The kind of art I like asks something of the person who’s experiencing it. It challenges you, and assumes you’re paying attention - and occasionally needs context or knowledge to be fully understood. A good Fromsoft game is like that. It can be just something you play, but it’s designed to be a curated experience, and I think it only works if you’re willing to meet it on its terms. ...
7/10 There’s a solid game buried in Nightreign, and when you’re deep in it with friends over Discord, it can be a blast. The moment-to-moment gameplay is intense and satisfying: carving out a path, strategizing around the ring of fire, chasing resources and runes before the world collapses around you. That tension is where the game shines. But it’s also riddled with these strange, horrible oversights and design friction. Little things - like how the character select screen locks you in before you can tweak your relics - feel clumsy. The Shifting Earth events quickly turn into bland optimization chores that railroad you into paths and flatten a lot of the tension. ...