One of the most popular features of Elden Ring and Dark Souls will be cut from Elden Ring Nightreign

Announced at The Game Awards 2024, the co-op roguelike action game Elden Ring Nightreign from FromSoftware includes many familiar elements from the games in the series, but one of the most recognizable mechanics of Elden Ring will not be in the project.

Image source: Steam

Nightreign development lead Junya Ishizaki confirmed in an interview with Japanese IGN that the game will not feature the custom message system that debuted in Demon’s Souls and was popularized by Dark Souls.

«The reason we abandoned the message system is that in a 40-minute session there is no time to write your messages and read others,” Ishizaki explained.

Elden Ring Nightreign users will still be able to observe the ghosts of other players

According to Ishizaki, with Elden Ring Nightreign the team set out to create a concentrated RPG where users will have ups and downs. For this reason, each session unfolds over three in-game days.

Ishizaki also confirmed that defeated enemies in Elden Ring Nightreign will not be able to respawn during the match (even after the player rests at places of grace), and ashes will be implemented differently than in the main game.

Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki was involved in the creation of Nightreign, but only before the initial concept was developed

«A spin-off of Elden Ring, Nightreign is a very exciting game that will keep gamers engaged. It will give a sense of achievement and joy that was missing in previous games,” Ishizaki said.

Elden Ring Nightreign will be released in 2025 on PC (Steam), PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S. In February, closed network testing will take place on current generation consoles (registration will open on January 10).