The Elden Ring Nightreign spin-off has started strongly — more than 300,000 online players have registered on Steam within an hour of its release. However, users have a lot of questions.
At once, Nightreign managed to overtake the peak number of players of all three Dark Souls installments combined — about 225,000. Platform Steam Charts recorded 255,867 players in about 30 minutes after the launch — this is almost a third of the absolute peak of the basic Elden Ring (953,000).
Nightreign has its own trump cards — the game is multiplayer-oriented, and this immediately increases the number of simultaneous sessions. But at the same time, the new product managed to collect contradictory reviews not only from the press. 67% of more than 8000 reviews in the Steam — positive, but some players are clearly not happy. Especially those who expected more solo experience from the spin-off.
Nightreign feels like a completely different game than the classic Elden Ring. Instead of a measured progression, it’s a tough PvE for three, with no chat, no duo co-op, and no way to properly coordinate with random allies. The key complaint is the lack of a two-player mode, as the system requires three players. FromSoftware developers admitted that they forgot to implement duo mode.
The reviews mention difficulties with the queue for solo play, the difficulty of coordinating without voice communication, and the lack of text chat. Although it is not surprising that there were problems with the queue at the start. According to many, Nightreign — is a game for company rather than suffering alone.
«I died 2 times during training, and after 2 games in a row I couldn’t even survive the first night. 10/10 — experience like with Elden Ring», — they write in the reviews.
Others criticize the lack of crossplay, weak generation (randomization), repetitive bosses, and bugs that harm FPS. At the same time, some fans believe that the reuse of Elden Ring — content is, on the contrary, a plus, because this is what attracted many fans. So this point is more of a personal preference than a general problem.
But there are also those who are delighted with Elden Ring Nightreign: some compare the game to a survival horror in the style of «die together, rage together». Some players praise the 45-minute expedition timer, which forces them to take their time.
So Nightreign is not for everyone yet, but there is interest despite the mixed reviews. Moreover, the launch on consoles hasn’t even started in North America yet — it’s likely that the peak is still ahead. The expansion weighs 30GB, and system requirements have hardly changed. Elden Ring Nightreign was officially released on May 30on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Games Radar+
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