Elden Ring Nightreign's DLC Bosses Should Have Some Deep…

The reveal of Elden Ring Nightreign predictably caused a lot of excitement and discussion among fans of FromSoftware, with the upcoming project shaping up to be one of the most unique releases to come from the successful studio. As the first FromSoftware spin-off title, Nightreign possesses some core game mechanics that go completely against the usual Soulsborne formula, although the game pays respect to past games in one key way.

A lot of the early information about Elden Ring Nightreign has been centered around the game's approach to boss fights, as well as the way it heavily pushes players into multiplayer gameplay. Nightreign will feature a wide range of bosses from previous FromSoftware titles, especially the Dark Souls franchise, yet the studio should not be afraid to lean into bosses from other past projects to bolster its post-launch support.

Elden Ring Nightreign: 7 New Features To Look Out For

With Elden Ring Nightreign set to release sometime in mid-2025, these are all the new features being added to reshape the Elden Ring experience.

Posts

By Matthew Whitehurst

The Sky is the Limit For Elden Ring Nightreign's Future Bosses

Elden Ring Nightreign offers a fascinating blend of traditional grueling FromSoftware combat alongside multiplayer battle-royale elements, with players being encouraged to play in groups of three for PvE exploration in a gradually shrinking map based on Elden Ring's Limgrave. With a focus on fast-paced replayability, Nightreign runs are centered around the survival of three day/night cycles, with each night being marked by an increasingly difficult boss battle taken straight from past FromSoftware titles.

The final task of a Nightreign run sees players face off against the Night Lord, with the successful defeat of this powerful boss granting players coveted permanent boosts that make up the bulk of Nightreign's replayability factor.

Gameplay footage for Elden Ring Nightreign has already confirmed the appearances of past bosses like the original Dark Souls' Centipede Demon, Dark Souls 2's The Duke's Dear Freja, and even Dark Souls 3's The Nameless King. As expected, a wide range of Elden Ring bosses are also confirmed for a triumphant return in Nightreign, with fans once again facing off against the likes of Draconic Tree Sentinels, Godskin Nobles, Ancient Dragons, and Margit, the Fell Omen.

It has already been confirmed that Nightreign sadly will not feature bosses from Bloodborne or Demon's Souls due to licensing agreements with Sony as opposed to Bandai Namco. While it is a shame that the memorable boss pools of these titles will likely never appear in Elden Ring Nightreign, this clear precedent for what games are eligible for boss appearances in Nightreign begs the question of how Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice bosses could fit in the upcoming game.

Sekiro Bosses in Nightreign Would Face Fewer Issues Than Bloodborne and Demon's Souls Bosses

While it was Activision that published Sekrio for western markets, FromSoftware still retains control over the IP, unlike its Sony-published ventures, meaning the bosses of Sekiro have the same feasibility of appearing in Nightreign as those from Elden Ring and the Dark Souls trilogy. Though it might be too cluttered to feature bosses from so many different games at launch for Nightreign, some well-chosen Sekiro bosses could make perfect post-launch additions to the title, with extra bosses already being confirmed as DLC options for Nightreign.

Of course, the vast majority of Sekiro's bosses are centered around the game's unique parrying system which is not present in the Elden Ring-inspired combat of Nightreign, but there are still a few bosses from the 2019 title that could easily translate over to Nightreign without feeling too out of place. Sekiro bosses like the Guardian Ape or Demon of Hatred could actually fit quite well into the chaos of Nightreign's three-player combat, providing even more variety within a title that is effectively a love letter to the distinct styles and history of FromSoftware's many past projects.