Lords of the Fallen

Lords of the Fallen sets a new benchmark for all Soulslikes out there. It masters what we love about the genre, and adds to it in many ways. It won't get better than this for a while.

Lords of the Fallen is a stunningly good game. Following a path set for it by Dark Souls 3 it nails every major part of what makes From’s games so damned good. Stunning visually, the art style and music are some of my favorites. While the very end does get too “big” for its gameplay this one is an easy recommendation to both the most hardcore Souls lovers and those who feel intimidated. Seamless co-op takes what is a great game and makes it a special one.

Lords Of The Fallen doesn’t mess around. It’s a no-holds-barred, unapologetic rollercoaster ride from start to finish, and I can’t wait to go again.

A breath of fresh air into the stagnant genre and a big surprise. Lords of the Fallen is an example of a game into which a lot of love and carefully thought-out ideas have clearly poured. The result exceeded my expectations.

Lords of the Fallen is a fantastic Soulslike. The game presents a number of its own ideas that it executes to perfection, with the duality of the worlds as its main asset. Axiom and the Threshold are masterfully created, and have a direct influence on the experience. The gameplay is respectful of the genre and innovative where it needs to be, and on a technical level the game is truly impressive.

HEXWORKS has managed to take the best and the worst of the legendary From games, but adding new mechanics that make the title look fabulous. We have fascinating bosses, large areas to explore and enemies that I would not want to see even in my worst nightmares. Without a doubt, we are facing one of the great surprises of 2023 and it has most likely established the basis of some mechanics for future Soulslike-type titles.

After nearly a decade since the launch of the original Lords of the Fallen, CI Games and HexWorks deliver a reboot that exceeds all expectations. With responsive, precise, and challenging combat, innovative twists, stellar grimdark presentation, and more, it's one of the best Soulslikes I've ever played.

Mix its intertwined-worlds mechanics into good melee, magic, and archery in a beautiful gothic setting and 2023’s Lords of the Fallen feels like something I’ll more than remember for what it did right and how it set itself apart. The duality of this game’s settings is both dastardly and dazzling.

To sum it up, Lords of the Fallen turned out to be an excellent entry into the soulslike genre, cleverly combining trusty mechanics from other projects while maintaining its own identity. The game offers a unique challenge due to its complexity but at the same time doesn’t forget about the newcomers, giving them ample time to adapt.

Gripping and atmospheric Souls-like that scores with a gloomy atmosphere, exciting world design and precise combat system.

This recent iteration of Lords of the Fallen has finally achieved what the original couldn't do back in 2014: it has carved itself a unique place in the Soulslike genre where it can belong, allowing it stand confidently beside its inspirations. By refining the traditional Dark Souls style to a finely honed edge and combining it with some compelling lore, a fascinating world and the absolute marvel that is the Umbral realm system, Lords of the Fallen adds another notch to 2023's superb line-up of games. If you're okay with a somewhat obtuse narrative structure and the fact that it is certainly one of the easier Souslikes, Lords of the Fallen is a must-play title for anybody interested in a great Souslike set in a beautifully grim fantasy land.

Lords of the Fallen is probably the closest game to the Dark Souls series. Its unique world-switching mechanic, resurrection upon death, and bonfire-building features show the development team's deep understanding of Souls game design.

The battles themselves are very dynamic and their speed is more reminiscent of Bloodborne than iron-clad Souls. Combine that with how royally good the game looks, and I can't say I didn't enjoy the entire forty hours it took me to finish the first playthrough. [Issue#331]

Lords of the Fallen is not without its faults, and sometimes confuses difficulty, vicious level design and total frustration. The game presents itself as a very solid soulslike that, while borrowing heavily from its models, still has its own identity. Playing in two parallel universes is an excellent idea, and technically, it's quite impressive, thanks in particular to the Unreal Engine 5. The art direction is not to be outdone, with superb panoramas, sometimes horrific, but always successful. It's a pity that this second infernal world is also one of the game's sources of frustration. An ill-adjusted difficulty peak, a level design that's sometimes too severe and a problem with the distribution of checkpoints mean that the game often gets on our nerves. But if you're looking for a difficult game that's beautiful to cry over, and which relies on truly fluid and enjoyable gameplay, Lords of the Fallen could well be just what you're looking for.

At the end of the day, Lords of the Fallen is a fun but oftentimes frustrating experience. The level design and combat adjustments are spot on, but extremely haphazard enemy placement and poor variety mar the experience. The game is beautiful yet dull to look at, with very few standouts in its grimdark landscape. It never quite manages to become more than the sum of its parts, but those parts had their fun moments all the same. I hope Hexworks can take everything they did right this time around and iterate further with their next release to make a truly stand-out soulslike title because the pieces for a home run are here in Lords of the Fallen.

