The impact of From Software’s titles is unquestionable. A seemingly unstoppable force that sinks its teeth into the soft flesh of all around it, infecting them with its disease. Of course, it’s a disease most welcome, proven by the ever-growing list of titles made in the image of its sire.

Lords of the Fallen
Developer: HEXWORKS
Price: $60
Platform: PC / PS5 / XSX
MonsterVine was supplied with a PC code for review

One of the first children to arise from From Software’s shadow was that of Lords of the Fallen back in 2014. An ambitious and valiant attempt to claim a place in the then-fledgling genre. Unfortunately, it never quite conquered the space, ending up as something of a footnote.

At the gates stands a familiar, but new, challenger hoping to plant its banner in the soulslike space. The reboot of Lords of The Fallen isn’t here to right the wrongs of its predecessor nor is it looking to simply ‘be’ like a From Software title. No, this time, Lords of The Fallen stands tall, prepared, and proud… whether or not it deserves such confidence is where the true intrigue lies.

Utterly dripping with dark fantasy aesthetics complete with forms of faith vs creeping evil, Lords of The Fallen has a definitive idea of what exactly wants to be. The grandiose story of Gods, monsters, and crusades acts more of a wrap-around rather than a definitive narrative. Of course, those who have fed on genre pieces will know exactly what to expect. It’s enough to platform the core of the game, the acting of killing and dying…with that order changing drastically depending on which part of the 37ish hours of the game you find yourself in.

Lords of Fallen 2024 is a marked improvement mechanically from the first of its name. The expected principles of light and heavy attacks, dodges, parries and blocks are all present. Additional options come in the form of a handy kick attack that can help halt foes or create a small bit of space to work in.

It works, as you’d expect, with whatever weapon is being used dictating the style of attack available. The robust arsenal of weapons keeps things varied, but there’s a creeping sense that not all styles are created equal. Impact feels fine, but fails to accomplish a genuine sense of weight or cut. While not a deal breaker by any means, it’s a small aspect always lurking and leering.

Continuing the standard practices of the genre, each weapon scales with certain stats. While shaping a character to a desired build is possible, there are a number of classes that provide a platform. They all fill certain cuts from nimble agility-based types, heavily armored smashers, and spell casters meaning every base style of play is covered.

Depending on the mold selected, approaching combat can be the difference between victory or repeated death. Lords of the Fallen isn’t doing much in terms of trying to be different with its general approach to combat and that’s fine. The systems work while providing a safe, but generous, amount of options.

Questions may arise over how Lords of the Fallen makes it stand at not simply being another soulslike. The ability to switch between the realm of the living and dead is exactly where the game makes it stand. Sounding like a gimmick on paper, the reality of it stretches far beyond the world just looking different. Upon switching to the ‘Umbral’, the world will switch to a distorted form littered with monstrous imagery heavily inspired by the works of Polish painter Zdzisław Beksiński.

Its visual switch is jarring, commanding a sense of curious dread that slips between the horrid and the cosmic. The Umberal realm adds a new set of threats, with a near-constant stream of enemies manifesting. Every second counts in the world of the dead, as a meter fills, essentially acting as a timer. The more time on the clock, the more enemies spawn, with their challenging and type scaling. Upon completion of the meter, the player is stalked by a powerful creature. At this point, the only viable option is to run and seek escape from the realm.

Exploring the Umberal realm is required to traverse a fair amount of the world. More often than not you’ll be expected to compete in a race against time to find entrances, secrets, switches, and exits. Additionally, upon dying in the world of the living, you’ll be given a chance at redemption by instantly reviving in the world of the dead. It’s a nice way to add an extra layer to the world while also adding an element of reprieve to players.

On the whole, Lords of The Fallen’s level structures are good, but not without issue. There’s an odd fascination with small, tight spaces that lead to edges going into oblivion. With the fairly aggressive evasion options available to the player, it’s not rare to simply fly off the side of a platform or chunk of land. Additionally, the camera can sometimes struggle, getting caught in scenery leading to cheap hits and deaths. It’s a small price to pay for what Lords of the Fallen is offering. Every section of the game is wonderful to look at, be it in the land of the living or dead…it’s just a shame the game’s obsession with throwing enemies at you makes it hard to soak in your surroundings.

As par for the course, Lords of the Fallen is home to a number of bosses. While not all of them are key to the narrative, they’re all worth taking out. Depending on how you feel about certain mechanics, some bosses may feel less satisfying to beat than others. Early bosses tend to be simple skill checks testing pattern recognition, others are a greater task. It’s rare they ever become unfair aside from suspect hit registration. No matter the size, each boss carries a sense of importance and threat to it, even the more gimmicky types.

Even as a marked improvement on the original, Lords of the Fallen isn’t without fault. The sheer number of enemies set upon the player is often more annoying than anything. Casters have an awful habit of locking onto the player from miles away, constantly firing projectiles with no sense of logic. Of course, souls-like are supposed to be hard, but these aspects feel more like they’ve been achieved cheaply, rather than a genuine challenge.

A fundamental issue Lords of the Fallen suffers from is the demonic auto-lock camera. Upon pressing the relevant button, a single target can be focused on, centering the camera on the respective target. One vs. one works, mostly, but in cases of multiple enemies, big issues start to arise. In an unfortunately far too common occasion, the camera will fly off your desired target and focus on an enemy miles away. Leading to a fair few deaths, and even more hits, the camera can go from calm to something Raimii would be proud of.

Lords of the Fallen is a successful reboot of a series you never knew needed rebooting. The ability to switch between the realm of the living and dead works as an axis to enhance what is mostly a typical soulslike experience with fantastic art direction. There are flashes of boldness between the familiar. Quality-of-life options such as direct co-op are a great addition, along with the ability to summon AI to aid with bosses. There’s not much wrong with Lords of the Fallen, aside from an erratic camera and restraint in enemy numbers, but there’s not too much great about it.

The Final Word
Lords of the Fallen is a solid and enjoyable task but rarely goes beyond good, instead, it titters on the edge of being special. Great looking, but ultimately too safe and lacking a real bite, Lords of the Fallen may not push the genre in any real direction, but it’s a worthy addition.

– MonsterVine Rating: 3.5 out of 5 – Fair

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• Source: https://monstervine.com/2023/10/lords-of-the-fallen-review-a-valliant-charge/