You know a FromSoftware game is going to be good when your first reaction to it is anger, frustration, and utter despair. I’ve had an adverse reaction to the start of every Dark Souls, Elden Ring, and Demon Souls, proclaiming to anyone who’d listen that I’d never touch any of these games again, only to then put hundreds of hours into them. I’m nothing if not consistent.
Elden Ring Nightreign was no different in this respect. Dropped into the chaos that is Limveld, I had no idea what was going on or why I had just spawned next to one of the Godskin duo at an evergaol. It was a rough entry into the game, and I hated it, but then I played another round and started to join the dots together. Snap to 200 hours later, and I had beaten all the Nightlords and their Everdark variants, but games were strangely easy.
Well, FromSoft must’ve heard all my bragging because the latest DLC, Forsaken Hollows, launched last week, and it’s rough. I’ve been repeatedly stomped on by the two new nightlords, the Balancers and Dreglord, whether I’m playing one of the new nightfarers or not. I can’t even get past the second night boss sometimes—why is that Demon Prince so angry, and who thought it was a good idea to let Curseblade and Divine Beast Warrior team up?
But the difficulty of the latest DLC hasn’t stopped a shedload of dedicated nightfarers from diving in and putting themselves through the wringer. “2 million nightfarers in search of the Forsaken Hollows,” an official blog post says. “For every nightfarer who joined the hunt against the Dreglord, we offer our immense gratitude.”
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I don’t want to speak for everyone playing this DLC, as not everyone welcomed the update with open arms, but while I initially bounced off Forsaken Hollows as I do with every FromSoftware game, I’ve come to love it for its difficulty. The new map is only just starting to click as I learn where I can and cannot go, what’s the best order to go about exploring the map, and which points of interest are actually worth my time. But starting again from scratch has actually been really rewarding.
It’s no longer a guarantee that I’ll hit level 15 before I reach the nightlord, or that I’ll even make it past the first or second night boss. There’s no more floating through fights—you need to make every hit count.
There’s no telling how long this will actually last, though. Like with the base game, all it takes to master FromSoft games is some dedication, grit, and practice. Players will likely turn getting through the new map and bosses into an art form very soon, but I’m just going to embrace the chaos until that happens for me.
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