Finally! A soulslike game that doesn't make you want to kill yourself.
It’s a nice relaxing game after you do 3 lines of coke.
This was a very hard game for me though. I needed my wife’s boyfriend help to beat it but it was very fun to finally have a nice bonding experience with him because he’s always hanging out with my wife in our bedroom.
Things got so bad it actually took me like at least 12 attempts to kill the first boss. Turns out it was just a regular enemy.
Lords of the Fallen had a rough launch, but man, I finally played through it last month and did the umbral ending. All l've got to say is, wow, what an underrated, AWESOME GAME! It has that signature level of challenge and sadistic playfulness soulsborne games tend to exude, while giving you a staggeringly beautiful and dark world to explore while you experience it. Unfortunately it had to compete with Lies of Pi when it came out, and it’s always hard when the better band goes on first. 😔
The long and linear levels with checkpoints being few and far between, treacherous and dirty enemy placements. Levels that feel like a gauntlet of endurance. An amazing atmosphere and sense of place, a feeling of etherealness at times. It's a part of the newer games that lost as they became more action oriented and about the bosses, which I love.
It’s like a new Dark Souls with some interesting and very enjoyable mechanics that really change up the formula. Being stuck in Umbral, with no healing left, and the timer getting late makes for a very intense and unique feeling of exploration and reward. In classic souls, you can always slow down if you’re worried about losing lots of progress and near death, but in LoTF you actively need to take more risk in the same situation, else you won’t find your way out in time or those red enemies will spawn!
Lords of the Fallen stands out as one of the most visually stunning games I've encountered. It's undeniably impressive, ranking among the best-looking games I've played, perhaps rivaled only by the Demon's Souls remake. The brutal artwork and depictions in Lords are particularly noteworthy, reminiscent of truly horrific Catholic paintings and I would not be surprised if they also were inspired by Blasphemous' incredibly dark world. The artistry in this game resonated with me, creating a beautiful and captivating world. Even in the Umbral realm, which serves as a dreadful mirror to the real world, I found myself venturing in just to witness the twisted nature of certain areas. For myself, atmosphere and environment are one of the most important things in a game and LOTF’s art shines in a very dark land.
The lore and nuanced world-building are also major reasons why I adored this game. The reason I love Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Elden Ring are the subtle attentions to details that allow the worlds to tell the story along with the lore. Similar to those games, Lords of the Fallen excels in providing subtle hints about the unfolding narrative. Despite Lower Calrath being less appealing in terms of gameplay, it unfolds incredible moments of world-building, like the stigma revealing a young Pieta escaping from the orphanage and an Infernal Witch right before the Spurned Progeny burning the buildings to keep the fires of the city burning. The Umbral realm harboring an eldritch deity's intent to devour all existence is introduced in the Sunless Skein, making the lore and overarching plot of capricious gods pursuing their agendas utterly captivating. FromSoftware's signature attention to detail shines through, with minor, subtle moments enhancing the overall experience.
The gameplay is fairly smooth with some lingering optimization issues. The bosses some people say are too easy, but I got my ass blasted by some. A couple bosses are mind blowing, but most are alright in my opinion (but still serviceable). There's a good amount of variation and most of them are really fun fights, not just damage sponges with boring move sets. The soundtrack is kind of back to typical Dark Souls style: Very little music while exploring (just lots of tone-setting ambiance and sound ques for gameplay purposes) and generic choir epic music for bosses. Sound design is good overall, but still less satisfying than some of its souls like counterparts (the parry noise is great now though).
Although the game plays exceptionally well, it can take some time to acclimate, but it masterfully draws inspiration from FromSoft's repertoire. Incorporating the parry and stagger mechanics from Sekiro, the rally system and speed reminiscent of Bloodborne, and the deliberate world design of Dark Souls, it seamlessly blends these elements. The Umbral Lamp isn't a mere gimmick; it's thoughtfully integrated into the game, serving both combat utility and unveiling hidden secrets. Encounters with Umbral Enemies that pull you into Umbral can be particularly stressful in a gratifying way. Lingering in Umbral too long spawns a formidable elite enemy, adding an extra layer of dread.
The main selling points to me are the build variety and level design: both are staggering. There are an enormous number of weapons and spells to find and use in combat. Add to that the game's innovative and amazing ranged combat (the best iteration yet I believe in a souls like), and you have some really fun builds to try. And then the level design, which takes the Dark Souls 1 non linear level design and builds on it. Seriously, there are so many different paths to go that exploration feels genuinely meaningful and exciting, and promotes different path taking routes are multiple playthroughs. Only other souls like that beats LOTF for exploration is Elden ring and it's open world so not really even a fair comparison.
Overall I think I had more fun with it than I did with Elden Ring. It’s by no means better than ER generally, but I vibe more with the level design and enemy placement of a classic souls game so I had way more fun. The longer I played Lords of the fallen, the more I realized how strong a game it is. It's deeper and bigger and more satisfying. It really follows the spirit that was started with the Dark souls franchise. It's my top game of the year. Up there among my all-time favorites with Elden Ring.Highly recommend this game for any souls fans looking for something new, it’s great.
10/10
