What a month it’s been in the Lands Between, fellow Tarnished! May 2025 will go down in FromSoftware history as the month everything changed—when we finally got our hands on Nightreign and discovered what happens when you take everything we love about dying repeatedly and add friends to share the misery.
From the Bingo Brawlers Exhibition Weekend that reminded us why we’re all masochists at heart, to the launch of a game that’s somehow both familiar and completely alien, May delivered more FromSoft content than our poor, battle-scarred souls knew what to do with. We witnessed the birth of a new era in cooperative suffering, got our first taste of what FromSoftware’s future might look like, and somehow found time to argue about optimal team compositions like our virtual lives depended on it.
Whether you spent the month perfecting your Bingo Brawlers strategies, theorycrafting Nightfarer builds, or just trying to convince your friends that yes, they really do want to experience this beautiful nightmare with you, we’ve got you covered.
So grab your favorite flask (you’re going to need it), settle in, and let’s dive into everything that made May 2025 the month that redefined what it means to be Tarnished. Trust us, you’re going to want to remember this one—assuming you survive the recap, of course.
Elden Ring Bingo Brawlers Returns With An Exciting Event
Remember when we thought beating Malenia was the peak of Elden Ring accomplishment? Well, last month’s Bingo Brawlers competition just made all our solo victories look like tutorial fights. The Exhibition Weekend event from May 16-19 delivered exactly the kind of chaotic brilliance we’ve come to expect, with a fresh twist that had us glued to our screens like we were stuck in Mohg’s bloodflame.
This time around, they brilliantly fused the base game with Shadow of the Erdtree in a team-based format that tested even the most hardened Tarnished. Did watching these pros coordinate make anyone else painfully aware of how much you panic roll? No? Just us?
For the uninitiated (seriously, where have you been?), Bingo Brawlers pits teams against each other to complete objectives on a 5×5 board. Once a team claims a square, it’s locked from their opponents—creating that perfect blend of skill, strategy, and “oh crap, they just took the square we needed” moments we’ve all come to love.
The duo specialization format was the real MVP here. Watching one teammate tackle base game challenges while their partner braved the DLC realm created some genuinely tense moments. Those crossover objectives? Absolute genius—requiring coordination that would make even Let Me Solo Her break a sweat.
After four days of intense competition that featured some surprising upsets (AGGENHARBOR’s day three struggle, anyone?), team COOLBITCHDRIZ claimed the crown in a nail-biting 13-12 final against ZOINXZ. itzCBD and Mitchriz proved that communication might actually be the true Elden Lord power.
Did you miss this festival of skill and suffering? The VODs are still available on Captain_Domo’s Twitch and the official Bingo Brawlers YouTube. Worth a watch if you want to simultaneously feel inspired and inadequate about your own Elden Ring skills.
What Nightreign Tells Us About FromSoftware’s Future
What Nightreign Tells Us About FromSoftware’s Future
FromSoftware threw us all a curveball last month with Nightreign, and it’s about as subtle as getting flattened by a Fire Giant—this isn’t just another DLC, folks. It’s a full-on declaration of FromSoft’s intentions moving forward.
If you’ve been with FromSoft since they were forcing us to “git gud” in Demon’s Souls, you’ve witnessed their evolution from tightly designed death mazes to the sprawling nightmares we willingly throw ourselves into today. But Nightreign? This is different. This is FromSoft pulling the rug out from under our carefully min-maxed builds and saying, “Hey, what if you actually played with other people for once?”
The procedurally generated “open-air dungeon” of Limveld is nothing short of revolutionary for a studio that typically places every poison swamp puddle with sadistic precision. And those eight distinct Nightfarer classes? A far cry from our usual “let me just respec into a bleeding unga bunga build” approach we’ve all fallen back on at some point.
But does this cooperative focus mean our days of solo suffering are numbered? Not a chance. This isn’t FromSoft abandoning their roots—it’s them branching out while keeping the trunk firmly planted in “make players question their life choices” territory.
The announcement of The Duskbloods (that Switch 2 vampire PvPvE exclusive that nobody saw coming) confirms it: FromSoft isn’t just dabbling in multiplayer—they’re diving headfirst into the abyss. But let’s be real, haven’t we all wanted to drag a friend down into our FromSoft-induced misery at some point?
What’s your take? Are you embracing our new cooperative overlords, or are you still religiously avoiding summoning like it’s a personal challenge run? Either way, FromSoft’s expanding vision promises one thing: we’re all still going to die. A lot. Just possibly with friends now.
The Mostly Reliable Guide: Miranda Sprout Ashes
The Mostly Reliable Guide: Miranda Sprout Ashes
Oh look, another entry in our ever-expanding encyclopedia of “Summons That Make You Question Your Life Choices!” This month we’re diving into the fascinating world of weaponized horticulture with the Miranda Sprout Ashes.
For just 25 FP—a cost that suggests the pricing committee was either feeling generous or mildly intoxicated—you too can experience the thrill of commanding botanical warriors with all the combat prowess of sleepy garden gnomes.
