Elden Ring: Nightreign Reviews
Elden Ring Nightreign is a fun multiplayer offshoot, but it also doesn't come close to the dizzying heights we're used to seeing from FromSoftware. It's an interesting experiment, and I am glad it exists despite my mixed feelings, but it's a shallow happiness when I expect far more profound experiences from this company.
Elden Ring Nightreign is a bold co-op roguelike offshoot from FromSoftware that creatively and satisfyingly brings Soulsborne gameplay to a new genre of RPG — even if issues with map and enemy variety hold it back from true greatness.
Elden Ring Nightreign is an overly clumsy attempt to graft multiplayer antics to one of the best RPGs ever. While its rougelike elements may entertain, a lack of variety and uneven combat system ultimately make for a curious sideshow that doesn't come close to the series that shares its name.
Fortnite meets Elden Ring in a matchup where a three-person team faces so many high-speed challenges you may feel distinctly short-handed
Provided you have a couple of friends to play with, Nightreign can easily become the perfect trap - a fun gauntlet of trials where you endlessly chase that ideal winning run right before going to bed. And then you do it again. And again. And again. But if you lack the necessary company, perhaps there are better ways to spend your time - maybe even with the original Elden Ring. After all, that game had plenty of great boss battles too.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Elden Ring Nightreign is an "all-stars" imagining
Adapting the traditionally slow-paced Souls formula into a fast-paced, co-op-focused experience with roguelike elements was no easy feat, but the Japanese studio has fully delivered, once again proving why they remain masters of their craft.
If you loved Elden Ring, you're going to love Elden Ring Nightreign. It's harder, faster and more varied than its predecessor, offering a truly unique gameplay experience that no one really asked for, but it's one that Elden Ring players deserve.
Nightreign offers hours of entertainment, frenetic battles, and spectacular boss fights to all players who are lucky enough to visit Limveld with two friends by their side, as well as the experienced Elden Ring veterans looking for a good challenge. The same cannot be said for those who have to find their allies through online matchmaking, due to an in-game communication system particularly inadequate for such a complex and punishing game.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Nightreign has a few limitations, like a somewhat unrewarding solo mode, no AI party members, and no duos. Still, while it may be a game that few Souls fans thought to consider essential, Nightreign is an unexpected gift that will no doubt be a new addiction for many.
Not every idea in Nightreign lands cleanly, but its willingness to push Elden Ring's mechanics into unfamiliar territory is admirable. It's a game made for a specific kind of player-those who crave a punishingly difficult challenge. If that's you, this detour is worth the journey.
Elden Ring Nightreign is a very interesting game that's likely going to divide FromSoftware fans. It's not the hand-crafted RPG that we've come to expect from the storied developer, but it does manage to take much of the gameplay depth of Elden Ring, and retrofit it into a fast-paced multiplayer experience. While we don't think it really holds a candle to games like Dark Souls 3 or Elden Ring, it isn't really trying to. This is basically FromSoftware having some fun with its IP, and with a squad of friends, Elden Ring Nightreign is a blast.
After Elden Ring set the bar impossibly high for what's expected of open-world RPGs, Nightreign delivers a fantastic accompaniment to FromSoftware's core portfolio. It's unafraid to turn the established Souls formula on its head and ask if it can mesh well with other genres. While the answer is a resounding yes, Nightreign won't be for everyone. For series veteran fans with no interest in multiplayer, it's a hard sell. Solo play is an officially supported mode, but it feels much like an afterthought. Played with the intended group size, however, Nightreign is an irresistible co-op experience with far more depth than I expected.
In the end, Nightreign manages to offer up something unique that I’m sure a certain audience will find a vast amount of enjoyment in, but in the process, it sacrifices a lot of what made Elden Ring so special.
The compellingly unresolved ending caps a run that, like even a half-decent crack at Nightreign’s challenges, is a story unique to itself: a journey of close calls and triumphs too fortuitous to be replicated.
Elden Ring Nightreign in an experience that will appeal to those who know Elden Ring by heart and had mastered its combat system. However, if you don't fall into that group, Elden Ring Nightreign likely isn't for you. At the end of the day, FromSoftware presents us with a unique experiment that makes it clear that its 2022 title has the potential to expand almost anywhere, though that doesn't mean it should.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Elden Ring Nightreign shoots for the stars with a clean retrofit of familiar assets into a roguelike format, but it's dragged back down to earth with repetitive encounters, overtuned bosses, and lacklustre meta-progression. Random chance and an urgent pace rewards blind haste over careful buildcraft, but I'm confident its biggest issues can still be fixed.
When everything's running smoothly in the team, we excel at an event, level up significantly, or a strategy works, it's really fun.
Review in German | Read full review
Elden Ring Nightreign is definitely a game apart in FromSoftware's catalog. Despite a clear requirement primarily geared toward three-player co-op, we legitimately had many memorable moments on this "Rogue-Lite Survival" spin-off in a generally successful and frankly addictive way, despite obvious balancing issues and questionable choices for a title focused on multiplayer. To fully appreciate all its flavor, however, we can only strongly advise you to play it with a group of friends. If you are a primarily solo player, unless you are a true Souls-like god, it is clearly better to move on, or suffer the bitter consequences.
Review in French | Read full review
We are aware that with a well-defined update program in the coming weeks we could find ourselves in the presence of a completely different experience but, at least for the moment, we can talk about a great experiment that is half successful.
Review in Italian | Read full review