I'm just going to say it: Elden Ring: Nightreign is FromSoftware’s weirdest asset flip to date, and they've done a few before. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate asset flips, but Nightreign’s amount of recycled and familiar assets really does put me off a bit.
I respect FromSoftware’s commitment to creating something new under the Elden Ring mantle, but Nightreign would’ve been much better if it didn’t carry that name. Now, all I see is a full-blown co-op mode filled with the same architecture and assets I’ve already seen on my journey through Limgrave. From the game’s dense forests to its castles, even down to boss designs, it’s stuff we’ve seen before. They even snuck in Nameless King somewhere in the game’s selection of boss fights.
click to enlarge
+ 3Granted, the game explicitly tells us it takes place in a parallel dimension called Limveld, where everything’s kind of the same, just slightly altered. I’ll admit, that’s a convenient way to justify an asset flip: slap on the Elden Ring name and toss in the elements that define it.
But it’s not all recycled. We’ve seen a handful of original designs, like the final level with the Nightlord and this massive, towering door that needs to be opened. Some bosses are new too, with designs that feel like they came straight from Dark Souls’ cutting room floor. Who knows? Maybe we’ll even see missing bosses from Bloodborne, which honestly might be the closest thing we ever get to a Bloodborne follow-up.
click to enlarge+ 3FromSoftware’s no stranger to reusing assets. We’ve seen it in everything from Dark Souls to Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. Normally, it’s no big deal across different titles, but something about it in Nightreign just doesn’t sit right with me.
The latest Overview Trailer even teased skin customizations for our Nightfarers, featuring familiar outfits like Solaire of Astora and, somehow, John Dark Souls II. A sign that Nightreign also caters to the fanbase’s nostalgia, seeing their old favorite characters from FromSoftware’s catalog of titles.
click to enlarge+ 3I’m not holding out high hopes for Elden Ring: Nightreign. It’s not the Elden Ring I wanted. Without Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin’s esoteric lore woven through every corner, it’s not something I see myself fully diving into. Chances are, if you’ve played Elden Ring before and you’re hoping for something totally fresh when it comes to visuals, you’ve already seen most of what Nightreign offers, outside of a few new bosses and locations.
Sure, it’ll probably appeal to players who enjoy multiplayer-focused content, like Remedy’s upcoming co-op shooter FBC: Firebreak or the rising wave of “Friendslop” games, but Nightreign feels strange. Like they just dropped in multiplayer and called it a day, all while reusing the same Elden Ring assets.
I just don’t see myself paying full price for a game I’ve basically already played. If I ever do that, I'll just download Devil May Cry 4 again and play as Dante in reverse.
For more articles like this, take a look at our Features and Elden Ring: Nightreign page.