If I could sum up Elden Ring Nightreign with a single word after playing the game for seven hours at a January preview event, it would be “frantic.” Not because the game is fast-paced, but because the speed at which you need to adapt and gel with your teammates is unlike anything I’ve ever seen FromSoftware do.
In Nightreign, you play as one of 8 class characters known as Nightfarers and team up with two other players to tackle a small roguelike world. Your objective is to beat the Night Lord, a boss that appears after three in-game days have passed. You’ll scour the land, level up, and find better weapons and equipment to increase your chances of victory.
To complete the main task, you start each game by dropping into a small map. You then need to defeat enemies to get Runes to spend on leveling up or items, open chests to find items, and defeat various mini-bosses worldwide for a chance at getting a better item.
FromSoftware has been able to take some of its iconic bosses and put them all into one game where each fight is as tricky as the last, offering you a chance to take on a favorite boss of yours like Nameless King, Centipede Demon, and some new faces in unfamiliar settings to test your abilities as a Soulslike player.
But that’s where the simplicity ends.
Each time you enter a map, you’ll face a different starting location, randomized areas, and little direction on what to do other than run around aimlessly figuring out where you go. Your first run experience is drastically different from your 10th run some hours later when you learn the basics and communicate—as we discovered during our long play session.
The items and weapons you find are also random; in one run, you might have a great weapon early that you’ll never see again in runs afterward. This, coupled with the random nature of the map, means every time you go into a game, you’ll need to adapt on the fly to take advantage of any special items you find to maximize your chances of beating the boss at the end.
To aide the fast-paced action orientated game, leveling has been heavily simplified. When you visit a Grace to level up, you won’t be instructed to choose stats, as your character will instantly get more health, Focus Points (FP), damage, and defense, depending on the class you choose at the start. It helps you manage your time better and get back into the fight. Your time is limited, after all.
Initially, I was worried the game would feel pretty repetitive after a while, but with the number of characters and randomness, I became engrossed in the game the more I played. It’s Elden Ring to its core, but the changes that have been made excelled beyond my wildest dreams.
I found my tactics evolving each run depending on what weapons I came across, and I liked how it not only tested my knowledge of the series but remained a challenge. There’s punishment, but when you die, you feel like you learned something and can use that knowledge to have a better run next time. Improvement felt natural, and it made me want to come back and play it again and again to get better at the character I was using and learn more about the map and the many secrets it was hiding.
It comes together to craft a battle-centric game where your skills are constantly being tested on the various characters and weapon types, and you as a player are less important than the team as a whole, forcing everyone to adapt to any random situation quickly and use what you learned during one failed run to make your next one a success.
Only together can we beat the Night Lord, Nightfarers. So gear up and prepare yourself—it’ll be a long night.
Disclosure: Travel to the Elden Ring Nightreign preview event was provided by Bandai Namco.
Others Asked
What gameplay feature sets Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 apart from many other games?
Unlike many games, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 holds players accountable for delaying quests with story-driven time constraints.
What rewards do I get after completing a playthrough in Elden Ring Nightreign?
After completing a playthrough in Elden Ring Nightreign, you are rewarded with currency for a shop (although it wasn't available in the preview build) and equipable items known as Ruins, which provide additional buffs, items, or abilities for characters.
How does leveling up work differently in Elden Ring Nightreign?
In Elden Ring Nightreign, leveling up is fast-paced. Players don't choose stats when leveling up; instead, they receive random amounts of Stamina, HP, and FP, which supports the game's quicker gameplay style compared to the original.
Published: Feb 12, 2025 2:00 PM UTC