But WholeIt makes total sense that Elden Ring: Nightreign won't be bringing back one of the Souls games' most recognisable featuresFrom Demon's Souls all the way to Elden Ring, one feature in particular has come to define FromSoftware's games, but we're fine letting it go for Nightreign.Image credit: Bandai Namco News by Sherif Saed Contributing Editor Published on Jan. 6, 2025 When Elden Ring: Nightreign was announced just a few weeks ago at The Game Awards, much of the discussion had a lot do with how surprising the reveal was. This is, after all, an online co-op game from a studio mostly known for its single-player experiences.While many of FromSoftwares games allow players to team up in co-op, the games are chiefly designed to be played solo. There was, however, one big mechanic that made those journeys a little less solitary, and its not one were going to see again in Nightreign.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. One of the most beloved features in most Souls and Soulslike games made by FromSoftware is the ability to leave messages for other players. The mechanic has been utilised in many different ways, not all of them useful.Typically, players could leave messages to admire a certain view, make a comment on a moment that took place at the spot where the message was left, point players to hidden treasures or illusory walls, or even just to troll and mislead them.The messaging system only consists of certain words, so players had to get a little clever with their phrasing, which was responsible for giving us plenty of jokes, many of which were naughty. Unfortunately, that entire experience wont be found in Elden Ring: Nightreign. No funny business! | Image credit: FromSoftwareGame director Junya Ishizaki confirmed this in a recent IGN Japan interview, and his reasoning actually makes a lot of sense. Ishizaki explained that the relatively short session time of 40 minutes simply doesnt allow for players to stop and read/write messages. Nightreign is designed to offer a condensed RPG experience thats made up almost entirely of combat, so theres very little use for messages.Indeed, considering the one-and-done style of the game, persistent messages that get liked and disliked by other players dont make much sense. What is returning, however, are player ghosts, which is something, at least. Another notable absence is that resting at a Site of Grace will not cause defeated (regular) enemies to respawn, which removes an element of risk from the decision to rest, so itll be interesting to see how that factors into the bigger picture in terms of challenge.These are all interesting design decisions, and they prove that FromSoftware may have been inspired by the many mods and randomisers the community created for its various games over the years.Nightreign is due out sometime this year on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Our next big Nightreign reveal will likely arrive with the network test thats being held in February.