Elden Ring Nightreign Review

Developer: FromSoftware

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5 (Reviewed), Xbox Series X|S

Genre: Coop, Action, Survival

Publisher: FromSoftware

Elden Ring Nightreign is the roguelike game from FromSoftware-a standalone title based on Elden Ring that places you in a world where you can battle the Night Lords with two other players or tackle it solo. It uses the core mechanics, landscape, and enemies but breathes new life into Elden Ring through roguelike mechanics and more instant gratification from the gameplay.

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You play as one of eight characters, each with their own skills (skill points distributed across various categories). A mage, tank, hybrid character, and archer are among the characters you can choose from. It’s a third-person RPG converted into a more arcade-style roguelike spinoff. When the game starts, you literally drop into an Elden Ring-esque world, but more contained. Over three in-game days, you’ll gather weapons, and power-ups, and level up your character during the day, then face a boss each night. After surviving night two, you’ll encounter a Night Lord-an even bigger boss. While the concept is simple, you and two other players (online) play this roguelike Elden Ring experience, gathering power-ups and buffs to help defeat increasingly tough bosses. Like Elden Ring, the game isn’t simple or easy—there’s a learning curve, and if you’re playing with random online players, player quality varies significantly. You may progress through the day sections but struggle with the nightly boss encounters.

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Nightreign like Elden Ring is visually stunning and has lore that is intertwined between playing the game and picking up random information throughout the world. The gameplay to some may seem janky but it’s the standard FromSoftware souls mechanics with the addition of a jump. The game is smooth and getting a game online is easy with plenty of players.

Nightreign is fun and difficult, similar to Elden Ring, but doesn’t require the same time investment. It remains very challenging, with difficulty scaling based on whether you’re playing solo or in a squad. The squad-based version was my favourite by far, even when random teammates were poor players. Within 30-40 minutes, you’ll complete a round or most likely die. I appreciated this element of not requiring a huge time commitment to enjoy the game.

If you’re new to FromSoftware games or Elden Ring, expect a difficulty curve-be patient. Having played Elden Ring, the transition was seamless apart from learning a few extra mechanics: climbing via double jump, the levelling system, map navigation, and the game format. This streamlined version of Elden Ring provides a more arcade-like feel, and I’ve enjoyed it. I found my first game challenging, partly due to my team running off on their own. Once you understand the game mechanics and roguelike elements, you’ll be flying before you know it.

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The PS5 supports a quality and framerate mode, the quality mode maintains higher visual fidelity 2160p at 30-40 FPS while the framerate mode targets 1080p at 60FPS.

The PS5 Pro quality mode targets 2160p at 55 FPS and the framerate mode targets 2160p at 60 FPS.

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Matchmaking for games varies quite a bit-it can take some time to get a full squad, and like most games, it depends on your timezone and location, so factor that into how quickly you’ll get a session up and running. I only had one session that I didn’t complete once it started, which was a pretty solid performance. I’ve had sessions where players left mid-game, but Nightreign supports the ability to leave and rejoin. When you log back in, you’ll automatically rejoin your last session if it’s still active. This feature kept me from rage-quitting when I desperately wanted to. In general, the servers were good and didn’t impact my fun.

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There’s no in-game voice chat when you join random players, and I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing. Given the frustration and rage-inducing deaths that are common in FromSoftware games, the lack of voice chat probably spares random teammates from hearing some sweary language. If you want to communicate, you’ll need to set up Discord, Steam chat, or another group chat platform while you play. The game lacks cross-platform play, which is disappointing. It would have been great to have crossplay between PS5 and Steam, and hopefully, this will be added in a future update.

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Elden Ring Nightreign is another successful, fun, and difficult game from FromSoftware. There will be ups and downs-he difficulty level will challenge some gamers and feel like punishment to others. If you overcome the struggle, there’s a fantastic game underneath that doesn’t require Elden Ring’s time commitment. The boss battles are immense, and beating even mini-bosses feels like a huge achievement. When I defeated the Night Lords, the sense of accomplishment was enormous-they’re tough, and random squads mean nothing is guaranteed. The game uses roguelike elements to help you in subsequent runs. The range of characters and game variety in this Elden Ring roguelike is fantastic-it’s superb.

Overall: 9/10