Elden Ring Nightreign: The Forsaken Hollows Review – The Dreg Heap

To say that Nightreign’s first paid DLC has gone down controversially with the community would be an understatement. A mixed rating on Steam is well-worn territory for FromSoftware – see Shadow of the Erdtree – but making a case for The Forsaken Hollows is more challenging. When your player base has spent months on a game that’s relatively compact and streamlined compared to its main predecessor, is “complementary” really enough? That certainly depends, but if you like Nightreign and its gameplay loop, it’s certainly worth picking up.

The story is fairly straightforward. After unlocking a door behind the Jar Merchant, you’re transported to a realm to fight the mysterious Dreglord. The Dreglord, for rightful reasons, hates all of you and wants to smash, smash, smash the Night. Once you die – and you will die – it’s back to the Roundtable Hold, touching base with your new Nightfarer allies, and venturing out to slay the creature.

In typical FromSoft fashion, there’s lore explaining what the Dreglord is, how the Scholar and Undertaker found the Roundtable Hold, and so on. There’s also the Great Hollow, a vast underground area with a giant crystal in the centre and a foreboding tower. Is it all intriguing? Sure, but it’s also fairly inconsequential in the grand scheme of your quest. Very little pomp and circumstance, for better or worse, but at least we can get into the actual meat of the new content.

"Did you miss Mohg and his Nihil countdown? He’s here as well, and the fight actually has more mechanics to accommodate three players. And while the Demon Prince remains virtually the same as in Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City, Artorias from the Dark Souls 1 DLC is completely revamped, and a huge menace to deal with."

Terms and conditions may apply to the “new” part, though. New Day 1 and 2 bosses, like the Dancing Lion, Death Knights, everyone’s favorite Great Red Bear (which actually had me screaming, “What is that range?”, at one point) – they’re all here and as challenging as you remember. Did you miss Mohg and his Nihil countdown? He’s here as well, and the fight actually has more mechanics to accommodate three players. And while the Demon Prince remains virtually the same as in Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City, Artorias from the Dark Souls 1 DLC is completely revamped, and a huge menace to deal with.

There are also three new Invasion events, and here’s where things get a bit shaky. Gladius sets the air ablaze, slowly depleting your health until you find and slay each of its bodies. Caligo manifests an icy fog and takes a snooze. You may even find yourself abducted by the Balancers and sent to three random locations – like the new swamps – to slay enemies if you want those flask charges back. One particular event that I found hilarious – which I won’t spoil – also sees a familiar foe returning after you’ve finished a Day 1 boss.

While the others are fine, it’s Gladius and Caligo that can feel awkward in some circumstances. For instance, killing a single body of Gladius – there are three in three separate locations, so hey gang, let’s split up – will constantly summon fiery dogs until you’ve slain them all. If you suddenly decide, for whatever reason, not to finish him, then these dogs will keep assaulting you (and their damage is no joke). I also can’t imagine how annoying this would be for solo players since slaying all three can be a major timesink for a decidedly average benefit.

Caligo is equally annoying but in a hilarious way. If he spawns in the Great Hollow, you can see very little, so if you suddenly hit the spiritspring jump from the big crystal in the middle, good luck knowing where to land, and enjoy the frame drops as a cherry on top.

And that brings us to the new Shifting Earth/map itself, which is absolutely gorgeous. At first, the atmosphere felt akin to Siofra River from the original Elden Ring, but with some more verticality, a la The Land of Shadow. However, it’s still very much a Shifting Earth in terms of objectives, as you need to resonate with four giant crystals to tackle the mysterious tower without incurring the Crystal Curse. The tower itself is another incredible point of interest, packed with challenging bosses and a fitting reward at the top.

"It probably shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the new Day 2 bosses are also great. Without delving into too many spoilers, the Balancers aren’t as unrelenting as I thought, but that doesn’t stop the fight from ascending in cinematic scale (and the BGM is simply unmatched)."

Initially, however, it can be awkward to traverse. It’s designed around the giant crystal in the center, which has limited paths to reach and plenty of margins for error. Sure, watching a teammate leap into the abyss because they didn’t realize that fallen crystal pillar was a bridge is funny, but rolling off an edge while fighting a Runebear or getting engulfed by the Night’s Tide while fruitlessly trying to clamber up a cliff? Not so much. You would think an area with Shadow of the Erdtree-style verticality would be child’s play with Nightreign’s traversal. However, the Great Hollow is adjusted accordingly, ensuring you’re venturing along the intended pathways. Which is a nice way of saying that you’d better know where you’re going.

