Elden Ring Nightreign was one of last year’s most unexpected announcements. Now it turns out the roguelike multiplayer spin-off of everyone’s favorite open-world Soulsborne is right around the corner. Bandai Namco announced that FromSoftware’s latest blockbuster will launch in May, and early impressions are buzzing about it being a tense hybrid of Elden Ring and a PVE-based battle royale.
The release date of May 30 on PlayStation 5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC was revealed alongside a new trailer showing off more gameplay and bosses that will be featured in Nightreign’s unique sandbox horde mode. Invitations to the game’s first beta test, scheduled to go live February 14 on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, also went out on Wednesday. Players will have a chance to explore a randomized world map across a day and night cycle as a Fortnite-like circle slowly closes in on them.
It’s honestly a bonkers premise for a FromSoftware game, but early impressions of the beta test build paint a glowing picture of the Dark Souls studio’s experimental genre mashup. “Nightreign provides a delectable hit of Elden Ring in a repeatable microcosm,” Ed Nightingale writes for Eurogamer. “It’s got the difficulty, the levelling, the boss battles, and the sense of discovery, but all at high speed for a new type of challenge, while its grim enemy selection is like a best-of Souls mixtape I’m itching to replay.”
Polygon’s previewer came away similarly impressed. “In many ways it would feel more like a frantic, PvE battle royale than it would the original Elden Ring,” writes Austen Goslin. “What’s even more surprising is just how well all of these elements mix together into a package that feels both true to the Soulslike genre, and totally new at the same time.” He says it’s less the open invitation to new fans that Elden Ring was than a love letter to existing Souls devotees.
Unlike the 2022 GOTY hit, Nightreign features faster-paced combat and streamlined progression during each run. Leveling up happens more quickly, Sites of Grace heal you automatically as you run by, and there’s no fall damage this time around. Relics, meanwhile, provide extra stat bonuses that last in-between runs, so not all of your progress is reset each time. Combined with eight character classes, there’s potentially a lot of room to develop custom strategies and replay through the same content over and over like a classic arcade game.
I’ll have a better sense of that for myself after playing this weekend’s beta test. I was already looking forward to it and now I’m extra stoked.
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