Elden Ring Nightreign is the most controversial FromSoftware game since Dark Souls 2. When initially released, Nightreign scored the lowest out of all the FromSoftware games. But staying true to the formula, Nightreign has risen back after initial backlash, finally making a space in the hearts of all Soulsborne fans. While the game may have launched with mixed reviews on Steam, it now stands at ‘Mostly Positive’ with an average of 300k players daily.
Although the game is far from being one of FromSoftware’s best, Nightreign can still provide a ton of enjoyment that you are missing out on. So, to bring the remaining Soulsbourne lovers back to the Nightreign bandwagon, and entice those entirely new to the franchise, here I have listed five reasons why you should play Elden Ring Nightreign despite its mixed reviews.
1. Best Bosses in The Genre
The biggest selling points of a Soulsborne game are boss battles, and Nightreign has that and more. All Elden Ring Nightreign Night Lords take their places among the top Soulsborne bosses…excluding Augur, of course. The lords feel much larger in scale, almost like you are battling a real war during each encounter. This is very reminiscent of Monster Hunter or MMORPG boss designs, but with the Souls-like high stakes that we all love. And every Night Lord is starkly different from the other.
For example, the Sentient Pest fuses together like a Mega Zord straight out of Power Rangers, while the Night Aspect literally splits the sky to bring divine judgment for all our misdeeds. The Equilibrious Beast allows a trade at the start of the battle, from offering to change the scaling of a character to losing levels in exchange for an amazing weapon. Nightreign adds so much diversity to boss designs that it can be mind-boggling sometimes!
On top of that, most of the Night Lords are almost addicting to fight due to their highly exhilarating nature. I have personally fought the Darkdrift Knight eight times already, defeating him over five times, but that won’t stop me from going one more round with the majestic centaur. Another thing I love about the Nightreign bosses is the unrestricted open ground for the Night Lord fights.
No more getting slam dunked into the corner by bosses, I can finally go to war with these god-like beings without the surroundings holding me back!
Not only that, the game brings back some of the most nostalgic Dark Souls bosses, and changes many of the attacks of the Elden Ring bosses to make each encounter unique again. Margit for one has multiple new set of attacks, making him a much more prominent threat in Nightreign than he was in Elden Ring.
Nameless King and the Dancer of the Boreal Valley from Dark Souls 3 make a return with a 1 to 1 attack pattern, perfect for stirring up your nostalgia. Although the game still lacks some of the best bosses from Elden Ring, I am hoping that they will be added soon as events.
2. The Only Seamless Co-Op in Soulsborne
Elden Ring Nightreign is still the only seamless co-op experience you can find in Soulsborne. This may not be the case with future FromSoftware games implementing a similar system, but this is the only option you currently have that doesn’t involve downloading mods. Being able to enjoy the Lands Between with my friends without having the connection every five seconds has been my favorite thing in Nightreign.
And the gameplay dependency on teamwork is a cherry on top, making it a lot more worthwhile playing with friends than through random matchmaking. Even if you lack friends interested in Nightreign, this is the perfect time to find new friendships by forming parties in the various Nightreign Discord servers out there. Who knows, you may find a couple of new friends!
The lack of comms in the random matchmaking is a problem, but it forced me to leave my comfort zone and find others to form parties. This made me meet some amazing people over my time of reviewing the game, who almost mimicked my strategies without me needing to discuss them, even going so far as defeating five Night Lords at one go! I could not have experienced the true beauty of Nightreign if I had not reached out to form these parties.
So, don’t stick to random matchmaking. Either convince your friends to play with you, or find others on Discord or Reddit who are already looking for partners to enjoy the game with. This would completely change your perception of the game.
3. Solo Experience Is Finally Getting Better
The solo player experience was horrible on launch, even highlighted in our Elden Ring Nightreign review. Although playing some of the best Elden Ring Nightreign solo characters can improve this experience, it wasn’t enjoyable enough.
I knew this would alienate many core fans of the genre, as Soulsborne games have always been primarily targeted towards single-player experiences. Thankfully, FromSoftware has decided to jump onto the fix-wagon, already planning to improve the solo-play experience.
With the new Elden Ring Nightreign patch, the game added a one-time self-revive mechanic during the Night boss battles (excluding Wending Grace), and the obtained Rune amount will be increased for solo play only. This will definitely make the Solo experience a lot less sufferable, and I might finally give it another go, and so should you!
4. A Bite-Sized Fun Package
A big reason for the success of Battle Royale or the First Person Shooter genre is the very little time investment required to enjoy them. Most can jump in and out with friends for a couple of games in one or two hours of free time. This would never be possible for a game like Elden Ring.
Every FromSoftware game requires a dedicated time investment. Elden Ring alone has around 100+ hours of normal gameplay, increasing to a stupendous 200 hours if we also count the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC (review).
Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing, as the depth of FromSoftware games makes them legendary among gamers. However, not everyone can have this much free time, with work or studies always acting as a barrier to all the fun things in life.
I could never play Elden Ring or Dark Souls for a couple of hours between office breaks or lunch times. These game require at least 5-6 hours of constant dedication, which can only be possible on off-days for us in the workforce.
Thankfully, Nightreign finally lets me enjoy my favorite genre even when I am pressed for time. More than once have I dropped into Limveld, either solo or with friends, in the little breaks that I get during my work hours. Even late at night, I don’t need to go to sleep to enjoy my favorite world without feeling dissatisfied. Being able to squeeze in a few games here and there makes Nightreign vastly different from other FromSoftware games.
So, if the large time investment made you steer clear of Soulsborne games, then Nightreign can be your doorway to experience the universe. Most Nightreign games last 25-40 minutes, depending on your time to defeat the Night bosses and Nightlord. This is enough time to try it out after a busy day of work or between lunch breaks at your office. The game time is almost the same or shorter than popular FPS games like Valorant or Counter-Strike 2, so what is holding you back from trying it out? Just give it a go and you won’t regret it.
5. Just the Tip of the Iceberg
A big reason why you should play Elden Ring Nightreign is that the game has a lot more to offer. Although FromSoftware has only confirmed one upcoming DLC so far, scheduled for Q4 2025, which promises to add two new playable Nightfarers, I doubt that would be the end. This game is perfect for regular updates and can be FromSoftware’s opportunity to have their first ‘live-service’ game. Yes, we all hate that word in gaming, but only because so few games have it right.
FromSoftware has built up enough trust that I consider them to be one of the developers who can pull it off without making their community angry. The game has space for new maps, more events, new unique bosses, more old Soulsborne bosses, and so much more!
We have so many more iconic bosses left in the genre, such as Fume Knight, Artorias, Midir, Slave Knight Gael, and Isshin Ashina, to name a few. Many of the iconic Elden Ring bosses are yet to make an appearance, like Malenia, Radahn, Rykard, Bayle, Messmer, and the list goes on!
We have untold stories like Godwyn the Golden being left out from Elden Ring or Aldia receiving a completely disrespectful boss design in Dark Souls II while being such an important character to the lore.
All the past mistakes can be corrected in Nightreign! Furthermore, with the changes made to Margit’s move set, just thinking about the possible changes for the other bosses is enough to excite me. It would be a shame if FromSoftware abandons this project after just one DLC, because the game has much more to offer.
So, was I able to change your perception of Nightreign? If not, tell us what put you off Elden Ring Nightreign and what can bring you back in the comments below.
