The Roundtable Hold has seen better days. There are weeds breaking through cracks in its rotting floorboards, the room in the east wing that Gideon Ofnir once used as an office is now an abandoned mess of dust and clutter, and sunlight is bleeding through a gaping hole in the stone wall where the giant pair of fingers previously resided. It's a familiar space, but one that's also noteworthy for its differences, which feels reflective of Elden Ring Nightreign as a whole. Anyone who's played Elden Ring will recognize Roundtable Hold and enemies like the Bell Bearing Hunter and Ancient Hero of Zamor. Nightreign's combat mechanics are almost identical, too, making it easy to fall into a habitual groove as you roll through attacks and strike back with a vengeance. Elden Ring's DNA is ever-present, but Nightreign is also a game of striking subversions: a From Software game that asks you to play it unconventionally, disregarding meticulous exploration, isolation, and measured combat for a cooperative multiplayer game built on speed and aggression. In many ways, it's the antithesis of what people typically come to From Software games for, and yet somehow, someway, this experimental non-sequel is an absolute triumph.
It all starts with Nightreign's enticing structure. First, you choose the boss you want to fight, then embark on a 35- to 45-minute Expedition that takes place across three in-game days. During the day, you and two teammates (doing multiplayer is the ideal scenario) will quickly explore the land of Limveld, an alternate version of Elden Ring's Limgrave where the topography stays the same but locations and enemies randomly change from one Expedition to the next. Everyone starts at Level 1, so you'll want to kill enemies to accrue runes and level up, as well as find new weapons, tools, and character upgrades to aid you in the battles ahead.
At some point during both the first and second days, a deadly battle-royale-style circle begins closing in, funneling you into a mandatory showdown against a random boss. These bosses are selected from a pool of familiar foes, so there's a lot of variety, but you'll also run into the same few opponents if you're repeating the same Expedition over and over again. If you manage to survive for two days and defeat the boss at the end of Day 2, you'll move onto the third day and square off against the Night Lord you chose to fight at the beginning of the Expedition in what is typically a grandiose, challenging, and ultimately thrilling battle. Whether you win or lose, you'll earn relics that you can equip to provide various advantages in future Expeditions, from adding elemental damage that targets a boss's weakness to improvements to attributes like strength and vigor.
This is the gist of Nightreign's gameplay loop, but there's also a cavernous amount of depth that gradually reveals itself as you attempt to defeat each of the eight intimidating Nightlords. There may be aspects of its design clearly inspired by roguelites, battle royales, and extraction games, but it never feels like From Software is simply chasing the latest multiplayer trends. Instead, Nightreign reinterprets these inspirations to fit the studio's design principles, creating a "smash-and-grab" style that truncates the Elden Ring experience into 45 minutes of intense combat and traversal. You'll still be challenged by an array of varied enemies, explore castles and underground mines, and witness the sort of worldbuilding and character development the studio is known for, but it all occurs in a condensed time frame, achieving a palpable sense of forward momentum that makes it easy to slip into a "one more game" mindset.
Much of this focus on speed is owed to the Night's Tide--the aforementioned battle-royale-style circle is composed of deadly blue flames that contract over time, quickly killing anyone caught in its midst. During the day, dying doesn't spell the end of an Expedition, but if your allies fail to revive you from a downed state in time, you'll respawn and drop a level, with the runes you were carrying left at the site of your death. Losing a level is detrimental because leveling up is a blanket attribute and health boost. Rather than improving stat-by-stat like in Elden Ring, progression has been streamlined so that a single button press at a Site of Grace will automatically boost the attributes most important to your character archetype. By the end of a run, you'll want to be at least Level 11 or 12, so avoiding death is crucial. Early on in a run, the sting of losing a level is lessened somewhat if you're able to retrieve your lost runes, but this isn't possible when you fall victim to the Night's Tide, so it quickly becomes apparent that speed is imperative to any success you might have.
It's not surprising, then, that Nightreign's traversal feels so different to Elden Ring's. As the Tarnished, your movement is weighty and deliberate, even when sprinting. It teaches you to take things slowly and approach any unfamiliar situations cautiously, feeding into the combat's moderate pacing. In Nightreign, however, you're incredibly fleet-footed, to the point where your sprint speed is on par with Elden Ring's Torrent. Combine this with Spiritspring Jumps--launch pads that let you soar over cliff faces--a wall jump for clambering up surfaces, an ethereal eagle that can carry you across large distances, and the absence of any fall damage, and everything about Nightreign's traversal reinforces the importance of doing things quickly.
