Elden Ring Nightreign fans leave negative reviews of the game's DLC en masse, dramatically lowering its score. From Software Elden Ring took the gaming world by storm, delivering one of the most expansive and memorable RPG experiences in years. Expectations skyrocketed Elden Ring Nightreign before release, while not a game for everyone, it delivered on what it promised and then some. Introducing the highly anticipated Nightreign The DLC was expected to elevate the game further with two new Nightfarers (Scholar and Undertaker), new bosses, a new map and more.
The DLC called Forsaken Hollows was released in early December 2025. At first, the perception of the community was not so negative. However, it failed to live up to expectations as it did not include essential gameplay changing elements such as new weapons, spells, Ashes of War and so on. Things now quickly took a turn for the worse Elden Ring NightreignThe DLC page on Steam has an average of “Mostly Negative” in recent user reviews. This is due to several reasons, but the most common complaints involve the same aspects.
Elden Ring Nightreign players want changes to frustrating respawn mechanic
Elden Ring Nightreign players want improvements to the respawn mechanic, a core feature that significantly affects co-op play.
Why Elden Ring: Nightreign DLC is facing a review bombing crisis
If you're wondering why this particular DLC is drawing so much ire from its fanbase, the answer is three-fold, with the main culprit being. Based on recent reviews for Elden Ring Nightreign's DLC, fans are unhappy with the following:
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Map of the Great Hollow
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Lack of content and price
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Balance, glitches, and performance issues
Elden Ring NightreignThe new Shifting Earth DLC events include several changes to the core gameplay loop by significantly altering one area of the map, but the Great Hollow variation provides a completely different zone instead. This is a vertical map that has multiple levels and makes it almost impossible to enter and have a clear and good route right from the start, making it very frustrating for the player. Many players complain that traversing the map is tedious and falling into pits leads to lost runes or chaotic respawns.
While the Great Hollow map is the most lamented issue across the board, perhaps due to how infuriating it can feel, one of the most common complaints about Nightreign The DLC is that it feels more like a patch than an expansion. With the aforementioned lack of new Nightreign weapons, spells, and other customization options that increase replayability, many fans are unhappy with the expansion's $15 price tag.
Finally, some reviews call the new bosses too difficult/out of place, attribute the frustrating RNG encounters to the DLC design, or simply say it amplifies the problems from the ground up. Nightreign experiences without erasing them. This was already discussed in the earlier stages of the game when Elden Ring NightreignThe boss of Everdark, Gnoster, Wisdom of Night, made Ironeye the best and most obvious choice of the bunch.
Why Elden Ring Nightreign is caught between a rock and a hard place with its Review Bombing DLC
Resistance around NightreignDLC is a tricky situation and it's unclear what, if anything, will come of it. While it's clear that FromSoftware's expansion fell short of many players' expectations, it would also need substantial tweaks and adjustments to respond to all of the recent review feedback, to the point that the DLC would be dramatically different. If technical issues and content gaps are resolved in future patches, Nightreign can still find its place among the tops Elden Ring's expansive journey, but if not, fans may not stick around for more content if and when it drops.
Eventually, Nightreign The DLC revenue proves that even with an established and beloved game like Elden RingThere is a fine line between the expectations of the players and the vision of the developer. Going forward, it will be interesting to see how FromSoftware handles community feedback and whether the DLC can be turned into the experience that fans were originally hoping for.
