Developer FromSoftware may be cagey about making a direct sequel to Elden Ring, but they sure do are making soulslike fans well fed. At The Game Awards 2024, the developer and publisher Bandai Namco announced Elden Ring Nightrein.
Unlike this year’s Shadow Of The Erdtree, an expansion (big DLC) which requires the Elden Ring base game, Elden Ring Nightrein is a standalone title, set in a parallel world to the main game, is focused on co-op play.
Players can form a party of three to traverse the world of Limveld, a new area that isn’t The Lands Between or The Shadow Realm, as one of eight characters with unique abilities and Ultimates. You read that right, it has heroes with specific kits.
Players can explore the world and be ready for night time, when they must face the Night’s Tide. And on the third night, they will be facing against a Nightlord An unsuccessful run will grant players relics to upgrade and customise your chosen character.
So Nightrein is a standalone game, and it’s not quite exactly a new Elden Ring, features selectable heroes with kits, and a run-based gameplay loop, in a new map. It’s also being described as a “condensed action RPG”.
Nightrein sounds extremely experimental, but there are dedicated fans on PC that use mods to basically journey through the game in full co-op. Which is a big step up compared to Elden Ring (and other FromSoft soulslikes) where you only can summon online co-op partners for boss fights and PVP. So these players should find this new style of game from FromSoft exciting.
And if you’re not too excited by the gameplay changes of Nightreign, you can be excited by the many new moves and weaponry on display in the reveal trailer. You can fly! Plus, you can play solo, should you choose.
Fans of Armored Core VI expecting a DLC announcement, however, will be disappointed.
Elden Ring Nightrein will be out in, surprisingly, 2025, for the PS4, PS5, PC (Steam), Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.