The original Elden Ring, paired with its excellent expansion, is a very special game for a number of reasons that have been talked about over and over again. Top of the list though, for me, is its excellently paced sense of discovery and progression. With how open and free that game is, you can discover everything at your own pace and the curve of your own player progression is gradual but still noticeable. It is the result of developers From Software perfecting their RPG formula that they have been developing since Demon’s Souls in 2009. In my opinion, it is their magnum opus and considering its popularity and accolades, many also share that opinion. So what happens when you streamline such an expansive experience into a much more rushed multiplayer experience? Well the result is Elden Ring Nightreign and it is the result of an insane idea that From Software have somehow made work, for the most part.

Elden Ring Nightreign is set in an alternate, parallel universe from the original game’s setting. It follows a group of nightfarers who have been brought to the Roundtable Hold with one mission in mind: to defeat the Nightlords and stop their reign of night. You as the player are to play as any one of the eight nighfarers, all equipped with their own skillsets and abilities, and drop into the world of Limveld. You will either go on your own or with two other nightfarers and your objective is to survive three days, defeating bosses to push back the night. As you do so, you and your counterparts will aim to get strong enough to challenge the Nightlord at the end of the third day, making sure to level up and get the most powerful weapons you can in order to do so. On your journey, you will face returning bosses from Elden Ring and others in From Software’s previous games.

The core loop of Elden Ring Nightreign is relatively simple. Weirdly enough, it takes a lot from battle-royale games like Fortnite or Call of Duty: Warzone in its presentation. You drop into Limveld on spectral eagles and immediately have to kill enemies and bosses to level up and scavenge for any equipment to use. Weapons come in all shapes and sizes, but also rarities ranging from common to legendary. Though twice a day, once halfway and once towards the end, the tide of night will come sweeping in to cut down the size of the map and bring your scavenging to an end. Think of it like the storm in Fortnite, except there are these terrifying shadow colossi that are casting a blue flame of night to eat the world (naturally). This obviously adds a lot of panicking and a rush to the normal adventuring of Elden Ring and it makes it a completely different experience. Instead of looking across the world’s magnificent vistas, you will often be sprinting everywhere and will, more often than not, be under threat from something. Limveld, after all, just looks exactly like Limgrave so you will not be missing much new, even if it does still look pretty. Should you survive a day, you will finish it by flocking to the one place the night does not touch and have to fight a more major boss than the smaller ones scattered throughout the world. These bosses could be bigger hitters from Elden Ring like Margit The Fell Omen, or even some older From Software bosses like the infamous Nameless King from Dark Souls III. killing pushes back the night and yields a buff for the next day. Once getting to the third day, you have the final encounter with the Nightlord you chose initially at the expedition screen. Most of these fights are magnificently designed whilst looking wonderful and that will be a selling point for hardcore From Software fans alone. Successful or not, the end of the run will earn you relics that can be used to buff your Nightfarer for the coming battles. Especially when it goes well, the loop is immensely satisfying and addicting, constantly making you want to come back for your next challenge.

Integral to the experience is the Nightfarers you will play as on each run. As mentioned, there are eight to choose from and they all play quite differently from each other, suiting to different playstyles well. For example, Wylder is efficient with greatswords and benefits from a more strength-based playstyle. His skill ability is a grapple which can be used to close distances quickly and even drag smaller enemies towards him. He has a passive called Sixth Sense which when you are getting stuck in, hacking away at a boss, what would be a fatal blow immediately triggers a big dodge backwards to save you from death. To top it off, he has an ultimate ability that detonates a big explosion around you, an excellent ability for stunning enemies in a tight situation. All Nightfarers have a skill, passive and ultimate ability related to their playstyle and these are the things that truly make the characters distinct from one another. None of them feel worlds apart in difficulty to use, nor are any overwhelmingly more useful than another. They are all well desgined and sufficiently accessible for any player. What’s more is they all have their own personal story that unfolds by doing runs. Completing a run with a Nightfarer can unlock a memory chapter to read and these tell their stories as you go. In certain chapters, there are rememberances that act as flashbacks to some of the Nightfarers’ more personal moments. In some of these, you can get a personal quest to do when doing runs and completion of these generates new relics and cosmetic items, all whilst advancing their story. This is a fantastic little touch and whilst the storytelling is still delivered in the typical From Software cryptic style, there is still some sufficiently interesting backstory to these characters.

With all this good being said, there are a few problems with this that stop it from reaching the heights that the original game did. Obviously, it is hard to compare the two experiences but there are some things the game struggles with. It is mostly to do with the fact the induction of multiplayer to the core of the game has resulted in a lot of messiness, that the original game did not have to worry about. The restriction to three players or one is a ridiculous oversight that is made even more stupid by not having cross-play. Unless your mates all have the same console or are pc players, you are going to be stuck playing solo or with random people. This means playing with no built in voice chat and no communication tools other that just setting waypoints on a map. To make matters worse, being matchmade with random players sometimes does not actually work and I personally had to reload the game to fix it a few times. Especially when trying to do any of the rememberance quests, it seems to really struggle with finding a game, even if you allow for global matchmaking. This means you have no choice but to do it solo and this game is simply not made for solo play. In fairness, since launch, they have made some tweaks to make the solo experience better but some of the issues with solo play is that bosses seem to be designed around multiplayer instead. The first boss is a good example as there is a phase where it splits into three, which is obviously ideal for three players. For solo players, you are in No Man’s Land during that phase and even some of the best players will be beaten by it. Like this, many things in this game point to a multiplayer first approach. But when you see some of the issues the multiplayer experience has too, it makes the overall design feel messy.

There is so much good about Elden Ring Nightreign and if you play this with friends that enjoy From Software games as much as you, this is potentially one of the best multiplayer experiences on the market. However that is only going to be a few people and the majority of players will have their experience bogged down by balancing issues and just some poor multiplayer design. Everything to do with the gameplay systems is fantastic, as is its world and new intriguing lore and this will be worth the small price of admission for many alone. If this game had everything ironed out and was not held back by its issues, it would be simply excellent. Even still, the core experience is great and that does outweigh issues that can hopefully be fixed in the future.