Have you ever watched your Miranda Sprouts take a full five business days to decide it’s time to attack? We certainly have! It’s like they’re operating on dial-up internet while every other summon has fiber.
What sets these flowery fighters apart? Their unique ability to cause enemies to pause in genuine confusion. That’s right—your primary tactical advantage is literally making opponents stop and think, “Is this Tarnished seriously attacking me with garden decorations?”
The pros? Wide area toxic spray. The cons? Combat effectiveness somewhere between “mildly annoyed houseplant” and “carnivorous vegetation with performance anxiety.”
So next time you’re facing a terrifying boss and thinking, “You know what would help? Garden warfare!” remember the Miranda Sprouts—because sometimes, making terrible decisions is what Elden Ring is all about.
Elden Ring Nightreign: News and Insights (May 12–19, 2025)
Time to get your toxic poison swamp boots on, Tarnished! We were just two weeks away from Nightreign, and FromSoftware had been dropping more information than Patches drops you into pits. Let’s dive into week’s highlights before we’re all too busy dying in Limveld to care.
No fresh Nightfarer reveals that week, but we got deeper dives into the Guardian (your magical tank friend) and the Recluse (for when you can’t decide between stabbing or casting). The community’s already arguing about optimal team comps because of course they are—with Guardian, Duchess, and either Ironeye or Revenant leading the popularity polls. Solo players are eyeing Wylder and Executor, presumably because they hate summoning help even in a game designed for it.
Did you catch Director Ishizaki’s interview? He’s basically saying, “Yes, it’ll be hard, but not controller-snappingly impossible… maybe.” The third day “should feel like an achievement to reach, not an impossibility.” Sure, Junya. We’ve heard that before right before getting flattened by some monstrosity with too many arms.
The technical details are in: DLSS 3.5 and FSR 3.0 support for PC players, with consoles targeting either 60fps performance mode or 30fps quality mode. Remember when we all thought 30fps was smooth? Those were simpler times.
Most exciting? Confirmation of the “Night’s Expansion” DLC coming in Q4 2025 with two new Nightfarers and three new Night Lords. So basically, more ways to die!
So sharpen those weapons, pick your Nightfarer, and maybe practice your cooperative skills. There will be countless new ways for FromSoftware to remind us we’re not as good at their games as we think we are.
Elden Ring Randomizer Mod: A Complete Masochist’s Guide
Finished the base game and DLC? Feeling that empty void where constant suffering used to live? Well, congratulations—you’ve just graduated to expert-level masochism with the Elden Ring Randomizer mod. This beautiful nightmare takes everything you thought you knew about the Lands Between and throws it into a blender operated by a particularly vindictive AI.
Picture this: you stroll into that peaceful starting camp in Limgrave, expecting to practice on some basic soldiers. Instead, you’re greeted by a welcoming committee of Crucible Knights who’ve apparently decided this humble outpost makes perfect real estate. Before you’ve even had coffee, you’re questioning every life choice that led to this moment.
The randomizer shuffles everything—enemies, bosses, items, even fog gates. That Sacred Tear you desperately need? It’s probably chilling in Caelid now, guarded by something with too many teeth. You can customize your suffering: item-only randomization for the faint of heart, full chaos mode for those who clearly have unresolved issues.
Setting it up is mercifully simple: download Mod Engine 2, drop the files in, select your preferred flavor of torture via seed selection, and watch your sanity evaporate. Seeds are basically recipes for chaos—use the same one twice and you’ll get identical suffering. Community seeds offer curated nightmares, while random generation is pure lottery. Feeling lucky?
The community has identified truly legendary nightmare seeds featuring early-game roadblocks (hello, Bayle where Tree Sentinel should be), double boss horrors, and progression items scattered in DLC areas when you’re still figuring out which end of the sword is pointy.
Want to witness the carnage before diving in? Check out LobosJr and Distortion2 tackling doubled enemies, or GinoMachino attempting all 207 bosses without dying in randomized chaos.
Fair warning: this isn’t just difficulty—it’s a celebration of beautiful suffering. You’ll die spectacularly, curse creatively, and when you finally overcome the impossible, you’ll understand why we keep coming back for more punishment.
Elden Ring Nightreign: News and Insights (May 19–26, 2025)
FromSoftware spent those last few days before Nightreign’s launch making sure we were properly prepared for our inevitable suffering in Limveld, and honestly? The anticipation was almost as brutal as the game itself.
Preloads opened May 24th—a refreshingly manageable 21.176 GB on console—with PC players getting their usual 48-hour head start. No early access for anyone, not even those fancy Collector’s Edition buyers. FromSoftware stuck to their “shared suffering begins at midnight” philosophy, which felt very on-brand.
The real highlight was Red Bull Lancation in Paris, where nine creators got exclusive early access and unveiled Caligo, Miasma of Night—a giant ice dragon that apparently thinks freezing breath attacks and aerial repositioning make for a fun Tuesday. Watching coordinated teamwork tackle this nightmare was both inspiring and deeply concerning for those of us who struggle to coordinate pizza orders.
