This structure fits Nightreign’s roguelike nature perfectly. You’ll play the same map repeatedly, but switching characters gives each run a new purpose. You can track progress in your journal at the Roundtable Hold or pause a Remembrance whenever you want and return to it later. It’s surprisingly flexible for a FromSoft title and helps make every run feel like it’s moving something forward, even if you die early.

Still, the narrative is lighter than expected. Dialogue is often brief, and some Remembrance missions are little more than boss fights with a follow-up journal note. That works for a faster-paced co-op game, but those expecting rich, dense storytelling might find it underwhelming by FromSoft standards. Those who love it will be engaged with the few hidden unlocks and secrets to find. For a game built around speed and replayability, it’s a smart, digestible way to tell character-driven stories without slowing the action.

The world is built for this faster progression and smart risk-reward choices. You’ll want to detour for churches that grant extra healing flask charges, loot-heavy ruins, or dungeons guarded by tough minibosses with powerful gear. These landmarks make every route feel strategic, especially in the early hours when you’re still learning the ropes.

To try to keep things new, the game mixes up what’s inside these landmarks each session. Points of interest generally stay in the same spots, but the contents of wizard towers, castles, and ruins rotate. You’ll also encounter environmental events like lava pits, cursed fog, or Scarlet Rot-infested areas thanks to the “Shifting Earth” system. One run might have you dodging lightning mages in the centre compound, the next wading through a darkness brought on by a curse.

But at the end of the day, the core map doesn’t change that much. Once you’ve done a few runs, it becomes easy to know what to target first and how. That’s great for mastering the flow, but it risks turning later runs into muscle memory. Advanced players will have their routes optimised quickly. Without additional maps or major terrain shifts, the replayability could wear thin over time. Nightreign nails the roguelike structure early on, but it just needs a few more surprises.

Every character can wield almost any weapon, but their stats and skills make certain builds better than others. Wylder, the classic knight, feels tankier and slower, but has a grappling hook skill that lets him zip into fights. Meanwhile, the Guardian is the team’s support tank, with an AOE divebomb ultimate that can revive fallen teammates. If timed right, it turns a wipe into a win.

Loot and loadouts are where Nightreign leans into its roguelike roots. Weapons and gear drop from chests and enemies with classic colour-coded rarity of common, rare, epic, and legendary. You can hold up to six weapons at once, and each has passive effects that you can stack, from healing on hit to longer evasion after dodging. Building synergy is where the magic happens. One run, I found a staff that healed me with every spell and matched it with a Rune that boosted magic recovery. It felt like I’d broken the game in the best possible way.

Speaking of Runes, they form the backbone of each run’s build. Before every expedition, you can select a loadout of three Runes at the Roundtable Hold. These are modifiers you unlock across runs, and they range from boosting HP and flask potency to triggering damage buffs on perfect dodges. Some feel standard, others wildly specific, but finding synergies between your Runes, character skill, weapon drops, and Ultimate Art is where the real strategy lies.

All bosses are varied and well-designed, often revising classic Souls enemies with new mechanics or co-op-oriented patterns. I was genuinely thrilled when my Day 2 boss turned out to be none other than The Duke’s Dear Freja from Dark Souls II. A clear nod to longtime fans. FromSoftware has sprinkled in more than a few moments of fan service, and Nightreign is a true celebration of Souls-like boss fights.

Throwing three-player co-op into these battles makes boss fights exciting every single time. You’ll be pinging locations, syncing ultimates, and reviving teammates by landing melee hits mid-fight. When your Guardian lands a clutch divebomb to bring back two downed allies, or your Duchess doubles a massive bleed ailment that melts a boss’s health bar, it’s clear how well Nightreign is built for team-based chaos.

Visually, Nightreign is a remix of familiar parts from Elden Ring, but it still finds ways to stand out. The storm-wracked realm of Limveld pops with eerie mountains in the distance, blood-soaked plains, and dark dungeons lit by torchlight. It might be a reimagined map, but there are still moments that look genuinely cool, especially when you’re mid-boss fight and the atmosphere shifts around you.

Character and boss design are a highlight. Each Nightfarer has a distinct look and vibe, from heavy-armoured bruisers to nimble spellcasters, and their animations match their personalities perfectly. Even their dodges are distinctly different, demonstrating the attention to detail. Bosses are just as wild and grotesque as you’d expect from FromSoft, with giant spiders, molten wolves, and disturbing humanoid horrors. All are illustrated with the close attention you’d expect.

While has new tracks from Shoi Miyazawa, Soma Tanizaki, Yula, Kitamura and Tai Tomisawa, it does reuse Elden Ring score or at least parts. The music takes a more ambient approach and still lands during the big moments. Audio feedback is solid too, weapon swings, magic bursts, and monster screams all hit with the same weight. Voice acting for each character is mostly limited to a few lines of dialogue with a few exceptions, but fitting performances match the tone. The overall audiovisual package is essentially the same, if not nearly identical, to Elden Ring.