Elden Ring Nightreign Game Director Confirmed The Iconic Messaging System Won't Be Included In-Game

We're days away from registrations going live for FromSoftware's standalone multiplayer co-op action survival game Elden Ring Nightreign's Network Test, which begins on 10th January 2025. The Network Test will start sometime in February 2025; official start and end dates have yet to be confirmed, but it will be available for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles with no word on a PC Network Test.

Since the game's official reveal during The Game Awards 2024, there hasn't been much information regarding the forthcoming multiplayer co-op action survival game or the Network Test, but a recent interview revealed one game feature that won't be included in the game. Elden Ring Nightreign game director Junya Ishizaki spoke with IGN Japan recently, and they confirmed a fan-favorite feature while explaining why the developer has opted not to have it present.

Following Elden Ring's release in 2022, the game's in-game messaging feature became a fan-favorite amongst the Soulsborne community and new players, which generated much conversation around its meme-worthy messages many players have left behind. Some iconic messages that became memes across the Soulsborne and gaming communities include the infamous "Pull finger, but hole," "dog," and "Try jumping," which have garnered much attention in the months that followed, but after Elden Ring Nightreign's announcement, many have wondered if the in-game messaging feature would be included in the game.

In an interview with IGN Japan, Ishizaki confirmed that Elden Ring's message system won't be included in Nightreign, which may disappoint some players, but a logical explanation as to why it won't be featured was provided. Ishizaki stated that the "three-day session" within Nightreign could average around 40 minutes, meaning there won't be enough time to leave one behind.

"You can still see the ghosts of other players, but the ability to leave messages has been removed. The reason we removed the message feature is that in this game, where each session is about 40 minutes long, there is no time to write your own message and no time to read messages written by others," Ishizaki elaborated.

Regarding the development of the game's concept, Ishizaki explained that the "three-day session" is a concept designed "to make a "condensed RPG" that "have their ups and downs, and players sometimes gain and sometimes lose. I think the best part of RPGs is that all of these different experiences ultimately come to fruition. In order to create a harmonious experience that allows players to experience the true essence of RPGs, each game took place over three days."

Ishizaki confirms the world of Elden Ring Nightreign to be "a parallel world of Elden Ring," but both games "share the same worldview in the period leading up to the "Fracture War." This is to pay respects to the main game while using this setting of "a parallel world" to tell a unique story through the perspectives of eight characters, each with their unique journeys which can be discovered "at the base," through other gameplay elements and the "Hidden Round Table."

One gameplay feature crossing over into Nightreign is Ashes, which Ishizaki confirmed in the aforementioned interview, but they'll function differently than the main game. "The way ashes are handled is different between Elden Ring and Elden Ring Nightreign," they further elaborated, "because one of the eight playable characters is a character who mainly uses ashes in battle."