Elden Ring Nightreign's boss fights won't decide its fate

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2022 Elden Ring felt like a culmination of everything developer FromSoftware had created up to that point and combined it Dark souls' Boss fights along Bloodborneis world-building and Sekirois stealth, setting a new standard for every future FromSoft version. Last year Elden Ring: Shadow of the Earth Tree has further cemented that high legacy, and this year Elden Ring Nightreign offers a fascinating, unexpected sequel to the popular IP.

Announced during last year's Game Awards, Elden Ring Nightreign is a project unlike anything FromSoftware has done before. And while boss fights will continue to play a big role Elden Ring NightreignIn the gameplay loop, they are unlikely to be the defining feature of the game, nor the one that will determine the success of the experiment at the end of the day.

Presenting various secret locations (Jarburg, Bestial Sanctum, Abandoned Cave and Lake of Rot) in Elden Ring.

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Elden Ring Nightreign can't just rely on its boss fights

Great boss fights are already expected in a FromSoftware game

One of the biggest highlights of Demon souls And Dark souls were the games' intense, challenging and grandiose boss fights, each presenting a unique challenge to courage and a special setting. FromSoftware quickly established boss battles as a core part of its identity, delivering some of the greatest bosses in gaming BloodborneLady Maria and orphan of Kos, Dark Souls 3's Soul of Cinder and Slave Knight Gael, and SekiroIsshin and Owl.

Of course, FromSoftware's preference for bosses prevailed Elden Ringwith the base game including over 200 individual boss fights. Although many of these bosses reused assets, Elden RingThere were still many standout faces in his squad, including Radahn, Godfrey and the now infamous Malenia. Elden RingThe Shadow of the Earthtree expansion delivered another onslaught of satisfying boss fights, adding Rellana, Bayle, and Messmer, among others.

FromSoftware has proven time and time again that it can deliver incredible boss fights, so much so that they have become more of an expectation than a hope for many fans. So while Elden Ring Nightreign With boss encounters taking center stage, they are unlikely to decide the game's fate or distinguish it from its predecessors, as fans have come to expect (fairly or not) a certain level of quality from the developer's boss fights.

Elden Ring Nightreign will live and die by its new mechanics

Instead, it will be much more likely Elden Ring NightreignThe bold new features will determine the game's reception. According to some previews after the game's reveal a month ago, Elden Ring Nightreign is essentially a roguelike game with some battle royale and hero shooter mechanics thrown in for good measure.

The beginning of Elden Ring NightreignIn the general gameplay loop, players select one of eight predetermined classes, each with unique equipment, a specific passive ability, an active ability, and even an ultimate ability. Players will then join two allies and the team of three will come together together in a procedurally generated version of Limgrave.

Players must clear enemy camps and defeat bosses as quickly as possible as the map's boundaries shrink over the course of 40 minutes or three days of play. Defeating bosses rewards players with Marks, a new type of currency that allows them to purchase relics between runs that provide permanent stat boosts.

Although Elden Ring Nightreign has the name and look of a traditional FromSoftware experience, its gameplay loop is unlike anything the studio has done before, and it will be these new interweaving systems that, more than any boss fight within, will determine how fans feel about the Think game.

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