Nightreign Logically Progresses One Bloodborne Feature

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home February 24, 2025 185 Views 6 Min Read
Nightreign Logically Progresses One Bloodborne Feature



As the world waits for Elden Ring Nightreign, FromSoftware fans have engaged in no shortage of fervent discussion about the upcoming co-op adventure. A company known for its bold single-player ventures, FromSoftware’s pivot into this multiplayer-centric, roguelike action spin-off may feel a bit unexpected, but there’s a case to be made that Elden Ring Nightreign is actually a fairly organic progression for the studio, given its rich catalog.

Of course, the cooperative multiplayer aspect of Elden Ring Nightreign is a logical evolution of FromSoftware’s prior co-op and PvP features, which have featured in nearly every one of the studio’s releases in the wake of Demon’s Souls. The co-op systems of these soulslikes have proven to be immensely popular, but they have nevertheless been restricted to specific in-game passages, such as boss battles—something that several mods have attempted to remedy. Nightreign is greatly expanding this co-op functionality, but its broader gameplay structure and formula, those being borrowed from the roguelike genre, feel reminiscent of another, less ubiquitous feature: Bloodborne‘s Chalice Dungeons.

Elden Ring Nightreign Dark Souls Content

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Elden Ring Nightreign Could Be the Best Possible Continuation of Bloodborne’s Chalice Dungeons

Bloodborne Dipped Its Toes Into Procedurally Generated Content

Though it was never as popular or well-regarded as the base game, Bloodborne‘s Chalice Dungeons have grown to be viewed as an inextricable, valuable part of Bloodborne as a whole. Accessed by collecting and activating various in-game objects, the Chalice Dungeons arguably provide the most replay value of all Bloodborne‘s activities, at least from a mechanical standpoint: Root Chalice Dungeons are procedurally generated, allowing for virtually endless exploration and combat possibilities. The modular structure of these dungeons is a far cry from the level design of the rest of the game, making for a decidedly distinct gameplay experience.

But Chalice Dungeons are also a bit underwhelming, especially when measured against the core Bloodborne adventure. Their dark and claustrophobic atmosphere is appropriately moody, but the procedural generation clashes with what makes FromSoftware level design so special. To be more specific, FromSoftware environments exude a sense of intentionality, where every individual area feeds into a greater whole, serving a narrative or world-building end. Root Chalice Dungeons provide theoretically endless replay value, along with a unique way to engage with Bloodborne‘s exploration and combat by virtue of their randomness, but they definitely play second fiddle to the above-ground gameplay.

Elden Ring Nightreign Could Kick Chalice Dungeon Features Up a Few Notches

Obviously, just how much DNA Elden Ring Nightreign shares with this specific Bloodborne gameplay mode remains to be seen, but one can assume that, at the very least, the random nature inherent to procedurally generated roguelikes will be on display. But perhaps the greatest and most undeniable ground-level distinction between Nightreign and the Chalice Dungeon’s system is the former’s grander scope. Nightreign‘s procedural generation is meant to support an entire stand-alone game, after all.

The vast open-world exploration of Nightreign is essential context for its random generation: new natural landscapes and features like volcanoes and woodlands will be shuffled into new maps—not just new rooms. This is both more promising and more daunting, as procedurally generating an entire map, comparable to the size of Limgrave in Elden Ring‘s base game, is far more complex than simply shuffling an assortment of pre-designed interior spaces.

Assuming this approach to level design is successful, then Elden Ring Nightreign could very well serve a similar long-term purpose as Chalice Dungeons in Bloodborne: offering a method of engaging with Elden Ring‘s gameplay in unexpected and novel ways. Hardcore Bloodborne fans have poured hundreds of hours into Chalice Dungeon gameplay over the past decade, so with any luck, the same will be true for Elden Ring Nightreign.

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