Elden Ring Nightreign review

How do you enjoy playing Elden Ring? I ask because your answer will perhaps largely indicate whether you’ll enjoy Elden Ring Nightreign or not, a new entry in the hugely successful series which combines its iconic hard-as-nails action with roguelike mechanics. Basically, if you play it for the challenge and find the idea of trying to do no-hit runs and suchlike fun, you’ll probably get on like a house on fire. If you like to take your time, explore the world at your pace and exploit overpowered builds, however, your fun might be limited.

Forget about creating your own character and exploring an open world at your own pace here; Elden Ring Nightreign is much more of a stripped-down, action-focused experience. With Roundtable Hold acting as a hub, you’re free to prepare before heading out into the Lands Between, or more specifically Limveld, either alone or as a team of three. For some reason you can’t head out as a team of two, or at least not yet; the feature might be added post-launch, apparently. In any case, in the Roundtable Hold you’re able to switch between the game’s pre-set heroes (eight are available, though only six are unlocked from the outset), buy a limited range of items from a vendor, equip stat-boosting relics, practice your combat skills before heading into battle, and more.

When you finally muster up the courage to go on your first expedition to Limveld you’ll find that you have to select a Nightlord to go up against – one of numerous powerful targets available in Elden Ring Nightreign that’ll you’ll need to overcome to fully unravel its story. Only one Nightlord will be available at the start of the game, though, acting as a skill check of sorts. Unless you can beat this first Nightlord, then, you’ll find your matchmaking options somewhat limited. And considering that this is a multiplayer-focused title that also doesn’t have cross-play, it’s not ideal.

Still, the premise of Elden Ring Nightreign makes for an engaging gameplay scenario. The aim here is to survive numerous in-game days, with a burning blue barrier making the area of play smaller towards the end of each day, battle royale style. You then have to face off against a group of beefed-up enemies followed by a powerful boss that you might be familiar with if you’ve played Elden Ring. Survive two in-game days and then on the third day you can face off against your chosen Nightlord, unless you’ve selected multiple to target in which case you’ll have a surprise waiting for you. Needless to say, all of the Nightlords put up a substantial fight, and so you’ll need to work as a team and use the two days available to you prior to grow as strong as you can.

The actual gameplay here will feel familiar to anyone that has played Elden Ring, with runes earned for defeating enemies which can then be used at a Site of Grace to level up, though you don’t raise individual stats here. In a roguelike twist, you acquire new weapons and perks by defeating powerful enemies and bosses, with you able to choose one of multiple items offered. And by exploring Limveld you can find a wide variety of items that may help you get the edge, and can even potentially upgrade your equipped weapons.

To further differentiate Elden Ring Nightreign from Elden Ring, each of the heroes available for you to play as have a couple of unique skills to make use of. Playing as Wylder, for example, gives you access to a grappling hook that allows you to quickly pull enemies towards you, or you towards them if they’re on the larger side. You also have an explosive stake attack which can cause significant damage. Executor, on the other hand, can draw a special blade which allows them to deflect attacks, and can turn into a mighty beast when the situation gets desperate. With each hero also having their own unique starting loadout and passive ability, it pays to give them all a try and test out their skills in order to see which one resonates with you the most.

Unfortunately, while the map of Limveld is quite big, you will probably find running around it at breakneck speed with a couple of other players becoming increasingly repetitive as you play. It doesn’t help that the only things that are really random here are the items and perks offered to you during each run, and the bosses you’re up against at the end of the first and second days. Sometimes the map does change a little, however, thanks to Shifting Earth events which typically occur when you’ve defeated a Nightlord. A fiery crater might appear, for instance, which holds greater rewards for those brave enough to enter.

Still, it would be nice if Elden Ring Nightreign had more than one map. And there are other issues, too. Playing on PS5 Pro for review, I’ve encountered frequent framerate issues even when playing using Performance mode which ruins the experience a little. Thankfully they rarely occur during combat. I also dislike the game’s Relic system, the only way you can wake your heroes more powerful from one run to the next. Most of the upgrades available just don’t feel all that impactful, simply adding a point or two to a stat while perhaps enhancing a particular element. Many rely on you obtaining a particular weapon for them to be useful. Basically, more ways to power up and/or customise the heroes would be nice.

I also can’t help but feel like the difficulty of Elden Ring Nightreign is a little all over the place. Play alone and the odds are stacked against you from the outset as there’s zero chance of being revived during a boss encounter. Get a good team together, and chances are you’ll steamroll the first couple of days if you work in unison, perhaps only encountering some difficulty when you reach the boss of the second night. When it comes to actually facing off against a Nightlord (at least any beyond the first), however, don’t surprised if you find your team obliterated before it’s made any real impact. Considering how long it takes to get to that point, it can be pretty deflating.

There’s fun to be had with Elden Ring Nightreign, then, but it might be short-lived unless you’re particularly skilled or manage to get a good team together. And even then, you’ll still likely have some issues, whether it’s framerate hiccups or disappointment at the relic system, which fails to add much to the game. Throw in the fact that there’s only the one map, so you’re generally visiting the same locations time after time in each session to reap their rewards as quickly as possible, and you have a game that has potential but at the moment doesn’t exploit it. Hopefully FromSoftware can further enhance Nightreign post-launch, adding much-needed features such as cross-play, as well as adding new content and re-examining some systems that currently just aren’t as rewarding as they should be.