Nightingale, a survival game, is undergoing major changes after developers compared it to games like Palworld and Enshrouded. 'It was the structure that stood apart'

This week, Nightingale, the co-op survival video game will undergo some major changes. The Realms Rebuilt Update, scheduled for September 12, will include new weapons, spells and dungeons. It will also expand the build limits for player bases, overhauling the progression system and even adding cats (in hats).

The biggest change is the core questline of Nightingale and the "storied realms", which players will visit as they follow it. These new realms are a departure from the way Nightingale has worked since its launch in early access, which was in February. They will be "handcrafted", as opposed to being procedurally generated. Each realm will have its own theme and visual aesthetic.

Aaryn Flynn, Nightingale's studio director, told PC Gamer that "the procedural nature of these realms is really all about telling stories and letting players discover them." "When you peel back the layers, when you realize that we built all of this tech and did everything to tell stories, then you can ask yourself: 'Are we doing that? Are we successful at that? We're only moderately successful in that."

Flynn claims that Nightingale was lacking structure until the new format of the main quest.

"We looked at Enshrouded and Palworld. We also looked at V Rising. We examined a lot of other big, successful survival crafting games. Not just in terms sales, but also in terms player perception. Flynn stated that it was the structure of their games that stood out.

The Realms Reborn Update includes many changes based on player feedback. For example, the cap on structures for bases has been increased. "Players told me that they wanted to be creative, and explore the limits of the system, but the limits were too small." Flynn explained that the tech was re-done. Nightingale bosses were also redesigned. "We received a lot of criticism for the weak boss battles. All of them were variations on the same theme. We've also created a number of unique bosses that you can fight," he said.

The section of the game that teaches the player the basics of survival, crafting and other skills has also been reworked. Flynn said that the original system was "very functional, but we focused too much on tutorializing and not enough on hooking players, on really, truly engaging them." "Players need to be engaged and feel in love with the world. We put up too many barriers in order to educate them about how a system or gameplay mechanic worked. We put up too many barriers to make them fall inlove with the world. This new approach will hopefully do a better job at that."

Below you can find a detailed look at the Nightingale’s Realm Rebuilt update.