Elden Ring Nightreign review

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In an unexpected turn during the battle against Elden Ring Nightreign‘s Mothra-inspired adversary, I never imagined it would descend and attach to its colossal stick bug companion, a creature adorned with claws, acting like a mechanical beast. For the remainder of the fight, they functioned in harmony, a kaiju cowboy armed with laser cannons that illuminated the sky. This is an issue that pesticides can’t handle, but astonishingly, three archers effectively dealt with it instead.

In a FromSoftware game like Elden Ring: Nightreign, there isn’t anything quite as frustrating as battling a boss who seems to be in on the joke, with you as the punchline. Yet, it’s all about outsmarting destiny using an unconventional approach. In this game, you’ll find yourself losing a fight repeatedly until eventually, through sheer luck or clever strategy, you manage to bring three weapons into play. The more severely you’ve been beaten, the sweeter the revenge, and Nightreign is certainly no pushover – it relentlessly taunts you.

As a seasoned Elden Ring gamer, let me tell you, Nightreign will take you by surprise. Envision the Lands Between transformed into a colossal stadium, teeming with monsters you’ve encountered before. You’re no longer a lone adventurer, but part of a three-player team, battling it out in an action RPG turned high-speed sport. The game is designed to be replayed every 30 minutes, offering fresh challenges and loot each time. To keep the tension high, there’s a randomized circle that tightens over time, mimicking a battle royale, pushing you to your limits until the very end of the match, whether you emerge victorious or not.

Nightreign is the most peculiar game FromSoft has made since the ’90s. It’s also its most abrasive.

Despite investing more than 30 hours, I find Nightreign to be an innovative reinterpretation of Elden Ring, yet it remains a frustratingly flawed game that seems outdated for 2025 standards.

This version maintains the original’s essence while introducing fresh elements, but its shortcomings are evident and make the gaming experience less enjoyable.

Dropping down into Limtown with the boys is the kind of thing someone would pitch on NexusMods

Despite my initial skepticism, I must admit, the gameplay in Elden Ring is impressive. Venturing into this digital world with friends reminds me of a mod shared on NexusMods. Over the past week, we’ve been raiding churches, clearing camps, and catching crabs – quite an unusual routine!

There have been instances when frustration took hold, like when a boss ambushed my progress, stealing entire levels from me before vanishing. Yet, the camaraderie I’ve experienced while exploring Elden Ring has made these moments feel more like friendly Fortnite matches than intense gaming challenges.

On numerous occasions, I found myself doubting if Nightreign was a wise choice. It didn’t seem essential for Elden Ring to impose a time limit or a randomized loot system. The randomness often feels more like it’s designed to frustrate rather than enhance the gameplay experience. For instance, there’s a disparity between missing a dodge on a fatal attack and wasting 10 minutes fighting a boss due to the map failing to provide a holy weapon when the boss is weak against it.

This game offers optional events where you could spend half of your run battling for a bonus reward that turns out to be irrelevant to the final boss you’ve chosen for that particular session, or any boss for that matter. Additionally, the ability to effectively craft builds in Nightreign constantly clashes with the game’s pace and user interface, which tends to conceal crucial information about damage scaling and weapon abilities.

Dragon Communion Incantations are likely the magical phrases spoken during ceremonies that bind or commune with dragons in a sacred sense. On the other hand, Dragon Cult Incantations might be the spells used by followers of the cult for their own purposes, possibly to control or manipulate dragons.

Nightreign appears complex and challenging due to FromSoftware’s cryptic vocabulary and an unbalanced learning process, making it more difficult than necessary. Yet, some might argue this complexity is part of its charm: a game that doesn’t rely on daily rewards or season passes but instead offers the opportunity to master a new language over countless playthroughs. In this sense, it mirrors the satisfaction of mastering any of FromSoftware’s other games. However, this intricacy could be why I find Nightreign’s structure hard to grasp.

As an enthusiast, if the thought of dashing back to your boss in Elden Ring left you less than thrilled, imagine instead darting through a ferocious battle royale, fighting tooth and nail just to make it to that same destination!

It’s tough to savor the experience while playing Nightreign since the only significant rewards come from reaching the destination. Each character has the ability to wield three Relics that offer various passive advantages, ranging from minor (an increase in dexterity by 2) to game-altering (sharing item effects or healing flasks with all players). However, most of these relics are worthless and won’t have much impact on whether you can defeat the final boss or even reach them. But that’s all you get to keep after each attempt.

