Elden Ring Nightreign's Forsaken Hollows Has Reignited My Interest With Exciting Additions

"The Forsaken Hollows is billed as a couple of new Nightfarers for players to pick between, along with new points of interest to give players a reason to jump back into Limveld and take on the Nightlords. That's an accurate summation of it, but also somewhat undersells that the two new Nightfarers are very cool and create interesting new ways to think about and play the game;"

"But the real underselling pertains to the new Shifting Earth event, which is essentially a brand new map that's distinct from Limveld, as opposed to a much smaller scale change in the environment that we're used to expecting. So, not expecting too much is indeed good advice. However, at the same time, what I thought The Forsaken Hollows is going to be and what it actually is caught me off guard in the same way the unexpectedly expansive nature of Shadow of the Erdtree did."

The Forsaken Hollows introduces two new Nightfarers that provide distinct playstyles and fresh strategic possibilities. New swamp biomes return, increasing the prominence of status effects and environmental hazards. Multiple new mini-bosses and additional third-day bosses expand combat challenges across Limveld. The Shifting Earth event functions as a largely separate, full-scale map rather than a minor environmental variation. Expectations were tempered by prior messaging, yet the expansion's scope surprised with its size and impact. Transparency around Nightreign's constrained development—limited time and budget—remains notable and contextualizes the studio's conservatism in setting expectations.

Read at GameSpot