As frustrating as it initially is, I grew fonder of the map over time, and while you could argue that much of that ties into an optimized route, the same holds for Limveld. If anything, the objective is much more centralized and focused. I still feel Limveld is superior, especially because it can have other Shifting Earth events to spice up runs. By comparison, having to fulfill the same objective loop in the Great Hollow can get a little dull, especially since it’s one that easily spans both nights rather than one.

Then there are the new Nightfarers, who are, in a word, busted (and in another, fun). I spent most of my time on the Undertaker, who can increase toughness with her ability and wail on fools without backing down. Her Ultimate is very satisfying, even more so when other players use theirs, since you gain a free Ultimate use for a short duration. If you have more than one Undertaker, chaining together Ultimates, one after the other, is just awesome.

While I haven’t had too much time on the Scholar, I can confirm that he’s just as essential, if not more so. Being able to analyze and either debuff enemies or buff allies is one thing, and causing enemies to share damage is another. But it’s the item leveling which truly elevates him. Imagine buffing Boiled Prawn so that it not only grants more physical damage resistance but also max health. Now equip a Relic to share those effects with the rest of your team. Or leverage his Arcane stats to deal some heavy status damage. “Figuring” him out takes more work, and if you want a pure melee build, then the Endurance/Dexterity respec Relic is a must.

It probably shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the new Day 2 bosses are also great. Without delving into too many spoilers, the Balancers aren’t as unrelenting as I thought, but that doesn’t stop the fight from ascending in cinematic scale (and the BGM is simply unmatched). The Dreglord, on the other hand, is far less elegant, far more brutal, but still a spectacle in its own right, especially the second phase. Yes, you’ll see shades of other Dark Souls bosses (and maybe a Bloodborne DLC boss), but it’s still a very enjoyable, challenging fight.

"Forget that this is a roguelike where new weapons feel like a must to add more variety to runs – having no new additions feels bad. If FromSoftware can bring over so many things from previous titles, why not at least 10 or 20 new weapons that aren’t already in the base Nightreign?"

However, the problems with this DLC can’t be understated, starting with its very nature as a paid add-on. The Expeditions to hunt the Balancers and the Dreglord are separate from the base game, and non-DLC owners can’t match with those who own it. If you’re new to the game and want to run through the original Nightlords, there will be fewer players matching for them by default. As more and more players finish the DLC and go back to farming the regular game, I don’t think this should be the biggest issue, but it still fragments the player base.

The other issue is the lack of new weapons. Don’t get me wrong – I like the new Relics and the fact that every base game Class gets a new Vessel (which requires playing through Deep of Night to purchase, but I digress). But the lack of any new weapons whatsoever is just baffling. Aside from new hammers and straight swords for the new Nightfarers, they could spruce things up for the older classes as well, maybe give you another reason to revisit them besides testing out new Relic set-ups.

Even if your mileage on the new map will undoubtedly vary, the two new Nightfarers and Day 3 bosses are a great addition. The value proposition becomes that much tougher to reckon when this is more than a third of the base game’s price but doesn’t offer anywhere near as much content. Forget that this is a roguelike where new weapons feel like a must to add more variety to runs – having no new additions feels bad. If FromSoftware can bring over so many things from previous titles, why not at least 10 or 20 new weapons that aren’t already in the base Nightreign? This isn’t even me saying “just copy-paste it, bro!” – I’m genuinely confused that they weren’t a priority ahead of time (and we’ve known for a while now that this DLC would be coming).

Despite this, is The Forsaken Hollows worth $15? I would say yes if you’re a fan of Nightreign and looking for a reason to jump back in, however short-lived it may be, but your mileage will vary. The Great Hollow isn’t for everyone, and I really question how much longevity it can really offer, unless you’re really inclined to embark on solo challenges with every single Nightfarer. Overall, the DLC feels like a good addition, but FromSoftware’s post-launch updates will have to do some heavy lifting to make it truly worthwhile.

This game was reviewed on PC.