The Lords of the Fallen

It definitely had it's downsides at launch, but overall is a very well made game. The devs are very active fixing issues and slowly trickling in new content, which i like. Can't wait to see what is in store for the future of this game!

This RPG dark game offers an immersive experience that captivates players for hours. The intricate storyline and challenging gameplay contribute to its allure. Despite its difficulty, the game's complexity adds depth, making it a rewarding journey. Although I haven't completed it, the invested time showcases its gripping nature. The dark ambiance, coupled with intricate character development, enhances the overall atmosphere. While the steep learning curve might deter some, the satisfaction derived from overcoming challenges is undeniable. A truly engaging experience for those seeking a deep, time-consuming RPG adventure, even if the difficulty may be a formidable obstacle for some players.

Pros:
- World/level design is pretty incredible and reminds me a lot of DS1. Some of the encounters these devs crafted are pretty sinister, but I never felt overwhelmed or frustrated.
- Story is good, but not great. I really dug all the religious imagery/themes and conflict between gods stuff, and the world building done via item descriptions is a similar quality to a From Software game. It is a bit predictable though.
- Art direction is great. Axiom areas range from very pretty to downright disgusting. Umbral areas look incredible and have a ton of variety in the body horror type of stuff they put in that realm.
- Combat: Being able to dual wield any two types of weapons and switch between one-handed and two-handed combos on the fly is super cool, and it adds a new level of depth to these types of games I haven't experienced.

Cons:
- Performance is pretty rough in some areas, especially the main hub location, but not enough to be a deal breaker for me. (5600x/3070 build)
- Combat: It's hard to put a finger on the cause, but it just feels a bit jank if you're used to a From Software level of polish. Hit detection feels weird sometimes for both your attacks and enemy attacks.
- Some sidequests involving NPCs were annoyingly obscure it seemed.
- Bosses are pretty easy across the board. I don't think a single one took me over 5 tries, and I'm only decent at Soulslikes.
- Umbral enemy density is where my only real frustration came. There's some areas in Umbral that feel like a sick joke. They'd throw 2 or 3 of some of the harder enemies in the game at you while there's a constant flow of fodder enemies just there to annoy you.
- Final boss was cool as a character but disappointing as an encounter.

Overall: Good, but not great. Still worth a playthrough in my opinion, especially if you can catch it on sale.
7/10

so bad its unreal, its like someone designed a game to emulate dark souls but never actually played it themselves

combat is extremely slow and sluggish, character models look like shit, enemy variety is nonexistent, and idk what it is but after 10 seconds of playing this i get a headache

if you like dark souls, avoid this
if you want to simulate the feeling of being a fetus mid-abortion, you'll love it

It's an easy souls-like. It is forgiving and is easy to learn. I would highly recommend this game to those who want to being their journey in this genre and find Dark souls or Elden Ring too intimidating. It is comparatively similar to Dark Souls 1 in scope and progression but has its own identity without borrowing too much from dark souls unlike most non fromsoft souls games.

Ok! So I'm about 6 hours in at time of typing this up. And I got a thing or two to say on this. Most of them good.

First thing, the biggest mistake I think a new player to this can make is comparing this to Dark Souls and Elden Ring and expecting a similar level of quality. Instead, one should definitely compare this more to the developer's first foray into the Souls-like genre of the same name, Lords of the Fallen (2014). Compared to that, this game is a massive leap forward for the developer in terms of story and gameplay.

The fights are good, if a bit taxing at times since there are times where even the lowest of enemies can get hyper armor while attacking. But the amount of ways you can tackle any combat scenario is great. Swords, Axes, Bows, Crossbows, Throwing Knives, Magic of 3 varying flavors, even fecking Grenades if you feel like blowing stuff up. You'll find some sort of build to fill your favorite playstyle for sure.

The Umbral Lamp is a standout feature that makes the game feel like you're striding in two different worlds while still in the living world. The Umbra is a cool looking and fascinating place full of danger and challenges for those who feel like braving the game on an automatic hard mode.

