I reviewed both Eldenling and the shadows of the Erdtree DLC at their respective releases, but I have to say it was an explosion. Bloodborne may be my personal favorite game within this genre, but due to its dark tone and linear nature, Software Inc. developers have certainly not missed the beat recently.
Elden Ring Nightreign will ultimately feel familiar to fans of the franchise in many ways. However, due to its fast-paced gameplay, rogue-like elements, and a burst of shorter bite-sized gameplay, in general, those who have not been able to enter Eldenling or its DLC find it more accessible at a more demanding difficulties and slower pace.
Hunting is on
Elden Ring Nightrign serves as a prequel and spinoff to Elden Ring. Eldenling explores the story of Nightfarrer, our playable group of protagonists.
The story is relatively light, but rarely at the forefront of experience, given that it takes place in another universe within Eldenling lore. Most of the games revolve around selecting one of the eight characters of the game, each with a class and special abilities.
In the game, between three days and two nights, you will see them embarking on an expedition with the goal of killing a particular target. Every day you can explore the lands of Rimveld, which feel like the best in a more condensed form at every pinnacle of all the pinnacles you see in Eldenling.
As you explore, you take on a small enemy, a larger boss, and eventually proceed towards the center of the designated area. Along the way, you can stop at a place of bounty and level up with runes.
Usually, each run lasts around 45-60 minutes, killing each target will allow you to gradually unlock a total of 8 expeditions. It’s a decent gameplay loop that feels always appealing and rarely boring, mainly thanks to the illicit elements that seek success in new executions.
The overall gameplay loop doesn’t have as much trouble as the difficulty setting. This feels really unbalanced at the time of writing. Let’s talk about that.
Good together
Elden Ring Nightreign can be played in solo or in a three-player session. There are future updates at the time of writing to add this feature, but it’s obviously odd that the two players don’t have any choice.
Only one character can be chosen for each expedition. This is neat as it encourages players to confuse strategies and encourage each player to bring their own unique talent to the party.
But the only real grievance is overall difficulties. In a group of three, the gameplay feels very accessible and balanced, with the right number of enemies and bosses that can be defeated in just a few attempts. Now I’m not going to say nightreign is easy. That’s probably quite far from it. But with friends, I feel that it is simply more balanced and less punished.
However, it is clear that Nightreign is not equally balanced on solo runs. It’s still perfectly possible to complete the run yourself, but after completing Eldenling twice, solo runs in the night league, along with Eldley’s shadow, are some of the most punishing encounters I’ve ever had.
This game doesn’t just adjust the amount of enemies and enemy health sticks for a smoother experience. When enemies come to you in a group of three, it becomes very clear when one of the final bosses divides their singular form into three small bosses for you to take on. It’s very clear that FromSoftware always had three players in mind.
I’m not saying it’s worth playing alone, but it’s as fast and accessible as you can feel when playing this game, so you’ll be able to back up that feeling when you’re played alone and it’s a tough experience for new or beginner players.
It brings noise
Elden Ring Nightreign is really solid in places that matter. The gameplay is very fun and generally feels like I did it in the original game.
But there are some interesting differences that make it stand out. For example, there are no more rideable torrents, allowing players to run around the environment at the same speed.
Players can automatically climb walls with double jumps and mantle shelves, which helps with general exploration. There is no more fall damage and players can also access the split spring jump points.
Each class has its own armor and appearance, allowing access to six weapon slots, two talisman slots and four consumable slots. This streamlines the experience a little more.
You will also earn the mark (game currency) after being run to track a bunch of common, unusual, spectacular and legendary weapons along the way and purchase special relics that will help you customize your loadout.
I feel these features will help improve the experience of those who don’t like the slow pace or the original Eldenling, or who want to jump into action right away, without having to suffer from the consequences of builds that don’t necessarily pay attention to scratches.
Please look at the parts
Elden Ring Nightreign looks fresh for the most part. Even within a small environment, everything feels unique and detailed, rarely appearing flat or bland.
That being said, I ask that general performance is different. Quality mode increases resolution while delivering about 30-40 frames, while Performance mode immerses resolution while delivering about 40-60 frames. The only problem here is that frame rates never feel consistent.
I would recommend the latter mode of performance, but sometimes it just avoids how it can feel. I understand that some of it can be choked up to a delayed or dangerous server, but even a solo run you can feel it.
Final thoughts
Elden Ring Nightreign fits exciting and engaging spinoff bills that take full advantage of new gameplay features and illicit elements, providing a more engaging and faster-paced experience.
The general performance and overall difficult levels feel uneven ants time, especially in solo runs, but at some point I certainly give it something worthy of doubt. Either way, there’s still a lot to love about this latest entry.
4 stars (out of 5)
Highlights: Same solid gameplay. A fascinating list of characters and classes. The new gameplay mechanics greatly enhance your sense of pace. The system feels much more streamlined
Low Light: The incredible difficulty in solo runs makes them feel unbalanced. Sometimes uneven performance
Developer: Fromsoftware Inc.
Publishers: Software Inc., Namco Bandai Games America Inc., Bandai Namco
Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Windows PC
Available: Now
Reviews conducted on PlayStation 5 are conducted using pre-release code provided by the publisher.
