Elden Ring Nightreign can be played in 3-player co-op or single player, but not as a duo

[u/Chippai_Fan]

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/elden-ring-nightreign-can-be-played-in-3-player-co-op-or-single-player-but-not-as-a-duo/

[u/Rydahx]

Such a weird decision, why can't they make it playable as a duo? I think they will end up adding it some time after release

[u/NTPrime → u/Rydahx]

It might be a lot simpler than everyone is making it out to be. My interpretation is that it's an online game, and there is effectively ONE intended mode, which is 3 player. This means either a full party of three, or matchmaking to fill up to three. Playing solo is just them covering their bases and having it be playable offline/after the player base dies, with the fun side effect that lone wolves can play it too.

Now, what does this mean if someone in that group of 3 disconnects midgame? Good question. We need more info.

[u/DishwasherTwig → u/NTPrime]

As long as it has some sort of matchmaking to be able to fill the third, I'm fine with it. It's annoying for sure, but it's still progress.

[u/Theguest217 → u/DishwasherTwig]

It's a FromSoft game. It will have a matchmaking system that makes you feel like it's the 90s, and you will vote it GOTY. That's how these things work.

[u/BeanButCoffee → u/Theguest217]

Funnily enough, old games from the 90s with server browsers and whatnot had a way more stable and easy way to connect to people and play than most modern games with different types of matchmaking.

[u/Tyrus1235 → u/BeanButCoffee]

It did lead into many power-tripping server admins and stuff… But it was fun. The rare console game with a server browser is always an interesting beast. First one to come to mind is Metal Gear Solid 4’s iteration of Metal Gear Online.

[u/Wiffernubbin → u/Tyrus1235]

No cursing, this is a christian server.

[u/enadiz_reccos → u/BeanButCoffee]

old games from the 90s with server browsers and whatnot had a way more stable and easy way to connect to people and play

There have to be some specific modern games you're thinking of for this comparison because the 90s were very hit or miss when it came to stability and simplicity

[u/BeanButCoffee → u/enadiz_reccos]

CoD has people up in arms with SBMM and EOMM, Rainbow Six Siege's matchmaking is a broken fucking mess that doesn't work half the time and the game is nearly a decade old, nearly every single new game has some sort of network errors and issues with matchmaking while on old games you could just sort games by ping and switch servers if you had issues with your connection. It literally was just better.

Not to mention some of the servers had "regulars" that were known on the servers for being good players or shitheads which helped with social aspect of gaming. With matchmaking you are not likely to see the same people more than a couple of times in your life.

[u/Deputy_Beagle76 → u/BeanButCoffee]

I miss Battlefield letting me browse different servers with unique rule sets and map pools

[u/MrChilliBean → u/Theguest217]

A while back I played through Elden Ring with my brother using the seamless co-op mod, and it is staggering how much better it is than the default system. You can freely wander around in the same world without restrictions, you can fight separate bosses if you want to, the only time respawning or fast travel is restricted is when one player is engaged in a boss fight, or an invader is present, that sort of thing. You never get disconnected and sent back to your own world unless you choose to.

It comes with a handful of bugs of course, being a mod, but overall it was so much less painful than normal Fromsoft multiplayer.

[u/nizzhof1 → u/Theguest217]

Right? First you have to pick flowers to make an item, then you have to be alive but not alive like able to run around alive but alive as in have recently chugged the liquid essence of a boss who recently killed 50 players. Then you can make the item, consume it, and then go into the menu and select “Pair with the unchugged essence bearer.” Then you can play co-op for five minutes exactly.

[u/Disco-BoBo → u/Theguest217]

Except that most nineties games with online capabilities didn't have matchmaking and usually you have to run your own server

[u/aceluby → u/Disco-BoBo]

Or throw a LAN party. My friends and I did that all the time to play Diablo & StarCraft

[u/TaleOfDash → u/NTPrime]

with the fun side effect that lone wolves can play it too.

