Aside from Sekiro and Armored Core, FromSoftware titles typically follow a distinct rhythm. Gameplay involves slow, deliberate movement through challenging, dark dungeons filled with dangerous foes and cryptic secrets. Every step carries risk, and walls might be hidden passages revealing new areas. Players carefully inspect every drop-off, hoping to find loot rather than certain death. The level design often involves creating shortcuts back to earlier points after inevitable failures, making subsequent attempts quicker.
Elden Ring Nightreign significantly departs from this pattern.
Nightreign feels like a Souls game designed for a faster, more immediate audience. You quickly traverse the open-world map, battling enemies alongside a team of three. There`s no fall damage, no hidden walls, and no need to unlock shortcuts; you simply move forward. It transforms Elden Ring into something akin to a rally race – you drift through corners once, take big risks for speed, sometimes colliding with obstacles like an Erdtree.
However, this doesn`t mean it lacks depth. Matches are divided into two segments, each lasting about 15 minutes, and a shrinking zone similar to battle royale games forces constant movement, making efficiency the primary goal.
Through repeated play, you learn which standard enemies are worth engaging and which to bypass, which bosses are strategic to fight, and which take too long to justify the time investment. You discover which points of interest to prioritize as your trio races across a procedurally generated version of the Lands Between, focused on powering up for the final confrontation. Eventually, the systems click – you find yourselves strategizing on the fly, adapting to each new layout to optimize character progression, sprinting, leaping from heights, swapping gear, and pinging locations without pausing.
While there is a narrative, it`s even more fragmented and difficult to decipher than in other Souls games, culminating in a completely baffling final cutscene. This isn`t a game for dedicated lore hunters but for players who appreciate combat mechanics and want the core Souls loop without the usual traversal complexities, shared with two friends.
Fans of the series` world will find satisfaction in the boss encounters. There are many new foes, alongside references to previous FromSoftware titles, including reimagined bosses from Demon`s Souls and Dark Souls 3, plus returning Elden Ring bosses with new tricks.
Every boss has been rebalanced for three highly capable players, each possessing special abilities that can shift the tide of battle. These boss fights are among the most exhilarating, intense, and difficult challenges FromSoftware has created. They still deliver that satisfying feeling of triumph after numerous failed attempts. The difference now is that instead of just running back to the fog gate, you must complete an entire round, potentially facing 20 bosses over 40 minutes. This demanding structure may not appeal to everyone.
Meta-progression offers a reason to keep playing. You earn relics from both successful and failed expeditions. Each character can equip up to three, granting minor stat boosts or effects like extra holy damage, improved ultimate abilities, increased dexterity, or debuffs on starting weapons. While a single relic might not be game-changing, coordinating your team`s relics to maximize damage against a final boss`s weakness can yield noticeable results.
The available characters largely fit classic Souls archetypes: archer, mage, tank, heavy hitter, katana user, rogue, summoner, and an all-rounder. Each is most effective when equipped with weapons they specialize in. However, any character can wield any weapon, allowing for flexible strategies. The game encourages swapping between six weapons for passive stat benefits, making Nightreign a genuine Elden Ring combat sandbox where trying out unfamiliar weapons is viable and encouraged. This highlights the strength of Elden Ring`s fundamental design, where everything is viable. But sometimes, this core design presents weaknesses.
Nightreign occasionally reveals its origins as an adaptation of a game with different priorities. One example is the revive mechanic, requiring you to hit downed teammates with your weapon. Each successive death makes this process longer, though certain character skills can speed it up. The lock-on system, ill-suited for reviving allies, often switches targets as you try to navigate to a downed teammate while avoiding the boss, fighting the controls as they refuse to lock onto your friend. Then there`s the climbing – notoriously clunky in FromSoft games. Here, you can double jump up surfaces, but mantling onto ledges is inconsistent. You often have to mash the jump button and hope, which is particularly frustrating when trying to escape deadly area effects.
Once the high-speed flow clicks and you adapt to its pace, Nightreign provides an excellent experience. It would have benefited from more map variety and, surprisingly, lacks any PvP mode. Nevertheless, it offers another opportunity to engage with one of the best combat systems in gaming and test your skills against relentless enemies. It’s just a pity that sometimes, the most challenging foes are the controls themselves.
Finley Holt 
Callum Darby