Elden Ring Nightreign Network Test
With Elden Ring and its DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree firmly in the rear-view mirror, FromSoftware has begun gearing up for its next release, Nightreign. Set in the world of Elden Ring, Nightreign is a standalone game rather than DLC, that significantly mixes up the established formula to create a cooperative, multiplayer PvE experience.
This weekend saw FromSoft holding a network test for the console editions, so I dived into the PS5 version and checked it out.
Fortnite isn’t a game that I ever thought I’d be comparing anything made by FromSoft to, but here we are. Nightreign is very reminiscent of Fortnite, in how it sets up its gameplay at least.
Upon matchmaking, you and two other players must select one of 4 pre-defined characters that assume the role of the various archetypes. There’s a straightforward greatsword user, a tanky character that uses a halberd, a quick character that resembles a rogue, and a magic user. Once everyone has picked their avatar, you’re dropped, quite literally, into a circular map that resembles that of Elden Ring, gently gliding down to the surface on an eagle. Unlike the battle royale titles that this apes, you can’t decide where you drop. The location is predetermined, with only a little wiggle room as to where in that specific area you land.
From there, your team must explore the lands, defeating enemies and levelling up in much the usual way. Levelling is a little different, however. The player doesn’t get a say as to how they level. Each character grows in a specific way with no scope for customisation.
There’s a far greater emphasis on mobility this time around. Sprint is infinite if enemies aren’t immediately around you, presumably to counter the fact that Torrent is absent. There’s a wall jump that allows for traversing vertically a lot quicker than in Elden Ring, and there’s no fall damage. This increase in movement speed along with the arena constantly shrinking keeps the pace up.
Mini bosses are scattered around the map and defeating one drops a purple soul. This soul grants each player a reward. Generally, these were new weapons or buffs for the rest of the run, such as a 10% increase in stamina or FP.
As in Fortnite, the map is engulfed in a large, ominous wall of flame that slowly encroaches on the map, eventually leaving a small area where a boss spawns. Surviving the boss encounter resets the arena, grants a soul filled with rewards, and the day begins anew. Each run compromises of three days at most. Defeated enemies don’t respawn as the days tick over, nor do they upon using a Site of Grace, so some effort must be made when choosing a route around the map.
Nightreign’s approach to death is unusually forgiving for a FromSoft game. Should you or a member of your team run out of health, then they go into a ‘down but not out’ phase. Attacking them depletes a meter, which, when emptied, brings them back to life. Should this not happen, they will respawn at the last visited Site of Grace.
That’s about all there is to Nightreign at this point. Presumably, the final game will have a greater variety in the end-of-day bosses, as during the network test it was the same three each time. I had far more fun than I expected to with Nightreign, though, even if right now it does feel like it could have been a DLC for Elden Ring.
Elden Ring Nightreign releases on PC and consoles on May 29th.
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