Elden Ring: Nightreign has roguelike elements, but isn't 'chasing a trend'

Elden Ring: Nightreign will incorporate some roguelike elements, but the director of the game has reassured fans the studio simply isn't "chasing a trend" -- there are reasons for the adjustments of in-game mechanics and gameplay.

In a recent interview with PC Gamer, Elden Ring: Nightreign game director Junya Ishizaki touched on how the latest game from FromSoftware will be different from the other titles the studio has produced. For those that don't know, Nightreign is a multiplayer-focussed title that players will be able to enjoy solo or in a group of three. The title will be "session-based," meaning players will hop in and do a "run" through enemy bosses, collect loot, and rinse and repeat.

At face value this sounds a lot like a roguelike experience, which is extremely popular with titles such as Hades and Deadcells. However, this isn't the case with Nightreign. According to Ishizaki, Nightreign has implemented some roguelike elements but with the goal of condensing down the RPG elements, the exploration, character building and leveling -- "We wanted that to feel like it was all coming together and culminating in a boss fight but in a more concentrated form."

"For this new sense of accomplishment that you wouldn't quite find with Elden Ring or our previous titles, we felt like we needed some new mechanics and some new elements to add into that mix. We've never really held the stance 'let's absolutely not do anything that other companies are doing or not follow any trends.' So we didn't really see this as chasing a trend, but we saw these as interesting elements that could work well within our multiplayer-focused session-based gameplay," said Ishizaki