Gameplay and Story
The original Lords of the Fallen was a gorgeous but flawed fighter that saw some success in a cult following but it never reached the big leagues in terms of popularity in the genre. Now, here in a packed year of quality game releases, the latest Lords of the Fallen has returned in a triumphant and beautiful iteration of a Soulslike most akin to Bloodborne that I’ve have seen to date. Since BB is one of my fave games of all time, that is the greatest compliment I could pay to Lords. It is really that good and in same cases, (gasp!) better.
I won’t go too deep into the story for a couple of reasons. First off, like the Souls series, the lore is rich in this world but the best bits are buried in item descriptions, bits of dialogue, and even the armor you find and collect. You are the new lampbearer and with it comes great power and great terror. With several twists and turns, it sufficeth to say, you are going to meet a lot of beautifully flawed characters, some downright villains, and everything in between. This is a dark, mysterious story and I was all in, pressing forward around every creepy village and beautiful vista just to witness what was in store.
The gameplay is rock solid with difficult yet absolutely rewarding combat in both magic and melee styles ranging from spears to daggers to staves, most which can be dual wielding or stances that range from speed to power. While I wish there was a bit more spell variety, I loved the weapons and armor in general. Combat felt smooth and refined with a few physics that were a bit out of whack in our review build especially when it came to rolling into huge groups of wooden crates. In the end, Lords is a beautiful triumph of a new generation Soulslike combining the crazy ability to cross between the real world and a dark shadow world known as The Umbral. I won’t spoil anymore when it comes to that…
If you are a veteran Soulslike player, this feels like a warm blanket by the fire on a snow-filled day. For those who are newcomers, you may be overwhelmed but I promise if you stick to it, try new strategies and learn to guard, parry, dodge, and roll, you WILL fall in this with this fabulous game.
Graphics and Sound
How do I choose which screenshots to post out of the 500+ that I have taken so far?! To say that the Unreal 5 engine-driven Lords is absolutely gorgeous would be a gross understatement. While the PC requirements are high with all settings maxed out, luckily DLSS saved the day on our RTX 4090. Lightning pierces through the sky, fireballs and holy spells shatter the silence, and faint bells echo through creepy caves and catacombs. Lords is an audiovisual feast, a tour-de-force showing what the Unreal 5 engine is truly capable of. This game is an absolute stunner and a true example of a modern work of art both in a creative and technical sense.
Play on the best screen or TV you can, upgrade your sound system, and crank this bad boy. It just doesn’t get better than this folks. What the HEXWORKS team has achieved here is nothing short of jaw-dropping.
Feedback
While I mostly have nothing but praise to give to Lords, I will say the major complaint is a the odd choice of some areas of the game, especially the Pilgrim’s Perch area, that include jumping and platforming elements along with ranged spellcasters that like to snipe you from afar. Luckily, this was my only major complaint throughout the game but still a dated and puzzling design decision. It’s not challenging or rewarding to have to run through a section of the game just to get past the annoying design. Devs, please, it’s 2023 and this is a Soulslike, we don’t need jumping sections, especially for a game without a dedicated jump button where you have to sprint to build up to jump.
Apart from that, even though The Umbral sections are frightening and grotesquely designed, sometimes it just feels annoying to be in it with so many enemies rushing you, it feels a bit too chaotic for a game with such strategic combat. Hopefully, this can be dialed down in future patches. While I can handle difficulty through challenges, our score did drop a bit for some of these design decisions that included just being sheerly overwhelmed by enemies while trying to jump from platform to platform in and out of Umbral areas.
Conclusion
If you can’t tell by now, I absolutely love Lords of the Fallen. It’s an astounding achievement that is both a pleasure to play and a glorious sight to behold. Only available on PC, Xbox, and PS5, it’s a modern gaming triumph that is truly the next-gen Soulslike I’ve been waiting for. If you like the genre, you will love Lords. If you are a massive Bloodborne fan like myself, you will gush over this incredible game. There are some very difficult bosses and areas of the game but the payoff is always worth it when you finally conquer that seemingly impossible obstacle. Extremely frustrating jumping sections and some Umbral areas aside, this is a game that belongs in every gamer’s collection and continues the amazing streak of games already released in 2023. If you give Lords a chance, you will find incomparable beauty through pain.
