FromSoftware’s Elden Ring Nightreign presents a daring cooperative play, a departure from the studio’s customarily single-player-centric approach. The game, intended primarily for three-player groups, submerges players in the treacherous world of Limveld, where they must endure a three-day cycle with ever-mounting perils. Solo gameplay is possible, but through mechanisms and scaling to difficulty, Nightreign reinforces its trio-based cooperation focus.
Fundamentally, Nightreign is designed as a three-player expedition. Each of the players chooses from a list of pre-defined heroes, e.g., the tough Guardian or the nimble Duchess, each with their own set of abilities that complement each other in combat. The game’s system of progression, random maps, and adaptive boss battles is specifically designed around this three-player format to encourage strategic teamwork and cooperative victories.
Does Elden Ring Nightreign Support Duos?
In spite of the cooperative nature of the adventuring game, Nightreign does not currently support two-player parties. Players trying to venture out together as a pair will be found unable to start a session unless they engage in single-player mode. This feature has been a source of grievance from the community, particularly from those wanting to get into playing the game with just one buddy.
In an interview, game director Junya Ishizaki acknowledged this oversight, stating, “The simple answer is that this is something that was simply overlooked during development as just a two-player option, so we’re very sorry about that.” He further indicated that the development team is considering post-launch support to address this gap.
The Seamless Co-op Mod
To address the call for duo play, the modding group has answered. One of their significant contributions is the “Seamless Co-op Mod,” crafted by a well-known Soulsborne modder. With the mod, players can avoid the game’s trio requirement and play in pairs or even bigger teams. The mod uses peer-to-peer connections to go around the official matchmaking servers of the game and adds functionality such as persistent sessions and modified respawn mechanics.
Yet, it must be pointed out that this mod so far only supports the PC version of Nightreign. Players on PlayStation and Xbox consoles will have to wait for official updates from FromSoftware for the two-player support.