LV1 Gaming was one of the many lucky players who were able to get into the Elden Ring Nightreign network test that ran this past weekend and is wrapping up as I write this article. We got hands-on with this follow-up to 2022’s game of the year for almost 10 hours and got our hands on many different weapons, classes, and more. Playing Nightreign on the Xbox Series X this test required a constant connection to the internet and focused on playing with other players. After all, it was a network test, so we do not have any details on how the game will work when you want to play solo, which FromSoftware has confirmed is still an option. However, even with this option, it will not turn Elden Ring Nightreign into a traditional Elden Ring or Souls experience from a structural standpoint. This game focuses entirely on the multiplayer experience and getting you and your team into battle right away with as little friction as possible. Also, screenshot and video capture was disabled on both Xbox and PlayStation while playing Elden Ring Nightreign; we do not have capture card equipment, so we are using stock and credited footage for our coverage from Fextralife, Iron Pineapple, and FromSoftware.
Nightreign, Not Like Before
As I mentioned earlier, this entire experience is tailored for multiplayer and getting into battles right away. At least from this network test, you are not venturing out into the world of Elden Ring and just exploring at a slow pace and finding your own way; instead, you group up at the Roundtable Hold and take on various “missions” that drop you into the familiar land of Elden Ring with new encounters designed for Nightreign, and this all occurs through procedural generation each time you play. For example, there is zero fall damage once you drop down into your mission from your spectral bird; you can then take any jump and land with no damage, so this major part of exploring the world in the original Elden Ring is not here. You are given the tools and gameplay adjustments to get into the action quickly and focus on your mission; you are not stopping to smell the flowers, get around topographical obstacles, and the like. It definitely takes some time to adjust to these changes after hundreds of hours in this world in the previous game and its expansion.
Not only are you given this ability to take any jump without taking damage, but your base speed of walking and running is much faster as well. Not only are they doing this to drive you to your mission and have very little friction in the way, but also because you have a battle royale-style ring slowly closing in on you; therefore, you are on a countdown to get your mission done and move on. The basic breakdown for how this countdown works is based on the in-game time of day:
- Day 1: Start at level 1, explore, loot weapons, and level up (the changes here make the game feel like a roguelite)
- Day 2: The map shifts, enemies hit harder, and better loot appears
- Day 3: Final boss fight
The world is always changing and is procedurally generated every time you start a new 3-day cycle, and even during that cycle, again distancing this game from the traditional exploration focus and more on working with your team, rushing through areas quickly to level up, and getting ready for the final days ahead. This doesn’t make Nightrein a bad game, but it’s important to understand the structure of the game here, as it is not similar to multiplayer in the original Elden Ring, which just took the base game and added friends. With Nightrein, the entire gameplay structure revolves around multiplayer and these 3-day sessions. Luckily, here you won’t be disconnected at the end of each session, like co-op in previous Elden Ring games, and your group will remain intact as you continue your runs.
Prepare to Die and Kill
There are specific pre-set character classes called Nightfarers to choose from, most are very much the archetypes we enjoy creating in Elden Ring and Souls games, and they are:
- Wylder: A melee powerhouse with a Greatsword and a grappling hook to pull enemies in or zip around
- Guardian: A tank-style character with a massive shield and an ability that sends enemies flying into the air
- Duchess: A high-damage class
- Recluse: A mage with the ability to combine different elemental spells
These character classes each hit a specific type of class and archetype, so ensuring you have a nice variety in a team is important but not always necessary. I played with randoms as none of my friends got into the test, so we never planned out who would be in what class, and I never had issues completing the content in the network test. These characters are all buffed and not just level 1 characters that can’t make it far; you are set to get going immediately in the world on day 1. This gives players the ability to get into a game without having to have created a character that meets people’s criteria, which has always been a problem in Souls communities, with a lot of gatekeeping and snobbery of builds. Having these 4 builds ready for everyone gives a good starting ground, with no one having to worry about build specifics, but that doesn’t mean the game is easy. If anything, Nightreign is likely some of the most difficult Elden Ring content given the time constraints and unpredictability the randomly generated world has each time you come back. It seems the bosses for the missions you take on will always remain the same, but everything around that will change, meaning you can’t count on your memorization of enemy locations, traps, and more. This gives these runs a fresh feel each time, but as mentioned, it makes for some very difficult challenges as you are always going in blind more or less.
Gameplay-wise, everything feels like the Elden Ring that has come before, from controls to the world, enemies, weapons, and everything else. Not that there isn’t anything new here, but if you have played the previous game and expansion, you will be comfortable and ready to fight within minutes. The biggest change here is the classes and the variety of unique weapons and items you will find. From crossbows (could there be guns in the final game?) to the unique items classes have, like a grappling hook to pull in enemies, there is a lot more creativity and unique mechanics built into the weapons, classes, items, and more to give you a unique gameplay twist and an edge against enemies.
I played with all the classes and found a lot of intriguing weapons and items that I thought were more unique than the last one I found. I am curious if these items are also randomly generated or if they are set items that are randomly found. It will be fascinating to find out these mysteries once the final game releases, one of the many classic aspects of FromSoftware games. Another major part of Nighreign is relics; these reminded me of buffs you get in rogue-like games that give you a special passive ability or boost and stack, making you more and more powerful. The more you can get in a run, the more powerful you will be as you hit the final boss of your 3-day run.
Final Thoughts
I played the network test on an Xbox Series X with no connection issues, disconnects, bugs, or anything like that. While the servers on PlayStation experienced a temporary shutdown and significant issues, my experience on Xbox was flawless. The game also seems to run a lot better than Elden Ring or Shadow of the Erdtree. I think the procedural nature of the world on each run means the world just isn’t as complex as the hand-crafted worlds. To be fair, I never really found myself exploring any area that felt unique or new; it always felt like a remix of the original Elden Ring. I am sure there will be some handcrafted moments that will surprise us in the final game, but the focus is on multiplayer and procedural 3-day scenarios; exploring the world for a long time, like in the original game, is just not the focus of this game; this is a multiplayer game meant to be replayed again and again.
Nightreign will definitely divide Elden Ring fans; if you are not interested in multiplayer and want to experience this on your own, we don’t know how well that experience will be yet since that functionality was not in the network test. So at this time, you really need to be interested in playing with others and dedicating the time to the 3-day cycle, which isn’t too long but definitely longer than a regular multiplayer match for popular games like Fortnite. The streamlined character creation and procedurally generated world also detract from the exploration and character-driven nature of the original game and expansion, leaving me a bit empty by the end of the network test. That same attachment to the world, your progress, and the freeform exploration are gone here; the focus is entirely on combat, classes, builds, and weapons, which is thrilling and fun but lacks some of that original magic here.
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