FromSoftware, the studio behind the essential Dark Souls, Sekiro, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring, has a reputation for delivering mechanically demanding works, much to the delight of those who appreciate a game that resists them. But this remains insufficient for some fanatics looking for ever more ambitious challenges.
Some controller virtuosos continue to honor an old tradition of completing one or more FromSoftware games without dying... or even worse. We remember, for example, the feat of dinossindgeil, a streamer who managed to complete the famous God Run 3 Lvl 1 this summer: Sekiro, Dark Souls II, Demon Souls, Dark Souls, Elden Ring, Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3 successively, at level 1, without being hit even once.
Dark Souls: a player enters the legend with an absolutely inhuman God Run
Streamers are making short work of Nightreign
It was therefore safe to say that the community leaders would quickly set out to conquer Nightreign, the brand new spinoff of Elden Ring with a roguelike twist. And that's exactly what's happening, with tons of high-level players already completing impressive challenge runs.
Skumnut is one such streamer, already well-known for his feats of strength in FromSoftware games. Earlier this year, for example, he managed to complete Elden Ring in NG+1000 without any scaling — a format where all bosses have an absolutely colossal amount of health and damage potential, and which therefore requires a remarkable mix of precision and endurance.
https://x.com/skumnut/status/1880843206470041735
Like many of his peers, Skumnut has found a new playground with Nightreign, and he's been making waves in no time. This weekend, week, he became the first player to defeat the 8 Nightlords (the ultimate bosses that punctuate each game) using only... a common shield.
https://x.com/skumnut/status/1931410884976332962
8 bosses, 0 deaths
But this feat of strength would almost pale in comparison of itzCBD. In the process, this other pillar of the community became the first player to defeat all 8 Nightlords successively, solo... without dying once.
A real feat, and for several reasons. As we mentioned in our review, the game is very clearly designed and balanced for teams of three players, which makes solo expeditions extremely difficult. Defeating even one of the 8 Nightlords without help is therefore no easy feat. But taking them all down one after the other, without biting the dust? We're definitely entering the realm of the absurd.
https://x.com/itz_CBD/status/1931741760708903076
This is all the more impressive given that, like all roguelikes, the game features a considerable dose of chance, forcing the player to adapt in real time instead of relying on a predefined strategy. To top it all off, Nightreign is still very new; the public has therefore had very little time to learn all the nuances of these entirely original and particularly tough fights!
Other even tougher challenge runs in the works
But as always with FromSoftware games, this is just the beginning. There is almost no doubt that sooner or later a player will succeed in replicating itzCBD's run in hitless format, that is to say without being hit once, and perhaps even with other, even more restrictive handicaps. So we'll see you in a few months for a new assessment!
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