Nightreign (FromSoft) is not me, and that’s…I was going to say it was ok, but it’s kinda not. I have done a series of A Quick Look at the game, and this is part three in which I listed several negatives about the game. I’m going to continue in that vein, pointing out what is on me and what is on the game (or both).
The last point I made was about the loot, and I want to expound on that a bit more. My M.O. is to follow one of my teammates because everyone is better than I am at this point. I just figured out how to ping on the map, but I rarely pull it out because there is no time. I just try to stay with a teammate, and if I lose them (happens a fair amount of time), I run to one of their pings. I try to spot them on the way, but even if I do, that doesn’t always help. I ‘ll get to that later.
I noticed that my teammates rarely stop to bust through crates with loot or if they do, they rarely pick up shit. And I’ve started to do that as well because the loot is so terrible. I mentioned in the last post how dispiriting it was to get shit that I can’t use–either because it’s not for my chaarcter or it’s too high level for me. Then I have to think about whether I want to take it with me in hopes I’ll reach that level. If it’s a Level 3 or a Level 7, I’ll probably take it with me. Anything higher, and I leave it because no way I’l get past a Level 10. I think you can get up to Level 15, but I have only reached Level 10 once. See, when you die, you lose a level. I think that’s too punishing. The whole death mechanic in general is way too much.
In addition, many of the consumables are just trash. I don’t need boluses for the most part or exalted flesh. I mean, both have their uses, but with very limited inventory, I’m not going to take them over, say, Starlight Shards (refills your flask of FP slowly) or boiled shrimp/crab (boosts defense for something like 30 seconds). You can have six weapons (three on each hand), and the passives work even if you’re not using them. Ther e are four consumable slots unless you buy the item that gives you two more (I want to say). There are plenty of item drops, but 90% of it is trash. I would much prefer less loot, but make each drop better/useful/relevant.
Each Night Lord is weak to a certain element. The first is weak to holy. The meta is to find something that does holy because it makes a big difference. You can look at the map and see where there is church/ruin/cave that is holy, but you are not guaranteed to have one on the map. There are greases you can pick up that add that element to your weapon, but I don’t think they work on staves and seals.
I only played with randos today, trying to do the second boss. It’s weak to poison, and I found a few poison things–but again, I don’t think they can be affixed to a staff or a seal. By the way, I have found a seal that has Black Flame on the RB and Lightning Spear on the RT. That is by far my favorite because both of those are really solid incantations.
Here’s the thing. I am not really enjoying the game. It’s too frenetic and fast-paced for me. If I take four seconds to look through my choices after a defeated boss, I feel guilty that I’m dragging my teammates down.
By the way, that’s one reason I don’t play mulitplayer co-op at all; I feel like I’m a drag on my teammaates. I mean, I am. The best I can do is not fuck up, not die, and revive my teammates if they do die.
Here are the things that are my issues that make the game not fun:
1. I have spatial/depth perception issues
As you might imagine, this makes it hell for me to try to get around the map.I can see where my teammates are, but I can’t figure out how to get to them. I spent one frustration Day One stuck in a mine, and I could not get the fuck out. I was contemplating quitting out because I was so frustrated.
It’s especially bad because of the breakneck speed. If I overshoot something and fall all the way down, then I have to find my way back to the starting point again before even attempting to go where I need to go. I have done this so many times because I’ve misgauged the distance of where I am and where I need to be. Or how to get there. I have died to the fire so many times because I simply can’t figure out the way to get away from it.
This one is on me, obviously, but it’s especially bad in this game.
2. No voice chat
This is probably a good thing with randos, but I do find it easier when I can hear my teammates and one of them is telling me where to go. In a game like this, you need someone to take point, and it’s easier to do this over voice. Today, most of my teammates just did their own thing, which was really frustrating. I tried to follow one or the other, but without them being together, it was kind of pointless.
That’s on the game, and it shows that From still has a way to go with multiplayer.
3. Progress is way too slow for mid players
Look. I don’t pretend to be amazing at From games. I’m decent at the Souls games and at Elden Ring, but I’m shit at the Bloodborne and Sekiro. I didn’t think I’d be good at this game, btu I also didn’t think I’d still be this lost after four days. And my interest has dropped every day. I managed to finish up the first chunk of the Recluse’s Remembrance Quests which gave me her personalized relic. Relics are placed in chalices. You equip three relics before you go on an expedition (run), and hers is quite good.
Which is great beacuse the ones I’ve gotten so far are piddling or not for my character. Again, they should have made it so you get a relic related to the character you chose for the run. These are the little things that really make a difference in a game like this.
This is on the game, and it seems like it would be fairly easy to implement some of the changes.
4. The little things
There are a bunch of little things in the game that would be a nice addition. One, have a way to abandon the run if it’s not going well. There are times when you know early on that it’s not the run. Once, we made it from not the run to almost the run, but not quite. Other times, though, there is just no way it’s going to be a good run. If I die twice, I feel like I might as well give up. But I don’t want to bail on my teammates like that. Funnily enough, the last run I did, one person eiether got disconnected or left, leaving me and one teammate. I followed them around, and we got to the second night boss. Where we died. Which leads me to the next thing.
5. Re-tune the bosses
Oh my goodness. I’m not even talking about the Night Lords, though I will get to them later. I’m talking about the field bosses, especially the ones that end the first two nights. If it was just the boss themselves, that would be one thing. But before each night boss, there are a ton of mid-to-hard ads that are just filler. It really feels like they’re added just to whittle down all your resources before the actual boss–and it’s not enjoyoable in the least.
More tomorrow.