Build-brained

In Elden Ring, they’ve got me hooked for the sheer joy of the gameplay, and let me tell you, in this ocean of titles that lure you with rewards, it’s a breath of fresh air. Nightreign, on the other hand, can sometimes feel monotonous as you just battle bosses to grow stronger, only to face another boss later. After we vanquished the last one, I found myself struggling to find reasons to relive that grind all over again.

Later on, I observed a replay of the battle and discovered that the last minuscule bit of health on a boss we had fought at least six times was eliminated by the minute enchanted daggers produced by my sword’s hidden ability. And it was then that ideas began to flow.

If I stumbled upon that weapon once more, and managed to play the optimal character with the perfect gear to highlight that technique, I couldn’t help but wonder about the overlooked aspects that might spark completely new gameplay strategies. The curiosity ignited within me, urging me to jump back into the game for another go, testing my theories as an experimental run.

As you grow more adept at choosing the right locations each evening, it’s essential to remember that even if the rewards aren’t favorable, your journey could take a turn for the worse swiftly.

Uh oh. It’s possible Nightreign rules, actually.

In many of my gaming sessions, arranging weapons and abilities often triggers my “Role-Playing Game strategy” instincts. A significant factor in reaching the final boss, who was merely nine enchanted knives away from annihilation, was stumbling upon the “consecutive attacks lessen damage received” passive ability. This effect is usually challenging to trigger on most of Nightreign’s characters, but it meshes perfectly with Duchess, the dual-wielding knife expert. Despite being one of the more fragile nightfarers, a rapid succession of stabs against a boss allowed me to withstand an attack that would have instantly defeated my teammates. Combining this with a relic that triggers her skill to retaliate after several consecutive hits and I transformed into an invincible deity. However, it’s rare to find such boosts in every game session—or on the suitable character.

Experiencing the tantalizing sensation of wielding such power in a FromSoft game is delightful, given the extreme challenge posed by Nightreign. The randomness involved and the numerous bosses that block your path to the end require precision and, let’s face it, a fair dose of luck. You may become proficient at identifying where to strike each night, but if the rewards don’t favor you, the journey can turn sour very rapidly.

In Fortnite, you’re up against tough odds since only one player emerges victorious out of a hundred. However, in Nightreign, the game is usually the winner, which seems unusual compared to my usual gaming experiences with FromSoft games. Yet, the thrill of eventually winning can be irresistible, and that’s all it takes for me to keep coming back. It doesn’t matter if it’s a novel weapon I want to experiment with or a new character like the witch who extracts magic from enemies to boost her allies, every taste of success makes me forget the hardship of losing to a boss after 30 minutes and encourages me to try again anyway.

Brutal but brilliant

When the stars align—and they will—Nightreign is unlike anything else I’ve played

The flaws in Nightreign become insignificant when its intense challenge and unpredictable mechanics combine to create a stunning experience, such as the moment when the small necromancer girl’s summoned skeletons resurrect you after you’ve been knocked out.

Or if you’re battling an alien jellyfish deity and your companion dressed in Skyrim armor lets out a yell as he soars aloft on a colossal boulder, shielding you from a devastating strike.

Or when your supply of healing potions is running low, and you’re hoping for an easy boss encounter, a foe from another game entirely suddenly emerges from the dark portal – one you thought you’d never see again. At times, Nightreign can be so merciless that all you can do is chuckle as it forces your face into the ground.

In a thrilling twist, it hits you with a profound sense of release. The moment Centipede Demon, that obscure boss from Dark Souls, reappeared was like a battle cry in our voice chat. With 14 years of action RPG combat evolution under our belts, he met his match and was defeated. When the cosmic forces align—and they will—Nightreign offers an unparalleled gaming experience that I’ve yet to find elsewhere.

I wish playing this game wasn’t such a challenge – not because the levels are tough, but because it seems uninterested in assisting you to fully appreciate its charm. You must put in all the effort to discover what keeps you coming back, to find a motive to try again. For me, that could be a fresh build or a new character with a game-altering Relic setup. Others might find it helping a friend navigate the intense difficulty. Given how unique and peculiar Nightreign is, these elements might just do the trick.

Nightreign may not have a deep narrative, but it embodies a recurring theme across FromSoft games I adore: The compelling desire to overcome insurmountable challenges. It’s frustrating that I can endure three hours of relentless beating from such an enigmatic game and still yearn for another attempt, proving once more their skill in keeping me hooked.

Nightreign may be kind of a mess, but it’s a mess made just for me.

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2025-05-28 17:04