Director Junya Ishizaki dropped some fascinating insights that week, confirming that Miyazaki basically told him “do whatever you want” with this project. The attack-to-revive mechanic? Total accident that worked out brilliantly. They also admitted they “overlooked the duos aspect” in their three-player focus, but promised post-launch support might address that.
Wylder got the spotlight treatment, cementing their status as the “beginner-friendly” option with that grappling hook versatility. Network test data showed 22.3% of players chose Wylder, probably because we all secretly knew we needed the training wheels.
Those final days reminded us why FromSoftware launches are special—the collective anticipation, the shared countdown, and that beautiful moment when everyone discovers new ways to die together.
Elden Ring Nightreign Meta-Review: What Critics Think
The review scores are in, and they’re… complicated. Nightreign landed with a 78 on Metacritic for PS5 and 81 for PC—FromSoftware’s lowest-rated game in seven years. Before you start panic rolling, remember that most developers would sacrifice their firstborn for a 78. But those numbers come with some serious asterisks that we need to unpack.
Critics found themselves in uncharted territory, like trying to review a pizza served as soup—technically functional, potentially brilliant, but definitely not what anyone ordered. The consensus? Nightreign is a fascinating experiment that succeeds brilliantly under very specific conditions and struggles everywhere else.
The fundamental tension every reviewer grappled with is how Nightreign takes FromSoft’s methodical, atmospheric approach and cranks it up to eleven. NPR’s reviewer noted how the original Elden Ring feels leisurely by comparison, while GameSpot described it as asking players to abandon careful exploration for speed and aggression. You know, all those careful habits we spent hundreds of hours developing? Yeah, forget those.
Here’s where things get spicy: critics universally agree this is a three-player cooperative game, period. Playing with randoms is an exercise in frustration, and IGN bluntly states that if you’re hoping to tackle Nightreign solo without being a hardcore masochist, “the game simply isn’t for them.” Kotaku was even more direct—the game requires other human beings as its “secret ingredient,” something FromSoftware can’t patch in later.
Boss design earned universal praise, with PC Gamer getting genuinely excited about encounters like a Mothra-inspired boss mounting a giant stick bug with orbital laser attacks. Critics consistently called these fights spectacular, even suggesting some surpass the original game’s presentation.
The big weakness? Repetition. After the initial excitement wears off, players settle into optimal patterns, and the recycled Limgrave/Liurnia environments start feeling samey. RPGFan and Fextralife both noted how extended play reveals the limitations of the roguelike structure.
Bottom line from critics: if you have two equally skilled, communicative friends and enjoy roguelike optimization puzzles, Nightreign might be something special. If you’re hoping for “co-op Elden Ring,” you’re probably going to have a bad time. It’s a successful experiment that demands very specific circumstances to shine—which feels very FromSoftware, honestly.
Nightreign Gets First Update – Patch 1.01 Now Live
Launch day patches—because no FromSoftware experience is complete without immediately needing to fix things! Patch 1.01 dropped right alongside Nightreign’s release, and honestly, it’s refreshing to see them jumping on improvements this quickly instead of leaving us to suffer for weeks.
The headline improvements include better character handling (thank the Erdtree), audio enhancements because apparently we needed even more reasons to get goosebumps during boss fights, and additional character scenarios for those of us who actually care about story between the dying. Balance adjustments and bug fixes round out the package, which feels like the bare minimum for a smooth launch these days.
PC players got some special attention—and by special, we mean “your graphics card might hate you.” If you’re experiencing frame rate drops with the latest GPUs, FromSoft’s elegant solution is basically “turn everything down and hope for the best.” Classic! There’s also the usual Steam verification dance if your game refuses to start post-patch, because why should launching a game be simple?
The version numbers to look for are App Ver. 1.01 and RegulationVer. 1.01.1—basically your proof that you’re running the “less broken” version instead of the “launch day broken” version. Small victories, right?
Look, day-one patches have become as traditional as getting flattened by the first boss, but at least FromSoft is addressing issues quickly. The character handling improvements alone should make combat feel less like fighting through molasses, and extra story content gives us something to discover between our inevitable deaths.
And there you have it, Tarnished—May 2025 in all its chaotic, cooperative glory. From watching pros dominate Bingo Brawlers to getting our first taste of Nightreign’s unique brand of multiplayer madness, this month proved that FromSoftware isn’t just resting on their Elden Ring laurels. They’re actively trying to find new and creative ways to make us question our life choices.
What’s next? Well, if this month taught us anything, it’s that FromSoftware has no intention of slowing down. The Duskbloods is lurking on the horizon, Nightreign’s post-launch content promises even more ways to die cooperatively, and somewhere out there, some modder is probably cooking up an even more diabolical randomizer seed.
Keep those flasks ready, practice your panic rolling, and remember—in FromSoftware games, death isn’t the end. It’s just the beginning of your next opportunity to do slightly better.
May your victories be hard-earned and your defeats educational, fellow Tarnished. Until next month’s digest, try not to die too spectacularly and if you liked this post you may want to take look at our other monthly roundups as well.
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