Elden Ring Nightreign Should Inspire A New Staple Mode for FromSoftware

Elden Ring Nightreign is unlike anything FromSoftware has ever made, at least in the last decade or so. While Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring all featured the ability to join online friends in co-op or invade other players, that online connectivity has always been viewed as an additional feature rather than the main attraction. Elden Ring Nightreign reverses that.

Elden Ring Nightreign is a three-player co-op roguelike that sees players choosing a distinct class, dropping on a randomly-generated map, gathering loot, and facing off against the game’s unique Night Lord bosses. For better or worse, Nightreign proves that FromSoftware is willing to experiment with new gameplay ideas, and its loop should go on to inspire a new staple game mode for future FromSoft action-RPGs.

In Defense of Elden Ring Nightreign’s Three-Player Restriction

Elden Ring Nightreign has come under fire for only allowing solo or trio play, and this makes sense, but three players might be the way to go anyway.

Elden Ring Nightreign Should Inspire Future FromSoftware Games to Have a Boss Rush Mode

Elden Ring Nightreign is Essentially One Long Boss Rush

A match of Elden Ring Nightreign takes place over the course of two in-game nights. Each one sees players exploring a map filled with various points of interest, ranging from castles to underground mines. Inside those POIs are a variety of enemies and bosses taken from Elden Ring‘s base game, along with the precious loot that they’re guarding.

Players need to visit as many of these points of interest in as little time as possible, as when night starts to fall, players will become encircled by a ring of fiery rain. The general goal of Elden Ring Nightreign is to get as powerful as possible within that limited timeframe so that players can overcome that night’s boss, and eventually, the big bad Night Lord at the end of the second night.

There are many different ways to approach Elden Ring Nightreign‘s map, but the current meta revolves around defeating as many bosses as quickly as possible. The reason for this is that bosses drop the best upgrades in Nightreign on top of a load of Runes, allowing players to find the best weapons and stat boosts while simultaneously earning enough cash to level up. Given Elden Ring Nightreign‘s time-based nature, players are encouraged to prioritize encounters that will net them the best rewards, and that means speedrunning through as many boss arenas as possible before the Night’s Tide approaches.

Though regular enemies might be encountered along the way, Elden Ring Nightreign‘s current meta essentially turns the game into a boss rush mode, which is something future FromSoftware games might want to take note of.

Elden Ring Nightreign Isn’t The First FromSoft Game to Feature a Boss Rush

Around a year and a half after its launch, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice added a dedicated boss rush mode. Titled the ‘Gauntlets of Strength,’ these boss rush challenges saw players defeating a set number of Sekiro‘s bosses in a row without dying. If players could conquer the Gauntlet, they’d receive new outfits and new Memories that would increase their attack power in the base game. Sekiro features some of the strongest bosses in FromSoft history, so it’s incredibly gratifying to be able to jump in at any time and fight through them again.

It might be hard for FromSoftware to balance a boss rush mode in a more traditional action-RPG due to certain bosses being crafted with late-stage character leveling in mind, but Sekiro managed to find a nice balance by keeping the player’s attack power at a consistent level.