My first few runs through Elden Ring Nightreign felt familiarly masochistic: FromSoftware’s patented against-all-odds boss fights still scratch the same itch that helped turn the Tokyo studio from a niche developer into the progenitor of an entire gaming genre.
But where 2022’s Elden Ring represented FromSoftware at the peak of its art in the single-player, action roleplaying genre, Nightreign, released on May 31, sees the studio try its hand for the first time at not only a multiplayer experience but a roguelike nonetheless (a genre in which repeated attempts by the player lead to new and varied abilities and, ideally, eventual success).
The result is a game that excels when it leans on the core DNA of the FromSoftware formula — but withers when it needs to rely on much else.
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