Lords Of The Fallen is a product that has come from years of development and growth by the developers. It serves as both a reboot and a sequel to the 2014 title of the same name, which generated a lot of discussion, both positive and negative. Can this spiritual successor surpass its predecessor? Let’s find out.
Lords Of The Fallen was published by CI Games and developed by Hexworks, an internal studio of the aforementioned CI Games. They are known for the Sniper Ghost Warrior series and the original Lords Of The Fallen. Since its release on October 13, 2023, it has been available for PC and Steam Deck, Xbox Series S/X, and PlayStation 5. It falls within the dark fantasy action RPG category, specifically in the subcategory now known as Soulslike. The inspiration drawn from the famous works of From Software is profound. The game does not shy away from it. It inherits the character growth system, the mechanic of using predetermined checkpoints, and the loss of experience upon death. At times, it feels almost like an homage to the genius (and, according to some, sadistic) mind of Hidetaka Miyazaki, evident in the area structure, difficulty, and even the mechanics of some bosses.
A Troubled History
Let’s start with the basics: the first Lords Of The Fallen, released on October 28, 2014, for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, was born during a time when the term “Soulslike” was still a neologism timidly making its way through social media pages, forums, and professional sites. The Souls saga was basking in the excellent sales of its divisive second chapter, released in March of that same year, while what initially began with Demon’s Souls (2009) and solidified with Dark Souls (2011), was becoming a worldwide phenomenon. Players were hungry for similar titles. A a plethora of studios set to work to emulate the phenomenal success of From Software’s creations, especially outside the Far East.
CI Games and Deck 13 took up the challenge and jumped into the fray. Lords Of The Fallen (2014) sold quite well and garnered a lot of attention. The specialized press praised the gameplay, which introduced several innovations compared to the unbeatable Souls, the well-written storyline, and the dark and detailed settings. However, it disapproved of the repetitive areas and boss fights, the excessively low difficulty level, and the clunkiness of some animations. But, all in all, the first Lords Of The Fallen was an experiment. A partially successful attempt to ride the wave of Soulslike games and try to diversify itself. The two studios quickly planned a sequel, announced only two months later. Originally, the release should have been in 2017, but Deck 13 chose to focus on the development of The Surge. CI Games established a collaboration with the independent studio Defiant Studios in 2018. The partnership fell through in 2020, and the torch was passed to the newly formed internal studio Hexworks, which finally began to seriously work on the sequel to Lords Of The Fallen.
The Wrath of a Fallen God
Despite its troubled origins, the title is not plagued by issues like sudden plot changes or cut content. The storyline is not connected, except through citations and mentions of some characters, to that of its predecessor, allowing new players to fully understand it. However, the developers made sure not to break the continuity of events and to respect the lore of the first chapter. An ancient god named Adyr once ruled the world of men, protected by his demonic offspring called the Rhogar. The followers of the God of Light, Orius, led by the Judge Cleric, who is part pope, part grand templar master, managed to defeat Adyr a thousand years ago and seal him in another dimension. To prevent his return, the Cleric placed five Sentinels before five magical beacons, from which Adyr drew strength.
But over time, the Sentinels, along with their entire order, inevitably became corrupted by the malevolent influence of the beacons, transforming into impious tyrants, and their protection waned. Adyr’s return is now imminent. A suspicion confirmed by the Rhogar invasion that brings the kingdom of Mournstead to its knees. In this almost apocalyptic scenario, the order of the Dark Crusaders is born, possessing powerful supernatural artifacts called Umbral Lamps. With these, they can travel to Umbral, the inaccessible realm of the dead, capture the souls of the fallen, and even return to life after death. When one of the Dark Crusaders loses the lamp, it falls near an unknown corpse, bringing it back to life. This is none other than our main character, who will inevitably take on the burden of continuing the Crusaders’ work, purifying the five beacons from the corrupted Sentinels and preventing Adyr’s return.
A World on the Brink of Collapse
The plot, though not groundbreaking in originality, is memorable for its excellent writing and pacing. Lords Of The Fallen presents itself surprisingly polished and refined at first glance. The graphics, supported by the solid foundation of Unreal Engine 5, shines in all its glory, offering even darker and more atmospheric environments than its predecessor. The effect is truly powerful, a delight for dark fantasy enthusiasts. Suffocating, dying forests, abandoned castles overrun by demons, fetid swamps, mines where workers dug too deep… the variety and creativity of Hexworks is evident throughout the 30-40 hours it takes to complete the game. Inspiration from other video games and fantasy archetypes is inevitable. But it doesn’t feel overbearing, thanks to the masterful realization of areas, enemies, and environments in general.
The vast game world is enriched, as is typical in Soulslike games, through descriptions of objects, weapons, and spells found throughout the adventure. This information is never vital to understanding the plot but helps to make the world feel more alive and believable. This is where the developers excel. Mournstead is simply a pleasure to explore. The places we traverse convey strong feelings of abandonment, desolation, and melancholy. The excellent sound design complements the setting; sometimes, it’s worth pausing for a moment to listen carefully… chills are guaranteed. As we move through the game, we will gradually uncover what happened to the kingdom of Mournstead. More importantly, bring to light the unsettling backstories of its inhabitants.