Each day is essentially a farming period as you canvas Limveld for runes, weapons, items, and upgrade materials in preparation for squaring off against a boss once night descends. This means navigating from one point of interest to the next, defeating regular enemies and mini-bosses--known as Great Enemies and Field Bosses--to level up and accumulate loot before the Night's Tide closes in. The optimal way to do this isn't immediately clear, so Nightreign still manages to capture the cycle of learning through failure that's part of From Software's identity.
My first few Expeditions were definitely less than stellar, as it was apparent everyone involved was still learning the ropes. After a while, however, things started to click into place. We'd head to a Great Church or enemy encampment not long after dropping onto the map, since they typically contain low-level enemies. Then we'd make sure to stop by the nearest church to increase our number of flask uses, head into ruins to grab new equipment, and swing by an Evergaol to summon and kill its captive. By Day 2, the focus switches to either the large castle in the center of the map--which always contains multiple Great Enemies--or the Field Bosses that wander the overworld.
There's a risk-and-reward element to tackling these powerful foes, especially if you're in a hurry, as they drop the best rewards in exchange for being the most formidable enemies to take down--aside from the end-of-day bosses and Night Lords. I've been involved in runs that went pear-shaped after we were outmatched by a Great Enemy, and it's inconvenient that there's no option to start over again if things become insurmountable, especially when you're penalized for quitting. But I've also been part of successful runs that saw us mow down multiple Great Enemies throughout the second day, reaping the rewards by attaining enough firepower to defeat a Night Lord.
In many ways, [Elden Ring Nightreign is] the antithesis of what people typically come to From Software games for, and yet somehow, someway, this experimental non-sequel is an absolute triumph
These battles most closely resemble a multiplayer session of Elden Ring, particularly when you're going toe-to-toe with familiar foes such as the Magma Wyrm, Tree Sentinel, and Elder Lion. There are even a few surprise enemies from the Dark Souls series mixed in, including the appearance of the Nameless King and his dragon mount as one of the random bosses, because screw you. The Night Lords are the highlight, though. My excitement to fight them never waned, particularly because they each present a unique challenge. Gladius is the first one you encounter: a giant three-headed wolf with a sword chained across its back. When it's not spitting flames and swinging its sword in deadly circles, its three heads are splitting off to form three separate wolves, hunting you down in a frightening pack. The other Night Lords are similarly inventive, but I'll leave you to find out how.
Where Nightreign differs from an Elden Ring boss fight is in how its playable characters can potentially synergize with each other. Rather than creating your own character, you're asked to pick from a roster of eight varied Nightfarers before embarking on an Expedition. Each one fills a specific archetype with stark strengths and weaknesses, from a tank and archer to a sorcerer and dextrous fighter.
They all feel wildly different to play as, primarily due to a passive ability, character skill, and ultimate art that's unique to each one. Duchess' passive ability, for instance, grants her additional dodges--perfect for her extremely mobile playstyle--while Revenant will occasionally raise allied ghosts to fight alongside you. Character skills, meanwhile, are active and operate on a short cooldown, ranging from Executor's Cursed Sword, which adds the immense satisfaction of deflecting attacks Sekiro-style, to Wylder's enjoyable grappling claw, which latches onto enemies and lets you pull them towards you or you towards them. Ultimate arts can only be used after filling a gauge by inflicting damage on enemies, so they're best reserved for crucial moments. You can see where Guardian's Wings of Salvation might come in handy, as it sees him launch into the sky before plummeting back down to earth to both deal damage and create a protective area that revives downed allies. Others focus on pure damage dealing, like Ironeye's Single Shot, where he pulls out a massive bow for a fearsome ranged strike that can break through any defence.
These abilities are universally enjoyable to use and experiment with, but they truly shine when combined. Take Raider's ultimate art as one of the more obvious examples. Totem Stela sees him summon a giant tombstone that bursts forth from the ground. Not only does this create a makeshift shield of sorts, but it also boosts the strength of nearby allies and can be climbed atop, allowing ranged characters like Ironeye and Recluse the chance to attack from above while remaining relatively safe. On its own, an explosive-damage-dealing ultimate art like Wylder's Onslaught Stake is fine, but pair it with Duchess' Restage character skill, which repeats the damage of the last attack, and you can take chunks out of a boss's health bar through the power of teamwork.
