If it’s one thing that Elden Ring and Soulslike players can’t seem to get enough of, it’s challenge and increased difficulty. FromSoftware, the studio behind Elden Ring, has been known for creating increasingly difficult games, famously contributing to the creation of the Soulslike genre with Demon Souls and Dark Souls. Even though they worked on other games that were much more relaxing to play, their devotion to frustrating players culminated in Elden Ring, and later, Elden Ring Nightrein, which seems intent on living up to the company’s reputation.
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Now, in a new blog post, FromSoftware and publisher Bandai Namco announced that a higher difficulty setting is going to be added Elden Ring Nightreign‘s expedition mode, dubbed “Deep of Night.” This increased challenge will be available starting September 11th, and is teased only to be for its most “seasoned players,” which could possibly make it one of the most difficult levels from any Soulslike game.
Elden Ring Nightreign’s Deep of Night Difficulty Level Explained
Although the developers have promised that Deep of Night will increase difficulty in the more traditional ways, such as making enemies stronger, a deeper design philosophy appears to be behind this new difficulty mode. “Special items such as ‘Depths Relics’ exclusive to ‘Deep of Night’, and weapons with multiple additional, but also detrimental effects will appear,” said the blog post. “Furthermore, the difficulty increases the deeper you descend. The ratings will fluctuate based on wins and losses, affecting the ‘depth.’”
The talk of mode-exclusive items and random weapon effects had some Nightreign players feeling that this was a roguelike mode coming to the game. Indeed, based on the description of how progression into different levels seems to work, it looks like Deep of Night will have players embarking on multiple “runs” similar to the gameplay loop of a traditional roguelike. Further supporting the hypothesis, the team behind Elden Ring Nightrein mentioned that the experience will be somewhat random, restricting players from being able to target a specific Nightlord.
According to the development team, the Deep of Night depths will reach up to level 5, with the fourth and fifth levels featuring an “endless battle.” These depths don’t appear easy to pass through, as the blog post directly challenges players to see if they can even make it past the third level. Players will have to pray that their stamina bar won’t fail them as they dive while not knowing what to expect. The blog post didn’t provide much more information, leaving some details of how the new mode work somewhat vague.
Elden Ring: Neightrein fans were speculating what unholy combos of Everdark bosses this new mode could possibly torture them with. Luckily, players won’t have to dive into the deeper levels immediately, thanks to the matchmaking and rating systems. Hopefully, this means that once players have earned their right to venture into deeper depths, they will have enough experience to make it through.
Are you excited for the increased difficulty mode coming to the game next month? Please let us know in the comments what your predictions are for the horror that will surely unfold in Depth 5.
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image courtesy of 20th Century Studios