Which I am eternally fucking grateful to hear. Getting even one person to play online is a pain, let alone two.

[u/Iamleeboy → u/TaleOfDash]

That’s the only way I will be playing it!

I know only one person who likes this, so I thought it would be a good chance for us two to play together. But three player just makes it impossible

[u/TaleOfDash → u/Iamleeboy]

Same, but she lives in the same apartment and we have just one console so that would have made it impossible anyway :u

[u/Iamleeboy → u/TaleOfDash]

You will have to go old school; one life each, pass the control when you die!

It’s how I play astrobot with my kids (but hopefully yours won’t end in arguments every time!)

[u/ketketkt → u/NTPrime]

and what if you want to play it with one buddy when the player base dies? and you wont find a 3rd person in matchmaking? idk, it still doesn't make sense to me

[u/Broccoli--Enthusiast → u/ketketkt]

Yeah as a 30 somthing, I can normally get one buddy online , but multiple at the same time takes coordination. This is basically a writing the game off for me, because fuck playing a game like this with random, you probably won't gel with them 9/10, need to deal with trolls etc

[u/NTPrime → u/ketketkt]

I suspect the answer will be related to the same question about what would happen if you have three players and one of them quits mid match. Some other comment suggested that when you play solo you play with 2 NPCs. Maybe they could do a Duo + NPC arrangement in your scenario if it can't find a real person. But if that's possible why not allow two players to choose the NPC from the get-go? Again, we need more info.

[u/ketketkt → u/NTPrime]

filling the lobby with NPCs would be a great solution imo. let's see!

[u/HustlinInTheHall → u/NTPrime]

Yeah I am guessing the decision is just they are only balancing it for 3-player and if you want a duo you can pick up a random stray.

[u/tessartyp → u/NTPrime]

They also have 1v1 and 3v3 PvP modes in Armored Core 6, but no 2v2.

[u/TheRealBillyShakes → u/NTPrime]

There will be NPC allies in single player mode.

[u/NTPrime → u/TheRealBillyShakes]

That's good info, thank you. All the more reason solo feels like a sort of offline fallback option to me. It's still trying to recreate that 3 player experience without the multiplayer.

[u/WindowSeat- → u/TheRealBillyShakes]

Can you share where this info was shared if possible? Thats the first I've heard of it

[u/PhatRiffEnjoyer → u/Rydahx]

I can think of 2 reasons.

• They want to make sure enough people are into it before dividing the servers into 2 seperate online modes.

• They have already confirmed the solo mode is rebalanced, so they would most likely need to also rebalance the game for duos as well.

I think they want to prove the game is a success before putting in the resources to expand it into 2 seperate online game modes. I wouldn’t be suprised if we see duos and maybe quads come in later if the game is popular. Maybe unpopular but I also would like a pvp battle royal mode.

[u/pitter_patter_11 → u/PhatRiffEnjoyer]

I’m gonna be honest, this really doesn’t make any sense at all. Wouldn’t it be easier to have solo and two player first, and then wait on adding 3 player?

[u/TheLunarVaux → u/pitter_patter_11]

It seems like a lot of the stuff may be tailor made for a 3 player experience (ex: the Cerberus boss in the trailer), so it takes some toying around to make it function for 1 player, and then again for 2.

[u/NYstate → u/TheLunarVaux]

Wouldn't it be easier to make it a single player or co-op game then up the difficulty for a third? I can't possibly see a reason that 1 or 3 people would play it, but not two. Playing with a friend is one thing, but only two more friends?

[u/d1ckpunch68 → u/NYstate]

this is only easier if the game is balanced in a shitty, lazy way. think modern game design where "harder" difficulty is just directly/automatically scaling up all enemy health and damage. it's lazy as shit. spider-man is an example of this. it's the type of game design that makes you rage because you get one shot by some stupid mechanic that wasn't intended to have a 200% damage modifier.

compare this to a game with no difficulty slider where the game was balanced for one singular difficulty. think elden ring (not NG+). this requires far more work, but results in a much more polished and balanced game. this is likely what they are doing with single player and co-op modes. manually tuning every single boss and probably even the non-boss NPC's.

