Elden Ring Nightreign is the first multiplayer-focused game From Software has created and the first game directed by Junya Ishizaki, who was previously battle designer on Elden Ring. At a glance, it looks like Elden Ring repurposed for a quick-turnaround spinoff, but under the hood there’s a lot more going on than you might think. We recently got a few hours of hands-on time with Elden Ring Nightreign, which releases in May, and came away keen to play more.
Following the hands-on session, we got to talk to Ishizaki about the game and some of the interesting design decisions implemented to make sure that it still looks, feels, and plays like a From Software title.
GameSpot: The first thing that stuck out to me was the style of play is very different from what I expected. I always approach From Software titles with a methodical and slow style. When I started playing this game, everything felt like it was in fast-forward so it felt very unnatural for a little while. Is that [impact on longtime fans] something that you thought about when designing the game?