FromSoftware’s Elden Ring Nightreign is upon us, with it, the studio’s first multiplayer-centric Soulsborne. Like many, I too wasn’t thrilled by the idea of it, raising concerns that the studio was going down the dark and gloomy rabbit hole that many consider live services to be.
However, after putting over 60 hours this past week for our review, I’m here to relinquish those concerns and report that Elden Ring Nightreign is every bit what you’d expect from a Souls game developed by FromSoftware.
A Very Different Kind of Souls Game That Manages to Keep Its Soul
So what in the world is Elden Ring Nightreign? The game’s naming will no doubt make you think it’s some sort of sequel or expansion, much like Shadow of the Erdtree was for the original Elden Ring. In a lot of ways, you might be able to call it the latter, though this is a standalone experience, and it keeps its connection to Elden Ring pretty light on the surface unless you go digging for it. As FromSoftware has been clear, it is a multiplayer spinoff set within the Elden Ring universe. It is not intended to continue the original story or serve as a prequel, but rather a game set in a parallel universe.
That means for all you Elden Ring fans worried about a multiplayer-focused game tarnishing (hehe) the original game, you don’t have to worry about that. Though I’d argued, after spending as much time as I have with it, I don’t think it would have been an issue anyway, as the experience fits rather nicely with what Elden Ring had to offer.
There will be no story spoilers here for those curious, but Elden Ring Nightreign does feature a sizable quest for those looking for story. It has a bunch of cutscenes, not to mention storylines for all the Nightfarers (playable characters), and a ton of lore scattered throughout text and such, despite only featuring a single playable map. I had gone into this with pretty low expectations, thinking it would play out like the previous closed beta test, where all we would do is matchmake with other players and run endless runs. Boy was I wrong, and again I won’t spoil things, but I’ll say it was like that of the experience I got from playing Elden Ring the first time, where I cleared a portion of the map, only for the game to reveal that there’s a lot more to it. Plenty of those, “holy shit there’s more?” moments even by the time I had reached end game and new stuff was still popping up in terms of playable content. It evokes a very specific emotional experience that I struggle to describe, perhaps because of the game’s scope, the sense of exploration and wonder it delivers, and how it allows you to take control and do as you please. It has that Elden Ring feel to it, which is surprising because while the core is nearly the same in many regards, the games are very different. However, Nightreign does have an actual campaign for you to enjoy, complete with a beginning, middle, and ending, which is something I wasn’t even expecting. I think fans will love what the story has to offer here.
This expansive campaign and rich lore are undoubtedly impressive, but they serve as the foundation for Nightreign’s most significant departure: its multiplayer. This isn’t just a tacked-on feature; it’s the beating heart of the game, intricately woven into every aspect of the experience, despite offering solo play. So, how exactly does FromSoftware translate a Souls game’s solitary, challenging journey into a shared world without losing its essence? Well, that’s an answer I’m still trying to form words for, as what FromSoftware has managed to pull off here is nothing short of being perhaps one of the best games I’ve played all year.
At its core, Elden Ring Nightreign is a multiplayer Soulsborne that takes elements from many other popular online genres, such as the closing ring from a Battle Royale, and the whole looting and finding high-level gear like you get from an extraction shooter. However, don’t confuse this with being a trend chaser or a live-service of any sort. It isn’t a live-service, and nothing in the game makes me even think otherwise. Instead, these familiar mechanics are cleverly repurposed and integrated, serving the game’s unique vision rather than dictating its design. They feel less like borrowed features and more like natural evolutions within the Soulsborne formula, subtly enhancing the core experience while carving its own identity, but staying true to what it means to be a Souls game.
Don’t get me wrong; the next mainline Souls game should stick to the traditional formula and pillars, but Nightreign’s uniqueness proves that FromSoftware can successfully branch out and redefine what a “Souls game” can be, offering a thrilling and unexpected multiplayer experience without diluting its legacy.
