Elden Ring: Nightreign

Elden Ring Nightreign does its best to let players have fun, get stronger, and take down big, bad bosses together. I can’t speak for the greater FromSoftware fanbase, but after these shared triumphs, I’ll have a hard time going back to doing it alone.

Elden Ring Nightreign is a game that understands its own identity and hones in on that. The returning bosses are a treat for older FromSoft players, and the new mechanics are fun yet challenging to wrap your head around. With future content planned, I see myself returning to Nightreign with each new boss drop for years to come.

Elden Ring: Nightreign is both a love letter and a remix of everything FromSoftware fans adore. While the multiplayer focus won’t work for everyone, the sheer amount of challenge, variety, and the ever-elusive dopamine hit make it something special and something to be remembered.

Elden Ring: Nightreign offers a fast-paced gameplay and a return to the kind of raw challenge I’ve come to love in soulslikes. And that’s exactly what I wanted, the more time I spent with Nightreign, the more I found myself enjoying it.

Elden Ring Nightreign is just as confusing and abrasive as FromSoftware's other games, but there's really nothing else like it.

Elden Ring Nightreign is a pleasant surprise. Its thrilling bosses, well-crafted character archetypes, and strong combat make it worth your time, but don't expect the usual FromSoftware lore standard.

Not every idea in Nightreign lands cleanly, but its willingness to push Elden Ring’s mechanics into unfamiliar territory is admirable. It’s a game made for a specific kind of player—those who crave a punishingly difficult challenge. If that’s you, this detour is worth the journey.

Elden Ring Nightreign is a bold new take on the critically acclaimed 2022 Elden Ring. Even though Nightreign shares the same name as Bandai Namco’s previous title, it’s drastically different in various ways, making its entry into the Souls-like genre much more approachable than most players would expect.

Elden Ring Nightreign is a surprisingly well-executed roguelike that melds well with the core of Elden Ring and even builds on it with a refreshingly rapid pace and spectacular new bosses. It's also excellent with friends, making for a superb co-op experience, but limited matchmaking options and mixed bosses mean it can be as frustrating as it is fun.

Elden Ring is undoubtedly one of the most important games that FromSoftware has made, completing the studio’s ascent from hardcore niche to the mainstream. It is staggeringly successful, having sold over 30 million copies, and when you compare that to the 2.5 million of the original Demon’s Souls and the 10 million of Dark Souls 3, you get a feeling for how far this genre has come. So, it’s probably only natural that FromSoftware then choose to make a spin-off title to try and make some more money, you know?

Elden Ring Nightreign is an overly clumsy attempt to graft multiplayer antics to one of the best RPGs ever. While its rougelike elements may entertain, a lack of variety and uneven combat system ultimately make for a curious sideshow that doesn't come close to the series that shares its name.

I've found that runs can go south very quickly unless every player is on the ball. Death is severely punished in Nightreign because if a teammate doesn't revive you, you'll lose a level and potentially all your currency if you don't run back and grab your stack of souls. Sometimes teammates will run off independently, die, lose levels, and be under-prepped for the Nightlord. This can happen at the start of a run to set the tone, or at the very end. Given how runs can top out at around 45 minutes (boss fights have no time limit), it's an investment.