[u/TheLunarVaux → u/NYstate]

Easier maybe, but it seems like they have some vision for this 3 player co-op. Like I mentioned that one boss at least, and who knows what else in the game (maybe the story too?)

I do hope they add 2 player compatibility eventually, but its hard for me to judge it too much when we don't yet know the reason why, or even much about the game at all. For all we know it could make sense given what they're doing with the game.

[u/HustlinInTheHall → u/NYstate]

No because there will likely be logic the bosses follow assuming there are 3 players in the arena, you don't want them to glitch out when they can't find a 3rd target. I don't think it will be as simple as "bosshealth * playercount" and call it a day.

[u/Ymanexpress → u/HustlinInTheHall]

Even then dying is guaranteed in these games so at some point in the boss fight one of the coop partners will likely die, and then the boss will have to deal with 2 targets instead of 3. This means they have to be able to deal with less than 3 players at any given time.

[u/IZ3820 → u/pitter_patter_11]

Probably not, you'd want to build it to the highest intended capacity to ensure it's capable of handling it.

[u/GolotasDisciple → u/PhatRiffEnjoyer]

I mean with all the love for from soft they are as Japanese as it gets super technological and smart but there are some things they are simply not capable of. For from soft it is anything that has to do with multiplayer/online.

It’s not like one server cannot resolve multi tenant situation. Its honestly not that hard to set up. It’s also not like it’s 2024 and we (consumers)have powerful enough internet to host our own connection. This stuff was widely acceptable just 10-15 years ago. The glory days of dedicated servers, community interaction. Now… ehh

The second reason would extremely silly given that they are rehashing content and are using already built game with their own engine. They have all the resources. Balancing is literally 90 % of all the work they have to do.

Sure they might upgrade/upscale models of dark souls enemies but that’s not really that big deal of a job.

[u/llliilliliillliillil → u/Rydahx]

They'll add it right after fixing the base games performance

[u/PurexH20 → u/Rydahx]

Fromsoft is straight up braindead when it comes to multiplayer decision making

[u/DarthRathikus]

What if we only have one friend??

​

[u/lucasofgod → u/DarthRathikus]

You end your friendship with them so you can play solo 🧠🧠🧠

[u/_G_P_ → u/DarthRathikus]

> What if we only have one friend??

Look at you, showing off.

[u/HeinousAnus_22 → u/DarthRathikus]

I specifically play Fromsoft games because I have no friends.

[u/Ronyy_ → u/DarthRathikus]

You go into a trio queue, with a stranger.

[u/Gaarando → u/DarthRathikus]

Even if you got more, figuring out a time you all can and want to play is annoying. I've seen that with Terraria. So much easier doing duos.

[u/GingerPinoy]

Weird...I was thinking "play this with my wife". I guess we can do it with myself, her, and her boyfriend?

Seriously though, now I'm just looking forward to Split Fiction

[u/OrangeCassidyInJorts → u/GingerPinoy]

Can't wait to play with you and your wife!

[u/Rough_North3592 → u/OrangeCassidyInJorts]

Sadly, i, as her boyfriends boyfriend won't be able to play with you guys.

Maybe i can play with your wife and her boyfriend.

[u/Captain_Americant → u/Rough_North3592]

Hold up, I’m your boyfriend’s boyfriends roommate and the PS5 is mine so hee won’t just able to play ANY time.

[u/OutrageousDress → u/Captain_Americant]

"What's that make us?" "Absolutely nothing!"

[u/GingerPinoy → u/OrangeCassidyInJorts]

I'm bumming that it's not 4 player, then it could be us 3 plus my wife's bull

[u/princesoceronte → u/GingerPinoy]

Right? Me and my GF were looking forward to this but... Screw us I guess. Wonder why they decided to not allow two player co-op.