The lore of the game is actually fascinating for those who played the last game and its interesting to see where they expanded on it.

Overall, the game is far from perfect but is a fun time with alot of variety and good story. Get it on sale and have some fun with it.

Let me start by saying this game is actually really great, however, the "seamless co-op" is not seamless at at all
a few of the cons:
-you get less xp than the host
-host has complete control of the rift mechanic and fast traveling
-only the host can interact with vendors (including every npc)
-only host can pick up story items
-host gets more items (like way more, I had 2 sword and my buddy had 9 like an hour into the game)
-when the host dies they get a second life and the game puts you into the other dimension, when the host dies again, the boss battle ends, or you both are brought back to the last checkpoint/bonfire/grace (im using soulsborn terminology crucify me)
-there is a tether mechanic where the cooperator is dragged forcefully back to the host when they are too far away
-when the cooperator dies, they are a ghost who can be revived by the host. While the host has 2 lives and when they die, the game forces you back to a checkpoint (i'm saying this twice because of how annoying it is)

Pros:
-fun experience with friends

thats about it, its a fun game, but I think the Co-op needs improvement.

AND THE PERFORMANCE IS BAD, seriouslt, like i have a 4070ti with an i9-10900k and i'm struggling to get over 40 in cutscenes.

I recommend this game because its super fun and better with friends, but its still an overall bad experience with co-op.
Good game, bad co-op. Also just because its bad, doesn't mean it isn't fun. These are my personal gripes with the system.

pvp. invasions. youve been warned. atmosphere. flow if combat. umbral shift mechanic and stun lantern... no ammo for items past refill energy chit consumables (raises charge cap with stam/end stats, meaning you spec into ammo naturally when mono statting non magic)

this is a good soulslike.

It's not a From Software game. ( I have over 1100 hours in FS games )

Now that's out of the way.
I'm having a great time with this game.
This isn't a game you speed run so it's been a blast watching all the YT speed runners getting their arses handed to them.
If you take your time, hone your build and utilise all the abilities given to you this game is awesome!
The levels are tricky to navigate, but that is this game's thing.
You can beat it, you will beat it.
Spend your vigor ( souls ) early and when you can, It's super easy to go back and farm some cash when you need to upgrade a weapon or something.
Level up > anything else.
And don't hang around in Umbral longer than needed!

Every build needs a ranged option, and if you don't have one you will fail. ( like some of the speed runner tubers LMAO )
If you like to take your time with a game, maybe farm some gear / lvls this is for you.
If you want to plow through because you have 20 other games to play then skip it.

Graphics are awesome and run very smooth for me with i7 13700k - 4070 Ti - 32GB DDR5.
Have not had a single crash or BSoD.

Looking forward to playing more but still happy I waited for a sale.

Who buys a game for full price these days, really? lol

Edit: I got my first crash 17 hours in.
Reloaded game and i was only 15 seconds behind when it crashed, nothing lost.

this is just bad to many mechanics that are thrown at you very fast without giving a true opportunity too try and experiment with it while giving little information this game has some of the worst controller support and bindings for controllers which feels unnatural and the game it self also just runs slow and poorly and if you experience a unity crash at all it manages to corrupt all of your data and im not sure how

Areas and combat:
Beautiful and cleverly designed levels and the worlds interconnectivity is great, but i think there are way too many enemies or they have too much HP making it a pain to deal with alot of fodder at most times.

