Over the past 15 years or so, FromSoftware has gone from strength to strength. Starting with 2009’s Demons Souls, the studio has had a generational run with each new game receiving an increasing number of sales and accolades – culminating with Elden Ring as one of the highest rated games of all time. Though seemingly still a good game, the studio’s upcoming Elden Ring: Nightreign has become the lowest-rated FromSoft title since 2018’s VR exclusive Deracine.
Ahead of its official release on the 30th of May, the review embargo for Elden Ring: Nightreign has been lifted, with critics now sharing their thoughts and opinions on the co-op multiplayer spin-off.
With a Metacritic score of 78 and an OpenCritic rating of 80, Nightrein is far from a critical failure (and is in fact the 18th highest rated game of the year so far). That said, compared to the original Elden Ring’s score of 95 (and Shadow of the Erd Tree’s 94), Nightreign represents a major step down in critical consensus.
While reviewers seem to agree that the co-op aspect of Nightreign is solid, criticism surrounding the game ranges from a relative lack of replayability, its focus on one subsect of the Elden Ring community, and a somewhat contrasting game design philosophy which “completely break the magic of FromSoftware’s formula.”
Of course, being a multiplayer title, the game could see improvements over time. So far, FromSoftware have already addressed some early concerns, including the game’s lack of a two-player option. Beyond this, the team promised that future updates will introduce additional bosses, foes, classes, and other features.
Though perhaps not the greatest start for Elden Ring Nightreign, more important will be the response from fans – and given that the base Elden Ring has sold over 30 million copies, there should easily be a solid few million who find Nightreign’s gameplay loop alluring. We will have to wait a couple more days to find out what the rest of the community thinks.
KitGuru says: What do you think of Nightreign’s early reviews? Are you concerned for the launch state of the game? What was your favourite aspect of Elden Ring? Let us know down below.