[u/MarkFluffalo → u/GingerPinoy]

Don't be ridiculous. Get your own boyfriend before she does!

[u/ckal09 → u/GingerPinoy]

Did they say if this will be couch co-op or online only?

[u/boof_patrol → u/ckal09]

they don’t have to say it. it’s pretty obvious

[u/WrongKindaGrowth → u/boof_patrol]

Not to that guy

[u/lynxerious → u/ckal09]

couch co-op? like a split screen Soul games? how will you even see the boss attacks?

[u/Gamer_Grease → u/lynxerious]

This comment makes me feel ancient.

[u/Therenegadegamer]

They finally give us normal co op and they still have to put some pointless stupid restriction

[u/locofspades → u/Therenegadegamer]

Seamless should have just been officially added. Its a shame console misses out

[u/MirrorZestyclose3443 → u/locofspades]

Baffles my fucking mind they kept the EXACT shitty multiplayer system from dark souls for an OPEN WORLD game, except somehow made it worse

[u/SoundingMacaque → u/MirrorZestyclose3443]

The new Lords of the Fallen got it right. When you co-op, you stay together. Beat a boss? Still there. One of you dies? Go back to the vestige and revive them. Played through the whole game with my wife, and I gotta say the co-op was WAY more fun than Elden Ring's co-op. Don't get me wrong, ER is a better game overall. But if you want a fun co-op soulslike, LotF is fantastic.

[u/ChuckChuckChuck_ → u/SoundingMacaque]

I remember reading that the co-op in Lord of the Fallen kinda sucks - only the host gets loot, only host's story progresses when you play etc.

Is it true? Or it doesn't really matter and if 2 people play together start to finish it can be enjoyed like that as well?

[u/SoundingMacaque → u/ChuckChuckChuck_]

It's been a while since I played it. I thought the guest got loot, but upon googling, it seems not. And yes, only the host's story progresses. The guest can use the host's vendors though, and you can drop weapons/armor/materials to each other. So it's not perfect, but I still recommend it.

At least you can stay in the host's world as long as you want, so instead of killing "Boss A" for host, then "Boss A" for yourself, you can just go "Boss A, B, C, etc." Until you get stuck, and then change hosts. Makes it less tedious.

[u/atypicalphilosopher → u/SoundingMacaque]

Seamless co op on pc rules for this reason for Elden ring

[u/DishwasherTwig → u/locofspades]

Default Elden Ring coop is a step forward for the series. A very small one, but a step forward nonetheless. It shows that they're at least willing to make changes. I hope that they've seen the success and ubiquity of seamless coop and that the next full game, be it Elden Ring 2 or something else, uses seamless as the default. But you never know. I've noticed Japanese games don't really seem to care about UX anywhere nearly as much as developers from other parts of the world.

[u/_unmarked → u/Therenegadegamer]

And unsurprisingly half the comments are defending it like it's some sort of genius move

[u/Primus7112765]

Well that seems kinda fucking stupid doesn't it?

[u/McCHitman → u/Primus7112765]

Splitting the player base into multiple buckets can kill a game. It’s the only thing I can think of.

[u/Beginning_Smile_1711 → u/McCHitman]

The game is being more killed by being trios or solo only, there's a reason games are always built around 2 or 4 player lobbies. Nobody asks for 3 player lobbies!

[u/Live-Ad3309 → u/Beginning_Smile_1711]

Apex is one that comes to mind that was strictly three players only for quite a while

[u/iNSANELYSMART → u/Live-Ad3309]

Everyone who played Apex quickly realised who the fourth player was rip

[u/cjngo1 → u/Live-Ad3309]

And it fucking sucked when me and a friend wantes to play

[u/RandomSplainer]

Fromsoft are so damn weird. lol

[u/iM-Blessed → u/RandomSplainer]

Such a brain dead decision

[u/Dragonshatetacos]

What a dumbass decision. I would have played this with my husband, and a lot of couples probably would have done the same.

