Elden Ring Nightreign – Everything You Need to Know

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Approximately three years have passed since FromSoftware captivated the gaming community with Elden Ring. Now, they’re back with a fresh title in the series, but it’s not a traditional sequel – instead, we have Elden Ring: Nightreign. This game is a multiplayer spin-off that includes cooperative play. Set to release on May 30th for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, and PC, this new direction from the company offers a unique experience – delivering a Souls-like game with a strong emphasis on cooperative multiplayer for the first time. Here are 15 things you should know before diving in.

The Nightfarers

The story centers around the Nightfarers, a group of eight playable characters who make their way into Limveld, an alternate world similar to Limgrave, to vanquish the Nightlords. Among them are Wylder, Guardian, Duchess, Recluse, Ironeye, and Raider. There are also two more characters, said to be Executor and Revenant, yet to be fully introduced. Each character has unique abilities, initial equipment, and Ultimate Art. For instance, Iron Eye can build up a potent arrow for his ultimate that slices through numerous foes. The Raider is immune to being knocked down due to his passive ability, and he can knock down enemies using Retaliate, his skill, or summon a large stone platform for allies to stand on for a strategic advantage.

The Nightlords

After conquering the numerous perils and adversaries of Limveld, it’s now time for you to encounter a formidable foe known as a Nightlord. So far, we’ve witnessed two – Gladius, the three-headed monster players battled during the network test, and Libra, recently showcased in new gameplay. The latter employs area-of-effect magic that triggers Madness, but what might catch your interest is its offer made to players before the battle. While you’ll gain benefits such as resistance to ailments or a powerful weapon, these advantages may not come without a cost. Other Nightlords also lie in wait, some hailing from other FromSoft games, including the Nameless King from Dark Souls 3.

Gameplay Loop

In Elden Ring Nightreign, the fundamental structure of play is straightforward. Lone adventurers or teams of three embark on an expedition lasting for three days and nights, with the ultimate goal being to vanquish the Nightlord. As day turns into night, the accessible region plunges into darkness, restricting movement much like in a battle royale game. This limitation intensifies as the hours pass, eventually leading up to a climactic boss fight. Upon defeating the boss, players resume this cycle until they face off against the Nightlord.

Procedurally Generated Map

Limveld presents various paths to enhance your power. You can find potent artifacts, harvest Runes from foes, and advance in levels. Additionally, you can engage Elites (either found within fortresses or roaming the world), assault bases, collect maps for additional details, and many other possibilities. However, keep in mind that the map undergoes alterations with each playthrough, so items, camps, and enemy positions will differ every time.

Environmental Hazards

Additionally, this scenario encompasses various environmental risks. Sudden meteor impacts could disrupt your journey, while volcanic areas might unexpectedly erupt. Some forests are plagued by decay, making them challenging to navigate. Remarkably, poisonous swamps, a signature of Miyazaki’s world, appear to be absent in this case.

Rogue-Like Aspects

At its heart, Nightreign operates on a rogue-like system, despite incorporating cooperative gameplay, Souls-like combat, and battle royale-style shrinking zones. During each run, you collect Relics that can be used at the Roundtable Hold to boost your character’s stats and skills. These enhancements range from increased Magic Attack Power, additional Endurance, improved Poise, enhanced Poison Resistance, and so on. Some improvements even enable healing nearby allies when consuming the Flask of Crimson Tears.

Roundtable Hold

At The Roundtable Hold, you’ll find your strategic hub, where you can assemble your gear sets before embarking on missions. This space also houses a vendor who stocks new Relic Rites, possibly expanding the number of slots for their use, along with Relics themselves. These items can be bought using an in-game currency known as Murk. Additionally, you can acquire Scenic Flatstones here, which offer random Relics as rewards, and the Fitting Mirror to switch between various outfits. Some of these items may remind fans of FromSoftware’s other games.

Lost Memories

Via Limveld, you’ll uncover Lost Memories that offer insights into each Nightfarer’s history. These memories don’t seem to have specific advantages, but if you’re intrigued by their past and motivations or the enigmas surrounding Limveld, they’re definitely worth investigating.

No Messaging System

In a nutshell, FromSoft’s Souls-like games (including Bloodborne and Sekiro post-launch) won’t feature one key element in Nightreign due to time constraints and the game’s procedural map design. Director Junya Ishizaki explained that each run is approximately 40 minutes long, leaving no room for implementation, and since the map changes every time, messages wouldn’t carry over either. However, a silver lining is that other players’ ghostly presences can still be seen, if that offers any comfort.

No Cross-Play

According to director Junya Ishizaki’s statement, cross-platform gaming isn’t an option, so Xbox users can’t team up with PlayStation or PC gamers (and the same goes for them). However, cross-generation play, where Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S players, as well as PS4 and PS5 players, can still join forces, is still available.

Not Live Service

Unlike “Elden Ring”, this game doesn’t carry the hefty price tag of a full-priced title at launch, with a cost of $40. Unlike other games with cooperative play and battle royale-like features, it won’t follow the live service model. Creator Ishizaki has stated that the aim was to provide a “fully featured game at launch”, where all content is unlocked through gameplay, without the need for additional purchases or rewards tied to login or daily activities. While balance patches and updates may still be released post-launch, players can expect a relatively FOMO-free (Fear Of Missing Out) experience, although this doesn’t rule out potential future additions such as battle passes, microtransactions, a shop with rotating items, or daily login rewards.

Potential Duos Queue

Upon release of Elden Ring Nightreign, you’ll only have the option to play either alone or in a group of up to three players. While it’s possible for you and a friend to join together, the third spot will always be filled, making true Duos mode unavailable at launch. FromSoftware is thinking about adding this feature post-launch, but as of now, there are no definitive plans in place.

DLC in Q4 2025

Despite whether or not the game is currently live, FromSoftware plans to release extra downloadable content for the game by the end of this year. It appears they may have unintentionally revealed some details a bit prematurely. Initially, the Steam listing hinted at “Additional DLC – Additional playable characters and bosses,” but later removed the second part, leaving it somewhat mysterious. If the developers choose to expand the gameplay experience, we can expect new Nightfarers and Nightlords for sure. The real curiosity lies in whether they will also introduce new spells, weapons, and additional features. As ever, only time will give us the answers.

PC Requirements

If you’ve dabbled with Elden Ring on your PC, you might notice that Nightreign’s GPU and RAM prerequisites bear a striking resemblance. To be precise, they’re identical. At the very least, you’ll need an Intel Core i5-10600 or AMD Ryzen 5 5500 for the CPU, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 (3 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 580 (4 GB) for the GPU, and a minimum of 12 GB RAM. If you’re aiming for recommended specifications, you’ll require an Intel Core i5-11500 or Ryzen 5 5600, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 or Radeon RX Vega 56 (8 GB), and 16 GB of RAM. The CPU requirements are more stringent, but Nightreign saves space on your drive, only requiring 30 GB.

Quality and Performance Modes on Current-Gen Consoles

In the latest game “Elden Ring”, one feature making a comeback is the Quality and Performance settings. Preliminary tests suggest that the Quality Mode operates at 4K resolution on Xbox Series X and PS5, while the Performance Mode aims for a smooth 60 frames per second with adaptive resolution scaling. It’s worth noting that the visual quality may suffer somewhat in Performance Mode, as is often the case. However, both settings might be optimized further upon the game’s release, so remember to adjust your expectations accordingly.

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2025-05-19 11:45