Noah Romsdal Hallundbæk Sørensen
Elden Ring fans, brace yourselves, the Nightreign DLC is confirmed to be “a little bit harder”.
A new Elden Ring Nightreign expansion is on the way, and its creators say players should be ready for a firmer test.
The Forsaken Hollows, unveiled during Sony’s recent Japan-focused State of Play, is shaping up to push even seasoned adventurers.
FromSoftware’s ongoing struggle to tune difficulty for casual and expert audiences sits at the heart of the new release, according to comments director Junya Ishizaki made to GameSpot.
Balancing ambitions
Ishizaki told the outlet that the team’s biggest lesson after Nightreign launched was the constant challenge of tuning gameplay for everyone.
He described balancing as “subjective”, noting that much of the studio’s work leading into the DLC has involved revisiting its original vision while crafting fresh enemies and characters that fit within those updated rules.
The director said the team aimed to avoid shutting out newcomers, even as they iterated on systems that veteran players mastered long ago.
Early adopters of the base game, he explained, also had to learn unfamiliar mechanics, and the DLC is meant to echo that sense of discovery.
“Our ideas when we’re working on the DLC content [are] to be a reflection of that,” he told GameSpot, adding that long-time players should feel a similar learning curve when they step into the new zones.
Harder, but fair
When pressed on difficulty, Ishizaki confirmed that The Forsaken Hollows is “definitely a little bit harder”, though he stressed it remains within what the studio views as a reasonable test.
The expansion will introduce two new playable Nightfarers, the Scholar and the Undertaker, as well as two additional bosses, all forming part of a paid add-on set to deepen the game’s end-game landscape.
New encounters ahead
Although Ishizaki avoided specific gameplay details, he made clear that the goal is not shock difficulty but challenge that feels earned.
The design approach, he suggested, is meant to give experienced players the same sense of mystery they had when Nightreign first arrived.
With expectations rising around its release, The Forsaken Hollows looks ready to sharpen the edges of a world already known for uncompromising combat.
Sources: TechRadar, Gamespot