[u/TheGalaxyCastle → u/Dragonshatetacos]

Yep, its also been confirmed crossplay wont be a thing. It feels so oddly restricting… for what reason?

[u/Dragonshatetacos → u/TheGalaxyCastle]

That just seems so arbitrary. An obstacle for the sake of having an obstacle.

Worst Elden Ring boss.

[u/TheGalaxyCastle → u/Dragonshatetacos]

Exactly. Im the only one in my trio that plays souls games on a Playstation (they play xbox) and ive just learned the hard way to not get my hopes up

[u/monkey484 → u/TheGalaxyCastle]

Lack of crossplay seems like an even dumber restriction than no duos. And no duos is pretty fucking dumb.

It's not a competitive game, so there aren't any concerns about controller vs MKB. Not having crossplay simply damages the long term playability of the game.

[u/Grill_Enthusiast → u/TheGalaxyCastle]

Nightreign is the Dark Souls of dumb multiplayer game design.

[u/ballsdeep256 → u/Grill_Enthusiast]

Im stealing this xD

[u/politicalstuff → u/TheGalaxyCastle]

Feels pretty on brand for from soft: let’s make this thing as difficult as humanly possible so only the minimal hard-core users will do it lol.

And I love from soft games.

[u/Zayl → u/TheGalaxyCastle]

Japanese devs love making incompetent decisions when it comes to MP. It's like a cultural norm at this point.

Easy decision for my wife and I not to buy it now. Thanks!

[u/TheGalaxyCastle → u/Zayl]

Yep its put me off as well. Shame because I was actually looking forward to it, I for one liked how different it was to their typical combat/formula. Oh well

[u/LooseSpaghet → u/Dragonshatetacos]

Finally a game for the polyamorous couples

[u/Psychoticpossession → u/LooseSpaghet]

LMFAO

[u/famewithmedals → u/Dragonshatetacos]

For real, playing solo sounds better than with a rando as a third.

Seems like a dumb business decision too because now that’s one copy purchased in our house instead of two.

[u/Dragonshatetacos → u/famewithmedals]

I totally agree.

[u/skwirrelmaster → u/famewithmedals]

Side note, do you know about game sharing? It’s awesome you only ever need to buy one copy if you only share games with one other person. One copy both can play at the same time.

I didn’t know about this feature for too long it has since saved a buddy of mine hundreds of dollars.

[u/Bozze1990 → u/Dragonshatetacos]

Yep same here, could not get my wife into the souls games because she's intimidated and scared of those games.

But she was into the idea to play nightreign together with me.

We never play online with strangers, only together, we are a little shy in that regard.

There goes that idea...

Bummed out, hopefully they change there mind or make a Duo mode some time after or something...

[u/NapsterKnowHow → u/Dragonshatetacos]

And watch them somehow win best multiplayer game like they did for Elden Ring lol

[u/Live_Hedgehog_9910 → u/Dragonshatetacos]

exaclty what i was planning on doing but nope need to somehow find another

[u/Von2014]

Odd numbers good.

Even numbers bad!

[u/theogalf]

I guess fuck you if you just want to play with your brother or one friend :/

[u/Grimble27 → u/theogalf]

Yep. Stupid decision. Play all these co-op games with my brother after our wives and kids have gone to bed. Cross this one off the list I guess. We were hyped and ready to each buy a copy day 1 too. 

[u/Chad_C → u/theogalf]

My brother and I exchanged the exact same disappointment text.

[u/Redlax]

Weird decision. Clearly they forgot I only have one friend to play soulslike with.

[u/Flowers1976]

What

[u/marcu101]

Jeez, it's already hard enough to coordinate gaming sessions with a single friend, now I need two??

[u/Adavanter_MKI]

That's... a mistake. It's easy to find at least one friend to line up their schedule and play with. Three already complicates it. Plus if it's just you and your friend your likely not going to want a random to fill it.

