Nightreign and Escapism: Everything Ends
I just completed my last expedition without initially knowing it. I hadn't listened to the end credit themes since I first bested Heolstor, and in doing so I had an epiphany: I've reached the point of no return. I'm satisfied.
I like to leave the games I've played and finished behind forever---a bit extreme I know---to further establish the profound impact these experiences offer; and Nightreign has sufficed in providing a unique, fun multiplayer/solo engagement.
Thousands of hours later, the core gameplay loop still does it job despite content variety grievances. Really, I can play this forever lol. Gameplay aside however, the existentially desolate story and characters were very much a big factor in my love for this game too - something I was not initially expecting when I played the beta and saw the subsequent trailers.
Random play is the wildcard niche that I like and weirdly prefer over playing with friends; there's an element of double-edged uncertainty that gives each run a different flavor to a spectrum of degrees - namely during the earlier phases of the game's lifecycle as I do feel like the playstyle meta has plateaued in uninteresting design.
Now time for a depressing topic. this project came out in one of the worst times of my life. It provided great distraction and joy away from a world where all my choices were nothing but agonizing exemplifications of unfairness and cruelty. life is cyclic with it's offerings of joy and suffering - and that without this, life perhaps wouldn't feel special; but I didn't know that my existence could ever feel so cold and dissociated. Just because life inevitably ends doesn't mean that I should stop living now; however, parts of me have died off and continue to do so each day.
In the game, whenever I would feel accomplished or smile, or even roll my eyes at a player rushing evergaols when *no one* had the goal relic on... it reminded me of emotions that I struggle to feel outside of fiction. this game offered some great temporary relief in the face of these troublesome states of mind.
I don't know what lies ahead with Nightreign's future, but if the *fabled* ED Straghess or Heolstor releases then it'd hope those fights make everyone happy as this game did many times for me and for others in the past.
Goodbye everyone, overall a very fun community to be within that gave me great laughs, perhaps more laughs than I deserve to feel.