Money for fish again… Review of the game Elden Ring Nightreign

In the years since the release of the very first Dark Souls (2011), a real cult of the FromSoftware studio has formed among gamers. Some of the most devoted fans believe that the developer is the last bastion among AAA studios, protecting us from the dominance of live service and microtransactions in games. Therefore, the reactions to the announcement of Elden Ring Nightreign, an Elden Ring spin-off with roguelike elements, were at least cautious, and in some places there were calls to boycott the project, because a game of this format is, as it were, the beginning of the end for FromSoftware. Of course, the reality turned out to be less extreme. Yes, this is a FromSoftware project, albeit a very experimental one. Yes, this is Elden Ring, but sometimes only in name. Yes, the game is good, but it also has enough problems.

It's easier for the father and the group...

Elden Ring Nightreign is a standalone game set in the Elden Ring universe. You and two other players find themselves in the Limveld, a region that changes every time you start the game. Over the course of two game days, you level up your character and collect equipment. At the end of each day, you must defeat a boss. After defeating the second boss, you and your companions are teleported to the arena, where the final battle with the lord awaits you.

You won't be able to spend more time on the map than the allotted time, as you are surrounded by a ring of deadly blue flame that is constantly contracting, pushing you towards a battle with the final boss of the day.

The game features classes, which are called Nightfarers here. Each class has three skills: passive, normal, and ultimate. The classes themselves resemble characters from previous FromSoftware games. For example, Wylder is a classic knight from Dark Souls, and Duchess's double dodge reminded me of a hunter from Bloodborne. Each class can use any weapon, but you won't be able to turn a warrior into a mage - leveling up and characteristics here is automatic, you just have to run to a place of grace.

The weapons and most of the daily bosses are taken straight from Elden Ring, but there are surprises for fans of the Dark Souls series.

But the lords are unique and were developed exclusively for Nightreign. I wouldn't say that the design of the lords here is outstanding, because who can be surprised by another battle with a dragon? However, the battles themselves are interesting and require different tactics. Of the minuses, the only thing is that for each subsequent attempt you need to start the expedition from the very beginning.

Death has always been a central theme in FromSoftware games. In Elden Ring Nightreign, you don't die immediately - as in most similar cooperative games, your teammates can bring you back to the fold. To do this, you need to literally attack a fallen comrade - an interesting and quite organic solution. Each subsequent resurrection requires more attacks, so boss battles need to be approached with caution and balance.

Money for fish again

If boss battles are about endurance and waiting for an opportunity to attack, clearing the map dictates completely different conditions.

In the first days after the release of Elden Ring Nightreign, the players I played with still tried to clear enemies, but over time everyone realized that the best strategy was to quickly run to the exit of the location, kill the boss, and start moving to the next one.

Your speed determines your experience, your level determines your level, and your expedition's success depends on your level. Yes, weapons in the game matter, but no matter how good they are, if you come to a battle with a lord with a low level, the battle itself will most likely be lost.

Of course, experienced players will be able to win in any conditions. But if you are not playing with equally experienced friends, then any loss of level (a level is lost if you do not level up in time, except for boss battles) feels very painful.

Therefore, when playing with random players, you constantly need to make sure that everyone in your group is on the same wavelength and no one has "fallen off". Unfortunately, I have had dozens of such cases, especially in the first days after the release of Elden Ring Nightreign. Sometimes the one who fell off was me. In my defense, I will say that the tag system is still a bit insufficient for a comfortable game, and even a banal chat could significantly improve the communication experience.

Nightreign can of course be played solo, and the first update after release made it easier to play alone. However, I would still recommend playing with other players, despite the sometimes negative experiences.

The emotions you get when you land the final blow on the boss while your two teammates are lying on the ground are breathtaking. However, I don't recommend doing this. Always pick up your teammates.

Wherever you throw it, there's a wedge everywhere.

The biggest problem with Elden Ring Nightreign is its rather low variability, and where it is present, choice doesn't matter.

The map in Nightreign is constantly changing, but these changes are mostly cosmetic. The locations of the forts and ruins are different each time, but the objects themselves are usually identical - with the same minibosses and a structure that can be memorized in just a few hours. There are also variations of the map that become available from time to time. One of the regions changes biome, and the group must solve its secret. But even these new locations remain fairly static. The final bosses of the day depend on the chosen lord and are chosen from three or four options.

Of course, in games of related genres, the variability of enemies and locations may be even less. However, in such cases, this is compensated for by something else - most often a set of improvements that the game offers the player during one run.

However, Elden Ring Nightreign falls behind here too. Of all the random effects the game offers during expeditions, most are bonuses to armor or attack. Of the interesting ones, there are additional magic effects when walking or sprinting, but they are all quite questionable, especially during battles with lords.

The same goes for the relics that the player receives after each run - regardless of whether you defeated the lord or not. Relics in Elden Ring Nightreign are a meta-progression for your classes. In total, each character can equip up to three relics. The problem is that, apart from a few relics that can be obtained by completing character quests (each of them has a personal story with tasks that can be completed between expeditions and during them), the vast majority have almost no impact on the gameplay.

All of this ultimately leads to the fact that, playing with one class, you will very quickly approach the point where each run will resemble the previous one. I had this feeling after twenty hours - that for a game of this format, it is very little.

Not all is Shrovetide, there will be Lent too

For all its criticisms and shortcomings, Nightreign is first and foremost Elden Ring, and it's really hard to mess up a game based on this formula.

In addition to the basic combat system, which remained unchanged, we got eight classes that are not only unique, but also evoke pleasant associations with the studio's past projects.

Every evening, sitting down to play Elden Ring Nightreign for just an hour or two, I would catch myself thinking that this expedition would be the last one – and within a few minutes I would set off on the next one, because in the last one we somehow didn't defeat the lord that well.

Of course, whether you like Elden Ring Nightreign depends on many factors: your love for games of this format, the presence of friends to play with, your tolerance for repetition, and many others. Even if you are not a fan of cooperative games or do not have a company - Nightreign can be played alone, although the game was clearly designed with a cooperative focus.

PS Separately, about the technical problems on the PC that I encountered on the first day of the game - in particular, the constant sagging of the screen refresh rate. If you have an Intel processor, I recommend using the tips from this discussion on Reddit. It helped me.

I also don't understand the decision of the authors of Elden Ring Nightreign to limit the frame rate to 60 fps in 2025, but we have what we have.