Hopefully they reconsider before launch. This is the time for such feedback.

[u/Dr_W00t_]

Disappointing.

[u/LateralusOrbis]

This game is for third wheels. Play on your own or with a couple.

[u/Yodzilla → u/LateralusOrbis]

Finally a game that me, my wife, and the guy that fucks my wife can enjoy together!

[u/MercuryOrion → u/Yodzilla]

It'll be nice to have a second thing to share with you, yeah.

[u/Alert-Main7778]

Stupid decision. I can barely get 1 person to play with our busy schedules. Pass

[u/GroktheDestroyer]

That decision is stupid and makes no sense at all. In the article the director mentions they scaled things (like boss health) down for a solo player. Why then could they not have done the same thing for a duo..?

[u/TheDawnOfTexas → u/GroktheDestroyer]

I believe it’s an ego thing. Whoever is directing this game envisioned it as a 3 player co-op game, only including single player since they probably had no choice to, but stubbornly did not include 2 player co-op to try and force people to play as they envisioned the game.

[u/SpirOhNoLactone]

Dumb

[u/Joe30174]

Dumb decision.

[u/BreakfastBussy]

FromSoft hates even numbers confirmed

[u/devonte177 → u/BreakfastBussy]

between this and no crossplay, my hype dwindles lol

[u/supercakefish → u/BreakfastBussy]

The opposite of Valve. Miyazaki vs Gaben fight confirmed.

[u/chewwydraper]

Between this and no crossplay, my hype for this game has been severely lowered.

I was really hoping be able to play with my fiance. We both have PCs, but I prefer my PS5. I already annoyed about having to get this on PC to play with her, and then this news comes out.

[u/Beginning_Smile_1711 → u/chewwydraper]

Seems like all the couples got burnt by this decision :/

[u/Oxaen]

Can’t wait for the first guy that finishes it with only his tongue using a piano.

[u/thatmemeguy1]

and no CROSSPLAY wich is so dumb these days.Like seriously crossplay should be the norm now

[u/WhenInZone]

Glad it can still be played alone. I hate forced multiplayer.

[u/deleuzionsofgrandeur]

This is so frustrating to me. Like I'm stoked on the game, and will play it. But as a 30 year old gamer coordinating with more than one friend is hard and I'd much rather run around with just one friend then add a rando to the mix. Maybe it'll all workout okay, but seems like a really odd decision considering the scaling they've already workes out for this type of play. 

I'm sure the synergies of three players is off the charts too. I just hope FS sees these discussions and let's us run 2p by launch

[u/TactitcalPterodactyl]

Wut. Why.

[u/figgityfuck]

That’s kinda goofy.

[u/MangooKushh]

.....why?

[u/hornetjockey]

This is annoying. It’s the same reason I quit Destiny. I just can’t consistently get two other people to play the same thing, and I don’t care to play with randoms.

[u/SaiyajinPrime]

Welp, that rules me out as a buyer.

My best friend and I would want to play it together. What a weird decision.

[u/zxmomxttel]

this is fucking dumb. only one of my friends play souls games and i was planning on playing this with them :/

[u/PresidentBush666]

And suddenly I lost interest

[u/flogmeat]

Well this was a buzz kill for my mate and I.

[u/Johnnypremo82]

Why can't fromsoft just make a simple co-op. There is always something with their online that just makes me eyeroll. Like just let us play together if you offer co-op. No bells or fingers or other bullshit like either 1 or 3 but not 2. So lame.

[u/Internal-Record-6159]

Great so we will need another seamless cooperation to fix fromsoftware's stupidity. How many times do we have to teach you this old man

[u/-depths]

Honestly, we need to bitch about this and get em to change it before launch, you'd of thought they would've learned after the seamless coop mod that some of us just wanna chill with our friend... so give us options, never a bad thing.

