With Elden Ring Nightreign on the horizon, FromSoftware fans have quite a bit to look forward to. Not only will this upcoming title serve as another hefty fix of Elden Ring content, but it will also be a cooperative multiplayer experience, one that promises to go far beyond the co-op features of previous FromSoftware games.
Aside from the multiplayer functionality and character archetype system, perhaps the most discussed aspect of Elden Ring Nightreign is its reincorporation of Dark Souls concepts. Despite the fact that Elden Ring and Dark Souls are not directly connected, Nightreign is confirmed to include several bosses from the latter series, including Duke’s Dear Freja from Dark Souls 2 and The Nameless King from Dark Souls 3. The Nightreign reveal trailer also shows an NPC that bears a suspicious resemblance to DS3‘s Fire Keeper, though this connection is somewhat inconclusive. This reprisal of older Souls content has been criticized by some, but it’s hard to deny that it will have at least some gameplay benefits, especially as more maligned bosses get a second chance at greatness.
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FromSoftware fans should consider hopping back into The Lands Between for another brutally challenging jaunt ahead of Elden Ring Nightreign.
Dark Souls’ Bed of Chaos Can Redeem Itself in Elden Ring Nightreign
Bed of Chaos Is Regularly Cited As the Worst FromSoftware Boss
The FromSoftware fan community might not agree on everything, but it does maintain a strong consensus on one issue: Bed of Chaos is one of, if not the worst, bosses the developer has ever created. It sits alongside the likes of Dragon God as a gimmick fight that doesn’t make good use of combat mechanics, opting instead to task the player with a quasi-puzzle-platforming challenge to overcome. But while Dragon God is a disruption of gameplay and doesn’t reward player skill in a meaningful way, it is at least quite easy and straightforward: its greatest sin is that it’s boring.
Bed of Chaos is boring, yes, but also incredibly frustrating. To beat this boss, players must destroy two orbs and then a bug-like creature at the base of a sprawling mass of tentacle-like roots. Navigating to these key attack points is a painful process, as the ground will give way below the player, seemingly at random, while Bed of Chaos attempts to shove the player into the newly formed pits. The ground will also periodically erupt with pillars of fire, which are difficult and sometimes impossible to avoid. In a nutshell, this fight is so loathed because it is unnecessarily punishing, causing death even when the player is doing everything right, as it were.
How Elden Ring Nightreign Could Redeem Bed of Chaos
Even the most die-hard FromSoftware fans detest Bed of Chaos, and not in a good way. But this could change if the boss were reintroduced in Elden Ring Nightreign, as it’s not too hard to imagine how its gimmick would be far easier, and even enjoyable, with a group of players. For example, perhaps one player could keep watch from afar, letting their teammates know when the monster is ramping up an attack. There could also be a way to bring a player back from the depths of the pits mid-fight, or otherwise leave them behind and attempt to finish the boss with a smaller party, introducing a risk-reward dynamic.
The point is, there would be more options available than brute force and trial and error, which are the only real strategies for beating Bed of Chaos in Dark Souls 1. FromSoftware would still have to tweak the battle for an explicitly cooperative context, of course, but if done right, Nightreign could be the stage upon which Bed of Chaos becomes a less-hated part of the studio’s legacy.
Action RPG
Soulslike
Roguelite