Elden Ring: Nightreign’s Forsaken Hollows Rekindles My Interest
▼ Summary
– From Software’s DLC for *Elden Ring Nightreign*, *The Forsaken Hollows*, is intentionally underpromoted but offers substantial new content, including two new Nightfarer characters and a major new map area called the Shifting Earth event.
– The two new Nightfarers, the Scholar and the Undertaker, introduce deep, synergistic gameplay mechanics that encourage team coordination and significantly alter playstyles, with one focusing on strategic support and the other on aggressive damage.
– The DLC adds new environmental challenges, most notably the return of status-effect-inflicting swamps to the Limveld map, and introduces a new verticality-focused area, The Great Hollows, which expands the game’s exploration.
– Director Junya Ishizaki notes that balancing the game for both new and veteran players was a core challenge, and the DLC aims to recapture the feeling of learning and discovery that players had with the base game.
– The expansion was developed under tight constraints, but the team focused on polishing the experience, and its success has provided the director with confidence for future experimental projects.
The upcoming expansion for Elden Ring: Nightreign, titled The Forsaken Hollows, demonstrates From Software’s continued mastery of the “underpromise and overdeliver” philosophy. While initially presented as a modest addition featuring two new Nightfarers and some fresh points of interest, the DLC reveals surprising depth that has successfully rekindled my enthusiasm for the game. The introduction of the Scholar and the Undertaker creates fascinating new team dynamics, while the Shifting Earth event unveils an entirely new map area that prioritizes vertical exploration, offering a substantial and unexpected new layer to the Limveld experience.
From Software’s director, Junya Ishizaki, reflected on the studio’s transparent approach to Nightreign’s development, acknowledging the game was built under strict constraints of time and budget. He considers the project a success, particularly noting the community’s positive reception and their unexpected, friendly interpretations of the character relationships. The focus from players has largely been on the game’s uniquely contorted mechanics and deliberate pacing, rather than on the reuse of existing assets, a testament to the compelling design at its core.
This philosophy extends to The Forsaken Hollows. The expansion cleverly recontextualizes existing systems and draws from the studio’s rich history rather than relying solely on brand-new content. The two new Nightfarers are prime examples of this inventive design.
The Scholar initially seems like a support liability. His Character Skill, Analyze, requires him to survey the battlefield, stacking buffs and debuffs on allies and enemies based on proximity and duration. His true potential, however, lies in his Passive Skill, Bagcraft. This ability encourages engaging with often-ignored consumable items by allowing the Scholar to upgrade them through use. Leveling up an item category enhances all items within it, turning previously overlooked pots and darts into powerful tools with secondary effects. This creates a compelling risk-reward dynamic: the Scholar may feel ineffective early in a run as he gathers items, but a well-played Scholar becomes an offensive and defensive powerhouse in late-game encounters, capable of simultaneously debuffing multiple targets like the challenging Tricephalos. His Ultimate Art, Communion, links enemies and allies for shared damage and healing, making it invaluable for managing groups.
In contrast, the Undertaker is a high-risk, high-reward aggressor. Proficient with hammers, she excels at dealing massive damage quickly. Her Character Skill, Trance, boosts her speed, toughness, and attack power while converting her dodge into a step; consuming her ultimate charge with it grants even greater power and a one-time lethal blow negation. Her ultimate, Loathsome Hex, is a devastating, versatile lunge attack. The true synergy emerges from her passive, Confluence, which allows her to execute Loathsome Hex for free whenever an ally uses their ultimate. With good team coordination, this can lead to a devastating chain of ultimate abilities, especially in a team composition featuring two Undertakers.
This emphasis on synergy was a key development goal. Ishizaki noted the team focused on creating characters that work well both independently and in combination, encouraging players to “work on top of each other.” Balancing this for both casual players and veterans seeking a stiff challenge remains an ongoing focus. The DLC aims to be “a little bit harder” than the base game, recapturing that initial sense of discovery and mastery.
Beyond the new characters, The Forsaken Hollows introduces significant environmental changes. The studio’s infamous swamps make their Nightreign debut, inflicting poison, scarlet rot, and frenzy to slow players and add a classic risk-reward layer, often guarding weapons with corresponding attributes. Newly added forges allow players to re-roll a weapon’s attribute, providing another tense strategic choice.
The centerpiece is the Shifting Earth event, which transports players to The Great Hollows. This new area swaps Limveld’s horizontal focus for impressive verticality, featuring deep mines, precarious platforming, and a haunting aesthetic blending elements of the Ashen Capital and Eternal City. While Ishizaki acknowledges the team’s playtime with Shadow of the Erdtree may have had a subconscious influence, the vertical design was a deliberate choice to expand the game’s spatial dynamics.
The expansion also introduces formidable new challenges, including a punishing new third-day boss that demands precise teamwork and adaptive strategy. While our preview session ended with this boss thoroughly besting us, it underscored the DLC’s commitment to testing coordinated play.
Developed under the same stringent conditions as the base game, The Forsaken Hollows represents a team striving to exceed limitations. Ishizaki described a development culture driven by a desire to create something special for players, with everyone pushing to make the project “a little bit better.” For Ishizaki, directing Nightreign was a challenging but confidence-building experience that has shaped his creative instincts for future projects.
The Forsaken Hollows offers substantial reasons to return to Nightreign, blending inventive character design, synergistic gameplay, and a surprisingly expansive new zone. It proves that From Software can deliver deeply engaging content even within tight constraints, leaving me eager to explore its full scope when it launches.
(Source: Gamespot)
