Elden Ring: Nightreign review: An experiment that completely hooked me in

When I first heard about Nightreign, I couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy—like there was this red light in the back of my head that kept saying: “Okay, it looks fun, but what happens after the first three hours? What about replayability?” Even during the beta that thought wouldn’t leave me alone. But now, after spending 25 hours with Nightreign, I can confidently say that I was genuinely, and pleasantly, surprised.

But let’s start from the beginning: Elden Ring: Nightreign was first announced at The Game Awards 2024, and it was met with a healthy dose of skepticism—a sentiment I shared. Out of nowhere, we were handed a game that felt like a total 180 from everything FromSoftware had been offering up to that point. Sure, the first trailer looked good, but a lot of players were left scratching their heads, asking themselves: “What in the world is the Nameless King doing in the Elden Ring universe?” And while there are plenty of fan theories out there about how the different universes created by Miyazaki and the team are all connected, it still didn’t look that impressive. To be honest, it came across to me more like an attempt to reuse assets sitting around on FromSoft’s servers.

Luckily, after a few evenings spent with Nightreign, I can confidently say that some of my fears have been completely wiped off the table—kind of like my team getting wiped by the Nightlords. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. And let’s start with a simple appetizer—maybe some bruschetta—before we dig into the main course.

Limveld? You mean Limgrave, right?

Elden Ring: Nightreign starts with a well-directed cutscene that shows Wylder, one of the playable characters, arriving at the Roundtable Hold. What’s really surprising for a FromSoftware game, though, is that we actually get a full-fledged tutorial. I highly recommend doing it, since it does a great job of introducing the new mechanics. And there are several of them—everything from fast running to new special skills. But before I dive into the nitty-gritty of those, it’s worth taking a moment to talk about the story.

Nightreign takes place in the Lands Between, but this time, we’re not playing on the same map we know from Elden Ring. Instead, we’re dropped into a variation of Limgrave called Limveld. The game explains this as an “alternate reality,” which adds a really intriguing tone and leaves the player with more questions than answers—classic soulslike stuff. After arriving at the fortress, we learn from the priestess (because of course there’s a priestess) that this reality is oppressed by Nightlords, powerful creatures that are manifestations of the Night itself. To free Limveld from its torment, it’s our job to hunt down and slaughter all these beasts.

Elden Ring: Nightreign currently offers eight playable characters, known in the game as Nightfarers. Each of these characters has their own reasons for coming to the Roundtable Hold. Nightreign lets us dive into their stories through side quests, which, unlike the often convoluted side quest framework fans are used to, are surprisingly straightforward and pretty easy to follow. I definitely liked this approach, since I was finally able to follow the side quests without worrying I’d miss something crucial or accidentally talk to the wrong NPC at the wrong time of day (or night).

At this point, I’m going to pause on the lore of Elden Ring: Nightreign. I’ll just add that, as in Dark Souls and Elden Ring, the story wasn’t my main motivator for sinking hundreds of hours into these games—although it’s obviously amazing and unraveling it can be just as satisfying as taking down fallen knights, dragons, demigods, and gods. With all that in mind, let’s move on to the main course.

You must gather your party…

At the moment, Elden Ring: Nightreign offers two game modes: one for solo players, and another for a group of three. While the game doesn’t spell this out explicitly, I quickly discovered that playing with three players is the default mode. I tested out solo play a few times, and honestly, it seems like it needs a bit more balancing. Bosses AI is noticeably “nicer”—if there are two of them, one usually just stands there waiting politely for their turn to attack, and they have smaller health bars. But what really bugged me was how much slower it felt to level up solo. Since levels in this game are crucial, and if they’re too low by the end of the day, it’s just like that one Depeche Mode song says: “It’s No Good.”

After checking out solo mode, it was time to get into the real action. I chose Tricephalos, the first Nightlord, and my team and I set out for our first run. Since I’d had the chance to play the Nightreign beta, I already knew the basic loop—level up, get good gear, and be ready to face the boss on the final day. Of course, we also had to constantly be on the run from the encroaching fire circle, which closes in on the map and pushes you along. I'll just add what most players probably already know: playing with randoms can kill the vibe, so I highly recommend teaming up with someone you can stay in constant communication with.

Elden Ring: Nightreign requires meticulous planning every second you play. So, after landing, you need to level up as quickly as possible and head to locations that can give you an edge in battle—like the Church to add another charge to your Flask of Crimson Tears, or the mine to grab the stones needed to upgrade your weapons. Then, track down every easier boss and keep leveling up. One day in Nightreign lasts about 15 minutes in real life, after which night falls and the first slightly tougher boss arrives, acting as a test of how well you prepared during the day. Thankfully, that test is usually pretty easy to .

