Elden Ring Nightreign: The Most Anticipated Feature Falls Short

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So, here we go — Elden Ring Nightreign. Honestly, it’s got this whole vibe of tipping its hat to those old FromSoftware games, almost like it’s saying, “Hey, remember this?” It’s doing this wild mash-up of Roguelike and Soulslike, which I guess shouldn’t work but somehow does. It’s like when you throw all your leftovers together and accidentally create something incredible. Somehow, it stands on its own, not just lurking in Elden Ring’s shadow. Weirdly impressive, right?

Anyway — no, wait — the big selling point was all those rehashed Dark Souls bits. You remember those, right? We were all hyped when the promos came out. FromSoftware usually doesn’t play that game of looking back. So, seeing bosses like Nameless King pop up felt like an old inside joke meant for the die-hard fans. But, let’s be real, once the cheers faded, some of it—most of it, actually—kind of fell flat. Not what you’d expect from all the hype, and that’s putting it kindly.

Those Dark Souls bosses in Nightreign — ugh, mixed bag if you ask me. Sure, seeing Nameless King again was a cool nostalgia hit. That fight? Still pretty epic and flies straight into Nightreign like it belongs there, same for Dancer of the Boreal Valley. They’re not perfect fits, a bit slow maybe, but they get the job done with style. Almost feels like they added a bit of extra zing to their moves too, which is nice. It’s a familiar, comfy kind of chaos.

But here’s the kicker — some of these bosses, just no. Smelter Demon especially. Like, what’s it doing here? So out of sync, like someone singing the wrong song at karaoke. Sure, they tried tweaking them, but it’s like they’re relics from a forgotten era of gaming when things moved… slower. Gaping Dragon? More like Gaping Obstacle Course. It has this awkwardness like it hasn’t adjusted to the fast lane of Elden Ring. And don’t even get me started on Centipede Demon. It just kind of looms around, not really doing much besides soaking up damage.

And another thing — the boss selection? Seriously puzzling. Instead of bringing back crowd-pleasers like Ornstein and Smough, they chose these misfits. Seeing them again is cool for about, oh, two seconds until the battle really starts. Then it’s clear they’re not pulling their weight compared to new bosses. Even though it’s nice slicing Gaping Dragon’s tail again — a total throwback moment — most of the time it’s obvious they belong in the past, behind that proverbial glass display.

So there you have it. Nightreign’s whole callback strategy was solid in theory, but the execution, man, was kind of all over the place. It’s a curious mix of celebrating history and reminding us why we left some things behind.