The Elden Ring: Nightreign metacritic score is in, and while it's the lowest-reviewed FromSoftware score in years, that's still a very high bar to clear.
The Elden Ring: Nightreign Metacritic score currently sits at 78. That matches up exactly with its PS5 score, although the PC score sits a little higher at 81 - more PS5 reviews mean the average will skew slightly lower. Clearly, that's a pretty solid score, but it's not one that matches up particularly closely with FromSoftware's recent efforts.
Elden Ring itself, for instance, boasts a 96. Shadow of the Erdtree sits a little lower, while Armored Core 6 is in the low-to-mid 80s, depending on platform. Sekiro sits around the high-80s/low-90s bracket, and every major Soulsborne game has a score of at least 85. By contrast, the Elden Ring: Nightreign Metacritic score of 78 might be a little disappointing, but it's worth remembering that it's still a pretty solid launch amid an almost generational run of amazing titles. A re-release and a VR exclusive aside, you've got to go back to 2013's Armored Core: Verdict Day to find a major FromSoft release that scored less than 80 on Metacritic.
Elden Ring: Nightreign's Metacritic score has been matched by two other FromSoftware games. Not only the studio of dark fantasy and massive mechs, in 2000, it put out The Adventures of Cookie & Cream, a couch co-op spin on Crash Bandicoot-style platforming. In the same year, it netted the same score for Armored Core 2, which I'd argue has a more impressive legacy, but either way, Nightreign's in some interesting company.
In our own Elden Ring: Nightreign review, Will said that it was an "uncharacteristically frantic" take on the Elden Ring experience, and that the Soulslike elements that have been cut have been replaced by "surprisingly competent roguelike components." The suggestion that "Nightreign is Elden Ring at arguably its most brutal" is a little worrying, but I'm certainly still keen to dive in.
The Nightreign team has been hard at work on balance all week - so much so that it's already nerfed bleed builds.
