The Elden Ring Nightreign network test proved a surprise success, giving a handful of lucky players an early taster of this multiplayer spin-off on PS5, PS5 Pro and Xbox Series X/S ahead of the 30th May release. Nightreign’s central hook is a compelling, too: a blend of Souls combat and Fortnite-inspired PvE multiplayer with plenty of strategic depth, though the game marks the return of some familiar technical limitations from Elden Ring – including performance issues in both quality and frame-rate modes. Also a surprise is the lack of any PS5 Pro patch update to take advantage of the mid-gen refresh.
Before we get into the tech talk, it’s worth highlighting the tweaks to the Elden Ring ruleset for Nightreign. In a nutshell, this is a faster-paced PvE version of Elden Ring with rogue-like elements thrown in for good measure. You’re flown into Limveld, a kind of ‘greatest hits’ remix of the main game’s Limgrave map with major landmarks condensed into a smaller area. The goal is to survive two full days here with the aid of two allies, with each day concluding with a boss fight. Surviving both takes you to a final battle against one of eight Night Lords available in the beta.
Crucially, each game only lasts around 40 minutes to an hour – and this is a key distinction to make. Within this smaller window of time, FromSoftware has to significantly hasten most aspects of Elden Ring’s gameplay to help adjust the balance. Hence, you’re able to mantle up geometry, survive drops from any distance, and even burst into a sprint with no penalty to your stamina bar. Levelling up is also streamlined into a single value, affecting your character’s stats in a simple predetermined manner. And finally, death is penalised by losing a level on respawning, costing you precious time ahead of challenging a boss.
Despite the gameplay departures, Nightreign’s underlying tech is very much familiar territory, with the customary performance and frame-rate modes on all tested platforms. Elden Ring’s RT mode, meanwhile, doesn’t return on any platform, perhaps due to its poor performance in the original game. That makes for a simple binary choice, helpfully streamlining the task of analysing the game too.