With Lords of the Fallen, we get a fresh spin on the Soulsborne formula that brings darkness to the light.

The combat is pleasantly versatile, while you have to deal with strong enemies that face you in interesting configurations. The further you progress and the better you understand the world and its connections, the more motivating it is to tackle them - Lords of the Fallen gets this familiar rhythm just right. So if you're still in the mood for Soulslike, then go for it! In cooperation with Lies of P, Lords of the Fallen ensures that From Software can take its time with its next title.

Returning as a reboot after nine years, 'Lord of the Fallen' successfully carves its unique niche on the solid foundation that is familiar for those fans of Souls-like genre. Some elements, such as unseparated multiplayer even after death are even better! However the lackluster impact of combat and rather frequent system clashes left a big room for improvement. Luckily, the developer is eager to make the game better with patches before release so, we'll see.

The reboot of Lords of the Fallen doesn't reinvent the genre, but it is a well-executed soulslike.

Sure, it may feel like the shadow of a much hotter and brighter bonfire, but the embers of something truly special burn here.

Lords of The Fallen delivers on the macabre, challenge, and exploration hallmarks of the Souls-like genre. It thrives in the eerie shadows of its obvious inspirations and shines a light on its best features by reimplementing most of them with the benefit of the sexy set dressing brought to life in Unreal 5. While the combat often frustrates when foes begin to crowd, Hexworks seems aware of this with its placement of enemies and world layout. Venturing between the living and the dead with the lamp transcends novelty. Surviving with a partner in tow is also exhilarating. If you can make it past the dense player onboarding that assumes you’ve beaten Dark Souls, then you’re likely to experience the best imagining of a Souls sequel this side of FromSoft.

That's it, CI Games and HexWorks finally have the Souls-like they wanted to add to their portfolio. Making a clean slate of the past is never easy, but Lords of the Fallen has definitely risen to this second chance. Yet anchored in a very classic formula which could have been detrimental to it, Lords of the Fallen does not rest on the laurels of others and delivers some interesting ideas which set it apart from the competition. Despite everything, the title still has too many small flaws and frustrations to climb to the top of the rankings. That being said, we are convinced of the potential of the license, even if it will need more effort to assert itself and flourish. This is not quite the case yet, but the second (a sequel?) will perhaps be the good one, as the destiny of the franchise dictates.

Lords of the Fallen is an enjoyable, challenging game, and the aesthetics are out of this world, but it suffers at times from a lack of focus.

Lords of the Fallen is not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination. It has a well-crafted world, with interesting stories and plenty of player customization on offer. However, it’s tethered to a frustrating central mechanic that discourages exploration, the lifeblood of any Souls-like in my opinion, and falls into the trap of thinking that higher difficulty means more enemies with too much health. With some patching, this game could be extremely good, but based on its current form, I ultimately found it to be a frustrating exercise in someone copying the homework of a different game, but changing things ever so slightly — just enough for you to not notice at first glance, but with any scrutiny, noticing that it’s wrong.

Lords of the Fallen is an expertly crafted soulslike with innovative mechanics that add risk and reward, and wonder to exploration. Combat occasionally feels unpolished and some enemy placement is cheap but there’s a fascinating game here that ticks most of the soulslike boxes while adding some tricks of its own.

Lords of the Fallen is a solid soulslike, if at times a bit too safe. Hexworks' game neatly combines key elements of Dark Souls, Sekiro and even Bloodborne, mixing it all in a well-designed world, with a rich story and few original ideas. However, the game doesn't offer any major innovations, so it's unlikely to be a must-have for fans of the genre.

While it isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel with fresh new ideas, it instead acts as more of an evolution of the genre, refining ideas and concepts that have been tried and tested by other games.

Lords of the Fallen is a great soulslike, and its killer new idea of swapping between two versions of the world to solve puzzles and slay enemies is an excellent twist to set it apart from the pack. That concept is unfortunately hamstrung by numerous, highly annoying technical issues and weak boss fights, but awesome explorable areas and fantastic buildcrafting more than make up for those shortcomings. If, like me, you’re a sucker for a quality action-RPG even amid a clear overabundance of them, then this reboot is well worth your time.

Lords of the Fallen is a game that wears its passion and love of the genre on its sleeve. A gorgeous world, gripping gameplay, enthralling bosses, and depthless worldbuilding persist in spite of some rough edges and a struggling sense of unique identity.

Some of the best boss fights in the genre's recent history, riddled with difficulty spikes in all the wrong places.

