Elden Ring Nightreign reviewDeveloper: FromSoftwarePublisher: Bandai NamcoPlatform: Played on PS5Availability: Out on 30th May on PC (Steam), Xbox Series X/S, and PS5/PS4
The first boss is a real hurdle. I’m not talking about the tutorial boss – you’re to fail at that one – but the first true boss. The Tricephalos Nightlord is a fiery cerberus with a chain whip, who splits into three separate dogs to chase you down. You can’t progress until this overgrown puppy is downed, proving a big challenge early on. But isn’t this sort of block always the Dark Souls way? It just shows how Nightreign is an authentic Souls experience. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
This time, though, you’re not facing bosses alone but in a group of three playing together online. While FromSoftware’s previous games have included co-operative play, it’s never been mandatory. In Nightreign, you team up to explore a map with randomised elements. You spend two in-game days here, buffing stats and abilities before facing one of eight Nightlords on the third day. Fail and you start the run again. In this way, it combines the soulslike and roguelike genres – two buzzwords that have seemingly dominated the industry for the past decade. Here, though, it’s a multiplayer concoction only FromSoftware could have created. It’s intense and exhilarating stuff.
You can ignore those genre descriptors, though. Really, Nightreign is a game about sharing memorable moments with others: moments of wonder, comedy, frustration, and euphoria. Seeing a volcano erupt mid-game for the first time. Being stuck in an underground maze as a storm of death sweeps over the map. Joining up with players around the world and joyously shouting in multiple languages after absolutely nailing a tricky boss. The time my front door went in the middle of a Nightlord battle and I couldn’t pause, leaving my teammates to survive alone (we still won the battle). And, of course, the elation at finally putting that flaming puppy in its place. These sorts of shared moments are what all the best multiplayer games are about, and that’s what makes Nightreign so equally compelling.
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Let me explain how it all works. Players fly into the map and must spend an in-game day exploring and levelling up as fast as possible. Gradually, a blue storm of death encroaches on the map, funnelling players towards a singular spot to defeat a boss. Survive and it’s on to day two to repeat the process on the same map. Survive and it’s on to the Nightlord battle. The map itself is static, but certain locations, items, and bosses are randomised each time. Plus there are environment-altering instances and random invasions to keep runs fresh. The encroaching storm adds a dash of Fortnite, its purpose to keep exploring players close together, but often useful items – or even your dropped Runes upon death – can be left agonisingly out of reach.