When it comes to gaming in 2025, there’s only one thought in my mind: Soon, I’m going to get to fight Dark Souls bosses in an Elden Ring game. I can’t overstate how massive that is for a guy who’s been a Souls game fan since 2009’s original Demon’s Souls.
The lore implications alone are staggering, especially now that FromSoftware and Bandai Namco have relaxed their stance on the similarities between Dark Souls and Elden Ring being more than just simple nods to fans.
We all saw Patches winking at us, and through him and various other connections, we saw Miyazaki doing it too. Many fans subscribe to the Souls multiverse theory, one akin to how the Drakenguard and Nier games work, but it was locked in our headcanons, at least until now.
Convenient convergence
Sure, I know they’re still in different universes, and that Nightreign is just one reality where Elden Ring and Dark Souls characters have converged – and this is only because such a convergence has become financially convenient for the publisher. But the fact that it’s happening at all is still mind-blowing to me.
Both series’ still have their own respective ‘Sacred Timelines’, but Nightreign can be a place where we get a bit crazy – and I’m here for it. So while it’s not the “Souls multiverse theory: confirmed” I was hoping for, it’s still much more than I ever thought I’d get.
FromSoftware needs a reason to explain why bosses from Dark Souls are running (or flying) around in the Lands Between and my brain is a melting pot of wild theories on how they’re going to do it. The devs have already revealed it’s due to the Shattering of the Elden Ring blurring the lines of reality, but there’s likely going to be more to it.
With the doorway to the Throne of Want from Dark Souls, 2 seemingly merging with Miquella’s Eternity Gate from Shadow of the Erdtree, our money is on this serving as a gateway between universes. And if characters from Dark Souls can enter Elden Ring, could it work the other way around? Have characters from one universe always been involved in the lore of the other franchise? That really would put the cat among the pigeons.
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The Night Lord is also connected to the convergence, and this mysterious figure’s identity is going to drive Dark Souls and Elden Ring fans wild until they learn who it is. There are various contenders from across both games, and every single one of them is both plausible and fascinating. I also can’t wait to fight them, along with all the other new and returning bosses.
Going rogue
However, I am slightly sad that Nightreign is going to be a roguelike and that I’m not going to be able to import my Elden Lord from the original game. Like every other player, I’m going to have to start again and it’s probably going to be impossible to recreate my exact build with the pre-set options provided.
But then again, Nightreign isn’t trying to be Elden Ring 2, it’s a spin-off for those who love the Souls series’ unique brand of co-op gameplay. While these games are often about bragging rights, with players learning to “solo” every boss, for me, there’s nothing I enjoy more than teaming up with other players, exploring, and defeating bosses together.
A vast open-world game that rewards exploration and unearthing its secrets being turned into a roguelike with gameplay split into 15-minute matches isn’t going to sit well with all Elden Ring fans. Let’s be honest, while Nightreign is welcome, we’d have preferred an Elden Ring 2. But the opportunity to crossover with Dark Souls and spend more time killing some old and new bosses with friends more than earns my interest
This is the main reason why I’m hyped for Elden Ring Nightreign. I feel like they’ve taken one of my great hopes, coupled it with one of my great loves, and built a game around these two things. There’s no doubt in my mind that Nightreign isn’t going to be for everyone, it’s not even going to be for every Elden Ring fan, but it’s absolutely going to be for me.
