2025 Preview: Elden Ring Nightreign is untrodden territory for FromSoftware

Nightreign sounds like the sort of thing an Elden Ring player might want to play after coming home from a night out.

That might sound like an insult, but we reckon it’s a pretty convincing sales pitch for FromSoftware, a studio that usually specializes in vast, epic adventures where quick one-and-done sessions are about as far from the intended experience as possible.

Quick sessions appear to be the entire point of Nightreign, however. Based on the world of Elden Ring, it ditches the lengthy single-player adventure for a fast-paced co-op action game with roguelike elements.

Each run takes place over three nights (meaning a total time of around 30-45 minutes) with a map that’s continually getting smaller, battle royale style. Players – either alone or in groups of three – choose one of eight classes and have to survive all three nights, culminating in a final boss fight.

While Elden Ring invites its players to take their time and soak in everything they discover in the vast Lands Between, Nightreign puts a rocket up their backside and tells them to get a move on.

Time is of the essence as players figure out how they’re going to level up as quickly as possible. Certain areas have more difficult enemies but reap better rewards as a result, and the three-day limit means you don’t have the luxury of grinding among the easier foes until you feel you’re ready to take on those trickier sections.

There’s a strong roguelike feel to proceedings throughout Nightreign. While most of the loot found is lost at the end of each session, players can unlock cosmetics and relics which they get to keep for each run.

It’s the latter that has the potential to transform the game because these relics will affect the player’s starting build in some way, giving them more flexibility in how to prepare for each run beyond simply choosing between the eight character classes available to them.

In theory, then, it’s an idea that should bring the world of Elden Ring to a wider audience. Not every player has the patience or free time for an epic that takes 60 hours to beat (let alone completing it 100%), so for those players the idea of something that’s guaranteed to be over in less than an hour may be a more enticing proposition.

Those who prefer co-op to solo play may also see more of an appeal in Nightreign. We can see regular Monster Hunter or Destiny crews deciding to give it a go, for a change of scenery if nothing else.

Where Nightreign may live or die is in how it keeps hold of those players once they’re on board with the initial premise. It appears that FromSoftware has no interest in giving the game the live service treatment, and that’s admirable.

“Those who prefer co-op to solo play may also see more of an appeal in Nightreign. We can see regular Monster Hunter or Destiny crews deciding to give it a go, for a change of scenery if nothing else.”

However, it does also mean it has to find other ways to keep this 45-minute loop engaging and varied enough to encourage players to stick with it long-term, rather than try it out, enjoy the alternative spin it puts on the Elden Ring world, then move on to something they’re more willing to invest their attention on long-term.

So far the idea of an action-focused, co-op roguelike Elden Ring is certainly one we’re more than willing to try out. This has the potential to expand FromSoftware’s userbase and, who knows, might even be a more accessible gateway for those intimidated by Elden Ring to ease themselves into the world before trying the ‘main’ game.

This is unfamiliar territory for FromSoftware, however, and it’s going to be interesting to see how well it navigates its untrodden terrain.

More 2025 game previews:

• Borderlands 4
• Death Stranding 2
• Grand Theft Auto 6
• Mafia: The Old Country
• Monster Hunter Wilds
• Omega 6
• Professor Layton and the New World of Steam