Nightingale Update Changes How Death Works

03.04.2024 - 18:51 / gamerant.com / Ashley Erickson

Update 0.1.3 brings multiple bug fixes to Nightingale, but the biggest change is dying will no longer create a death chest. The mechanic has been utilized throughout a number of survival games, but the player community found it tedious, and sometimes impossible, to collect the dropped items after reviving. Looking to set Nightingale apart from others in the genre, a new mechanic has taken the place of death chests.

Like many other games released in 2024, Nightingale is an early access open-world survival crafting game. It features magic, monsters, classic literary figures like Victor Frankenstein, and more throughout different realms that players can travel to. With an expansive crafting system, collecting resources is a priority, especially in higher level worlds. Dying, which causes player loot to drop where the character took their last breath, often puts a kink in any gaming session plans a player may have.

Having items drop upon death is a popular survival game mechanic present in almost every open-world crafting game in the genre. Looking to set itself apart from the competition, the team at Inflexion Games has changed how death impacts players in Nightingale. Instead of creating a death chest containing dropped loot, items will lose durability, food buffs will disappear, and time will rapidly pass.

Having to reclaim fallen items is an action many survival players are familiar with. Trekking back to the spot a character died takes time and can be difficult to complete, especially if the death was caused by a boss or large group of mobs. This is further complicated in Nightingale by the use of realms, which may no longer be accessible to the player after they revive. Whether the realm was visited through a portal among a chain of portals or is owned by a friend who is no longer online, getting hard-earned items back can be a hassle.

Thankfully, having a different punishment for dying will set Nightingale apart from the competition, as well as solve the issue of locating death chests through the Faewilds. This change in death mechanics also comes as even more survival crafting games are releasing onto the market. Showcasing ingenuity during early access points to a healthy respect for the player community and an openness to the features they want to experience.

While Nightingale can still learn from other games in the genre, such as Palworld, these changes take it in the right direction. Inflexion Games is using early access as a time to distinguish the title from competitors and fine tune what makes Nightingale special.