Elden Ring Nightreign is unique co-op fun for true soulslike sickos

Daily Mirror

2 days ago

Elden Ring Nightreign is as brutal and compelling as Elden Ring, just don't call it a spin-off.
Elden Ring Nightreign isn't really like anything I've ever played before. Its unique twist on the soulslike formula is addictive, fun and brutal in equal measure, despite its frustrating matchmaking and wildly inflexible party requirements needlessly tarnishing the experience.
FromSoftware 's latest addition to the Elden Ring universe manages to pull off something unprecedented, combining soulslike combat with brutal roguelike permadeath and hero shooter mechanics. And, I've not even got to the best bit yet, because you can also drag your friends through this fast-paced and often stressful co-op experience too. Oh yes, get ready to suffer, but at least you'll suffer together.
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The premise of the game is pretty simple: you and two friends must survive two short days in Limveld, a procedurally generated map that mostly stays the same, albeit with a few exceptions (more on that later) with a Fortnite-style circle of fire closing in at all times and, if you do, you'll come up against a Nightlord on day three, which is the toughest test of all.
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Night fever
At the end of each of the two days, you'll face off against a boss, which often serves as a good barometer for whether you've levelled up quickly enough. And that's the key in this game – there's no messing about. As soon as you drop in from your Spectral Hawk, the clock is ticking, and you've got to find Churches of Marika to add an extra flask, find better weapons, and seek out tough enemies, all in the name of levelling up and being ready for that Nightlord, should you make it through the two bosses before it.
Elden Ring Nightreign is unrelenting, and if you don't keep up, you're in trouble. You get to cheat death once (although you will lose a level) but after that, you're heading back to the roundtable hold. And, if you're in a Nightlord battle and all three of you perish, it's game over, and you have to start all over again.
Most of the key locations within Limveld stay the same for each run, but some do change significantly, particularly if there's a special Shifting Earth Event. This provides a completely new, challenging landscape area full of danger and reward, but these are completely random, as are the Church of Marika locations each run.
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Players can choose from a selection of eight Nightfarers, with six available from the get-go – Wylder, Guardian, Ironeye, Raider, Recluse and Executer – with two additional classes, Duchess and Revenant, being made available once you've completed specific in-game tasks. The characters have a varied range of playstyles, from the well-rounded Wylder, the magic-focused Recluse, and brute force Raider, to the defensive Guardian, the katana-wielding Executer and the long-range Ironeye. And although a lot of the people I played with were of the opinion that Ironeye is the strongest of all, I enjoyed using all of the characters, and I don't think any are so powerful that you need one in your team; a combination of any three could slay the Nightlord.
Of course, each character has their own unique pros and cons, as well as a Passive Ability, Character Skill and Ultimate Arts power, so it's worth experimenting with all of them to see who you gel most with. My personal favourites are Duchess, for her sensational Restage Character Skill, which deals another 50% (roughly) of the damage that an enemy has received in the last few seconds, making it super important with bosses and the Nightlord battles; especially when you time it just right with your teammates using their Ultimate Arts.
Another favourite of mine is Executor's incredible Ultimate Arts power, which turns your character into a huge primordial beast, allowing you to deal huge damage, as well as temporarily increasing your HP, so you can use it both in an offensive and defensive way.
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FromSoftware's way or the highway
The most surprising thing about Nightreign is how catered it is to its established, hardcore Elden Ring audience. Although there is no fall damage, equipment load and wall-jumping, apart from the short tutorial, it assumes a lot of key Elden Ring knowledge, and because it's designed to be a three-player experience – and only a three-player experience – it's significantly tougher than the game that came before it.
In my Elden Ring Nightreign preview, I said this was a game "you could easily convince your soulslike newcomer friends to play in co-op", but after playing it for a good ten hours or so, I was completely wrong. This is an unflinchingly pure soulslike experience, and dropping into this game as a newbie would be whiplash-inducing.
Speaking of whiplash, the game's complete focus is on a three-player experience. So, you need to have exactly two friends, no more – or have one friend, so long as you don't mind playing with a random. Oh, and no, you cannot play with each other if you're on different consoles, because there's no crossplay whatsoever, and there's no party system either, with an early 2000s 'set a password' matchmaking system in place instead. It doesn't even have voice chat.
You can play Nightreign solo, but I wouldn't advise it unless you're absolutely cracked. If you managed to kill Consort Radhan on your first attempt before he was patched, or if you do no-hit runs in Elden Ring, you should be ok, but for everyone else, this game is balanced for three players, and three players only.
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. Just make sure you have the exact number of friends the game requires, or start preparing for a very awkward group chat conversation.