Elden Ring: Nightreign Hands-On Preview (PS5) – More For The Combat Sickos, Less For The Wanderers

Elden Ring: Nightreign Hands-On Preview (PS5) – As a long-time fan of FromSoftware games, and someone who truly loved Elden Ring when it came out, and the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, I was confused by Nightreign.

Admittedly I was also a bit scared. Did a suit at Bandai Namco wriggle their way deep enough into FromSoftware’s leadership that the studio was being made, in a way, to do a multiplayer game next? Where is this really coming from? Is FromSoftware turning into a multiplayer studio now?

Of course those were all just knee-jerk reactions. Conclusions I was jumping to because we’ve all seen single-player studios try to turn into multiplayer studios, and how that can go horribly wrong.

I came back down to reality, and now after having played it through the recent Closed Network Test, I think I understand it a lot better now.

Elden Ring: Nightreign is a good multiplayer game. It’s offering something different in a landscape that’s overcrowded with shooters, and it’s hyper-focus on the already strong combat in Elden Ring, makes Nightreign a much more digestible way to experience the fun of the epic battles that players love in all of FromSoftware’s games.

In short, I think it’s great that it exists, and multiplayer Elden Ring is definitely cool. But like a lot of people, I already knew that. And I also already know, it’s not for me, and it might not be for other FromSoftware wanderers.

Elden Ring: Nightreign Hands-On Preview (PS5) – More For The Combat Sickos, Less For The Wanderers

It Makes Sense In Theory, And Works Well In Practice

To start, I love playing FromSoftware games, because I never have to play them with anyone else. There have been a few multiplayer games that I’ve gotten into over the years, but for the most part, an evening spent gaming for me, means an evening spent playing a single-player game.

That’s not to say I’ve never played a FromSoft game with another person. The times I’ve played Elden Ring or Bloodborne with friends has been great. Getting it working wasn’t the best, but it was fun when it did. I’m currently trying to work out a schedule with a friend of mine so we can play Elden Ring with the Seamless Co-Op mod. I know it’s fun to play Elden Ring with friends, and on paper, Nightreign makes a whole lot of sense.

Take away all the time-based walls to players building a battle-ready character. Create classes with pre-set weapons, and add an element of RNG with constantly changing loot from session to session. Give the classes hero abilities, with passive, tactical and ultimate powers for each one, that can work together no matter what mixture of 3 enter a session. But still keep a permanent progression path, with upgrades that let players focus in on their favourite classes.

Use a slightly warped version of the Lands Between as a gorgeous map, which is unlike any other across modern live service games, and then funnel players to epic boss battles with a battle royale-style ring closing in around them. I get all of that, and it all works really well.

If Your King Is Combat, You’ll Kneel To Nightreign

There were four classes you could play in the Closed Network Test, which is when I got to try out the game, and each of them were clearly designed with every kind of Elden Ring player in mind.

You have an all-around class that’s a basic strength and dexterity build, a tank build, a dexterity-focused build, and then an intelligence focused build. There were just four for this Closed Network Test, but there will be more in the full game when it launches.

Of course it’s not just the pre-set builds that makes each of the classes interesting to play. They all have various hero abilities that can dramatically impact how you perform in combat against the bosses you’ll face. Like the dexterity-focused Duchess character, who can turn their co-op partners invisible, allowing them to reset, pick up downed teammates and get free hits in on bosses and enemies that don’t know where you are.

Also, what’s probably the biggest change for me, is how fast you move, no matter which class you’re playing. You can actually sprint, climb up walls and cliffs, because Torrent isn’t around. It’s just you and your own two feet, so now you get to move like Wolf does in Sekiro, but you’re playing Elden Ring.

It’s something I had way too much fun with, and along with the ring closing in on you, it helps really keep the pace of a session in Nightreign going at a break-neck speed. You’re running from one area to the next, trying to take out as many smaller area bosses to level up quickly and earn better loot, so you’re prepared when the circle closes entirely around the major boss you have to fight on the first two nights.

Night three is just the final major boss you’ll fight, an appreciated reprieve from having to worry about other enemy types and other potential hazards. And it’s no surprise that FromSoftware is able to set it up as an epic battle that I can easily see players clamoring to get back to, if you don’t beat it with your current squad.

It’s All Good, It’s Just Not For A Wanderer Like Me

There are a lot of things that make Elden Ring: Nightreign fun to play, but after this beta test, I’m sure that this game is just not for me. I’ve always found FromSoftware games to be amazing, not because they’re doing any one thing better than other games out there, but because of how seamlessly every aspect of their games are woven together.

How narrative, combat, exploration, level design, environmental design, and everything else that FromSoftware pours into their games work as one beautiful piece of art. Nightreign distills a lot of what makes Elden Ring a great game, to make something with an entirely different focus.

And that’s great, for players who want that. If you never really bothered to look around, or if you never cared for the lore in a FromSoftware game, and always focused on the path ahead, or just getting to the next big boss fight. Than I’d say there’s a good chance you’ll love Nightreign. Maybe more than any other FromSoftware game.

If the combat and the boss fights were only part of what you love about FromSoftware’s games, then like me, you might struggle to really find your place in Nightreign. Some of this comes down to the structure of a session in Nightreign. On the one hand, letting players sprint, and having a ring closing in on them to help move the pace of a single session along works very well, in this multiplayer setting.

On the other, I would much rather go explore this warped version of the Lands Between, and take my time looking around, instead of just sprinting through it looking for loot. It’s easier to stop and smell the roses, so to speak, when you can communicate that to friends, or when you’re playing solo. But practically impossible when playing with random people.

Maybe if I had spent the beta test playing alone, in an offline state, I’d feel differently because I would’ve pushed the limits to take my time wandering. That’s something I’ll be interested in discovering with the full release, but I don’t think that’s really Nightreign’s main pitch. It’s more about you jumping into this new world with your friends, and getting the co-op and combat-focused fix you want in Elden Ring, or other FromSoft games, in a more efficient, purpose-built package.

Elden Ring: Nightreign will launch on PS5 and PS4 on May 30, 2025.