'Nightreign is a weird one': Elden Ring Nightreign promises to be a divisive spinoff as reviewers say it's both 'deeply satisfying' and a 'frustrating slog'

Dawn has broken over Elden Ring Nightreign, by which I mean the review embargo has lifted and we can actually talk about FromSoft's roguelike spinoff. And folks, there's going to be a lot of deliberation in the days ahead.

In our Nightreign review, Tyler Colp wrote that it's "both a trend-defying remix of Elden Ring and also a pile of complete bullshit that I shouldn't have to deal with." Having played a fair amount of Nightreign with Tyler myself, I stand by the assessment: Nightreign can be brilliant, but it can also be a despicable kind of brutal.

Conversations about Nightreign—a game bearing a title of one of the most acclaimed releases of the last decade, but currently sitting at a 78% on Metacritic and OpenCritic—are bound to be divisive as players weigh its moments of roguelike triumph against its arbitrary difficulty. Here's what other reviewers are saying.

"It proves to be a relentless sprint that can be both exhilarating and excruciating."

GamesRadar: 3.5/5

In his GamesRadar review, Will Sawyer says Nightreign is "an uncharacteristically frantic and fast-paced ride that boils down and livens up the core Elden Ring experience." He also says that it's, you know, extremely hard.

"Nightreign's Expeditions can be upwards of 45 minutes of brutally relentless, heart-pounding hunting with an incredibly narrow margin for error," Sawyer says, noting that the demands of its frantic, randomized structure can make it feel excessively punishing when you face a boss with an interminable health bar.

"There is excellence in this Elden Ring spin off, but it’s excellence that is just a little bit tarnished."

IGN: 7/10

IGN's Mitchell Saltzman acknowledges out the gate that "Elden Ring Nightreign is a weird one." For Saltzman, the spinoff is a cocktail of potential frustrations—especially when it comes to the game's brutal solo mode, which he says is "so poorly balanced that I would be shocked if it isn’t patched and adjusted within the first month of release." But in a functioning party, he calls the central progression arc of a Nightreign run a satisfying distillation of Elden Ring juice: "It's 80+ hours of character growth condensed into less than an hour and shot straight into your veins."

"An exhilarating rush and a celebration of the studio's prior achievements."

Eurogamer: 4/5

Ed Nightingale at Eurogamer is a bit more effusive with his praise about Nightreign, calling it "a game about sharing memorable moments with others," like escaping almost-certain death as its battle royale-style circle closes in or pulling off a perfect run. Nightingale does note the "truly sadistic" singleplayer mode and says initial runs can be overwhelming with the number of mechanics and systems to internalize, but marks Nightreign down as "a brilliant foundation for a longterm game, if only FromSoftware would support it."

"Nightreign's highs make it worth fighting through the lows, but I couldn't blame any warrior who would rather just sit the battle out."

Digital Trends: 3.5/5

For Giovanni Colantonio over at Digital Trends, the greatest challenge in Nightreign is the matchmaking, calling its multiplayer an "archaic online integration that makes getting into a game far more challenging than it should be" thanks to its fragmented matchmaking queues, absent crossplay, and lack of duo expeditions. And even when you can group up with randoms, Colantonio advises against it, saying that "communication is crucial to success, as players splintering off in random directions can kill a run."

Still, he says Nightreign sings with a full party, writing that its "emphasis on power management over RPG min-maxing" makes for a satisfying roguelike.

"Seems like the best case scenario of adapting Elden Ring into a fundamentally different kind of game."

Paste: 8.0/10

At Paste, Garrett Martin says that while Nightreign "isn't perfect," it "pulls off everything it tries to do more than it probably should." For Martin, it's an admirable mix of elements that, taken individually, shouldn't add up to any kind of success: a loveable Frankenstein of FromSoft parts that piles together into a better roguelike than anyone might've expected.

"Nightreign can be a frustrating slog," Martin says. "If your trio has good chemistry, though, and every member understands their role, Nightreign can be deeply satisfying, and with a look and feel unique for the co-op multiplayer space."