Like many gamers, I’ve been playing FromSoftware stuff for a long time now, dating all the way back to Demon’s Souls on PS3 over 15 years ago. When Elden Ring came on the scene back in 2022, it was a very solid culmination of years of refinement of Miyazaki’s “souls” formula brought to a new(ish) IP to great success.

When Nightreign was first announced, I was skeptical about the entire idea of a Fortnite-inspired Elden Ring spin-off. I mean, I actually thought it was just a DLC until it actually came out. However, after nearly 100 hours on the game, I can faithfully say that Nightreign has become a new favorite of mine for its addictive gameplay loop and fast-paced action.

Fast-paced is the keyword here. From the moment you load into the map, you have what feels like mere moments to accomplish everything you need to accomplish. The basic idea of the game is Elden Ring gameplay and vibes, but with a Fortnite-inspired toxic ring that slowly shuts down the map every few minutes and funnels you toward the boss fight. Starting at level 1 every time, you have this limited amount of time to gain as many levels as possible (maxing at 15), collect as many weapons and buffs as you can, and face the boss with up to 2 of your best friends (or random players–or solo).

Writing this out, it doesn’t sound fun, but it ends up being a frenetic and extremely engaging time where you’re absolutely locked in for every moment. This is ultimately what makes the game so addicting, and you can expect each match to last about 45 minutes from start to finish (if you make it to the end “Nightlord” boss).

Replacing the iconic character creator from Elden Ring is a selection of 8 set characters with unique classes and abilities (plus 2 more if you get the recently released DLC). Each character fills a specific role:

Wylder is a kind of standard warrior type with a small shield and big sword, Recluse is a wizard with a big hat, Guardian (my favorite) is a defensive role with a big shield and a halberd, etc.

Initially I was disappointed at the lack of a customizable character creator, but the game is designed to be fast, simple and broad enough to accommodate the game loop. I do think it would be nice if each archetype class had an ability to customize the character, but at the very least, you can unlock a number of different skins for each one.

My biggest complaint about the game is the relic system, which is basically a gacha gambling roll for a stone that you can equip that gives you some stat-bonuses. The issue with it is that, with 10 characters in the game, you often get stones that are completely irrelevant to you, and there’s very seriously no way to influence what stones you get. Each run through the game rewards you with a handful of them, and they are 100% random. It would be nice to have some kind of crafting system where you can at least combine certain effects to make new stones that you can actually use. As it is right now, the system is more frustrating than anything else.

But that’s a minor gripe to an otherwise strangely addicting Elden Ring romp. It might seem like “SlopSouls,” but Nightreign has weirdly been one of my favorite games of the last year.