The Only Bad Elden Ring Nightreign Players Are The Ones Who Don’t Skip The Cutscenes

I’m nervous. We missed two churches and lost a level in the mines. The Gaping Jaw Nightlord is weak to poison but no poison weapons spawned on the map. I spent my final runes on hitting level 12. We’re cooked. Oh my god why are we watching the final cutscene before the boss encounter AGAIN.

Not skipping these is the equivalent of icing the Nightfarer. Some Elden Ring Nightreign players might like the chill pre-scripted break before the reckoning but I can’t stand it. I’ve seen these generic cinematics play out dozens of times now. Some players have gone 10, 20, even 30 expeditions before their first Nightlord victory. That is nearly 10 minutes—10 minutes!—that could be spent doing literally anything else.

Look at this background! It’s gorgeous. Top marks to FromSoftware’s artists. I never need to see it again.

Look, I get it. Nightreign is intense. There’s a ton of esoteric information to fill your brain with, including loads of secret details, items, and mechanics the game never bothers to explain. It’s hard to remember to skip the beginning and ending intros. After 40 minutes of tense dodging, parrying, and cooldown management, it’s nice to take a moment, catch your breath, and watch Nightreign play itself. But if your teammates are spamming the skip button and you are off in lala land or scrolling the TikTok memes your buddy sent you days ago like that one about how guys only want one thing and it’s to hear the podracing engines as they whiz by sandy ridges on Tatooine, then you might be in the wrong matchmaking queue.

FromSoftware games are full of tests. Hardcore fans pride themselves on rising to the challenge when others would just give up. Debate after debate recirculates about what might be lost if Elden Ring and other Soulsborne games had difficulty sliders. Well, now I’m asking what’s gained by even giving players the option not to skip the Nightreign cutscenes? How many more loading screens must be delayed to pamper those unwilling to keep racing through the game even when the timed blue circle of death can no longer hurt you.

Players were worried that Nightreign would be a mess without voice chat. That playing with randos would lead to constant confusion and frustration. To my delightful surprise this has not been the case. Most players get the assignment. And those who don’t should be helped along by their more seasoned companions. Which is what I’m doing now. Please, for the love of the Erdtree, press the start button. Skip the cutscene. Let me rush to my downfall rather than being forced to contemplate its inevitability for an extra 15 seconds.