On the second day, the game immediately marks tougher bosses on the map. If you feel confident and can judge your skills well, it’s always a good idea to take down at least two of these. They take more time and are harder to beat, but the rewards and experience points you earn make it worth the effort. Speaking of rewards, I have to mention that after defeating each boss—and certain tougher enemies—the game gives you a choice of three rewards. This mechanic will be familiar to roguelike fans, though it’s less common for soulslike players. Here’s my first serious gripe: these rewards aren’t always well balanced. Sometimes you’ll get something super useful, but other times you’ll end up with an item that doesn’t fit your current build at all. I wish this system was better tuned to your playstyle, because by the end of the second day, it can be tough to completely shift gears and adjust to a new build just because you had nothing good to choose from.

The second night is basically a repeat of the first, but the last boss is much tougher. After defeating it, we’re transported to the area where we face the Nightlord. My first fight with the boys was mostly to test the boss’s moves and attacks. After a few minutes, I realized I really liked the design of the beast we were up against, though I did get the feeling its HP was pretty high. Still, it was better to confirm that after another try.

After our first defeat, we received relics that could be used at a special altar to grant ive bonuses—like +3 to Strength or an enhancement to a special attack. This aspect really stood out to me, and I had a lot of fun finding the right buffs. It is also worth doing the side quests, as they offer the chance to earn unique relics that can add new attacks to our arsenal or give us new ives for special skills, giving the gameplay a fresh, impactful twist.

The next attempt went a lot better, as is often the case, but we all agreed that the bosses really have an enormous amount of health. Some might say, “Skill issue,” and maybe there’s a bit of truth to that—but it wasn’t just my opinion, so there has to be something to it. I’m really curious if the developers will drop a patch after launch to address this, especially since we saw something similar with Shadow of the Erdtree, where Radahn got nerfed.

After defeating Tricephalos—and the incredible satisfaction that came with it—the game opened up new side quests, more Nightlords to take down, special events on the map, and rewarded us with awesome relics. That’s really when the fun kicked into high gear, as each new run gave us a chance to face fresh bosses. ittedly, FromSoft fans will probably recognize some of these bosses from Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2, or Dark Souls 3. But with every run, I enjoyed myself more and more, and I realized that reusing assets actually works here—it adds variety and keeps the game from becoming monotonous or boring.

The variety also comes from random events on the map, like locust swarms that force you to keep moving, or risk losing levels if you stand still or move too slowly. Another random event transported all expedition to another dimension where we had to team up to defeat a tough opponent. To spice things up even more, there’s The Shifting Earth—a limited-time biome added to the Limveld map. This event can open access to a crater or mountaintop where tougher enemies and better rewards await.

During my time with Elden Ring: Nightreign, I managed to unlock and try out all the playable characters. Right off the bat, I’ll say my favorite was Executor, who comes from the Land of Reeds in the East and can parry enemy attacks—even fire breath. The second character I spent the most time with was Wylder, who I love for his simplicity (no INT required) and mobility. Of course, some characters seemed really strong, like the archer Ironeye and Guardian, who definitely got a buff since the beta, where he was the weakest available character.

I mentioned earlier that each character has special abilities that heavily impact gameplay and need to be used thoughtfully. Unfortunately, not all of these abilities were well-designed. For example, Raider’s special skill summons a giant tombstone that boosts allies’ attack power. The concept itself is cool—you can even climb the tombstone to avoid damage—but more than once, my fellow Nightfarer accidentally trapped me between the tombstone and a wall. Even worse, during a certain fight with a Nightlord, Raider used his ability and the boss got stuck inside the tombstone, making it impossible for us to attack. The boss then used an area attack, wiping us all out. The frustration was overwhelming because the boss was literally on “two hits.”

A good meal

Now, it’s time for a salty-sweet dessert. The core gameplay of Elden Ring: Nightreign is pretty much what we’ve already seen in Elden Ring, except it’s tuned for faster-paced action and cooperative play. While my overall impressions are very positive, there are a few things that worry me. First off, there’s been no word from the developers about how—or even if—they plan to continue ing the game. Will we get new bosses, relics, or maybe fresh events? It’s possible FromSoft doesn’t want this to be a live-service game, and honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised. Still, some clarity would definitely be appreciated.

Other issue that negatively impacted my experience was optimization. I played on a base PS5, and more than once, both I and other Nightfarers experienced significant frame drops at the same time. A friend of mine playing on a PS5 Pro ran into the same problem, so it’s clearly not a hardware issue—it’s a matter of poor optimization. Aside from the frame drops, I didn’t encounter any major bugs that made the game unplayable. My final major gripe is the lack of crossplay. It shrinks the player pool, and while I understand why the devs might have made that choice, it’s still a disappointing omission. The only real concern now is how the servers will hold up under the potential flood of players on launch day.

Elden Ring: Nightreign was a game I approached with some detachment—no lofty expectations, just a hope for fast-paced gameplay and a return to the kind of raw challenge I’ve come to love in soulslikes. And that’s exactly what I got. The more time I spent with Nightreign, the more I found myself enjoying it. FromSoftware’s latest title is a massive experience—you can easily sink hundreds of hours into it, testing different builds, mapping out optimal routes, or simply exploring with friends. Elden Ring: Nightreign is a hearty, satisfying feast that’s sure to hit the spot for fans of the genre.