What Will We Learn from EldenRing Nightreign Network Test

There is much excitement and trepidation regarding FromSoftware’s upcoming Elden Ring spinoff Nightreign. It's a multiplayer experience where you and two friends will drop onto a randomly generated alternate version of Elden Ring’s Limgrave area to battle both normal enemies and bosses, both old and new, even including some Dark Souls bosses such as The Nameless King.

It will be extremely interesting to see how things shake out! This February we may have a better idea of how. February 14th-16th there will be a series of sessions to test the game’s online server and network infrastructure, which should also give us a good idea of what the gameplay and performance will look like. Will the map size truly be shrunk down to one area? How will playing as set heroes feel? How evolved is the combat from the established formula?

Over the 5 network test sessions we will learn a lot. That said, we thought we learned a lot from Eldenring’s tests and it barely scratched the surface. Hidetaka Miyazaki has a habit of underpromising and overdelivering, famously stating Elden Ring would be around 30 hours and that the size of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC would be about the size of Limgrave.

The most important, and most drastic, change to the gameplay loop will be session length. Each session of Nightreign is designed to last 3 in-game days spread over 30 minutes, with your team exploring, looting new weapons, fighting trash mobs, and facing off with field bosses, ultimately culminating in a showdown with a main boss- a Lord of Night. Which bosses occupy this role will vary from run to run in this roguelike spin on the classic FromSoft formula. The map will close around you over time, similar to how the closing circle works in a battle royale game. Unlike previous Soulsborne entries by FromSoftware, the game’s focus will be PVE with no mentions of PVP so far. Despite that, an Elden Ring battle royale sounds like it could be an unexpected delight.

The other major change is that you will not have a fully custom-built character to play, but rather will choose from one of several heroes known as Nightfarers, each having different abilities and filling various roles for your party. We don’t know all of the characters yet but we’ve already seen that each will be a different class and afford each character a unique playstyle.

We know there will be characters (mostly bosses) plucked out of FromSoft’s other games, but this also opens the door for even more characters in the future should FromSoft choose to pursue them. It’s already a given Patches will appear in the game as he’s been in almost every FromSoftware release in one form or another, but will he be a random field boss? A playable character? Could we see a return of other fan favorites such as Siegward? Could we have a party carried by the jolly co-operation of Solaire of Astora?

The network test will assuredly unveil many secrets, but many of these questions will remain unanswered until the game is released. Nightreign represents a unique opportunity for FromSoftware to evolve its formula. It represents an opportunity for a great Helldivers-like live service game or just a simple multiplayer spinoff. FromSoftware rarely does a game as a half-measure. They seem to go all in, or they don’t do it at all. Hopefully, this game meets that standard.

The game, however, represents a very real risk to the franchise. If it is a co-op-focused live service game and fails it could undo a lot of good faith FromSoftware has built up in the eyes of gamers. At this moment they are seen as a developer that doesn’t miss, but if this is filled with awful season passes, overly predatory monetization of customization, or even worse pay-to-win mechanics it could do some very real damage to the reputation of a much-beloved developer.

Whichever way it goes one thing is certain: we’ll be there day one, and we’re excited to see what the future holds.