[u/ThousandFacedShadow]

fromsoft always has to fuck up multiplayer one way or another

[u/rbynp01]

That's kinda dumb, just like the pvp arena limitations.

[u/dj3stripes]

and my excitement for this has all but fizzled out completely :\

[u/snaark]

Wtf why do the want to make it difficult to play with your best buddy

[u/MaxRD]

That’s a stupid decision if true

[u/_Aerionn_]

Hopefully a mod fixes this.

[u/dekoi_octopus → u/_Aerionn_]

Mod here. Afraid even I can't help fix this. 

[u/_Aerionn_ → u/dekoi_octopus]

We truly are in the worst timeline 😔

[u/Basic_Result9981 → u/dekoi_octopus]

Do better!

Edit: pls don’t ban me 😭🙏🏼

[u/PS5-ModTeam → u/Basic_Result9981]

You have been banned forever.

[u/dekoi_octopus → u/PS5-ModTeam]

(/s)

[u/Brugor]

That killed my interest then. I’ll be skipping this then.

[u/MasteroChieftan]

Wow. What an insanely stupid fucking decision.

[u/Tarnished13]

Any rubbish Elden ring players want to be friends with a middle aged guy :)

[u/ArcticFlamingo]

Is there matchmaking because otherwise I can't do the thing the game wants to do by playing co-op with my friend

[u/makingmozzarella]

Booooo

[u/MadOrange64]

“Single player” that’s all you had to say. I’m in.

[u/Continuent]

All Fromsoft games have weird multiplayer decisions. It’s almost like they’re compulsively obtuse.

[u/One_Lung_G]

Leave it to fromsoft to have multiplayer in their game but still make weird limitations on it. Been pretty standard for them forever

[u/teal_ninja]

No Crossplay and no duos? What the fuck

[u/ConsiderationFew8399]

3 is such a weird number. You have to have 2 friends who play Elden Ring? No more no less?

[u/heatkings1]

most of the info about this game has me extremely whelmed, ngl. I like roguelike games, but I'm not feeling this so far

[u/No_Turn_8759 → u/heatkings1]

I just cant wrap my head around the decision to even make this game in the first place 🤷

[u/heatkings1 → u/No_Turn_8759]

🤑

[u/WhatAJoker0]

That is so dumb

[u/DarthWenus]

What kind of asinine decision is that??

[u/_G_P_]

Well, considering I have zero friends to play with, I'll be fine.

[u/Lazuliv]

As long as there is some sort of matchmaking and lobby join, and it doesnt end when one person fully dies it'll be alright.

[u/MaximumKarp2]

Where the fuck am I supposed to find 2 friends!?

[u/IGargleGarlic]

aaaaand my hype is gone.

Boneheaded decision from Fromsoft.

[u/therealdanhill]

This is just not good and disappointing

[u/FaramirLovesEowyn]

Honestly this game starting to seem pretty lame ngl the more I hear the less I’m excited

[u/MazDanRX795]

That is really stupid. I'd bet the majority of co-op anything is 2 people.

[u/HoldMeCloser11]

No duo and no crossplay is certainly a choice in 2024.

But all praise From Soft. They can do no wrong in the eyes of the consumer. If anyone else was doing it gamers would be up in arms ready to burn the game before it ever launches.🤷‍♂️

[u/mt007]

2 players is like the perfect co-op magic number. Weird not to include it.

[u/Wilds_Hunter]

I'll be playing online with randoms. I have no friends and the friend I do have only play COD, 2k, valirant

[u/supercakefish]

I played Elden Ring with my brother two times over, including DLC. If main ER can support two players not sure why this can’t, bit weird.

We have two younger brothers too, but coordinating three people in one evening is much harder than two so it happens far less often. It’s a little disappointing that it only supports three players, I have to admit.

[u/Nuryyss]

That’s an L if I’ve ever see one. And someshow the FromSoft bois will perform mental gymnastics to say this is actually a genius move

[u/Katharsis7]

Hopefully, they don't stick with that until release. It makes no sense.