Any Nightfarer can also use any weapon, with no stat requirements--apart from the occasional level gating--or weight restrictions to worry about. Certain weapon types are more suited for specific characters, so while you could use a great hammer with Recluse, a staff is going to be much more effective, especially when weapon scaling is still a consideration. In a wise design choice, however, weapons in Nightreign are also useful for more than just attacks. Almost every weapon contains passive buffs that remain active as long as you have it in one of your six equipment slots. You might have no intention of using a Glintstone Staff, but you can still reap the benefits of the Glintblade Phalanx that's active at all times--surrounding you with a bunch of magic swords that target the nearest enemy. Even reviving your teammates comes with an element of strategy that can influence the types of weapons you might pick up. In order to revive someone in Nightreign, you literally have to attack them back to life. For this reason alone, I would often make sure to grab a bow or crossbow even if I wasn't using Ironeye, just to be able to shoot a downed ally from range.
There's an incentive to try out each Nightfarer to discover which ones you like playing as, but there are also narrative reasons for using the entire roster. Each Nightfarer has their own bespoke storyline told through what are called Remembrances. There's a journal in the east wing of the Roundtable Hold where each character jots down their thoughts. They were all drawn to Limveld by either fate or circumstance, and their backstories are frequently fascinating, building and adding to the lore already established by Elden Ring. I won't spoil too much, but Raider's revolves around him competing in the Tourney of the Land Between, as you fight through a series of battles in a gladiatorial arena. Ironeye, meanwhile, is part of a clandestine organisation called the Fellowship and has arrived at the Roundtable Hold in search of a traitor.
While some Remembrances transport you to unique locations, others add additional objectives to Expeditions, whether it's a waypoint you need to follow to attain a particular item or a Night Lord you need to defeat to progress. Some of these can be done easily enough solo, but there are some issues when multiple people are involved. For whatever reason, two players are unable to complete the same Remembrance at the same time. If you don't have friends to play with, this can make matchmaking for these missions a bit of a grind, as you're relying on your Remembrance being active instead of someone else's. It's an odd choice and is one of the only negatives I can level at Nightreign's matchmaking. Finding people to play with is a simple process otherwise, and a pin system makes it easy to map out a route without needing any other forms of communication. The ideal scenario is still having at least two people on mics, but with no in-game voice chat, this isn't always possible when playing with strangers.
You can feasibly play the whole game solo, but it never feels like it was designed to accommodate a single player. Damage numbers are scaled accordingly, but you still have to face multiple bosses at the same time, along with mobs of regular enemies. It can be done, even if you're not someone who completes Souls games blindfolded or using a dance mat, but it's a significantly more challenging proposition than most can endure.
Defeating all eight Nightlords and completing each Nightfarer's personal story is a lengthy endeavour, but it remains to be seen how much life will be left in the game after that. There will be post-launch DLC at some point, but I also don't think it needs much else. Even after 30 hours, I haven't experienced any hints of tedium creeping in--a testament to the strength of its gameplay loop. Shifting Earth events keep the map fresh by occasionally altering Limveld's terrain with mountains, a burning crater, rotting woods, and even a labyrinthine city. Aside from injecting the map with a striking aesthetic flavor, each area also introduces new enemies and more high-risk, high-reward situations to consider. Couple this with world events, such as nighttime bosses appearing during the day and invasions from hostile Nightfarer NPCs, and no two runs are ever the same.
Elden Ring Nightreign's announcement was a genuine surprise. The details explaining the kind of game it was were even more surprising. This peculiar mix of a From Software RPG spliced with elements of roguelites and battle royales sounds like the kind of experimental concept no game studio would actually devote money to. But here's From Software, tapping into its creativity to put its own weird, bold spin on a thrilling cooperative multiplayer experience. Even if the end result were middling, this is the kind of risk worth celebrating, but doubly so now that it turned out to be such a fantastic, anomalous thing. The part of From Software's collective brain that created oddities like Metal Wolf Chaos and Otogi: Myth of Demons is still very much alive and well.