Sword and Shield
Everything I’ve praised above wouldn’t work without decent gameplay. There’s much to discuss here. Let’s start with one of the fundamental aspects: combat. It doesn’t stray too far from the pillars of action RPGs. It’s very dynamic and fast, based on dodges, attack combinations, and quick reactions. The ability to perform two types of dodges — a quick one with a single button press and a roll with two quick presses — is much appreciated. By alternating light attacks, heavy attacks, dodge attacks, and running attacks, you can create a good number of combos, all very situational. Yet, after just a few hours, it becomes clear that a factor inevitably unbalances this well-crafted system: the absolute dominance of magic and ranged attacks.
Don’t get me wrong, the spell-casting system in Lords Of The Fallen is one of the best of its kind. The impact of spells, whether simple fireballs or massive radiant explosions, is satisfying. There are many synergies between different spells, and it’s absolutely fun to discover and test them all. The problem is that both magic and ranged attacks like bows and arrows are drastically, in proportion, more effective than melee combat. And this applies to enemies as well. Combine this factor with the omnipresence of enemy shooters/mages in virtually every area. You’ll have a vague idea of how exploration becomes frustrating in the later stages of the game. This heavily disadvantages players who want to use a melee-focused playstyle. Unlike the Souls games, only a perfect parry will prevent the loss of precious health points. There’s no shield that entirely blocks all damage from enemy attacks… but I’ll talk about this shortly.
The Best Defense is a Good Offense
Rarely does a video game fit this phrase so well. Passively blocking enemy strikes will cause you to lose a portion of your health points, which will turn gray. By counterattacking, you can recover that portion of your health bar, but taking further damage will result in its permanent loss. This system, reminiscent of Bloodborne, makes the plethora of shields available in the game less useful. Even the perfect parry system, except in certain specific builds, is not very viable. Repeated perfect parries will cause the enemy to lose posture and fall to their knees, vulnerable to a critical strike. You can also achieve the same effect more quickly, however, by using kicks and heavy attacks. In fact, a large portion of defensive playstyles is greatly discouraged in Lords Of The Fallen. This undermines the freedom of approach that has always been a hallmark of Soulslike games.
The graphical and sound effects of the parries are divine, beautiful to watch and hear. It’s a shame, then, that the game almost forces us to favor a more aggressive combat style and integrate some means of damaging enemies from a distance. As I mentioned above, enemies will almost always be accompanied by at least one shooter or mage. Eliminating them from a distance is the best approach to avoid complicating encounters that are already quite difficult. It seems that Hexworks took the criticisms about the low difficulty level of the previous title very seriously, as Lords Of The Fallen, especially in certain sections, is incredibly challenging. Whether this is a strength or a flaw depends on the player.
Drenched in Weapons
Setting aside the obsession with enemy snipers, who will be able to target our character with surgical precision even when we think we’re safe, the combat system works excellently. There’s a plethora of weapons, armor, magic, and throwable items. Although weapons in the same category are quite similar in attack type, the developers implemented various mechanics to ensure a wide variety. Equipping two weapons gives access to new combos. There’s no limit to our imagination. For example, we can wield a greatsword and a spear simultaneously, as long as we meet the stat requirements. A dagger and an axe, brass knuckles and a mace… Combine these with various ranged weapons like bows, crossbows, and spell catalysts: the battles never get boring.
This somewhat clashes with the almost absolute dominance of magic and ranged combat. Which I see as a fairly evident flaw in a game that prides itself on freedom of choice. Throwing weapons aren’t limited items as in other action RPGs. They actually have a dedicated ammo bar, which replaces mana when equipped. Different tools consume different amounts of ammo, which we can recharge with specific consumables. Ammo and mana are separate, allowing dynamic switching between spells and throwable weapons. Of course, there are also the inevitable rings and talismans, though in smaller numbers. These are well hidden and often require a keen eye and some ingenuity to retrieve.
Explode with Style
There are three different types of magic, governed by different stats. Inferno, which is based on fire and powerful buffs; Radiance, sacred magic primarily focused on support and defense; and Umbral, more complex spells centered on poison and withering, which is the ability to “lock” part of the enemy’s health bar, which will be entirely lost upon the next damage taken. The same thing happens to our character in case of imperfect blocks, basically. Three particular rings stand out that allow casting different types of magic with the same catalyst. The possibilities of combining all these spells with the countless weapons, not to mention the assortment of consumable items, make the combat system of Lords Of The Fallen truly colossal. Personally, I’ve never had so much fun playing a sorcerer in an action RPG. The care poured into this aspect by the developers is commendable.
We will face twelve main bosses, along with a good number of minibosses. Aesthetically, there’s nothing to complain about. Each boss leaves a lasting impression on the player’s mind, along with the epic and solemn music that accompanies them. The partially successful effort to make each encounter distinctive and unique should also be appreciated. It’s impossible, and rightly so, not to draw inspiration from the great glories of the Soulslike genre. The arenas where we face them are always spacious and free, safe from accidental wall traps or sudden falls. In summary, the boss fights, which are one of the most important factors in these titles, are among the most successful aspects. We’ve already talked about one peculiar bossfight… which made me suffer quite a bit before beating her.
