Most series and studios find themselves typically relegated to either single-player or multiplayer with only the occasional crossover between the two, but famed Dark Souls creator FromSoftware finds itself in an odd spot with Elden Ring Nightreign. I don’t think anyone would honestly consider Elden Ring a multiplayer game, but it does the job surprisingly well from years of Souls experience culminating in a pretty coherent, engaging online experience. Elden Ring Nightreign then is both the summation and flipside of that experience – it’s friend-focused first and foremost with a dash of solo play, and it’s the best version of a multiplayer Souls experience that I’ve seen so far.
It’s also the most hectic version of FromSoftware’s games to date. While Elden Ring encourages exploration, Elden Ring Nightreign laughs at the idea and promotes efficiency instead. If FromSoftware ever makes an Elden Ring 2, I’d consider playing Elden Ring to still be more of a prerequisite for playing Elden Ring Nightreign than it would be for playing the sequel. If you haven’t played Elden Ring or haven’t played in awhile, don’t be surprised if you’re lost in the tempo of Nightreign.
Nightreign‘s haste is thanks to the game’s most formidable boss of all: the always advancing ring of fire pushing players towards nightly boss fights. FromSoftware’s signature lore wrappings explain much of Limveld in an expectedly convoluted way, but if you’ve played a battle royale or an extraction game, you’ll understand constant movement is the key to survival, and the same is true for Nightreign. Asking yourself “Do we have time to do this?” is just as important as “Are we strong enough to do this?” in Nightreign, perhaps to a fault sometimes.
Getting behind in Elden Ring Nightreign feels absolutely brutal to the point that you just want to quit the run, but doing so forfeits all your would-be prizes. If you die in Nightreign outside of major boss fights, you lose a level which impacts all your core stats and puts you behind your teammates. You can reclaim your runes just like in Elden Ring, but only if you pick them back up or beat a nearby enemy that absorbed them. When time is of the essence, however, it’s supremely stressful to see a flashing level reminding you of your setback while knowing every second you’re fighting to reclaim your runes, you’re not doing something else that could advance your run. Once players get a feel for the pace of Nightreign, it’s even more daunting to head into a boss fight knowing what level you should be at versus what you actually are.
I’m painting a pretty harsh picture of Nightreign and Limveld here, but the whole setup is quite fair despite its punishing nature. FromSoftware establishes the rules and consequences quite well, so you’ve only yourself (or your teammates) to blame if things go awry.
To that end, Elden Ring Nightreign does have one glaring multiplayer problem. Loot pools are exceptional, character classes mesh well together, and the boss rush structure is a rush itself, but voice comms are sorely missed in Nightreign. There’s no text chat either, so partying up with friends and using third-party services will be the only way to truly communicate outside of pings and hopeful gestures. FromSoftware has no precedent for voice comms in-game, so its absence isn’t entirely unprecedented here, but if it were ever a time for the developer to try it, this was it.
Despite that criticism, some of my favorite Nightreign moments were probably only possible because of a lack of voice chat. If a teammate pings a location and takes off that direction, you’re sort of obligated to follow them for the benefit of the team, but the shared sense of unspoken discovery and accomplishment is tangible even in a mute world such as Limveld. Seeing a Recluse pop their Soulblood Song ultimate or a Guardian or a Raider revive you with Wings of Salvation or Totem Stela are go buttons just as if someone was calling the shots. When you and your teammates are spamming the guard input at each other after a successful boss fight, what more really needs to be said anyway?
As for the bosses themselves, if you’ve ever downloaded a boss rush mod for a Souls game or anything else from FromSoftware, Elden Ring Nighteign was made specifically for you. Those waving away Nightreign as just a boss run game are overlooking the fact that, for a significant portion of FromSoftware fans, an officially sanctioned boss rush experience is exactly what we’ve been requesting for years now. FromSoftware could’ve easily been overly reliant on Souls bosses too since their return was such unheard of choice, but the Nightlord bosses are simply unmatched in Limveld. Everyone will have their favorites of course, but the stages, scores, and designs of the Nightlord boss fights make even the most annoying battles memorable.
A few more gripes stand out in Elden Ring Nightreign. HUDs and menus that could be much more descriptive, and the plucky attempt at parkour and mantling could be a bit dependable when a ring of fire is at your heels, but FromSoftware has a pretty impressive track record of upkeep with its games. Elden Ring Nightreign already has a phenomenal foundation, and an online-focused game like Elden Ring Nightreign should be the pinnacle of FromSoftware’s post-launch support, so I’m more excited for the future of Nightreign than I have been for any of FromSoftware’s games before it.
Rating: 4.5/5
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