ELDEN RING REFORGED

Elden Ring Reforged spruces up a classic with some nostalgic new-game smell

- By Dominic Tarason

Stripped every last bit of meat from Elden Ring’s bones? Finding even Shadow Of The Erdtree a bit familiar these days? Nightreign not quite hitting the same high notes? After sinking hours into long-running, ever-expanding overhaul mod Elden Ring Reforged I’ve been reminded just how much I loved FromSoftware’s sprawling, hostile open world. It might be just what you need, too – especially now that Reforged has its own private multiplayer servers, the headline feature of its recent 2.0 update.

Even more ambitiously than the popular Seamless Coop mod, Reforged bypasses the original game’s anti-cheat systems while retaining bloodstains, phantoms, summons and invasions. Helpful, as there are more than 1,200 collectible stat-boosting rune fragments hidden across the map like Crackdown’s irresistible agility orbs, many of which you’d never find without other kindly players placing glowing, tongue-in-cheek hints. This mod understands that, even playing solo, Elden Ring is a shared experience. It just wouldn’t be the same without people declaring that every single turtle is actually a dog.

So, what does Reforged change? After years of updates, it’s easier to list what it doesn’t do, as even Reforged’s official wiki isn’t comprehensive. If you’re after a completely reworked world you might be better served by mods like Convergence or the recent grim and gothic rework Graceborne. While Reforged does add a couple new areas and new encounters, that's not the focus here. Instead, the mod focuses on refreshing and rebalancing almost every mechanic in the game.