I've played my fair share of Soulslike titles, and Lords of the Fallen is currently far ahead of the pack. It provides the standard gameplay anyone would expect from this kind of game and adds enough interesting gameplay mechanics to be distinct and worthwhile. Sure, there are some frustrating design decisions, and it struggles to establish its own visual identity, but it innovates, and it looks good while doing so. If you're interested in these types of games, Lords of the Fallen is certainly the best of its kind that I've played this year.

It's a shame that the technical side, despite having left the most serious problems behind, still shows some rather obvious aesthetic defects, and that the multiplayer mode is almost useless, decisively clipping the wings of a product that remains valid, but could have shone much more.

None of this is to say the game is bad, because it isn’t! And to be honest with you, the receptiveness to feedback that the team has shown in the short time since launch, and how quickly they patched out the performance issues on PC (which bear no further mentioning than that, now that they have been fixed) makes me think that some of this will get taken care of in the near future! I can see enemy density being adjusted, I can see some of the absurdly spongy health bars getting knocked down a good bit to help with the flow of combat, I can see some adjustments to checkpoint placements, etc. There is a LOT to love here with Lords of the Fallen, and I am genuinely optimistic about the legs this game has, and the potential it has to really go far.

Though it has its issues, Lords of the Fallen is still solid overall. Its dark and brutal world is a compelling backdrop, filled with enticing exploration and deadly foes. Meanwhile, combat is engaging and offers a fair amount of flexibility. It may not be the next big breakthrough for the genre, but it's a good time and worth fighting through until the end.

Lords of the Fallen is therefore a rough gem, a mix of potentially interesting ideas which however struggles to express its full potential.

Lords of the Fallen fails to meet every expectation and its own ambitions. With many technical flaws and some gameplay issues, CI Games and HexWorks reboot is very far from top notch soulslike games.

It's clear that Lords of the Fallen starts from good foundations. The problem is that not everything that has been built on these foundations leaves one satisfied, with defects and unconvincing aspects spread like wildfire.

Even though it's much better than the first title of the same name, like its previous iteration, Lords of the Fallen struggles to emulate the delicate recipe that made Souls such a success. All the ingredients are there, and it even brings its share of interesting new features to distinguish itself from its models, but the result falls a little short of expectations. The gameplay is a little disconcerting, and the difficulty can very quickly turn into intense frustration due to some ill-advised balancing. It's all the more of a shame given that the game has the makings of a great title in terms of production and content. It's best reserved for fans of the genre who aren't afraid of all that.

While not without its issues, Lords of the Fallen is an entertaining game with many great action RPG elements and challenging but satisfying gameplay.

Lords of the Fallen subverts its Souls-like expectations by delivering an engrossing dual-world gameplay system, though its performance leaves something to be desired.

Lords of the Fallen is a good souls-like but it doesn't do everything right! Its neat universe with strong artistic direction and its fine level design do not completely save the whole thing! The bosses are not striking, even too predictable, and the levels full of trash mobs, often recycled, get boring very quickly because we are drowned in enemies, which increases the difficulty but not very intelligently. Too bad, the game is generally good.

Lords of the Fallen makes a great first impression, but fails to steer away from the sour taste left by a couple of annoying decisions and technical issues.

I remember reviewing Code Vein in 2019. Dark Souls had inspired that game in very wrong ways and in turn it had made me swear off reviewing Soulslikes not made by From Software for the some time. Saying Lords of the Fallen did the same would be unfair but that doesn’t mean I don’t have some harsh words for the developers…

Overall, my experience with Lords of the Fallen was average. The game has its pros and is an improvement over the original from 2014. The combat is better, although in terms of bosses, you can see that sometimes the developers had to resort to controversial choices. In addition, there are numerous technical issues and a somewhat limited world, which is quite pleasant nonetheless.

Lords of the Fallen is a good game with some interesting ideas that falls short in some (really important for the genre) areas. If someone made me choose the best soulslike of 2023, I would lean towards Lies of P.

Lords of the Fallen will be, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most divisive soulslike ever. On one hand, Hexworks has produced a brilliant spiritual successor to the original Dark Souls, enhanced by an outstanding map design and excellent innovations related to exploration; on the other, the team has badly stumbled in the challenging management of enemy progression and balance, thereby partially undermining the very best features of the game. It's a pity, because even though its flaws are severe, this game truly has a unique soul and we believe it has the potential to captivate a dedicated community. With a bit more time and some reconsideration, however, it could have reached even greater heights.

While ticking all the boxes of another strong Soulslike title, Lords of the Fallen's difficulty will be off-putting to those lacking expertise in the genre.

With some strong new ideas and often solid core design, Lords of the Fallen is an enjoyably grimdark soulslike. That said, Hexworks’ debut release borrows a lot from Dark Souls, and while this makes for a good baseline, it could do more to escape the shadow of better games.

