Elden Ring Nightreign went roguelike as the focus was "condensing" the RPG experience down, not because FromSoftware was "chasing a trend"

Elden Ring.

Elden Ring Nightreign's director says the FromSoft gang isn't chasing industry trends by bringing some roguelike elements to the Lands Between. Rather, the co-op experience took on the genre's characteristics naturally to solve design conundrums.

"The focus was condensing this experience down - the RPG elements, the exploration, the character building, and leveling," Junya Ishizaki tells PCGamer in a recent magazine. "We wanted that to feel like it was all coming together and culminating in a boss fight but in a more concentrated form.