In terms of Nightreign’s gameplay loop, you pick a character (eight available with more coming later for free), queue up with two additional players, be that friends or randoms through matchmaking, and then you start your journey exploring Limveld, this universe’s version of Limgrave from Elden Ring. It’s a massive map with many points to explore and plenty of optional bosses to fight. Sadly, it is the only map Nightreign has to offer, but even after 60 hours, I still love venturing into it because of how unpredictable it can be.
The ultimate goal here is to find and kill bosses to level up, collecting any gear along the way to make builds so that you can be ready to take on one of the many Nightlords, the end run bosses. Runs are divided into three parts: day one, day two, and the Nightlord fight. Every day, you must worry about a closing ring around the map, similar to what Battle Royales have, to funnel you into a specific area and fight a specific boss. So there’s a time constraint, which is the opposite of what Souls games are about, where you, as a player, often will take your time going through content, scouring every inch of an area for secrets. Here you’re always on the move, only paying attention to the important stuff.
I know what some of you are saying, how is that in any way a Souls game, but trust me, once you get the hang of it and go through these loops yourself, you’ll come to realize that the experiences are lot closer than you’d expect. It’s a very challenging game, not just in its demanding combat, but in how it forces you to adapt your typical Soulsborne playstyle. The pressure of the shrinking map, combined with the need to optimize your build and decision-making on the fly constantly, creates a new layer of tension that feels right at home for a FromSoftware title. It’s a different type of challenge, but it fits so well with the kind of game it is.
Runs are typically 40 minutes to an hour long, from start to defeating the Nightlord. But I can tell you they don’t feel that long. Everytime we’d lose to a Nightlord, I found myself chanting those very same words that every single one of us Souls fans has ever said “one more time, I know I can beat them” and then you end up doing that ten times over despite saying it would be your last nearly five hours ago. I never really wondered where the time went, because the excitement of overcoming a challenge is fundamentally what a Souls game is about, and Nightreign captures that feeling perfectly, even with its quicker, more structured runs. It’s that undeniable sense of progression through perseverance that so many of us Souls fans love, and that feeling of satisfaction, the feeling of finally doing the impossible and seeing that “Nightlord Vanquished” pop up, is just as potent here as it ever was in the Lands Between.
Play Together. Die Together. Experience Together.
Now you could enjoy Nightreign entirely as a single-player game, but I highly recommend against this unless you want bragging rights to wave around everywhere. FromSoftware did balance the game out for solo and multiplayer, with solo play offering reduced enemy health and some unique items to help you out. It’s still very challenging and not like your typical Souls game, as you are under a time constraint to finish things, so if you struggle with this kind of game already, solo play is highly advised against. Completely doable, just not recommended.
With that said, I wanted to shift to the whole multiplayer aspect. The Souls game has always allowed you to co-op with friends. However, it’s yet to be seamless, often limiting players to playing with each other in set zones, rather than freely roaming. Playing with friends has always been a bit of a hassle, too, with its password system and having to lay down signs. That’s been fixed with Nightreign. It still supports password joining, but all this is done via a lobby before you start a run. On top of that, you can invite players, literally sending them an invite like in any other online game. A massive quality of life improvement that removes the hassle of playing with friends altogether.
But it’s the seamlessness that really transforms the experience. No longer are you tethered to specific areas or forced into awkward summon rituals; you and your friends can truly adventure together, facing challenges as a cohesive unit from start to finish. This freedom dramatically enhances the core co-op appeal, making Nightreign feel like the Souls game you always wanted to play with your buddies. You can play this game with your friends from start to finish, never missing out on what they experience, while allowing you complete freedom to do as you please while they do other stuff. There are countless times when I played as a group, and we all decided to diverge from each other to cover more ground and collect more loot to share amongst one another. Runes earned are shared regardless of whether or not you even hit an enemy, and gear is all droppable, though you are limited by inventory space.
You could also stick with one another to make challenging fights less challenging, though the game has been balanced for three players to avoid you from steamrolling over every enemy. Trust me, just because you have a whole group of friends, doesn’t make the game easy. We’ve died plenty, and I mean plenty of times, resulting in us hunting down our runes, only to get wrecked again by the same enemy. Embarassingly, we’ve even died to the most basic enemy sometimes.
