I Love FromSoftware, but Nightreign’s Accessibility Slip-up Hits Hard in 2025

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I Love FromSoftware, but Nightreign’s Accessibility Slip-up Hits Hard in 2025

FromSoftware has always been known for doing things no other developers do, but Elden Ring Nightreign has definitely taken some decisions that are a bit puzzling to us. The game came out yesterday, and while it has sold 2 million copies already, there are already a lot of issues that players are bringing up. Because of this, the game is currently sitting at Mixed reviews on Steam.

Nightreign is currently FromSoftware’s worst-reviewed game on Steam, and most of the reviews aren’t about the quality of the game itself. The main complaints seem to be about the fact that there are a few too many problems in terms of accessibility.

FromSoftware made a few mistakes with Elden Ring Nightreign

As of May 31, Nightreign has a 67% positive rating on Steam, and while that’s not bad, it’s not great either. With more than 20,000 user reviews already in, this means that nearly one-third are negative. And looking at the reviews, most of them aren’t about bugs or performance issues, but about fundamental design choices.

Negatives I’ve seen in reviews for

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Glad I’m going to be playing after some patches

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— Booker DeWitt (@BlueEyedClark)

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Players are calling out the absence of crossplay, no voice chat, forced three-player squads, and a punishing solo experience. FromSoft’s games have always been about their difficulty, but they never intentionally shut the door on accessibility. And because of that, Elden Ring Nightreign feels like a misstep.

And it’s not because the game is bad or anything. The devs clearly had a specific idea in mind for how Nightreign should be played, but gamers are finding that this vision sacrifices too many modern expectations. Features that are so common now that we’ve taken them for granted, like duo matchmaking, basic voice communication, or cross-platform support, are all missing.

The following improvements for solo expeditions will be added to the game:
– The effect “Automatic Revival Upon Defeat”, which allows revival once per night boss battle, will be added to solo expeditions.
– The amount of runes gained will be increased.
Thank you for your support.

— ELDEN RING (@ELDENRING)

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It doesn’t help that the game isn’t that friendly towards solos either. While it is technically playable solo, the design punishes those who try it. Boss fights feel wildly unbalanced, pacing is frantic, and time windows to act are too narrow. And FromSoft has taken this part of the early criticism seriously with a response promising that Patch 1.02, next week, will introduce better balance.

The game itself is good; it just needs a little work

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The root issue is that FromSoftware overlooked how essential certain multiplayer features are in 2025. Not having voice chat in a team-based game is a big problem. The same goes for ignoring crossplay, which has become an industry standard. This is the kind of thing that makes us overlook the positives because co-op is a fundamental part of the game.

Ironically, Nightreign has also been a commercial success so far. With a peak concurrent player count of over 313,000 and 2 million copies sold in one day, it’s clear that the game is very good. But it’s equally clear that Nightreign’s current popularity might not last long if the game doesn’t improve.

The game’s quality isn’t without merit either. The world is stunning, the bosses are inventive, and FromSoft’s signature atmosphere remains intact. But in 2025, accessibility isn’t just about adding options for all players, it’s also about acknowledging how people play games today.

Seamless co-op, voice communication, and crossplay aren’t luxuries anymore; they’re standards. And we hope Elden Ring Nightreign meets them soon.