Elden Ring: Nightreign Reviews
Elden Ring Nightreign is truly worthy of its namesake. Fans who still have the Elden Ring itch even after the DLC should gear up for some jolly good cooperation.
A new generation of From Software directors is maturing and Elden Ring Nightreign is among the first of their fresh crops. Even as a roguelike co-op spinoff it shines like one of the brightest stars held back by the mighty Starscourge Radahn. However, if you unfavour the RNG gods or Miyazaki himself, not only bad luck but horrible connection and inconsistent designs shall rain upon you and your teammates. Therefore, be brave Nightfarers and join forces against the powerful Nightlords!
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Elden Ring: Nightreign is sure to be a divisive entry in FromSoft's catalog. It isn't the Elden Ring sequel that people might want, and it isn't necessarily a game that will appeal to those who love Souls titles. It's a weird, experimental concept grafted into the skin of a different game. It's an engaging and enjoyable game to play, assuming you meet it halfway. The core mechanics are strong, the boss fights are fun, and it's an enjoyable game. If you've ever wanted to see what a more multiplayer-focused take on the genre is like, Nightreign shines, but those looking for a single-player experience will want to look elsewhere.
Overall, Elden Ring: Nightreign offers a different kind of experience—both compared to the original Elden Ring and within FromSoftware’s entire body of work. But this difference works in its favor, resulting in a compelling experience. It might not be all that exciting to play solo, but in the ideal scenario—with a solid team by your side—it’s easy to get lost for hours in its epic, unforgettable battles and the thrill of taking down its many bosses. So if you’ve always enjoyed the challenging combat of the Souls series and Elden Ring, and don’t mind a reduced focus on exploration and storytelling, Nightreign could be a deeply rewarding experience for you.
Review in Persian | Read full review
“Elden Ring: Nightreign” offers addictive, rewarding gameplay for fans of hitting challenging bosses, but only if you play with two other people who understand the game, and even then the high difficulty level and the typically corny losing of up to 50 minutes of gameplay without any progression can get on your nerves.
Review in Polish | Read full review
A pretty smart use of Elden Ring's world and mechanics in a new and exciting mode of play, but perhaps one that reuses too much and doesn't improve enough.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
There's fun to be had with Elden Ring Nightreign, especially if you're a skilled Elden Ring player who loves a challenge or can get a good team together, but it does have a range of issues. The fact that there's only one map means repetition quickly creeps in, for example, and the Relic system simply doesn't feel as impactful as it should. Being a multiplayer-focused game, the lack of cross-play is also egregious.
Elden Ring Nightreign offers an intriguing take by blending the soulslike formula with roguelike elements, delivering intense challenges and an engaging co-op experience, especially when played with friends. Although it features well-crafted combat mechanics and a diverse range of classes, the game also suffers from repetitiveness. With future updates and proper adjustments, Nightreign has the potential to become a strong addition to the FromSoftware universe.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Nightreign is a mediocre experience that I can only recommend to groups of friends who are hardcore Elden Ring fans looking for something to play together.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
Elden Ring Nightreing is a very different game from FromSofware. An experience that is best enjoyed with friends, and that hides some of the most epic fights of the entire saga. Despite stumbling on its roguelite philosophy, Nightreign offers a fresh and very challenging experience.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Elden Ring Nightreign has a lot of good ideas on its side, a lot of quality, and I'm sure it will blossom during the coming months; however, at the moment the ratio of fun to frustration seems a bit problematic.
Review in Italian | Read full review
What could have felt like a game chasing trends or designed by committee has maintained so much of what’s special about the core franchise.
Great gameplay and character classes in Nightreign are not enough to overlook the obvious issues regarding player communication, the game's technical state, and the absence of a duo mode. With these fundamental problems, the game feels unfinished upon launching.
Review in Unknown | Read full review
Elden Ring Nightreign is a great example of recycling content and turning it into a new experience. Even while it stumbles in some technical aspects, it truly shines when it comes to the game's original content.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Elden Ring Nightreign is ultimately carried by FromSoftware’s stellar gameplay systems applied across a fresh mix of subgenres, delivering a thrilling and dynamic experience, though its lack of modern social features and limited multiplayer flexibility make it a nostalgic but flawed spin-off.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Elden Ring Nightreign is one of the most interesting, creative takes in the multiplayer space for years. It’s unlike quite anything else out there with dashes of Monster Hunter, Fortnite, Diablo and a good old fashioned MMORPG in there, but it’s also distinctly Souls-like with the focus on brutal bosses and punishing challenges. The irony being that most of the game’s drawbacks come from a technical point of view, with matchmaking issues and lack of functionality, but if you want to try something different and interesting, if you have the patience and resolve for it, you’re going to fall under this one’s spell pretty fast!
Elden Ring Nightreign stands as a great way to switch up the normal Souls formula while still keeping it faithful to its roots. The battles are fantastic, the world is finely crafted, and the gameplay is top-notch. I had a blast running through each of the Night Lords, and I don’t think I am going to stop anytime soon. However, the game removes the need to adapt on the fly, which was quite disappointing to me. While the multiplayer is good, it doesn’t quite hit the mark when it comes to communication. Overall, Elden Ring Nightreign is a great new iteration in the genre, but just like Dark Souls 2, it doesn’t quite live up to what came before it.
Elden Ring: Nightreign is an ambitious side project. When the stars align—you and two friends, the same console, no plans for the next few hours—it’s magical. You’ve got great classes like the Guardian or Executor, a Sekiro-esque parry system, and a beautifully atmospheric world. But if even one piece is missing, the tower collapses like a ton of bricks. Anyone looking for a classic Elden Ring experience will quickly skip this one. It’s a big surprise, then, that this successful experiment is being released as a standalone game, rather than as paid DLC for a smaller price. Because then we’d probably have labeled this the best expansion ever for a game that’s already considered a masterpiece by many.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Elden Ring Nighreign utilizes the popular IP to deliver an experimental game that, at first glance, appears to be a bizarre mash-up of genres. The reality is that this mix of souls-like, rogue-lite, battle royale, and "hero shooters" works surprisingly well. The main flaw, however, is the amount of content. There's very little that's completely new, making the game feel more like a recycled or perhaps even fan-made modification. Moreover, it lacks deeper systems to engage beyond a maximum of a dozen hours for die-hard fans. For everyone else, though, it probably won't be a compelling reason to return to the world of Elden Ring, and it won't convince them otherwise.
Review in Czech | Read full review
Elden Ring Nightreign is not for everyone. It’s a brutal, atmospheric, deeply demanding experience that rewards patience, persistence, and curiosity. But if you’re the kind of player who grinned every time you saw “YOU DIED” flash across your screen in past Souls titles… this is your next obsession. Nightreign doesn’t just offer a new challenge—it rethinks what challenge means. It takes the bones of a beloved classic and rebuilds them into something darker, sharper, and even more punishing. If you’re ready to suffer beautifully once more—step into the dark.