Nightreign Will Hopefully Be a Marriage of Soulslike Mechanics

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home December 18, 2024 35 Views 6 Min Read
Nightreign Will Hopefully Be a Marriage of Soulslike Mechanics



Elden Ring Nightreign is an exciting game for a number of reasons, not the least of which being its co-op nature and roguelike elements. While the prospect of a multiplayer Elden Ring that is virtually never-ending is certainly tantalizing, these elements are only a small part of what makes Nightreign so fascinating.




Though they share the same name, visual style, and high-level lore elements, Elden Ring and Elden Ring Nightreign are two completely separate products and stories. Players won’t be importing their Elden Ring avatars into Nightreign or utilizing their myriad weapons, armors, and upgrades to gain supremacy over their foes; rather, they will choose from a predetermined list of characters, each with their own distinct playstyles, gear sets, and ultimate abilities, and it’s through this multi-character system that Nightreign promises to offer the most mechanical variety. While more information about these different characters will likely come to light as Nightreign approaches its release date, it’s already clear that they will each offer meaningful spins on the core Elden Ring gameplay, possibly welcoming older FromSoftware design choices into the fold.

elden ring nightreign confirms the playable characters and bosses in the spin-off

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Why Elden Ring: Nightreign May Be Harder to Play With Friends Than Other Co-Op Games

Elden Ring: Nightreign’s co-op may make it more difficult for players to enjoy it with their friends, due to the game’s limitations on party size.

Elden Ring Nightreign Could Incorporate Aspects from Sekiro, Bloodborne, and Beyond


The Nightreign Gameplay Trailer Highlights New Combat and Traversal Techniques

Based on the information revealed in the Elden Ring Nightreign Game Awards trailer, it would appear that at least two of the game’s character archetypes are drawing from Bloodborne and Sekiro. Nightreign has been said to feature eight playable characters, though only the following four have been confirmed:

  • Wylder: a well-rounded, jack-of-all-trades archetype
  • Guardian: a tank archetype, specializing in defense and heavy damage output
  • Duchess: a thief archetype specializing in agility and dexterity, with what appears to be a quickstep dodge
  • Recluse: a mage archetype, specializing in various spells

As FromSoftware fans may already be able to surmise, Duchess comes across as startlingly similar to Bloodborne‘s Hunters. Her quickness, and especially her method of evasion, is highly reminiscent of the fast-paced combat of the 2015 Lovecraftian horror title, and even her well-tailored aesthetic, with flavors of Victorian-era sensibility, hearkens back to Bloodborne. Mechanics from the Elden Ring base game, like the health recovery effects of Great Stars, establish a precedent for Bloodborne-adjacent features, so perhaps they too will bleed over into Nightreign, further reinforcing the Bloodborne–Elden Ring connection.


Additionally, and perhaps even more interestingly, are the mechanics that tie back to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. There are two key moments in the Nightreign trailer that are highly reminiscent of Sekiro‘s gameplay: when Wylder performs a short vertical wall run and mantles over a ledge, and when another character, who has yet to be named, performs two parries in quick succession with their sword. Wylder’s maneuver hints at more fluid and fast-paced traversal ala Sekiro, while this unidentified character’s parrying is, of course, similar to Sekiro‘s unforgettable combat design. Time will tell if these mechanics are character-specific or more universal, but the game definitely seems to be in conversation with Sekiro through these abilities.

What Cross-Game Mechanics Could Mean for Elden Ring Nightreign

Elden Ring is renowned for its build variety, so perhaps the greatest challenge facing Nightreign is how to replace this. After all, each playable Nightreign character is predetermined, and it doesn’t seem like there will be much flexibility in terms of customization or build-crafting. But through major mechanical distinctions, i.e. a parry in place of an I-frame dodge, Nightreign could offer the same level of variety as its predecessor.


Luckily, FromSoftware has a rich catalog of proprietary mechanics to draw on for this variety. Indeed, by pulling from the well of its past titles, especially those in its post-Demon’s Souls era, FromSoftware could make Elden Ring Nightreign its most expressive and multifaceted soulslike yet.

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