Nightreign is shaping up to be a spectacular way to make sure you and your friends never leave The Lands Between again.