From Software’s next game will follow in the studio’s tradition and feature characters that will remind us of some of their previous games.

Elden Ring: Nightreign will have eight pre-defined characters to choose from. There will be no character creator this time. The Duchess, for example, brings a lot of Bloodborne style with her quick side-step and backflip jump. She is fragile, has low HP, but moves much faster than her counterparts. There will also be a character that will remind us of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice! Junya Ishizaki, the game’s director, spoke to PCGamer about this:

“One that you might have seen in the trailer that will be in the final game is an archer archetype, with ranged attacks with a bow and arrow. They have an enhanced targeting system for players who are more into the shooter, TPS style of gameplay. Another one we can talk about is inspired by the distraction mechanic that appeared in the Elden Ring DLC. We hope that players who enjoy the more intense, one-on-one style of deflect-based combat will get a kick out of this [character],” said Ishizaki, who told IGN that there will also be a summoner who uses a spiritual friend in combat. The Japanese studio won’t be taking inspiration from Armored Core, will they?

Bandai Namco announces on the game’s website that the Elden Ring: The Nightreign network test will take place in February, and you can sign up for it starting on January 10th. So after Dark Souls 2, Dark Souls 3, and Elden Ring, we’ll be able to participate in the pre-launch test again, which could be about 2-6 months before launch. In the case of Elden Ring, the network test limited access to the starting zone, Limgrave, and there was a lot of powerful equipment that wasn’t available to players until much later in the final game. This allowed the Japanese studio to focus on balancing and player feedback, which From Software will likely use again in the spin-off. Presumably, the entire map will be open, but important elements (the meta, character progression, dynamic changes, most of the enemies and bosses) will probably be left out or half-finished in the game, and data miners will discover them anyway.

Hopefully Elden Ring: Nightreign, coming next year for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, will be of similar quality to the base game (but it will be a standalone title, so no need to buy Elden Ring!).

Source: PCGamer