Is Elden Ring Nightreign inspired by mods? I’m not sure, but it’s certainly a dream come true for Seamless Co-op and randomiser enjoyers

The world can’t get enough of Elden Ring, and neither can FromSoftware apparently, with the announcement of a co-operative roguelite set in a world parallel to the gargantuan RPG’s events during The Game Awards last week: Nightreign.

This year, I replayed Elden Ring for the umpteenth time as I prepared for the DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree. Though, replaying it wasn’t enough to satiate my desire to fell boss after boss, and that’s where Seamless Co-op and randomiser mods eventually came in. Me and my friends geared up — almost ten of us — for what was supposedly going to be the most epic co-op run of all time. You can only imagine how that went.

With a lack of coordination, bosses were respawning mid-fight thanks to others resting at a Site of Grace, and it took us a shameful amount of time to actually go ahead and beat up ol’ Margit. I was drained, which isn’t what you want when stepping through the yellow fog gates of Elden Ring’s first Great Enemy.

Our group immediately grew smaller after that first chaotic session — four of us, then three, and then finally, two remained. As a determined duo who fancied more of a challenge, we decided to randomise just about everything excluding fog gates. Sure enough, our first randomised run in Seamless Co-op was done in a matter of days, though we only had one hurdle left: Malenia.

Malenia was one of the first bosses we encountered, hanging out in the early-game area of Castle Morne, with her health pool suitably scaled down. This didn’t make her any less formidable as we tried to take her down, and we collectively agreed to make Malenia the final boss of the run. That was a mistake, because after a rendezvous with Morgott — in place of the Elden Beast — and returning to Malenia with full builds and overpowered weapons, she was rather underwhelming to fight.

And that’s how yet another randomised Elden Ring run began, one that I am actually yet to finish, as the DLC very quickly caught up with me.

Let’s get back to the point. I’m excited for Nightreign. That’s where this is all going. I’m certainly not alone in that. A co-operative experience of some of Souls’ biggest and best bosses set in a world adjacent to Elden Ring’s events? Not only is it co-operative, but you’re telling me this new game takes the form of a roguelite? Dreams really do come true, I guess. Sign me up and take my money, FromSoftware.

My experience with playing Elden Ring in co-op, with randomly generated items and bosses, was admittedly the most fun experience of Elden Ring I’ve had outside of the first time playing it (something I really wish I could do all over again). So, the fact that a co-op Elden Ring game is actually coming to fruition — with each experience of Nightreign not being the same as the last — without the need for mods or any sort of faffing not only makes me excited for the game itself, but just how many different friends I’ll hopefully be able to experience it all with.

It’s hard not to assume that FromSoftware has, perhaps, looked at fans' demands for co-op and witnessed just how much fun players have had with this, randomisers, and other mods. If that’s the case, then that only makes me more hopeful for Nightreign and FromSoftwares future.