Action RPG

Elden Ring Nightreign review

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In Elden Ring, a starting character called the Wretch initially gets only a club and threadbare underwear brimming with dreams, yet the first few hours spent exploring Limgrave are particularly enchanting as you scavenge for your first discordant armor pieces and crucial items shaping your gameplay. The initial rise in stats at a Site of Grace is like a divine power surge, a sensation that’s most enthralling during the player’s self-spun tale. However, this allure gradually fades away as you become as powerful as a deity, yearning only for more Albinauric skulls to add to your collection.

Elden Ring: Nightreign stands out among FromSoft’s recent works for its playful approach to creating a believable setting, which unfortunately dilutes their reputation as skilled world-builders. Yet, it also emphasizes some of their quirky and intriguing aspects. One could speculate that the game was made primarily to replicate – repeatedly – the satisfying early-game sensation where every bit of progress feels significant, common items seem valuable, and each minor stat upgrade is a small victory.

In this game, you can either play alone or as a team of three (no duos for now). You’ll choose from a selection of eight unique characters, then mount a spectral eagle to reach Limveld’s outskirts. For roughly fifteen minutes, you’re free to explore and build your strength before the map begins shrinking due to a ring of blue fire that periodically contracts its size. The remaining area is where you’ll battle that day’s boss. Repeat this process each day, battling seven different Nightreign bosses along the way. Defeat four of these and you can challenge the game’s main antagonist.

The sequence of events unfolds as follows: To gain your initial level-up, attack the closest trash mob or enemy that won’t easily defeat you. This is crucial because stronger enemies could instantly kill you with a sneeze, especially demihumans. Visit nearby churches to stock up on flask charges since your quarry boss is vulnerable to holy damage. Look for a ruin marked as holy on your map to gather holy-damage weapons. As night falls, engage in a fight against a sub-boss, and when the sun rises, the game resets. You might discover a stonesword key in a chest today, which allows you to challenge an evergaol boss for substantial rewards. Alternatively, you could go troll hunting in a mine tunnel to gather smithing stones and enhance your weapons. If you prefer, you can contemplate the shrinking blue ring, reminiscing about when FromSoftware pioneered trends instead of following them. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide how to proceed. I’m not here to act as your Giant Dad.

In this game, everything moves extremely fast due to the constraints of the ring, the encroaching darkness, and the urgent need to grow stronger quickly. Scenery is only worth appreciating so you can find the quickest path from one point to another. Ruins speak not of complex histories but of potential power upgrades. The powerful and sorrowful creatures you encounter are rendered immobile like puppets as you attack them with relentless, three-hit combos. You may choose to fight that corrupted tree spirit despite the ring closing in, even though there’s no time to heal between you and the boss. Or maybe the tree spirit has been enhanced, one-shotting you instantly, causing both you and it to lose a level and valuable game progress, with each minute feeling like a significant distance traveled.

As you dash hastily toward the secure area, scaling mounds at breakneck speed, reminiscent of the Fellowship racing in a scene from Benny Hill. The boss battle is a whirlwind as you struggle to distinguish friendly spells from enemy ones amidst a swarm of glowing wisp particles. The game’s distinctive sounds echo, much like the sighs of relief after an overtime meeting at work. Your special abilities recharge rapidly. The raider’s raised obelisk adds another layer of confusion with its bufflight. Character and attack movements repeat as ghostly outlines due to the Duchess’s respawn ability. The Iron Eye darts about, releasing arrows. You attempt to divert the monsters’ attention as needed. If a teammate falters, you rush over to give them a tap until they regain their footing once more.

ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN | Overview Trailer

You do something, and it feels fantastic! Not in a ‘I just defeated an oddly melancholic and comical monster on my quest to uncover this bizarre realm’s secrets’, but rather ‘Wow, that was some top-notch teasing there, buddies!’

Then you face the new boss, and it knocks you around like a fragile ceramic at a hammer festival! You soon realize that you’ll have to redo an approximately 45-minute run through the bonfire-to-fog process just to catch a glimpse of the move that did you in again. And that extra repetition, I imagine, is why Nightreign feels confident charging 35 quid, knowing full well that most players won’t conquer it within a weekend, even though there isn’t much new content to discover.

In your gameplay, you’ll receive some radiant gems, at least, which have stat enhancements and additional, context-specific effects. This forms part of your progression, alongside trinkets you earn by finishing Remembrance interludes. Each character possesses ritual items with colored slots where you can insert these gems and artifacts to activate a variety of effects, from basic stat boosts to character-specific bonuses. The Remembrances are brief dialogues, often involving a quest within the game, that advance the related character’s diary entries and grant potent trinkets. I found myself spending most of my time with the Duchess, starting with a gem that added fire damage to my weapon and ending with a talisman that triggered her repeating Restage ability whenever I executed a dagger combo.

In Nightreign, various features such as additional skills, cool-down periods, a bouncy double jump, auto-leveling, and other mobility enhancements give it a more focused and structured action game feel rather than the flexibility typically found in RPGs. The action feels more controlled, with some aspects tailored to your playstyle while others are rigidly guiding you towards specific gameplay styles. There’s no need to worry about equipment load, although many character abilities strongly encourage sticking to your initial weapon class. One character has a double dodge, while another can’t dodge at all but performs side steps instead. This blend of Elden Ring’s diverse builds and Sekiro’s character action style results in a refined version of Elden Ring’s deliberate, challenging duels – though it lacks the breadth of the former or the depth of the latter.

In Limveld (let’s call it something else to avoid confusion), as well as back at the circular stronghold, there’s a blend of allure and peculiarity. Skyscraping, contorted tree colossi roam above a sunset-hued horizon. Huge craters puncture the ground, tempting you to explore. The circular stronghold, though decaying, stands firm by the shoreline. Despite its contradiction with Elden Ring’s known lore, it’s a realm where even the Nameless King from Dark Souls 3 might appear unexpectedly. Given the game’s tendency to offer diverse bosses, requesting logical coherence seems impractical. Instead, these captivating, odd occurrences seem separate, independent of the intricate, symbolic mysteries typically found in FromSoft’s fantasy realms.

As one of the many creations birthed from our studio, Sekiro has left an indelible mark on the gaming world. Games like Doom and Clair Obscur credit Sekiro as a major influence, which makes me wonder about the legacy Nightreign will leave behind. While I can’t see it predicting future trends, I might be pessimistic in saying that it could serve as a warning sign instead.

1. I examine Tencent’s and Sony’s growing investments in Kadokawa, FromSoft’s parent company.

2. Instead of a world crafted by a storyteller, The Duskbloods appears to be a blend of Bloodborne and Sekiro elements, more like a utilitarian collage than a unique creation.

3. Some of Nightreign’s combat design, unfortunately, seems to be the studio’s weakest point. They seem content to assemble irritants together to create challenge, rather than inventing fresh, imaginative creatures. This includes a creature with a ‘wormface’ and a death aura, giant crabs, and rats.

In my opinion, Miyazaki from FromSoftware often revisits certain themes, such as aging monarchs who hold onto their power and life long past their prime, which ultimately results in them becoming twisted and empty. Even though Nightreign shows glimpses of creativity, it still seems exhausting. I find myself wondering why I should attempt to fight these bosses again, since there’s not as much enjoyment or novelty that usually makes the struggle meaningful. Instead, it feels like they’ve created challenges just for the sake of creating challenges. This feels like a diminished aspect of FromSoft’s creative identity, lacking appeal without the complete picture. In the end, I wish they would take a break and rest by the bonfire until a genuine inspiration ignites once more.

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2025-05-28 17:26

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