Exploring the Elden Ring Nightrein and Dark Souls connections

It seems that Nightrein will feature iconic Dark Souls characters.

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While Miyazaki said that a sequel isn’t in the works, FromSoftware revealed Elden Ring Nightrein, an intriguing new game that seems to have major connections to Dark Souls.

Pretty much everyone was taken by surprise when the Nightrein trailer was shared at The Game Awards last week. While it seemed like an Elden Ring follow-up at first, it was soon revealed via media previews that this game is a standalone PvE multiplayer experience that features roguelite and even battle royale elements – specifically the circle safe zone that players can explore.

There has been lots of talk about Nightrein’s gameplay given how unexpected it is. More than that though, the Nightrein trailer and new screenshots also continue to generate theories given that characters from Dark Souls seem to be present.

What got fans talking the most though is the appearance of The Nameless King.

In the Nightrein trailer, a boss that looks straight up like the Nameless King appeared. While FromSoftware didn’t mention who this is in the game’s official materials, his appearance is pretty much the same as the beloved Dark Souls 3 boss.

The Nameless King is one of the most popular DS3 bosses, and for good reason. His two-phase fight not only features a memorable arena, but it’s also devilishly difficult for DS3 standards, especially given the delayed attacks in his second phase. His lore is also interesting as he’s strongly hinted to be Gwyn’s firstborn son.

Even though The Nameless King is located in a place that’s hidden and well beyond Lohtric in DS3, that does little to explain how he could make his way to the Lands Between. More confusingly, he’s not the only boss that seems to have been shifted to another universe.

The Duke’s Dear Freja from Dark Souls 2 wasn’t shown in the trailer, though screenshots released by Bandai Namco show that the fearsome spider is another major boss in Nightrein. While the boss seems like just another grotesque spider, the shape and head are dead giveaways that this is the DS2 boss from Brightstone Cove Tseldora.

Even though the Soulsborne games share well-known items and characters (like Patches), there has never really been a crossover of this magnitude where bosses from previous games re-appear. While some players are a bit iffy about it, others are definitely excited to see what happens next.

If we get an in-game explanation, there’s a chance that we’ll hear of it from this new character.

We didn’t get a clear shot without the hood, but we can see that the new cloaked character has a mask on that looks a lot like the Fire Keeper from Dark Souls 3. It might just be that the Fire Keeper’s mask and her style was reused, but given how Dark Souls bosses are seemingly part of Nightrein, many fans believe that this indeed the same character.

If you’re not convinced that these are indeed Dark Souls characters, the official Dark Souls X account shared the Nightrein trailer. This is a clear indication that there is indeed some crossover between the two series. After all, the Dark Souls X account hasn’t anything about Elden Ring before (or any other FromSoftware game for that matter)


The post’s text is also a pretty strong indication that there is a connection. There, it says that “ancestral foes await – remnants of a fire that once burned bright.”

Some popular theories right now are that Nightrein will feature the Nox’s Lord of Night who has the ability to summon figures from other worlds. There are also some that think that Elden Ring is a new cycle borne out of DS3’s “The End of Fire” ending.

Whatever the case may be, for purists, Nightrein might not exactly be canon given that the events in the game happen in a world parallel to Elden Ring. Not to mention that it’s being explicitly called a sequel, not to mention that Hidetaka Miyazaki isn’t involved in the game’s direction.

Even though it’s a spinoff, the hope is that we still get more lore that can at least explain why Dark Souls characters have come to the Lands Between. We’re not expecting lots of information that fully explain how they manifested in the world (this is a FromSoftware game after all), but we’re keeping our fingers crossed that there is enough material here for plenty of theories and discussions during the years to come.

Elden Ring Nightrein will be released on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC in 2025.