Didn’t think I’d be getting this one out yet did you? You’re talking to a god gamer, of course I could beat the game so easily. All it took was getting gud, you’re just a scrub.
In all seriousness I did my absolute best to get to the end before other projects would take up my time and luckily I was able to do so. So I’m able to give a full review of the title, lucky me! So, does FromSoft’s latest foray into the Elden Ring universe with a co-op focus actually hold up as much as we thought it would? Time to find out!
Let’s start with the story, as a rogue-lite the game is naturally a bit light with the plot, but it does have some depth. Set in seemingly the same universe as the original Elden Ring following the great war that the shattering of the Elden Ring caused in the first game an entity known as the ‘Nightlord’ appeared and shrouded the entire land in an off miasma, causing the world to start shifting randomly, entities from other universes to pop up and a strange rain to fall every evening which would cause the death of all those who would enter it. Enter you, one of the several Nightfairers, people brought to this land through choice or not for a variety of reasons to take out the Nightlord and their various forms/minions. Thus the plot centres you around teaming up with the other Nightfairers to defeat bosses, get powered up, and take on each aspect of the Nightlord for each run. As a framing device, it works fine and gives some explanation as to why we are actually playing in a rogue-lite format. However, the real plot centres around each of the Nightfairer characters you play as an interact with, each having their own personal storyline and quests that gives a bit more context as to who they are and why they are here. My personal favourite was the Raider, a viking-like big burly dude who wields giant weapons, though this was more for gameplay purposes than story ones. As a multiplayer-focused experience plot isn’t exactly what you’re here for, but it’s nice that it is at least competent, and will give lore buffs some interesting things to think about in the context of this connected universe.
Presentation is an odd thing to discuss for this game as it’s essentially just Elden Ring… again. Same assets, same enemies/bosses and while there are also returning bosses from Dark Souls, complete with visual upgrades, it all is essentially just re-used assets. The new Nightlord bosses at the end of each run are unique however and each of them is a spectacle to behold, as long as you can stay alive long enough to see it! There’s also plenty of new music tracks in the game which all fit well and match the pace of boss you’re fighting. I also enjoyed all the voice acting, for as little as there actually was. Overall then, I just don’t really have that much to comments on in regards to the presentation, if you liked Elden Ring’s visuals then this will also be a great game to see, but it’s the same visuals you’ve seen before, so I don’t know how much that matters for you.
Gameplay is of course the biggest change. First off, this is a rogue-lite, meaning you go on runs to build progression, fight bosses, get levels until you are strong enough to take on the nightlord of that run. Second, you do so from playing as a specific character rather than getting to build your own with specific weapon types, abilities and other features that makes each Nightfairer unique in their own way. Finally, equipment and skills have been heavily streamlined to match the fast-paced gameplay that requires you to be constantly on your toes and moving at a rapid speed to collect as many levels as possible, level up or find new gear and get strong enough to fight against one of many bosses. It’s all very enjoyable, and of course is built around the already existing excellent gameplay and combat systems from Elden Ring making this feel like an excellent adaptation of an already established gameplay system that people enjoy. In terms of difficulty this actually feels a bit tougher than most other souls-like titles as the biggest hurdle is the fact you’re playing (usually) with random people, meaning the bosses scale up their stats to accommodate and if the people you are playing with aren’t good at the time then you will really struggle. However, if instead you play with excellent co-op partners, even better if you are friends or are in communication, then bosses can be blown apart with excellent skill, though they never feel easy and do always tend to pose a challenge. There’s also a relic system that gives you permanent buffs to your characters which you earn as rewards from each run, though a lot of them end up not doing much and the best ones are tied to personal quest progression and defeating bosses meaning the random ones feel a bit pointless. Still, it all leads to a satisfying and enjoyable gameplay flow, and with more content planned for the future, you can bet there will be plenty more to check out even after you’ve defeated all the current bosses.
There are some downsides to this game however. Firstly, the hard focus on 3-player combat is a bizarre choice as while they scale the game efficiently to match this number of players not being able to play with a co-op buddy just seems like a strange thing to not include at launch, to the point that mods have had to step in to resolve this. Luckily, FromSoft have already announced a 2-player mode in a future free update so at least this is something that will be added, it’s just strange it wasn’t initially. Second, the communication features in this game are pretty terrible. Pretty much your own way to direct random teammates, aside from using purchasable in-game gestures that don’t tend to help most of the time, is marking beacons on your map which other players can follow. That’s nice and all, but not being able to co-ordinate with team members on using abilities or gear, not being able to explain things and most bizarrely no option for voice chat is a strange concept for a multiplayer game that leads to it feeling like a very isolated experience. Thirdly, the game already expects you to be familiar with Elden Ring as many features in the game go completely untutorialised, such as weapon scalings, stance breaking and other such systems that to a souls-like vet are fairly normal but for someone who maybe picks this up as their first title will be completely lost on them. A more detailed and thorough tutorial would go a long way to helping those that feel overwhelmed on their first FromSoft experience. Finally, the scaling issue can be a real pain if you don’t play with a co-ordinated team as if you play with random players that want to run off and do their own thing you end up having to face bosses or enemies that have health bars and damage designed to deal with 3 players but you fight them all on your own. Playing solo too is a bit of a nightmare as while the scaling problem isn’t a huge issue, the problem is that a lot of the end Nightlord bosses are designed with mechanics and strategies that only work when facing 3 players, such as splitting into 3 forms that you would then have to fight simultaneously, leading to frustration and a feeling of being forced into the co-op. If you have buddies to play with, this of course isn’t an issue and you will have a great experience playing this, but if you don’t, then you’d best hope you are a god gamer playing by yourself or that random rolls of fate’s dice gives you good teammates.
How do I feel in conclusion then? Well I had a blast playing the game, it was an interesting change in standard Souls-like gameplay with a greater emphasis on speed and teamwork that it led to a very unique feeling experience. At the moment, it very much just feels like an arcade-like version of the main Elden Ring experience, which reflects its lower price tag accordingly, and so while that’s something I certainly wanted and enjoyed playing I’m not sure if that should be people’s first exposure to this universe, especially with the dumbed down and streamlined equipment and skills systems. If you like Elden Ring, then I’d recommend playing this as it’s basically just co-op Elden Ring with a whole bunch more stuff to play endlessly with. If you weren’t a fan, or haven’t played a Souls-like before, maybe give the original game a try first before jumping into this one. All I can say is, with plenty of new content planned for the lifetime of this title, you can bet I will be returning to see what they add in. Maybe a few runs here and there too… it’s an addicting cycle!