With its first network test complete, Elden Ring Nightreign isn’t far off. Assuming the game isn’t delayed like Elden Ring itself was, Elden Ring Nightreign should launch its hybrid of Soulslike action and roguelike runs by the end of May 2025, and many players are excited to see more of it. While this title’s many differences from Elden Ring proper mean it won’t attract the same massive audience, Elden Ring Nightreign has already proven to be a significantly different experience in its closed beta, and that was without not only the full game’s content, but the intended map randomization as well.
It will be interesting to see how this more economical experiment works out for FromSoftware, as the developer allegedly has several projects in ongoing development, and Nightreign is likely the most unconventional. Mixing the enemy rosters of Dark Souls and Elden Ring into a sort of “FromSoftware All-Stars” game would be strange yet compelling all on its own, and Nightreign is trying something new with its gameplay format on top of that. With so many new ventures in play, Elden Ring Nightreign may want to ground itself with some of the best practices used by another 2025 co-op action-RPG.
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One Fan-Requested Elden Ring Nightreign Change Could Cut Against the Grain
Feedback on Elden Ring Nightreign has already begun pouring in, though one simple-sounding request may prove too great for the game to handle.
What Monster Hunter Wilds Can Teach Elden Ring Nightreign
Monster Hunter Wilds releases a couple of months before Elden Ring Nightreign, and while these two games will unfold in very different ways, they could find common ground in one area. Elden Ring Nightreign has already announced DLC that will bring more characters and bosses into play, while it is assumed that Monster Hunter Wilds will carry on a series tradition of launching a Master Rank expansion some time after launch. However, MH Wilds isn’t waiting until its big DLC drop to start releasing significant Title Updates, and Elden Ring Nightreign may want to do the same.
Monster Hunter Wilds’ Title Updates Keep The Fun Coming
In addition to the rotating Event Quests that will begin rolling out a week after Monster Hunter Wilds launches, there will be free Title Updates released in spring 2025, summer 2025, and likely later on as well, and these are no mere patches. MH Wilds‘ first Title Update has some lingering mysteries, but it has been confirmed that it will add the returning monster Mizutsune alongside more Event Quests and various other additions. The second free Title Update will add a new monster of its own, suggesting that the pattern followed by prior entries is still intact, and working just as well in MH Wilds’ pseudo-open world.
Elden Ring Nightreign Would Benefit From Monster Hunter’s Regular Updates
There’s Too Much Potential Content To Confine To Elden Ring Nightreign’s Paid DLC
That live service-adjacent pattern should work in another co-op boss-oriented game, and Elden Ring Nightreign is particularly well suited for it. Nightreign is already a modular game thanks to its multiple playable characters queueing up for a set of maps with random points of interest, loot, and enemies, so adding more to it makes sense. The promised DLC will already do some of that, but the number of player characters, cosmetics, and existing Souls bosses that Elden Ring Nightreign could pull on is so much greater than any one update could add.
Elden Ring Nightreign could serve its fans and longevity well by drip-feeding content in post-launch like Monster Hunter Wilds. Recent FromSoftware games like Elden Ring and Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon have had some free updates that add content to the game, with AC6 in particular getting new parts and weapons. Nightreign would require more effort than AC6 to reach Monster Hunter’s level, but a new end-of-day boss, set of cosmetics, Relic effect, or player character being added every couple of months would help the game stay fresh. Elden Ring Nightreign is a bold new effort for FromSoftware, but it still pays to acknowledge what’s working for its peers.
Action RPG
Soulslike
Roguelite
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