Strolling through the World of the Dead
By now, you’re probably wondering what Lords Of The Fallen offers to shine in the sea of action RPGs available on the market today. Everything that has come across so far highlights it as a good game, but a bit anonymous. And it would be, if not for the Umbral Lamp. This artifact in the hands of the Dark Crusaders allows them to access the realm of the dead. This is where Hexworks’ work truly shines. At any moment, we can equip the lamp and slip into the alternative dimension called Umbral. It presents itself as a “reverse” of the living world. Here, dangerous creatures roam, and strange wails can be heard in the distance. The visual and sound impact is phenomenal. Passing into Umbral is vital to progressing in the game and solving environmental puzzles. Certain paths, stairs, and passages appear only in Umbral, as well as well-hidden objects and various secrets.
The depth of this system is such that the first few hours of gameplay are not enough to fully understand it. In Umbral, besides finding hidden paths, we must also hunt down the so-called Umbral Parasites, which empower surrounding enemies, and use the Lantern to listen to and experience the memories of long-dead people. This will provide us with additional information and insights into the game world, as well as reward us with special items that we will be able to exchange for equipment from defeated bosses. But while entering Umbral is easy, exiting is not as simple. To do so, we need to find Umbral Anchors, the only way out of this unsettling dimension. Just be careful not to linger too long. Your presence in a realm where you’re not supposed to be attracts the attention of increasingly ferocious creatures. An indicator at the top left shows how much time you have before… Well, I wouldn’t recommend finding out.
A Lot of Ideas on the Table
The Umbral Lamp is undoubtedly the most successful idea in Lords Of The Fallen. Not only because it serves as a passage between dimensions but also because it allows you to set up temporary and limited checkpoints from which to resume in case of death. We can call it the game’s signature feature. The exploration is on excellent levels. As previously mentioned, the environments are incredibly varied and well-crafted. It’s a dark fantasy, true, yet it occasionally leans towards horror, which is absolutely welcome. There will be moments when you ask yourself in disgust what on earth you’re looking at, and others when you stop to observe the scenery, captivated by the view that shines gloriously in its Unreal Engine 5 attire. In each new area, we’ll find a rudimentary map of the area, which should help us orient ourselves. It’s entirely possible to do without it, really, but the care with which they made those maps makes them a very pleasant addition.
Lords Of The Fallen presents a lot of ideas; it also tries to deepen the rudimentary and simple weapon and shield upgrade system of the Souls games by adding the possibility of embedding runes to drastically change the effects of the equipment. We can also use the Umbral Lamp to rip the souls out of enemies, making them vulnerable for several seconds. Nonetheless, the impression remains that all these ideas could have been explored further. Specifically, the game suffers from a lack of variety and balance among the various enemies. Also, we will find many runes and weapons almost at the end of the game; if we want to enjoy them, we will have to face the poorly conceived NG+, where the difficulty sometimes reaches truly exaggerated tones. The structure of the NPC quests is also repetitive. It’s very easy to miss various quests, as the requirements to advance them are sometimes very cryptic.
It Works. With Some Hiccups, But It Works.
Last but not least, I wanted to focus on the technical aspect. Lords Of The Fallen is not without flaws. However, considering the tumultuous development it went through and the fact that it’s inevitably compared to Japanese giants, I can say that it holds up decently. Perhaps the developers sometimes bit off more than they could chew, producing many good ideas but only bringing a few to light. Overlooking some clunky collisions, an overuse of enemy shooters and mages, and some clumsy platforming sections, I can say that I completed an excellent Soulslike. The longevity reaches more than acceptable levels. The story is intriguing enough to encourage progression, even if just to discover what other devilry Hexworks has hidden around the corner.
Talking about a title like this is never easy. There’s always a risk of remaining in the shadow of the Souls tetralogy, which still casts both shadows and light on a large portion of its descendants. Taken on its own, Lords Of The Fallen is fun, engaging, intriguing, and above all, it works. The poor performance on PC has been partially resolved with the latest patches; on consoles. However, horrendous frame rate drops remain in some sections, which can be resolved simply by restarting the game. It’s undoubtedly frustrating to die and lose your experience due to a frame rate drop. As a consolation, the graphics engine rewards us with truly breathtaking spectacles. I recommend the game to all action RPG enthusiasts, keeping in mind that the difficulty level is above the average of its peers. Grab the Lamp and shine light on the horrors of the kingdom of Mournstead. You won’t regret it.
Lords Of The Fallen
PRO
- Dynamic, fun, and deep combat system
- Evocative atmosphere and environments
- Excellent graphical performance
- Charismatic and challenging bosses
- A plethora of weapons, armor, and spells
- A lot of different mechanics…
CON
- …not all of them well-developed
- Performance issues persist
- Difficulty is sometimes unbalanced
8/10
