The recent reveal of FromSoftware’s new game Elden Ring Nightreign appears to showcase yet more gameplay features and mechanics seemingly inspired by the likes of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. Given how much of an impact Nintendo’s Breath of the Wild made on open-world gameplay, it was arguably inevitable that FromSoftware’s shift to an open-world Soulslike would be compared to the earlier Zelda game. By extension, even Elden Ring Nightreign can’t seem to escape these comparisons much like the original Elden Ring, as it also appears inspired by both Zelda Switch games.
Many interesting details were revealed during Elden Ring Nightreign‘s announcement trailer, such as the spin-off game breaking yet again from FromSoftware’s traditional approach to its Soulslike formula with new roguelite elements. With both Elden Ring and its DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, providing lessons about where the game might expand or refine its gameplay, it appears that Elden Ring Nightreign will be introducing a new mechanic similar to the summonable mount, Torrent. But in doing so, Elden Ring Nightreign appears only to be doubling down on its Zelda influences from games like Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.
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Elden Ring: Nightreign Breaks a Massive FromSoftware Tradition
Elden Ring: Nightreign stands out not only because of its focus on three-player co-op and survival, but also for a surprising FromSoftware decision.
Elden Ring: Nightreign Takes Notes From The Legend of Zelda: BOTW’s and TOTK’s Paraglider
One of the core mechanics carried over from Breath of the Wild to Tears of the Kingdom was Link’s Paraglider, a feature that Elden Ring Nightreign appears to have adopted from both Zelda games and their open worlds. Briefly appearing in its trailer, one of the game’s characters can be seen hanging from a flying bird, indicating that the game will include a new gliding “mount” like Elden Ring‘s Torrent. While it hasn’t been confirmed if this bird will also be summonable, based on how Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom allow players to equip their Paragliders, this may be the case.
Why Elden Ring: Nightreign Needs Its Own Paraglider
As part of FromSoftware’s transition into an open world, Elden Ring‘s introduction of Torrent was a key design choice to allow players to effectively navigate the map and engage enemies while keeping within the Soulslike format. However, Torrent still has drawbacks within Elden Ring, such as Torrent’s health being independent of the player, persisting fall damage, and a limited double jump. Because of this, players are left constantly wary of potential fall damage while traversing Elden Ring‘s open world, especially when riding Torrent, as commented on by posts across social media like the one below.
As a result, while Torrent was a welcome addition to Elden Ring, it fell short of perfect for FromSoftware’s open-world approach, which is where its continued Zelda influences may have helped Elden Ring Nightreign. Potentially learning from Elden Ring and its players’ issues with open-world navigation and fall damage, FromSoftware appears to have introduced another mount in Elden Ring Nightreign that functions similarly to Link’s Paraglider. Just as the Paraglider allowed players to safely traverse Hyrule in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, Elden Ring Nightreign players can navigate the map of the Lands Between using its new bird mount.
Elden Ring: Nightreign Should Take More Influence From Zelda: BOTW and TOTK
Though introducing a gliding mechanic will benefit Elden Ring Nightreign just as Torrent had for Elden Ring, FromSoftware shouldn’t stop there with its Zelda inspiration. In the same trailer for Elden Ring Nightreign, players were also seen to be able to scale walls similar to FromSoftware’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, a mechanic also included in both Zelda Switch games. With Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom showcasing the basics needed for open-world games and FromSoftware appearing to take more influence from Zelda, the list below outlines other mechanics Elden Ring Nightreign should or may have already adopted based on its trailer.
- Breath of the Wild‘s Revali’s Gale to gain height.
- Breath of the Wild‘s Mipha’s Grace to safeguard from fall damage.
- Tears of the Kingdom‘s Vow of Tulin to gain momentum.
- Released
- 2025-00-00
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Unknown
- Number of Players
- 1-3