Elden Ring: Nightreign will be released in 2025 as a standalone game alongside its predecessor Elden Ring and offers a kind of rogue-like with battle royale elements for up to three players. The new title is supposed to capture the flair of Elden Ring. However, fans will have to forgo a special feature.
What feature is it? In the main game of Elden Ring, it was almost considered good form to leave helpful or especially funny notes for other players at various locations in the game. With the help of pre-made text snippets, messages and tips could be placed at appropriate spots.
However, this function also left a lot of room for trolls who left messages to mock other players. For example, notes with the inscription “Hidden path ahead” could be found on various walls or cliffs, intended to mislead other players and create laughter.
This possibility led to a whole bunch of memes and other funny stories in the community (for example via Reddit). Now, developer FromSoftware announced in an interview with IGN that this feature will no longer exist in Elden Ring: Nightreign.
Here you can watch a trailer for Nightreign:
Not enough time to write messages
Why will this feature not exist? As Game Director Junya Ishizaki explained in the interview, the asynchronous messaging system simply did not fit the new game system of Elden Ring: Nightreign. Players simply wouldn’t have the time to leave or read such notes in the short duration of around 30 – 40 minutes that the matches are supposed to last.
Additionally, placing messages within procedurally generated maps makes little sense, as they would disappear after the match. Therefore, the focus would be more on a clearer and faster gaming experience.
Nevertheless, some community features from the main game that contribute to the experience in Elden Ring will still be included. For example, it will also be possible in Nightreign to see where and how teammates died based on bloodstains. Likewise, deceased team members will be visible as ghosts.
In another interview, Junya Ishizaki also addressed a community concern. Players had worried that Nightreign pursues a significantly different gameplay focus than the popular main game. However, in the interview, the Game Director was able to alleviate a major concern: The presentation of the new Elden Ring excites fans at first, but that quickly changes – developers already contradict a major fear