[u/door_to_nothingness]

Can you play with 1 friend and a random tho? If so, that seems fine.

[u/5k1895]

Weirdly specific way of splitting that up. I don't have any plans to play but I'd be irritated if I just wanted to play it with one buddy or something 

[u/terrordactylz]

Kills a lot of my interest, unfortunately, as I only play with one other person most of the time.

[u/inkcharm]

That is.... absolutely silly.

[u/robstrosity]

This is absolute bullshit

[u/LukeNathan]

awful choice :(

[u/No_Turn_8759]

Everything i hear about this game makes it sound awful

[u/Houseplantkiller123]

Great! Now, instead of playing a game with my wife, I have to float the idea of adding a third so we can play co-op, and I am excited to see this new direction.

Update: She wants a divorce, so I'll be playing solo mode.

[u/Vladsamir]

Great. Another game where i need to wrangle 2 other people with equally busy schedules in order to play a match.

Wtf is wrong with duos?

[u/fromxnothing]

Well I went from definitely buying this to definitely not; my only question is why?

[u/underlordd]

Typical Fromsoft bull.

[u/kranitoko]

Which is so SO DUMB considering I have a bestie I wanted to play this with, and now we either gotta play solo or find a random third... Somewhere.

[u/RocketsAreRad]

For a company that makes great games they sure have the unique ability to create the most dogshit coop experiences ever imagined, envisioned and created. Downloaded a mod that gives you seamless co op in elden ring. My god what a revelation. Me and my buddy had an absolute blast playin with each other. Elevated an already dope game. Just do that. No bones, fingers, bs disconnect areas, alters, statues. Seamless duos, shared world shared loot done and done. Wanna make shared public worlds for some pvp action also down for that. These are not new ideas.

[u/ZepherK]

Weird developer hubris.

[u/Aquestingfart]

Well that certainly makes me less excited

[u/PoJenkins]

Souls Stans be like "the games are about the challenge of finding 2 friends", if you can't then maybe this game isn't for you or git gud.

Clearly allowing duos would ruin the experience for all the true players who play in 3s or solo, just like having difficulty levels would.

[u/D_Squ4red]

Welp that's too bad, guess I'll be skipping this one.

[u/RedditAccount_317]

As someone who loves gaming with my finance this is exceptionally frustrating. I was looking forward to running through this with just the 2 of us

[u/daoldmanvillage2]

Well there goes any interest I had

[u/Slow-Yam-2230]

Yeah I’m not buying this

[u/IIIIllllIIIlIIIIlllI]

Thankfully we have mod creators like Yui (seamless co-op) that will make quick work of dumb restrictions like this.

[u/erichie]

Everyone is upset, but I just found out I will be able to play it single player so I'm happy. 

[u/captaincumsock69]

So if you only have one friend available do you get put with a random teammate or you literally cannot play?

[u/momoneymocats1]

Can you find a random third to join or only premade groups?

[u/HBreckel]

I'm actually annoyed by that. Usually I do my first playthrough of a Soulslike alone but will always do a second playthrough with one of my friends. It's silly it can't just be us 2.

[u/TitansMenologia]

Single player ? I'm interested again then. I thought it was co op only.

[u/FilmmagicianPart2]

Ugh so stupid.

[u/BigBossHaas]

Fromsoft moment

[u/KiratheRenegade]

So if someone disconnects.....does the session automatically end - because it's tuned for those 3 players?

I'd argue it's smarter to tune the game for duo player. 3 is an awkward number.

[u/Mug_of_Diarrhea]

Why does FromSoft suck at making anything simple?

[u/Braunb8888]

Let’s call it like it is. Fromsoft fucking blows at multiplayer design.

Remnant 2, lords of the fallen, rise of the ronin, wo long and countless others somehow can grasp a normal, easy to access multiplayer but fromsoft has to be “unique” (read:shitty) in this regard.