WithElden Ring Nightreignreleasing on May 30th, many fans are curious about the development of a multiplayer-focusedFromSoftware title. More specifically, howElden Ring, the 2022 GOTY-winning single-player game, shifted into a co-op multiplayer, almost battle royale-feeling format.
Souls games have always dabbled in multiplayer. Aspects such asDark Souls 1’smultiplayer werepurposefully asynchronous, with series creator Hidetaka Miyazaki implementing the system to make it feel almost like ghosts occasionally interacted with your world.
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However, with Nightreign, the game was initially and almost exclusively made for three-person co-op; the game was always envisioned for three people, as admitted byNightreign’sdirector, Junya Ishizaki.
In a recentinterview with IGN,Ishizaki described exactly what direction the team at FromSoft gave him to achieve his goal of a fully multiplayer-focused souls-borne title, like advice such as how he shouldn’t hold back from achieving his full vision.
FromSoftware and the entire Souls-Borne series have always reveled in its ability to let developers loose and create something entirely of their own.Although doing so is incredibly risky, it’s an amazing way to allow new ideas to flourish.
Hidetaka Miyazaki, for instance, has always supported getting new directors onto projects such asDark Souls 2. Despite criticism over DS2’s new direction, Miyazaki himselfhas always illustratedhow new ideas can only flourish if a director is truly given all the power to make something entirely their own.
The one that stuck with me and etched into my mind was that a director shouldn’t hold back.
AsNightreigndirector Ishizaki explained in terms of advice, “the one that stuck with me and etched into my mind was that a director shouldn’t hold back… I’d have to be a bit more critical, put a bit more discipline on myself to really take a good look at these things and decide the best way forward for the whole project.”
As a part of this freedom, Ishizaki described how the central purpose of the game was built around this multiplayer facet. He says, “we set out to make this a multiplayer co-op game for three players, balanced for three players, so that was the main focus and it’s at the core ofNightreign.”
Explaining The New Style Of Nightreign’s Gameplay
However, one of the biggest points of interest is howElden Ring, a game built on challenging boss fights and complex combat scenarios based onsplit-second reaction times, has found new life in this multiplayer format.
Ishizaki explains that for “Elden Ring, of course we’re taking a lot of things into account, such as the stages, how the enemies are laid out and designed, and the wide breadth of player builds and equipment as well.So this time, the approach is a little bit different, and we are trying to cater to a fun experience with three people.”
A part of this has been shifting the game’s design to work for three players, all exploring a world simultaneously. Ishizaki describes that becauseNightreign“is built around three players, we understand the concerns of those solo players, but essentially, a lot of the time inNightreign, you will be acting and behaving on your own.”
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This means that, although the game is co-op focused, players will, in many ways, have their own agency; branching out while exploring the open world and getting gear and equipment, while sticking close together when it comes time tofight a boss, or face a big challenge.
However, this means that the tough and challenging bosses of the souls-borne series need a bit of a touch-up. As explained in the interview,many bosses “have been tuned and balanced for party play, for solo, for three play co-op.”
But although the stages are tuned for whatever situation you find yourself in, that doesn’t meanNightreignis still a piece of cake, as"you don’t get a lot of room to breathe" whereas “in Elden Ring where you have a lot of time to build up and go back to a boss.”
If you’re still interested in details surroundingNightreign’sdevelopment, and extra information such as what post-game content is included, we highly recommend checking out thefull interview. Otherwise, stay tuned for more details whenNightreignreleases later this month.
Elden Ring Nightreign
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