Elden Ring Nightreign: Echoes of a Forgotten War God

This past weekend marked the debut of network tests for Elden Ring Nightreign, the eagerly anticipated standalone multiplayer game from the creators of FromSoftware's masterpiece, Elden Ring. Unlike the expansive open world of last year's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, Nightreign introduces a compact survival format. Here, three-player teams navigate increasingly constricting maps, battling waves of enemies and formidable bosses. The game's design hints at the influence of Fortnite, which boasts an astonishing 200 million players this month alone.

However, Nightreign shares an even more striking similarity with a lesser-known title, 2013's God of War: Ascension, and this is a positive comparison. Released between God of War 3 and the 2018 Norse reboot, Ascension was a prequel set in the Greek mythology era, focusing on Kratos' struggle to break his oath to Aries. Often dubbed the black sheep of the franchise due to its inability to match the grandeur of the original trilogy, Ascension is nonetheless noteworthy for its innovative multiplayer feature.

Although Ascension's narrative climax with Kratos battling the Furies didn't reach the epic scale of his fight against Zeus, it boasted impressive set-pieces such as the Prison of the Damned, a dungeon embedded within the body of a 100-armed giant. More significantly, Ascension introduced multiplayer to the series, a feature that has not been revisited since.

In Ascension's story mode, players encounter an NPC in the Prison of the Damned who mistakenly believes they've been saved, only to be crushed by the level's boss. However, in multiplayer mode, this NPC becomes the player character, teleported to Olympus and tasked with pledging allegiance to one of four gods—Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, or Aries. Each god provides unique weapons, armor, and magic, enabling players to engage in five different multiplayer modes, four of which are competitive PvP. The fifth mode, Trial of the Gods, is cooperative PvE, mirroring Nightreign's core concept.

Gameplay previews of Nightreign, featured by prominent "Soulsborne" YouTubers like VaatiVidya and Iron Pineapple, alongside IGN's coverage, have highlighted its similarities to live service games like Fortnite. Nightreign incorporates randomized loot, resource management, and environmental hazards that escalate the challenge by damaging player health and restricting movement areas. A nod to Fortnite, Nightreign also has players parachuting into the level, guided by spirit birds to their chosen landing spots.

While God of War: Ascension doesn't feature the same "where are we dropping?" dynamic, both Nightreign and Ascension's Trial of the Gods share deeper connections. Both are cooperative experiences where teams tackle increasingly difficult foes, including iconic bosses from past games like Hercules and the Nameless King. Both games have countdown timers and operate on maps that shrink, pushing players to act quickly. Moreover, both titles are multiplayer games developed by studios renowned for their single-player experiences, crafted without the direct involvement of their series' original creators.

Participants in FromSoftware's network test described Nightreign as a thrilling race against time, contrasting with the more leisurely pace of the original Elden Ring. Nightreign compels players to rely on instinct, speeding up the gameplay and limiting resources, which VaatiVidya praised for its emphasis on "speed and efficiency." To compensate for the absence of Torrent, players can now channel their inner spirit horse to run faster and jump higher.

Ascension's multiplayer mode similarly adjusted its single-player mechanics for a faster-paced experience, employing techniques such as increased run speed, extended jumps, automated parkour, and a grapple attack—mechanics echoed in Nightreign's Wylder character. These enhancements are crucial as Trial of the Gods pits players against numerous enemies, necessitating swift and decisive action.

Nightreign's resemblance to Ascension is intriguing, not least because Ascension has largely faded from memory, and the Soulslike genre, to which Elden Ring belongs, began as the antithesis of God of War's power fantasy. Where God of War empowers players to slay gods, Soulslike games challenge them as nameless, cursed undead. Yet, as players have mastered FromSoftware's games and utilized game-breaking builds, Nightreign aims to reintroduce a sense of challenge. For seasoned players, it offers the exhilaration of feeling like a time-pressed, vengeful Spartan, much like Ascension did.