Quick Links
After much debate and speculation about howElden RingNightreign would eventually turn out, the wait is finally over. Whileour review was pretty conflictedoverall, there’s still a game here that many of you are really going to enjoy if you’re willing to put in a substantial amount of work.
Elden Ring Nightreign Review
“Git gud” personified.
One big question mark surrounding the game was the existence of a single-player option despite Nightreign being mostly discussed as a three-player, online experience. SinceFromSoftware is known for single-player titles, would they still be able to present a solo mode that felt just as good as playing the game with a group?
Unfortunately, the short answer is… no.Nightreign by yourself is a markedly worse experience than playing with a full team of three Nightfarers.In fairness, FromSoftware even acknowledges this themselves andrecommends playing with a group.
Still, the option is available for any solo player that dares to take on this alreadycrushingly difficult gamewhen played at full strength. While I still don’t think it’s worth the effort, there are pros and cons both ways. Let’s talk about them.
The Merits Of Playing Nightreign Alone
No, I don’t think most players should seriously try to play Nightreign alone. But that still doesn’t mean the solo mode is entirely worthless. In fact, I think it can serve a nice purpose for those of you that might feel a bit overwhelmed when jumping into the game.
Here’s why.
Learning The New Mechanics
Sure, Nightreign is still part of the Elden Ring universe, but the fact is, the game feels pretty different from the original game in many different ways. Even if you’re like me and have spent well over 100 hours in The Lands Between, there’s going to be an adjustment period when you first drop into Limveld.
Your characters all movemuchmore quickly than what you’re used to, including a mechanic where you’ll slide across the ground extra far whenever you pivot 180 degrees and start running in the other direction. There’s a faster sprint button. You can now climb walls and mantle up surfaces. Heck, there’s not even fall damage anymore.
10 Soulsborne & Soulslike Games With Fun Platforming
Combat is always the focus, but it never hurts to make it fun to get around.
Even aside from the faster movement, combat feels slightly different, each class has different powers and abilities, item upgrading works differently, consumables work with a different button layout, and items/loadouts in general are all tweaked just enough to make certain aspects of the game feel foreign again.
Solo mode is useful to get a feel for the game before your squadmates fully put their trust in you.I’m a player that puts a lot of personal pressure upon myself when playing a cooperative multiplayer game, so it felt nice to be able to settle into the game a bit by myself before matchmaking with people that knew the game better than me.
Learning The Map
Similarly, the map in Nightreign is not what you’re used to from previous Elden Ring installments. You will see no familiar locations from the base game or the DLC (despite several reused assets or designs). Learning how to navigate the map and hit as many points of interest as possible in one loop is kind of the whole basis of Nightreign, so it’s crucial to have a good handle on your routing.
There’s simply no time to waste in the game. With only two in-game days (which take about 15 minutes each) to prep, farm, and grind as much as you can before taking on the nearlyimpossiblyhard bosses at the end of each run, you’ll need to hit the ground runningimmediately.
Churches offer upgrades to your total number of flasks, mines have Somber Smithing Stones for upgrading weapons, and certain structures are guaranteed to have some kind of field boss in order for you to get the runes you need to keep leveling up. If you’re dawdling about in a multiplayer game and can’t figure out how to maximize your time, your team is doomed.
That’s why single-player can be so useful here, too. With no pressure to get anywhere at a certain time,you’re free to just explore around and see what everything in the world does, and what each map marker means. Don’t go into this expedition with the hopes of actuallywinning. Just gather and absorb as much information as you’re able to before squadding up.
Why Solo-Play Isn’t Actually A Realistic Choice
We’ve talked about the good things you’re able to extract from a solo run in Nightreign, so why am I so adamantly against the experience still? Well, Nightreign simply is not set up for this type of experience, even though single-player is still available in the game.
To be honest, it’s a little baffling that it was even included, but I digress. Here’s why you won’t actually want to attemptrealrun attempts alone.
It’s Not Scaled Down Nearly Enough
Even with a full team of three, Elden Ring Nightreign is freaking hard. Yes, I realize that most FromSoftware games are known for their difficulty, but you’ll just have to trust me as someone that’s played all the other games too.
As you would imagine,the game is technically scaled down for players that want to attempt a run by themselves, but sheesh… It’s not evencloseto enough.Enemies and bosses are still way spongier than they should be compared to a different FromSoftware title, and you don’t have the option to spend time grinding your level up to help your cause.
10 Most Unfair Soulsborne Boss Fights
These fights are frustrating for all the worst possible reasons.
I swear, I’m really good at base Elden Ring, yet I was having a lot of trouble taking down most larger enemies in Nightreign when I’d try to play the game alone. That’s not even to mention the final bosses of Day 3, the Nightlords.
Serving as the main goals of the actual gameplay loop every time, the eight Nightlords are your ultimate targets. They are absolutely, insanely difficult. Even with less HP and overall damage output when scaled back for a solo player, their movesets and remaining stats are still just way too much for someone to handle alone. 99% of us won’t be able to make it happen without friends.
The Game Simply Isn’t Designed To Be Played Alone
Even in the boss and map design choices,you can tell single-player was pretty much an afterthought or just an inclusion out of a sense of obligation.Certain locations have three bosses spread across an arena, encouraging the team to split up and have each member take one on.
The first Nightlord, Gladius, is a three-headed wolf that’s able to split itself into three separate wolves in Phase 2. This is super hard to manage with three players each being able to focus on one of these separated wolves, and it’s genuinely next to impossible as a solo player with all three wolves bearing down on you at once. “Good luck” really doesn’t even cut it.
In single-player, you won’t have enough time in the day to hit nearly as many points of interest as you need to, since killing everything alone takes so much longer. You won’t get all the runes you need, nor the weapon or flask upgrades.
Unless you’re really, really, and I meanreallygood at the game, you’re almost guaranteed to go into the Nightlord of each runseverelyunderleveled and undergeared— if you’re even able to make it that far. Use single-player to learn the basics, then never look back once you switch over to multiplayer.
Elden Ring Nightreign’s Director Was Told He “Shouldn’t Hold Back” When Designing The Game
Elden Ring Nightreign’s director explains how he was set loose to create the multiplayer co-op souls game of his dreams.
