Elden Ring Nightreign (2025)

Definitely better game than Lethal Company or Repo, but still shouldn't have been anywhere near From soft's work projects. It also reminded my of Risk of Rain 2 in many ways, but unlike Nightreign, RoR 2 feels organic and works with it's systems perfectly, unlike this obvious cash grab using popular title for profit.

There is a really low chance that you will enjoy this game if you're a souls-game fan, but probably will be great game for tourist that want to "hang out with their bros".

I had a lot of fun with this game over many weeks and many hours. Playing with random groups was great, playing with friends was great, and the fact that the whole concept works so well is genuinely impressive. I progressed quite far and managed to complete everything, sometimes only with considerable effort, but that is part of the experience.

However, I eventually stopped playing because it started to feel repetitive. The new content that was added was not enough to keep me coming back. The new bosses, especially the particularly difficult ones, I maybe defeated once, but going back for a second attempt felt excessive rather than motivating. The Depth of the Night expansion barely kept my attention. It adds a new area, but still no new map.

I think a new map or at least alternative routes would have benefited the game. There was already so much routine in each run that it began to feel like going through the motions rather than experiencing real tension or excitement. I am curious whether the next DLC will finally introduce a new map; if it does, I would happily return to the game.

Ooh man what an experience this was. I like everyone else was pretty unsure when I heard this would be a multiplayer focused game, figuring that From, with all of their years of to be fair shitty network support, wouldn't be able to do this in a way that really felt all that enjoyable.

But somehow it worked out. Playing with 2 strangers trying to complete runs has somehow been incredibly fun, and dare I say it, actually very community-like and wholesome. Have felt a little less lonely these days playing with strangers, emoting at them, dropping items, and messing around.

The gameplay itself is great. I mean it just takes the base Elden Ring gameplay, and adds really refreshing and fun twists by having multiple unique characters with their own fun and cool abilities, as well as a sprint and double jump that make traversing the world really easy and enjoyable.

I also can't stress enough that the multiple characters you can choose from were done so well. Each feels really thought out and comes with their own unique builds and storylines that were fun to get through. This is the first souls game that has forced me to abandon just going for melee quality builds and calling it a day. I was forced to learn how a bow works, how shields work, and how magic works as a whole. Things I never even thought of touching in Elden Ring. And despite some learning I had to do, I had a lot of fun with it. Felt like I was basically speed running through all the possible classes From has made throughout the years.

Obviously this game won't give you the super deep lore and exploration aspects that other souls games do. The gameplay is too fast and the world too samey (despite some random generation). But what's here is honestly still really nice and at times even beautiful (Noklateo is gorgeous and definitely cut content from the base game).

I set a goal for myself to go through all the bosses with all the characters, forcing me to really understand this game, and understand each character as much as possible. This took me around 108 hours, getting all the achievements along the way (first time ever for me too), and never getting bored due to the constant changes in gameplay and builds. This game somehow combines the fun of the From gameplay loop, with fun interactions with others in the community, and some of the rogue-like addiction you can get with games like Hades and Balatro (though I will say this game shies away from more popular rogue-like elements with very little permanent enhancements gained as you progress).

Overall probably my favorite game of the year so far (I don't think I have played any others yet lmao), and such a welcome addition to the From collection. Excited to see what they do with these ideas from here on (looking at you Duskbloods).

Nightreign proves Fromsoft isn't a one-trick pony (though they kind of already proved that with Armored Core 6). Nightreign was a bizarre, somewhat concerning announcement when I first heard about it. A hard pivot from a slow-paced, exploration focused mostly single-player experience to a lightning-fast multiplayer roguelike with inspiration from battle royale games? A lot of people saw the announcement and immediately jumped to the conclusion that this was a low-effort asset flip cash grab and a sign that the studio was diving headfirst into the kind of consumer unfriendly business practices that are so common in the industry. I was pretty much mollified on that within a day of the announcement by reading the interviews with Junya Ishizaki, the game's director, where he made it clear this was simply a type of game he personally wanted to make and that it would not have any micro-transactions (to the point it even released at a below standard price point). I was then left simply with the concern that I wouldn't personally enjoy it, as I prefer to play games solo and very slowly and methodically.

Well, simply put, Fromsoft's excellence in game design and polish shines through and pretty swiftly obliterated all of my concerns. Elden Ring was already a significant step up in how simply good it felt to play, and Nightreign pushes that further. Characters are more responsive and mobile than ever before. Even though nearly everything in the game is an asset already created in Elden Ring, nothing has been transferred over without careful consideration and tweaks to make it fit the new game design. To the point where you really have to unlearn a lot that you know from playing Elden Ring to make the most of this game.

There's not a whole lot to be said about the game in detail. It's simple fun, objective based, suited for medium length high octane gaming sessions. If I'm feeling a little more laid back or don't want to play long, I'll go into a solo expedition, which are harder, but very well rebalanced and have a very different vibe than playing with a group. I play exclusively with random allies, and the game's pinning system does the job well of giving you the tools you need to work together without incentivizing micromanagement.

There's a particular main complaint I still hear frequently from fans of the game, that it has not enough content and needs to be updated more frequently. These complaints typically come from people who have played at least 100 hours, are still playing regularly, and want to play more. For a $40 game with no additional monetization at this time, expecting more is a bit silly. I've played nearly 150 hours now and would happily play many more even if they never added any additional content (though there are 4 enhanced bosses on the way, announced today, as well as the eventual dlc characters). I think it's only a sign of how much people are enjoying the game that they desperately want more of it.

The developers were onto something when they made this game primarily a 3 person multiplayer experience. Something that always frustrated me about the elden ring and dark souls experience was that it always felt a little overtuned for one person. I ended up summoning a player or NPC frequently to aid a fight and it always felt like cheating. Experiencing the same very dynamic, beautiful and fun boss battles WITHOUT THE GUILT of feeling like i cheated to move through the game is incredible.

I felt so much more rewarded beating the final boss of this game than any other souls games bc i summoned help for those battles. Also loved feeling the unified effort to accomplish something. Feels lost in a lot of single player experiences.

Room for improvement - The developers could have spent just a teensy bit more time explaining game concepts because i had to do so much research not to be a drag to my team.