A far more confident and competent iteration of the Souls template than what came before, Lords of the Fallen‘s all-round impressive design is marred by occasional technical issues and all-too-frequent questions on its very philosophy around challenge. Get past these rough spots, however, and what you’ll find is a game that not only understands the pull and appeal pivotal to this sub-genre, but at times, offers room to add even more nuance to a saturated style of action RPG. It’s these surprisingly-intriguing additions alongside the usual flair of compelling boss fights and environments to carefully get through that does just enough to grant Hexworks a far more positive perception, all things considered. Flawed it may be and guilty of applying the wrong lessons in its design, it may stumble, but Lords of the Fallen does eventually find its stride. Serving up another feature-rich package that will appeal to a large number of Souls veterans.

Lords of the Fallen just about justifies the return of this forgotten franchise by being basically fine. It has a few clever ideas and a whole bunch of very predictable ones, ultimately resulting in a soulslike experience that won't feel particularly new or fresh, but rarely offends or goes too far wrong.

Lords of the Fallen’s Umbral world is unlike anything we’ve seen, providing a unique spin on the Souls genre. Copycats have started to stagnate in recent years, rarely offering anything new, and the genre as a whole risks growing tired. FromSoft itself tried to break out of that habit by exploring what it would look like in an open-world setting with Elden Ring. To see a Soulslike that iterates in its own way rather than chasing new trends is a breath of fresh air, and offers hope for a genre that has never escaped FromSoftware’s shadow.

Lords of the Fallen boasts impressive visuals and an interesting story for a soulslike, but unfortunately, that's where the praise ends. Despite functional gameplay and a well-designed world, the experience is marred by frustrating combat mechanics, subpar enemy placement, and an overall lack of polish, making it one of the most frustrating soulslikes ever released.

Lords of the Fallen may be better than its predecessor in many regards, but it isn’t quite worthy of standing among the genre giants yet. However, this isn’t from a lack of trying. Excellent and varied biomes are on offer that are truly striking and immersive to be beheld to. There are quality improvements to make the experience smoother. Still, balancing for builds, boss fights… the whole gambit is a little all over the place so far. Consider this with some of the bugs currently experienced in-game and it’s not quite smooth sailing yet. Hopefully, before long Lords can be patched into a state where it stands solidly amongst the genre giants.

Lords of the Fallen is a marked improvement over the original and the mechanic of traversing between two realms makes it feel unique among its contemporaries. If not for a handful of questionable design choices and an overall lack of polish, this could have been something special.

The first souls-borne child, who seized to become a From Software successor is returning after nine long winters. This new Lampbearer presents a well-established, and captivating setting, filled with a set of well-known features, that any true soulslike fan will love and hate equally. Duality of the game’s worlds provides unique aesthetics and puzzle-like mechanics; however, its potential is never reached and noticeable imperfections are ever so noticeable. Developers deliberately sabotage players and frustrate genre fans, who’ve simply hoped for more…

If you want another new Dark Souls clone, just wait til devs patch up most of the problems. In the meantime, pay attention to the Lies of P.

For the souls-like hardcore, Lords of the Fallen will be a fine conquest, but for the souls-like beginner, there are better entry points to the genre that offer a more well-rounded exploration into what souls-likes are capable of.

When I rolled credits on Lords of the Fallen, I felt no joy aside from being happy I was done, which is a shame because its first half left me excited for what was yet to come. A beautiful world, distinctive two-realm mechanics, excellent voice acting, and combat that feels good when not over-encumbered by enemies and artificial challenge, create a solid bedrock. But Lords of the Fallen fails to impress beyond that, instead growing more and more frustrating the further into Mournstead adventurers travel.

Lords of the Fallen is a game with great potential but in its current state, it can’t be recommended; at least not on PC. Moving seamlessly between the Umbral and Axiom worlds is a unique experience tainted by poor performance, bugs, and design choices.

I walked away from my time with Lords of the Fallen feeling defeated even in my victory. It was a tough road, the toughest of all the souls-and-likes in execution and also, at least partially, gameplay. I lost more levels worth of Vigor than maybe all the other games combined, but I didn't feel like I overcame some finely crafted challenge. Most damning of all, though, despite its attempts to differentiate itself with unique mechanics, I never forgot the games that inspired it through the entire runtime.

The fun of risk-and-reward gameplay comes from actually earning the rewards; if the rewards aren't good enough, or if the risk is too heavy, the fun turns to frustration. For all of Lords of Fallen's good ideas, it struggles to make the payoff worthy of the investment. Its meandering level design and slogging encounters turn challenge into tedium, leaving a feeling that getting up and doing something else would be time better spent.

Lords of the Fallen feels like a passionless soulslike, relying on the same old tricks to make its experience “difficult” all the while failing to lean on its most innovative ideas.