Elden Ring: Nightreign’s Most Anticipated Feature Falls Short

Summary

Elden Ring Nightreign brings back Dark Souls bosses, but mostly, it’s kinda disappointing. Sure, Nameless King and the Dancer are cool throwbacks, but the rest? Not so much. When you see a boss from Dark Souls 1 or 2, it’s more of a "here we go again" than "wow, awesome!" because the old mechanics just feel — well, old. Especially on your umpteenth playthrough when the charm sort of fades away.

Elden Ring Nightreign, in its weird kinda way, tips its hat to the old FromSoftware glory days. It shoves together Roguelike chaos with Soulslike punishment — bingo! You’ve got something pretty memorable. It’s not trying to be Elden Ring but sorta dances alongside it, you know? Those old-school features were a big part of its hype train, Nightfarers doing stuff that looks oh-so-familiar, like pulling moves straight from the old pages. The direct passporting of Dark Souls bits was a headline thing — FromSoftware keeping their bits n’ pieces tidy and separate in their usual style. But, um, actually, not everything rocked as expected. As the buzz quiets down, there’s a big ol’ gap where the excitement used to be.

Nightreign’s Returning Dark Souls Bosses Are Its Weakest Feature

Okay, it sorta pains me to say this, but — anything with bosses back from Dark Souls ain’t hitting the mark. When the Nameless King dived in during the trailer — oh man, the internet blew up. Fans went bananas — mostly for good reasons. FromSoftware rarely looks back. They’re like, “Hey, check this cool new thing” instead of “Remember that sweet thing we did before?” So seeing Dark Souls stuff wasn’t just a nod; it felt like a high-five for the OG fans.

Dark Souls 3 bosses? Man, they slide right into Nightreign like they belong there. Nameless King does his thing. Dancer of the Boreal Valley too. They’re on the slow side compared to Elden Ring baddies, but they’ve got the chops to handle attacks coming from all angles. It makes you wanna give ‘em a compliment sandwich — dynamic and fun with sprinkles of nostalgia. And hey, not being so complex might actually be their charm, right?

The Older Souls Bosses Just Don’t Work

Now, let’s talk about the others. Smelter Demon and his gang? Meh. New moves are cool and all, but they’re like putting band-aids on a sinking ship. These guys were born in a different era, with brainy game philosophies from back when. They’re just sluggish potato sacks, barely putting up a fight. Gaping Dragon, for instance, waddles around like a clumsy obstacle more than a pulse-raising boss. It belongs in slow, stumbling games, not the fast and furious world of Elden Ring. Centipede Demon has the same clunky missteps, often just standing there like a spooky mannequin.

Now, why bring these particular bosses back? I mean, Ornstein and Smough would’ve been epic, but instead, FromSoftware blessed us with some of the least fitting foes from the original classics. The first one or two times might be novelty, but their fights fall apart faster than a cheap umbrella in a windstorm. Like, nobody wants four out of six bosses to be cringeworthy, right? Sure, chopping Gaping Dragon’s tail is a neat throwback, but these nostalgia trips feel better as museum pieces than center stage show stoppers.