Elden Ring Nightreign Shares a Surprising Trait With MMOs

Elden Ring Nightreign is a very unusual game, even by FromSoftware’s standards, taking traits from a number of clear, and less obvious, sources. It’s a playground of ideas, melding a highly streamlined vision of Elden Ring’s gameplay with the loop and structure of a roguelite. Each run is different from the last, and lessons learned are carried forward to the next run, ensuring that even failure can be capitalized on, albeit in a way that is atypical of a usual Soulslike experience.

But the game is also different in some more subtle ways, ones which veterans of MMOs may be familiar with. With builds being made primarily through on-the-fly looting, with character abilities that feed into the strengths of other characters, and with bosses that have reactive mechanics, Elden Ring Nightreign takes a leaf out of the books of games like Destiny 2 and World of Warcraft, where each member of a party is one cog in the machine. Nightreign’s team compositions are not about making bands of solo musicians, but rather creating a carefully conducted orchestra.

Elden Ring Nightreign Puts More Emphasis on Team Composition Than Ever

Elden Ring Nightreign relies on certain multiplayer-specific aspects more so than any other FromSoftware title, with distinct character kits made explicitly to play off one another. This is not a game of singular builds designed for ganking bosses with pure strength. Instead, it’s a careful dance of weaving abilities together with teammates, crafting builds that cover for the shortcomings of allies. Some Nightfarers play explicitly supportive roles, such as Recluse, who has an Ultimate Art that lets herself and allies refill health and FP. Similarly, Duchess can cloak her teammates, allowing them to set up for fights in a way not dissimilar to preparing for a raid boss. Even Guardian’s Ultimate Art is designed with the explicit purpose of reviving downed allies.

While some Nightfarers are more capable solo than others, some aspects of their kits almost always overlap with their allies. Prior games by FromSoftware did allow for distinct playstyles, as players could build into Strength builds for damage, Miracles to heal, etc., but there was no built-in expectation that encounters should be designed for multiple players to work off one another. A host and their summons in Dark Souls 2 could easily bypass any boss with heavy attacks from a great big chicken leg, for example, whereas Nightreign’s boss encounters offer opportunities for certain Nightfarers to shine at specific moments.

The Nightlords Are More Multiplayer Oriented Than Prior FromSoftware Bosses

The Nightlords in particular seem to have been designed with this team-focused gameplay in mind. The game is, of course, playable solo, but the experience doesn’t feel like it was intended for solo play. Boss health pools are large, and the Nightlords will typically have moves that make them hard to engage with as a solo player. In these encounters, players can find themselves alternating the role of tank, while allies pour attacks in during these openings, applying debuffs where available. To counteract this, the Nightlords have movesets that break up teams who clump together, such as Fulghor’s rampaging charge and Libra’s madness zones.

Combined with the looter nature of making a build, Nightreign subtly, but effectively, incorporates just enough MMO-lite features to make it feel like a fresh take on a familiar Soulslike concept. While the game’s battles aren’t nearly as complicated as a fully-fledged raid encounter, and Nightreign’s team communication is lacking, it’s still nice to see the studio leaning into teamplay mechanics in a way it never has before, making character choices feel more than just flavorful, as they are integral to creating some truly synergistic plays.