Summary
FromSoftware has certainly been milkingElden Ringdry with how much it has invested into the IP ahead of a true sequel. AfterElden Ringproved to be a critical success to the point of beatingGod of War Ragnarokin the race for Game of the Year, it received the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, which quickly went down in history as thebest video game DLCof all time. Now, the ambitious spin-off,Elden Ring Nightreign, has finally arrived, with a brand-new take on the Soulslike formula that not many could have predicted would ever be a real thing. Nevertheless, it marks the third game in theElden Ringfranchise, and there isn’t even anElden Ring 2yet.
What’s so weird aboutElden Ring Nightreignversus Shadow of the Erdtree, however, is that the former is a spin-off and the latter a DLC, yet they feel like they might have stolen the other’s role.Elden Ring Nightreignis technically a spin-off that offers a distinct gameplay experience and doesn’t require players to ownElden Ringto play it. Shadow of the Erdtree, on the other hand, expands on the originalElden Ringrather than functioning as a standalone title. Even so, it almost feels like the two should have swapped places on account of what they actually offer.
Elden Ring Nightreign’s Label Fits Shadow of the Erdtree Better Than Itself
Shadow of the Erdtree Carried the Weight of a Full Game
When it launched, Shadow of the Erdtree turned out to be a massive surprise. It was likely that not manyElden Ringfans expected it to be the substantial and high-quality experience that it was, but it was nonetheless. In every way,Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLCtook what the base game did so well and kicked it up a hundred notches, to the point that it felt like an entirely different experience, despite technically being a DLC that merely expanded the base game.
What’s so weird aboutElden Ring Nightreignversus Shadow of the Erdtree, however, is that the former is a spin-off and the latter a DLC, yet they feel like they might have stolen the other’s role.
Somehow, Shadow of the Erdtree carried the weight of a full game, and not just in its length. It can take players upwards of 50 hours or more to complete everything there is to do in the DLC, but even more than that, Shadow of the Erdtree introduced a vast new location filled with new environments, bosses, weapons, and spells, fresh progression mechanics revolving aroundScadutree Fragments, and a self-contained narrative to boot. In short, it delivered far more than many fans were likely expecting, and that’s why it went on to become the highest-rated DLC of all time.
Nightreign Feels More Like an Add-On
Elden Ring Nightreign, on the other hand, currently feels like a far cry from what Shadow of the Erdtree was and still is. For all intents and purposes,Elden Ring Nightreignis a boss rushwith somewhat shallow lore that doesn’t quite reach the complexity of its predecessors, and its mechanics are so straightforward, simple, and repetitive, that it’s possible for players who spend enough time with it to eventually turn off their brains and drone on through the content. Add to that a world that isn’t meant to be explored but simply trampled on, andElden Ring Nightreignmisses an opportunity to be something greater.
More or less, this makesElden Ring Nightreignfeel like the DLC that Shadow of the Erdtree supposedly was — an add-on similar toGod of War Ragnarok’s roguelike Valhalla DLC, although even that had more depth than whatElden Ring Nightreignmanages to achieve. This isn’t really a good identity crisis forElden Ring Nightreignto have, but it also doesn’t mean that Shadow of the Erdtree had to be less than it was. It simply means that Shadow of the Erdtree might have beatenElden Ring Nightreignat its own game, and had the two swapped roles at some point, perhaps FromSoftware’s latest would be in a different critical position.