But that’s the thing, as embarrassing as some of those encounters may have been for us, it’s a shared experience, one we had all at the same time. That’s the beauty of this seamless integration of multiplayer; every moment you have, every action you do, everything—you share it with everyone. This is no longer a journey you face alone; it’s a collective struggle and a shared triumph, forging bonds and unforgettable memories with every near-miss and hard-won victory.
It reminded me of playing through Thatgamecompany’s Journey, where even though the game itself was super short, your experience transcended the brevity. You met strangers, helped each other, and when you reached the peak together, there was a sense of camaraderie and accomplishment. There was a mutual support and shared discovery, and it was sort of the same feeling we all had once we hit that credit roll in Nightreign.
Progression Is All About Builds
One of the other significant changes in how Nightreign operates is that the game doesn’t have a real progression system like all the Souls games. Typically, in a Souls game, you kill a few things, level up, and that’s the general progression of things, with you finding better quality weapons and such, and building off of that. Nightreign has a leveling system, as well as weapon rarity and upgrades, but they are solely tied to the run. That means once you finish a run, all that gear and progression made is entirely lost, with the exception of relics that you can equip that vary in effects. You can equip up to three relics at a time before you start a run, but I’ll say most of these aren’t very good. They’re helpful and can make a difference, but you aren’t going to find a relic that will magically make everything easy.
Instead, everything is focused on the character you pick and shaping their appropriate builds. You won’t brute-force your way through a boss by overleveling yourself; you have to go into each run strategically, thinking about what kind of drops you want to try and find and how they lean into your character build. Take the Raider, for example, he can be pretty tanky, taking on a lot of damage, but he’s also really slow and uses a lot of stamina with attacks and dodges. So you’ll probably want to focus on improving his stamina, with other passive perks being damage negation, so you can take on the big, hard-hitting hits, while having enough stamina to dish it back.
The Executor has low health, but deals a good amount of damage. Especially around bleed and crits, which is something you want to focus on there. All the other characters have unique properties that, if you go in without learning about them beforehand, you’re going to have a really tough time. That was sort of the case for me when I started, playing a character who didn’t play well, but it ultimately fell on me for not building them right. Eventually, they became one of my favorite ones to use once I learned what exactly kind of build I should make around them.
I’ll be the first to admit that playing through the many Souls games, I never really paid much attention to my build. Anytime I would have trouble, I would just level up my character, find a stronger weapon, and then wish for some luck as I faced off against a boss with an unoptimized build. Nightreign really put things into perspective for me on the build side of the series, and I’m fond of how it handles progression like that. It makes runs even more exciting to go on, too, and ultimately, this is a good way to teach players how important builds can be in mainline Souls games.
There are Even Random Events and Side Quests, Though Some Things Can Be Improved
I’ve been pretty positive about Nightreign in my review. There’s not much I dislike about it, and FromSoftware can fix the few things I don’t like in some quality-of-life improvement updates. But let’s touch upon two core features I’ve yet to discuss: random events and Remembrances.
To help keep things fresh, there is a feature called “Shifting Earth” that, as the name may imply, is an in-game event where a part of Limveld is replaced with an entirely new area. At the time of this review, the game features four Shifting Earth events: a massive crater and a frozen mountaintop, a rotten forest, and a forgotten lost city.
These Shifting Earth events are meant to be done on the second day of the run, as they have high-level bosses (outlined with a red marking for being day 2). But with high risk, also comes a high reward, as each Shifting Earth event holds a secret buff, items, and even weapon upgrades for you to get, making them well worth taking on, even if it means a potential wipe of your levels.
Besides rotten forest (on account of its rot), the events themselves are all fantastic, serving as an excellent way to shake up the core loop with something that feels fresh but also challenging. It adds a whole other layer of depth with its unpredictable nature, and really makes for some interesting dynamics, especially in players’ decision-making of whether running through these is worth the price, or if they are better off steering clear and playing a safer route.
