“Our” trio is down to two

Rejoice, Nightfarers! A severely demanded for u yupdate that many players from the Elden Ring community have been clamoring for, and one that is both long overdue and yet at the same time, surprisingly quick in it’s implementation, comes in the form of patch 1.02, aka, the Duos Expedition update. FromSoftware excitedly reminds Elden Ring fans the gaming verse over their demands have been answered, as patch 1.02 brings with it the ability to finally play in two player mode, bringing the hotly requested Co-op considerations into the fray.


Usually, one uses the “buddy system” to their advantage, and not as a much better starting point of preferred approach in getting ones ass kicked

Two months into the games life cycle, and FromSoft showcases they are still listening to fan demand, as they continue to update their psuedo-battle-royale-little-engine-that-could spinoff title, that has had players going at it in teams of three, or for the truly psychopathic, players who have been rocking it solo-mode. This is of course generally considered a nightmare way of playing, when one takes into account how much more crazy demanding the runs become, due to balancing issues. FromSoft had commented that a duos only mode was “overlooked” during development, and soon realized after launch it was going to be one of the biggest requests they were going to have to field, in order to make Nightrein a more complete experience, and they have finally answered fan demands with some fairly serious expeditious gusto.


Flying high again

Some of the less interesting points of note involving patch 1.02’s implementation, relate to small quality-of-life UI Improvements, as well as including more Relics filtering option. The update should drop on July 30th. FromSoftware has released a trailer to commemorate the upcoming content drop, which you can find at the bottom of the post.

In a moment of both iteration and clarification, my hakuna matata moment, as previously mentioned, is one that is in good faith, though slathered in irony, paradox, and farcical sternness. This is due in part to the idea of playing duo’s mode, so that I may delight with grim glee at getting my ass kicked in a satisfying manner, while remaining in the lands between.


Teamwork makes the (dying) dream work?

For those curious on the elaboration of how just how my “Hakuna Matatating” works in this regard: within the idea of it finally being “my time to shine” with the introduction of co-op mode into Nightreign, I put forth the metaphoricity of the moment from Lion King, when the trio is down to two, I.E, when Simba leaves Timon and Pumba to take care of business. The aforementioned irony of this moment compounds thusly, as Hakuna Matata itself, famously so, means “no worries, for the rest of your days”. In reference to Nightreign, a spinoff of the brutally difficult Elden Ring, of course there will always be cause for deep concern, as it is a game where even when one is cooking, so to speak, one is likely still getting their ever loving ass absolutely beat in, dying left and right, hither and thither for all who are within ear and eye shot to enjoy, in all of it’s schadenfreude like glory.


It means no worries

Hence, the “lack of worry”, keeping in mind the previously mentioned “Hakuna Matataing“, and as a response to duos mode being introduced, will be a return to form of sorts, as I had not been enjoying my foray into the Nightreign world as a member of a squad of three, nor being invested solely as a solo player. Henceforth, the thing that Timon and Pumba were “worried about”, was something that they were previously never worried about, which was now just becoming a duo, which was par for the course for them for so long anyways. In the same notion, where I was wanting to enjoy the multiplayer majesty of Nightreign, but worried I wouldn’t be able to do so through the obvious paradox of being by myself, I still needed a partner to “not worry” about the chance to get my ass kicked again, in a meaningfully inviting way, which I have now got with the Duos Expedition update.

Thusly, my “hakuna matataing” via Elden Ring Nightreign now has the elements it needs to finally commence paradoxically worrying about “not worrying” of ass beatings I may finally take part in, as previously desired.

See? Perfectly not confusing.

(I think it’s worth mentioning I wrote this article while being fairly sleep deprived.)

~Pashford