There were numerous surprise reveals at The Game Awards last week, and one of the most shocking ones came with the reveal of Elden Ring Nightreign by FromSoftware. While the team promised that there wouldn’t be a “true sequel” to its insanely popular title, they apparently weren’t above making a multiplayer-focused entry that would push players in a different way. Unlike in most of its content, FromSoftware has made a title where co-op/multiplayer gameplay is the focus, to the point where it’s doing a network test in February to ensure that things go smoothly. However, if you’re hoping to jump on with your best bud and see what it’s like, you’ll need to hear this key detail.
While chatting with IGN, game director Junya Ishizaki revealed that the game can’t be played in traditional co-op ways. By that, he means you can’t just grab one person and play the game. Instead, you’ll always need a team of three:
“The game is designed to be played as a three-person team, but you can play it as a solo player.”
That will be a bit jarring for many players, as co-op play is often all about two people going at it together, as it’s easier to find a singular co-op partner than sometimes getting, and then relying on, a larger team. So, why did FromSoftware do this? Apparently, the goal was to make it feel like a true “sense of accomplishment” when defeating bosses as a truly unified group:
“The reason that we went with a three-player focus was that 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. And we felt like focusing on a three-player co-op experience would provide a brand new sense of accomplishment with it.”
He’s not wrong in that regard, as this will be a “brand-new sense” of play in certain respects. We don’t know plenty about Elden Ring Nightreign, including the true setting of it within the universe, the kinds of bosses you’ll play, the way you’ll customize your characters, and more. However, one thing that many are already certain of is that the game will be of high quality at launch. After all, that’s what FromSoftware does. It doesn’t matter if it’s a full game or DLC; the team brings its best every time. Thus, this game should be no exception.