Elden Ring Nightreign guides the spirit of a forgotten God of War game
Blog Andrew Joseph 19 Feb , 2025 0
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I saw the first round of network testing this past weekend Elden Ring Nightregthe upcoming indie multiplayer stands out from Software's Magnum Opus. Unlike last year’s Erdtree DLC’s shadow, the dance party resembles only the name and appearance of Elden Ring, trading the open-world structure of its parents’ games in a simplified survival format where the three-player team must gradually shrink. Map, by gradually reducing the map, you can fight a group of enemies. And increasingly challenging bosses. This design undoubtedly shows that developers are inspired by the very popular Fortnite – no surprise, considering Epic's Battle Royale was enjoyed by no less than 200 million players this month alone.
But the stage is more similar to another game, one that is almost less famous and less liked: 2013 God of War: Promotion. That's a good thing.
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Released between the 2010 God of War 3 and 2018 Nordic Flavor Restart, it was a prequel before the original Greek mythology trilogy, in which Kratos attempted to be a businessman who was about to become a pre-order. When Aries broke the oath. Unable to live up to the epic ending of the original trilogy and inspire a desire to shake the tested formula, God of War: Ascension is soon known as the franchise Black Sheep. A stunning entree with half-part appetizer.
This is understandable reputation, but it is not fair. Although Kratos' confrontation with Furies obviously did not reach the same height as Zeus's five-stage battle, this split prequel still has some really jaw-dropping kits carved into the skin and bones of the fixed 100-arm giant. But, more importantly, Aspension is worth mentioning, too, as it tried something that the franchise had never done before, and has not since: multiplayer.
As you walk through the damn prison in Ascension's story, you encounter a locked NPC who releases a premature “You saved me!” before being crushed by a level boss. Once you have reached this in your campaign, turn on multiplayer mode and you will find that the same NPC is now your player character. After being teleported to Olympus for a few seconds before you die, you must be loyal to one of the four gods – Zeus, Poseidon, Black Earth or Aries – each god will give you a unique weapon, armored fragments and magic attacks. These are your tools to start a war with five different multiplayer modes, four of which are competitive PVPs.
In the fifth mode, the judgment of the gods is a cooperative pve. And basically Elden Ring Nightreign.
Preview of the game released before the web tests before the web tests, released by famous “Soulsborne” YouTubers like Vaatiyvidya and Iron Pineapple IGN coveragethe similarities between Fortnite (such as Fortnite)’s latest and live service games have been revealed. Just like these games, Nightreign offers cocktails of random loot, resource management and environmental hazards that can damage players’ health and limit their areas of sports, making them more challenging as they move on. Nightreign even revered for Fortnite's most iconic image, allowing players to rise from the sky to level and be collected by Spirit Birds to their chosen position.
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You can't find any “Where do we fall?” action in “God of War: Ascension”, but beyond the combat-like surface of Gitrenig, you'll find a more common stance. Nightreign and Ascension’s judgment on the Gods mode are both cooperative experiences, in which two or more teams face increasingly powerful enemies. Both give players an unexpected but welcome opportunity Take over the boss in the gamewhether it is Hercules of God of War 3 or the nameless king from Dark Souls 3. Both have a countdown (although the countdown of the rise can be paused by defeating enemies), and both are done on small or shrinking maps. Both are multiplayer games developed by studios, known for their elaborate single-player experiences, and are unsupervised series creators. Elden Ring Regorion Hidetaka Miyazaki is working on an unknown project, and David Jaffe, Cory Barlog and Stig Asmussen, directors of the original God of War trilogy, all left the opportunity elsewhere in Sony Santa Monica while writing Ascension.
Most importantly, Nightreign seems to have the same reaction as Aspension's judgment on the gods. Those who take the FromSoftware network test always describe their run as a crazy and exciting game. Contrary to the relatively comfortable atmosphere of the base game, players are able to respond to each situation in a variety of ways to improve pace and limit their resources – limit, Tykividya's words“Made in the name of speed and efficiency”. For example, to make up for the lack of torrent, players can now guide their inner spirit horses, able to run faster and jump higher.
Ascension's multiplayer game also tunes its single player blueprint for tighter rhythms, even using a technique similar to the one Nightreign uses: it improves players' running speed, expands jumps, automated parkours, and for them Provides a gripper that can be used to pull objects towards them (Nightreign's Wylder character also uses a kind of mechanic). A new move like this is lifeguard, because while the battle itself is not difficult – and the franchise is a fantasy of power and everyone, the judgment of the gods will bring you so many enemies that every Seconds are important. As a result, you and your teammates find yourself running around like a hungry wolf or a terminator, or, Kratoses, kratoses, hacking and cutting troops without the ruthlessness.
Nightreign's similarity to Ascension is unexpected, not only because the latter is forgotten, but also because the soul-like genre Elden Ring is essentially an initial part because of the complete opposition of God of War's God of War. In a place where you pretend to be a warrior so powerful that you can kill the literal god, the other side turns you into an unknown, accused undead, even ordinary enemies, to form a stake in it. Quite a big challenge. One rarely displays its game on the screen, and the other rarely beats you with it until you start crying, laughing and crying.
However, as fans “get good”, this challenge has increased, thus causing a hugely intense challenge in the game that was just beginning, developers have given them better weapons and spells, and ultimately Combined among the numerous broken game buildings, these versions have been blending together since. Elden Ring is launched. Without these builds, Nightreign promises to reintroduce a level of challenges. Meanwhile, those who do become kind will be able to enjoy the same God of War: The Ascension: The chance to feel like a vengeful Spartan.
Tim Brinkhof is a freelance writer specializing in art and history. After studying journalism at NYU, he continued to write for Vox, Vulture, Slate, Polygon, GQ, Esquire, and more