The trailer for Elden Ring Nightreign which was released during Thursday’s Game Awards doesn’t really explain what’s going on. It starts with overhead shots of a world that looks a bit like The Lands Between if it were missing its giant golden tree, and then spends the next three minutes showing things that just weren’t possible in it Elden Ring. Characters fight bosses in the open world, fly over lava on ghostly eagles, and – wait – was that a grappling hook?

Yes, that’s a total sticking point, according to PC Gamer and IGN’s hands-on previews. Elden Ring Nightreign has eight heroes to choose from and one of them has the ability to move towards enemies to trigger an explosion that deals tons of damage. You read that right: This is a spin-off adventure where you don’t create your own character. Instead, there are multiple heroes to play as and ways to improve their unique abilities over time.

Elden Ring Nightreign it’s not about fighting your way to another throne; It’s about surviving three nights with your friends in an ever-changing realm of known and unknown monsters. You could even call it a cooperative, running-based roguelike set on a random map that looks a lot like Limgrave. Elden Ring‘s opening area. According to PC Gamer, each session lasts about 30 minutes, as long as you don’t get swallowed up by a dangerous ring that surrounds you like a battle royale.

You start each run at level 1 and collect runes to boost all of your stats at once, similar to the Scadutree Blessing system Shadow of the Earth Tree. Camps, caves and crumbling ruins will be your sources of loot, but what you find changes every time. Enemy placement also changes, and if you fall, your teammates can revive you. It will be difficult to prepare before the sun goes down and one of the game’s bosses shows up and blocks your progress.

It wouldn’t be a FromSoft game if dying didn’t hurt. If your teammates don’t reach you in time, you’ll respawn nearby and lose all your runes and a level. Both PC Gamer and IGN make it seem like this isn’t as bad as it sounds considering how quickly you collect runes, but it can certainly result in the party being completely wiped out and the run prematurely is ended. For this reason, you may prefer to play with friends rather than random players. Although Nightreigns The focus is on the co-op mode. FromSoft hasn’t come up with anything better than setting up a shared multiplayer password to play with your friends. The seamless co-op mod spoiled me.

There are lots more details in the PC Gamer and IGN articles, like how each hero works and what cool combos you can pull off with your allies. But none of them explain why Dark Souls bosses are in the trailer. I know I’m not the only one who saw all the cameos Dark Souls 3. Who does FromSoft think it’s fooling with this hooded lady wearing the mask? This is my firekeeper. That’s just what the press release says Night Reign takes place in “a universe parallel to the events of Elden Ring“And the knowledge fanatic in me really wants to know more.

Elden Ring Nightreign will be released in 2025 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and PC.