ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN

Preface Elden Ring veterans have almost nothing to complain about when it comes to Nightreign. In essence, this title provides more Elden Ring content with added variety, faster pacing, and easy-to-pick-up yet hard-to-master builds and playstyles that provides enough replayability with overall game design that makes it easy to get into another session whenever you have what I call the "Souls itch." Positives No Time to Waste Before delving into Nightreign, there were two primary concerns I had from what I knew about the game so far: time-limited runs and boss variety. The time-limited runs is a godsend for players like myself who want more Elden Ring but also seek a fresh experience. The exploration is there (albeit with less freedom from the vanilla title), but the balance between the need to explore and focus on boss fights is all in all well executed. Builds can shift drastically after one or two Nightlord kills and each run can feel unique simply based on how the player approaches each run. As with all games, it all comes down to mindset. Ten Nightfarers, Ten Playstyles By this point, most players will settle for the good ol' DR build with most Nightfarer they choose to run. I myself ran mostly solo (a primary reason I held off on Nightreign for so long since solo play was an afterthought a few months into the game's lifespan), and yet with choices like Wylder, Ironeye, and Raider, my runs were not as grueling as I thought they would be. Melee all-rounder, ranged archer, and heavy-hitting bruiser were all on the menu. Now upon completion, I look forward to trying the other Nightfarers to try more technique-based playstyles like the caster-based Recluse and parry-focused Executor. At the end of the day, Nightreign has something for everyone as long as you focus on building each Nightfarer the right - or maybe even wrong - way. Performance I rarely mention this as a forte for game reviews, but with all the performance issues AAA games have been launching with lately, a honorable mention is at very least in order. Nightreign ran flawlessly for me, and that may be due to patches that have been released since launch but the point still stands: FromSoftware rarely, if ever, misses in the optimization department. Combat is quick and responsive even more so than it was in vanilla. And in a title with co op multiplayer being one of its appeals, that's saying something. Negatives Day Phases This is highly subjective, but granting roughly 13-15 real-time minutes for the exploration cycle before the circle starts closing in might be a turnoff for many players. Time is your greatest enemy in Nightreign, and if anything this can simultaneously be considered a positive as it pushes you to think quickly on your feet and work on your decision-making skills/speed. Granted, you have unlimited time for night/boss phases, but a little more leeway might not have hurt for the less initiated. Just a minor gripe on my end, but not a gamebreaker. Feels...incomplete? Perhaps with more dedicated resources, a bigger pull towards ER newcomers, and I daresay more content & horizontal progression(?), I feel the game could have been bigger than it is. As successful as it may have been, many agree that Nightreign just kind of came and went; perhaps not off the grid, but now it's just there for people to enjoy when they feel like coming back to it. Arguably, Nightreign could have started a movement to take the Soulslike genre to the next level entirely, departing from the singleplayer experience we've had for the last decade and causing a chain reaction of games that could give birth to an entirely new genre. But alas, here we are. Nightreign, quite simply put: More Elden Ring . Conclusion Final Verdict: 9/10 A- Though not as deep and immersive as the original Elden Ring, Nightreign delivered on its promises and provided the on-the-go Elden Ring experience for veterans and newcomers alike. It may not have been perfect at launch, but FromSoftware has a healthy habit of always striving to satisfy their fans. Patch after patch, they improved solo play and fine-tuned everything they had in place for a memorable experience. Compared to many other companies that recently lose the faith of their supporters with every title they release in this post-2020 era of ongoing hit-and-miss titles, FromSoft remains faithful to its identity and to this day remains in excellent standing with the loyal fanbase. Now, once again, we look forward to what they have in store for us next.