Elden Ring: Nightreign director Junya Ishizaki has revealed that the map present in the game will often get changed depending on the in-game situation. In an interview with PCGamer (via GamesRadar), Ishizaki stated that these changes will be large-scale, even allowing things like entirely new biomes to appear.
Talking about this, Ishizaki said that the map of the game will sometimes feature “large-scale changes to terrain in the form of procedurally appearing volcanos or swamps or forests.”
Expanding on the idea, Ishizaki said that this comes down to offering players more options in how they take on the game’s various bosses. Elden Ring: Nightreign has been seemingly designed in a way where players will start seeing the entire world as a massive dungeon, complete with new surprises and choices to make.
“We wanted the map itself to be a giant dungeon, so players have the chance to traverse and explore a different way every time they play,” said Ishizaki. “You have to choose the boss you want to face at the end of the third day.”
“Once you’ve made that choice, maybe you have an idea of how you want to strategize against that boss, and this might change how you approach the map. We wanted to offer players that agency, to decide ‘I need to go after a poison weapon this time to face this boss.'”
Elden Ring: Nightreign was originally unveiled back in December 2024. Rather than being an expansion like Shadow of the Erdtree, Nightreign is instead a standalone game that takes place in The Lands Between. The unique twist this time around is that it has been designed with co-op in mind, allowing players to take on various bosses as a team.
The core gameplay in Nightreign is expected to be similar to what we got to experience in the seminal Elden Ring, and players will have several tools and options that will help them make their own unique characters. There will also be new tools, however, such as a grappling hook that can be used in combat, and even a glider.
Interestingly, Nightreign will seemingly feature a vast roster of bosses that will tap into developer FromSoftware’s history as well. The studio had confirmed back in December that Nightreign will feature boss fights from the Dark Souls series. While the studio didn’t confirm exactly which bosses will be coming, fans have spotted The Nameless King and Stormdrake from Dark Souls 3, something that bears a resemblance to Dark Souls‘ Centipede Demon.
Elden Ring: Nightreign is coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. The game doesn’t yet have a release date, but recent rumours have indicated that it is on track for a May 2025 launch. There is also a rumoured Sony State of Play event to take place this week, where we might see the announcement of a concrete release date.
For more details about Elden Ring: Nightreign, ranging from its central premise to its playable characters, here are 10 details we’ve learned about it.