In addition to these events, players can also randomly encounter unique bosses, called raids. I’ll keep those as a surprise
These are all great additions, though there is one thing I’d like to see changed, or further explained better. I have no issues with the Shifting Earth events themselves (except for Rotting Forest, which I dislike), but what I do have issues with is how rare they appear. It was a common thing brought up by other reviewers during the process, and it seems that once they have come and gone, they’re practically gone unless you get someone who’s encountering them for the first time. It’s weird because the events themselves are some of the best content the game has to offer, but after “completing” them, tens of hours later, I’ve yet to reencounter them. The explanation of how they work wasn’t all too clear, but either way, I’d love to see FromSoftware increase their encounter rate or better implement them.
Then there’s Remembrances. These are essentially side stories that every single character has. They’re a string of quests with their cutscenes, unique locations, bosses tied to them, and even endings. These are some of the best-crafted side stories I’ve seen in a Souls game, in all honesty. And again, like Shifting Earth, I have zero issue with the content itself. It’s more about accessing them and limiting players in how much they can do at a time.
To access Remembrances, you have to go to the hub, open up a journal at a location, and then select it from that menu. If you want to see the current objective, you have to go back to the journal, open it up, start a character’s Remembrance, and then open it up again and read the objective there. For how much everything else is streamlined, it is odd to see this menu not being more easily accessible. It’s something that could have been placed in the main menu or character select screen. It’s not a massive thing, but still sort of annoying.
Another thing with Remembrances is that you can only do one per member in a party at a time. Meaning if they have an active on-field quest that isn’t one involving killing a specific Nightlord, only one person gets to do theirs while the rest have to wait their turn in the next run. It’s unneeded padding, and odd that party members’ Rememberance quests don’t just show up for other members to help out on, and have multiple ones going on at once.
At least both these complaints are addressable rather than being an issue with the core gameplay of things, so it’s not the biggest complaint, in all honesty. It’s just more. I hope FromSoftware sees this and that others bring it up so they can improve it.
If there were a real major complaint, it’d have to be the lack of crossplay. Based on what I’ve played and seeing how active past Souls games have been, I don’t think Nightreign will have an issue with its online not being populated for a long time. But even so, I would have loved to have the ability to play across different platforms. While I played this on PlayStation, on account of most of my friends getting this there, I would have much preferred playing on PC. Though none of my friends have a good enough rig to run the game there, so I’m sort of stuck with playing on the PS5. Not that it’s a bad experience there, the game holds up pretty well in terms of performance overall. Some dips, but pretty good. But still, the lack of crossplay is a bummer.
Ending the Nightreign on a High Note
Going into Elden Ring Nightreign, I admit I was skeptical, wary of FromSoftware venturing into unfamiliar multiplayer territory. Yet, after countless runs and shared triumphs with fellow Nightfarers, it’s clear my concerns were unfounded. Nightreign isn’t merely a multiplayer spin-off; it’s a testament to FromSoftware’s ability to innovate while fiercely guarding the essence of what makes a Souls game so compelling. It masterfully blends the unforgiving challenge and rich lore we’ve come to expect with a seamless, exhilarating cooperative experience that genuinely redefines what a ‘Souls game’ can be. While I hope the mainline series remains true to its roots, Nightreign proves that a bold new path can be forged, offering a fresh, addictive ‘one more run’ loop that will keep you, and your friends, coming back for more. It’s truly one of the standout titles of the year, a shared journey you won’t soon forget.
Score: 9.5/10
Pros:
- Surprisingly, a lot of content, including story, lore, and side stories.
- Focusing on character build and strategic play that really makes you think about the gear you use rather than trying to brute-force your way through things.
- Combat is fantastic for all the pre-built classes, a playstyle made for every Souls fan.
- Seamless multiplayer experience.
- Tons of enemies, and it’s almost like a gauntlet of FromSoftware’s greatest hits.
- High replayability.
- Soundtrack – For a spinoff, FromSoftware sure doesn’t hold anything back regarding music.
Cons:
- Lack of crossplay.
- No duo queueing
Elden Ring Nightreign review code was provided by the publisher. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.
