Expectations were high after last year’s announcement of Elden Ring Nightreign, the first co-op game in the popular and punishing fantasy world. Nightreign asks groups of three players to survive three days of battles in a land teeming with hulking knights and all manner of monstrosities, concluding with an encounter with the brutally savvy Night Lord.

Thankfully, these weren’t literal 24-hour days. Within the game world, three days last for about an hour. But Nightreign takes a page from Fortnite and other games in the battle royale genre, meaning that players must also contend with a tightening circle of deadly blue flame.

Not knowing precisely what they would encounter, our three critics met in the beautifully grim Lands Between as “seekers of redemption … thrown together by forces beyond our control.” Staying alive until Day 3 would prove to be quite the challenge.

CHRISTOPHER BYRD Forgive me if I’m projecting, but I don’t think any of us were exactly keyed up to play Nightreign. When I saw the reveal trailer, I couldn’t help but think of it as a minor project meant to round out FromSoftware’s portfolio. Even now, it’s hard for me to see it as little more than a Fortnite-esque, multiplayer rehash of what the company has done before. Still, I acknowledge how well the studio has tweaked the formula to speed up the monster slaying and make it more conducive to fast-tempo multiplayer sessions. Has the game met your expectations so far, or even exceeded them?

HAROLD GOLDBERG I was looking forward to Nightreign. I hadn’t played Shadow of the Erdtree, the mammoth expansion for Elden Ring that was released last year. But I had put 100 hours into the original game. So I’ve been ready for more. I’m not against the idea of quick matches à la Fortnite because shorter experiences in the Lands Between appeal to me. As a single-player aficionado, however, I still want to explore. Meandering through the lush, odd world of Elden Ring was what kept me coming back. In our initial rounds of Nightreign, we weren’t leveling up, just battling. I suggested that we explore first to increase our odds. Do you think that helped?

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