I Think Elden Ring Nightreign’s Reward System Has a Huge Problem

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In “Elden Ring Nightreign,” FromSoftware is venturing beyond its usual territory by experimenting with a fresh concept – adapting the combat system from Elden Ring as the base for a cooperative roguelike game. As this is their debut in the widely appreciated genre, it was not surprising that they didn’t nail everything perfectly. Nevertheless, “Nightreign” has become another successful title by the studio, providing an exhilarating co-op experience where players can continuously battle bosses while striving to endure each run. However, “Nightreign” falls slightly short of perfection due to certain issues in its management of loot and rewards – a crucial element in the roguelike gameplay loop.

Warning: Spoilers below for Elden Ring Nightreign

In the world of roguelikes, various styles exist, but they all share a common structure: a run-driven system where players gather randomly selected prizes to boost their resilience as each subsequent challenge grows more treacherous. If a player dies, they have to start over from scratch. However, there’s progression along the way to keep things interesting. Some games like “Vampire Survivors” ramp up the difficulty as time passes, while others like “Slay the Spire” make enemies tougher as you ascend the main tower. Regardless of their unique mechanics, roguelikes always present players with significant decisions that can either lead to an easier win or a hard-fought defeat.

Talking about the unpredictable treasures and perks in each playthrough, there are two main approaches commonly seen in roguelites, each capable of producing exceptional, genre-reshaping games. For example, The Binding of Isaac demonstrates a loot system that is completely randomized. In every play session, you never know what enhancements (or setbacks) you’ll discover, making each fresh try unique. However, all rewards are inherently beneficial, and although some items work better together than others, they will all provide an advantage to some extent. Therefore, while The Binding of Isaac is fully randomized, the thrill of uncovering new loot remains exciting because even minor upgrades bring you closer to success.

As a dedicated fan, I’d rephrase that as follows: In contrast to Supergiant Games’ Hades, where the odds of obtaining specific Boons, or character upgrades, can be influenced by your previous choices, Elden Ring Nightreign offers a completely randomized reward system. If you choose rooms that grant a particular God’s Boon in Hades, you’ll notice an increased chance of finding the same deity again. This is crucial for Hades because it features multiple weapons, each with its unique playstyle, which benefit more from specific upgrades. Moreover, rarer rewards only become available after collecting certain minor rewards, and some Boons even require others to be obtained first before they can appear in the random pool. However, each run of Hades remains unique, but the rewards are semi-randomized to balance out the increased complexity of combat. In comparison, Elden Ring Nightreign’s combat is significantly more intricate, yet it employs a system where every reward is randomly determined with no influence from previous choices.

Elden Ring Nightreign Reward System Is the Game’s Most Unsatisfying Aspect

In Elden Ring’s Nightreign, there are three primary methods to grow stronger and boost both resilience and damage. The first method is through leveling up, which naturally enhances the statistics linked with your class’s strengths. For instance, the Raider, a melee warrior designed for frontline combat, sees greater improvements in Vigor and Strength compared to other classes, resulting in more health points than usual and the ability to deal stronger blows with massive weapons. On the other hand, the Recluse, the team’s mage, experiences a larger increase in Mind, significantly expanding her FP bar. This straightforward level-up system ensures that each playable character enhances its core abilities as the game progresses, and all it requires is pressing a button at a Site of Grace to convert runes into levels. This process is automatic, so there’s no decision involved on the player’s part.

In Elden Ring Nightreign, players have the ability to shape their character’s build by the loot they discover scattered across Limveld. Each weapon found comes with a passive ability that remains active as long as it stays in your inventory. This allows players to gather weapons they might not intend to use, solely for the benefit of their passive effect. You can store up to six weapons at a time, and an effective build is achieved by strategically combining different effects. Defeating an enemy with a health bar, whether it’s a boss or a group of enemies, rewards players with a unique item. This reward presents two or three choices, depending on the difficulty of the defeated foe, and you can only choose one. The options could be new weapons or attribute boosts such as increased health or poise.

In Elden Ring Nightreign, although the reward system appears promising initially, it becomes evident as you delve deeper that it has significant flaws. The loot and boss rewards you receive are randomly determined regardless of your character’s class or previous choices. This can lead to situations where you never find a weapon suitable for your build, or worse, defeating a boss only to discover all the reward options are useless. Many times, after investing effort in taking down a boss, you’re left with unhelpful choices that don’t align with your character’s abilities, such as being offered three weapons, each with a passive boost for spell power, when your character doesn’t even use spells — this is not an isolated instance.

In Elden Ring, the Nightreign bosses are designed for high challenge to balance out the destructive capabilities when players team up. This results in bosses having elevated resistance, massive health bars, and hits that can be as powerful as bulldozers. To endure these challenges, you need to gather rewards that complement each other effectively. However, the randomness of the loot distribution often leaves some players underpowered compared to their teammates, resulting in one player carrying another, or being carried, which isn’t enjoyable. Additionally, even though everyone may have similar levels due to shared runes collection, luck plays a significant role in obtaining necessary rewards, leading to runs where no one finds the items needed to keep up with the bosses’ pace, making victory almost impossible.

In most cases, players prefer tough battles against bosses, rather than having them easy due to insufficient relevant loot. Overlooking this by underpowering the fights could lead to an error. When it comes to a roguelike game, either all the rewards should be beneficial or let players make decisions that impact battle results. Finding three options that have no value is disappointing because you’ve wasted effort defeating a boss for a reward unrelated to your character progression. Consequently, the reward system needs improvement to reduce randomness, providing loot suitable for the current team and rewards fitting for each character.

Elden Ring Nightreign is currently available for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, and PS5.

What are your thoughts on the reward system within Elden Ring Nightreign? Feel free to share your opinions in the comments below!

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2025-06-04 17:41