Giving us a horror game that takes place in a dark realm full of monsters, oddities, and puzzles is TeamKill Media with their recently released game Kings of Lorn: The Fall of Ebris. Previously known simply as Lorn, this game presents a story just as dark as the world it takes place in. Being able to overcome the challenges that lie ahead won’t be an easy task, but it is the one that you are given. Is it a journey worth fighting through though?
Story
After being betrayed by your own Order, the evil leader of this betrayal sends you to the darkest realm that was once forgotten. Under his rule, the kingdom is sure to fall due to his evil, short-sighted pursuit of immortality and looking to find what lies beyond its reach. As the true king, you must fight your way back to regain the thrown and bring back the balance you once had over your kingdom.
Gameplay
From the very beginning of the game, you will find yourself in a very dark, cavernous-type world full of creatures looking to stop you from progressing. This ranges from skeletons to half-bodied humans to spiders. Starting off with only the torch that provides the only light you have, your weapon will prove to be only as effective as you can make it.
The enemies are difficult from the get-go and will only prove to be increasingly harder to fight, even as you begin to find and steal better weapons to use. Their type will continue to vary as you are introduced to countless enemies ranging from knights to actual dragons. Be ready to give each battle your all because even the smaller enemies can prove to be deadly if you let your guard down, especially when there are multiples of them.
Darkness plays a big part in the game as well as you are quite literally left in nigh pitch black darkness without your torch. There will be times that it would prove to be in your favor to move without the light source, but movement should be taken with caution. The amount of times I have fallen down a pit is frustrating to even recall, let alone play through. I should include that enemies do cause knockback, so falling down a pit because you were hit is a possibility as well, so always be aware of your surroundings.
I’m not sure if I would call it a dodge maneuver, but there is a strafe-like move that you can utilize for both progressing through the landscape and in battle. I found myself doing this a lot while fighting to avoid getting hit, but with the proper skill, you won’t need to use it as much as I did. It is a lot safer to land a solid hit and strafe backward though, especially since you should know what the level is like directly behind where you just came, making it so you fall down fewer pits or into any other enemies.
Puzzles are an aspect that you might find a little frustrating as there isn’t much as far as hints, but with some map exploration and curiosity, you will come across everything you need fairly simply. They don’t put a lot of emphasis on making the puzzles difficult as much as they do it to encourage your properly inspect everything around the map. This isn’t the case for every puzzle, but it was the emphasis I was getting as I progressed.
I do like the variety of weapon options they give you as well and they make it so that you can use whichever one you want once you have collected it. Giving options for both close range and long-range fighting, each with their own modifications toward strength, damage, and speed, makes for a solid mix of fighting as the player sees to be the best fit.
Visuals
As I mentioned before, the game is set in a world of darkness that only provides light when there is a fire or specific scenery moments that you come across. Even with the lack of sight on most things, what you could see was always very well detailed. I suspect that the shroud of darkness was more than just something for the atmosphere but also a clever way for them to only have so much visible to the player so they can load highly modeled environment and enemies without being very demanding; similar to the use of fog in the Silent Hill series.
Sounds
Sound-wise, the game offers almost no music and leaves you the dreaded silence a lot. This helps the atmosphere remain as dark and forgotten as they wanted while making the small noises you make yourself and the ones you hear from various enemies seem pronounced. Truly gives off an eerie vibe, even when you know what is going on and lurking around you.
Replayability
Other than wanting to explore certain areas further or fight through the forgotten realm of horror once again, I didn’t see much reason to replay the game.
What Could Be Better
While I liked the aspect of the darkness, it was too much in my opinion. Even when you brighten the game in the settings, it is still hard to make out anything that isn’t within very close proximity to the player. This made for a lot of frustrating moments where I either didn’t see something I needed or fell down a hole I didn’t know was there.
Give the players more hints as to what they are doing or where they are supposed to go. It felt like a guessing game sometimes and not an easy one at that since I couldn’t always tell if I was somewhere I was at earlier or not. Little things like a light source in a key direction or something similar to this would be enough.
Conclusion
Kings of Lorn: The Fall of Ebris is a difficult game that is exciting through its challenges. I enjoyed going through the environment while my nerves constantly on edge, ready for a base level enemy to try and ruin my day. The boss fights were fair and fun, despite being tough and pretty straight forward. All-in-all, it is a game worth playing if you are a fan of dark lore, horror-type atmosphere, and somewhat punishing gameplay mechanics.
