Is Elden Ring Nightreign A Souls Game? Developer Says No

Every Souls fan is speculating about FromSoftware's upcoming Elden Ring spin-off, Nightreign. Revealed at The Game Awards 2024, the title has opened a heated debate among fans: should Nightreign be classified as a Souls game? Let's dive in!

• Elden Ring Nightreign: Release Date, Platforms & Co-Op Mode

Is Nightreign a Soulslike? The Director's Statement

Game Director Junya Ishizaki, who previously worked as a combat designer on Elden Ring and Dark Souls 3, made his position clear in a recent interview with IGN:

"We've always been seen as a company that makes these Soulslikes or this kind of traditional formula of Soulslike games and so I saw this as an opportunity to do something different. To challenge both myself and the company to build something new while still using what we've cultivated with our previous titles."

This statement explicitly positions Nightreign as a departure from the Soulslike formula rather than a continuation of it. Ishizaki describes the game as a "condensed RPG experience" that takes elements players enjoyed from Elden Ring but packages them in a faster-paced, more focused format.

What Makes Nightreign Different

Co-op Focus

While FromSoftware's previous titles included multiplayer, Nightreign is built from the ground up as a three-player cooperative experience. Ishizaki explained the choice: "We wanted to retain that sense of accomplishment you get from battling a boss together or from conquering a map together and that sense of enjoyment, but we wanted to recreate that in a fresh way."

Speed and Action

Nightreign features faster, more action-oriented gameplay compared to the methodical pace of Souls games. According to players who tested the game, it almost feels like "speed running" with wall jumping and more aggressive combat mechanics.

Character System

Unlike Souls games where you create and build your character from scratch, Nightreign features eight unique pre-made characters with specific abilities and playstyles. Ishizaki noted this was done to create "a multiplayer experience that you could just jump into very quickly and casually."

What Nightreign Keeps From Souls Games

Despite these differences, Nightreign does retain some elements familiar to Souls players:

• Challenging boss encounters
• A sense of accomplishment from overcoming difficult scenarios
• The Souls-style combat foundation (though faster and more action-oriented)
• Asynchronous online elements (like seeing phantoms of other players and encountering the gear of fallen players)

The Lore

For story enthusiasts, Ishizaki clarified that Nightreign exists in a "separate and parallel" timeline to the main Elden Ring universe. It branches off after the events of the Shattering but doesn't intersect with the main game's narrative. Unlike the original Elden Ring, George R.R. Martin had no involvement in creating Nightreign's world or story.

To sum it up, Elden Ring Nightreign does give a fresh direction, while not being a Soulslike per se. It will be like nothing we have ever played before and might even change the concept of what a Soulslike actually is.