Music:
I've been listening to the OST on Spotify nonstop for the last 2 weeks (since i started playing)

Main Bosses:
The main bosses aren't "that difficult", even when only using melee and not minmaxing stats or using busted magic casts, I'm not saying they are bad or boring, simply they could have been better. an example could be
-the fact that they have random taunts
-slow recovery times from some attacks (depends on the boss)
-not enough attacks
-not enough "dangerous attacks" (as in you needing to dodge and position yourself multiple times before getting an opening)
-not enough "special moves" (example could be lighreapers sworddance-dash or hushed saints surprise attack variations, in other words moves that require a little bit more timing than just spam rolling)

Minibosses and Umbral parasites:
All minibosses become regular enemies which I don't have a problem with, most are good enemies and they are fun to fight especially the skinstealer, ruiner, defender and crimson rector. They do what they need and they have good attacks IMO

However the thing i have problem with is the over use of either non thought out ganks (simply not fun fights) or having to pop like 17 parasites before being able to start other fights. I think they are overused and serve to disrupt the gameplay more than adding to the game.

prime examples of these two flaws would be the infernal enchantress fight...5 parasites... why??? Also who made the gaverus mistress of hounds boss fight? why do the dogs infinitely respawn and why are there 3?? did someone sit down and think yeah this is an epic, fun and engaging fight meant to increase/test the players skill, or were they trying to make a running simulator?

Final notes:
The hollow crow... a boss which character design had such great potential. i was disappointed after this fight, simply due to the thought of what could have been a grand fight with a "bloodborny" beast but instead we got yet another running simulator. I feel its too experimental or different from the souls like combat we all came for and love.

even though there are a lot of things i personally would and wouldnt do were I in charge of the LOTF development, i still have to say its a damn good game with some neat bosses, and ill continue to play for alot more hours while the devs work on new stuff/fixes
7/10 good game

Also lightreaper is the best boss, fight me!

The gameplay between Umbral and Axiom makes exploration interesting. If you are looking for a game that has that soulslike feel then this is it. They has really captured the eeriness and when you are in umbral the danger increases the longer you are in it.

This is a true "Souls-Like," and you will have a great time with it if you're prepared to take a chance and give it your all in spite of the game's shortcomings. This game is most likely not for people who are just interested in the "Souls" games, but it is definitely one for those who want to attempt a game that is "like" the Souls series.

Difficulty: ★★★★✩
Genre of Game: Souls-like, RPG, Action, Co-op
Fun Rating: 10/10
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Playing on a 10700k/3080ti

Game is great. Basically this is Dark Souls 3.5 with Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. I'm having a blast with this game, and the game has a few frame drops, but over pretty steady in the 100+ FPS.

Are you serious guys? Are you serious?!!

The game itself is Awesome, the mechanics are great and the graphics are in another league compared to any of its "inspirational predecessors".

Its incredible how something as natural as a technical rough start can make so many people trash something this good.

I havent been this exited about a soulslike since Demon Souls i think.

this might actually be worse than the original LOTF horrible level design they put difficult enemies back to back and no its not a skill issue im a souls veteran ive 100% every souls like this game is just tedious to play its just not fun u need to turn of multiplayer because invaders are overpowered not in the sense that theyre good at the game but in the sense that they have shitty wifi so they lag all over the place youll be 50 ft away and they attack the air and you die all in all game isnt fun u need a nasa pc to run this game at high graphics and it gets boring after 20 mins there is no good balance in gameplay its either too easy or ur fighting for ur life for an hour with no healing and no vestiges(bonfire) u can rest at yea there is an area in the game that literally doesnt have a vestige in sight nearest one is literally 200 feet away from another one so purchase with caution better save ur money for something better like elden ring or lies of p

I really wanted to like this game but the most important thing for me while playing a souls like is the feeling and the feedback of the weapons. The hits in soulsgames always feel like you "slash" into your enemies. At least during the hour i played Lords of the Fallen the daggers made a dull sound while hitting the enemy. It sounded like striking a wall.

While i would love to play more and test it out, i will have to refund the game at this point because 40€ is still too much for me. Maybe i will come back when its cheaper and update this review.

While sometimes verging on unfair at times LOTF is a fantastic souls like. It makes some changes to the formula like spell catalysts effecting available slots and being having summons after bosses are defeated. I wish summons were stronger just a tinge but aside from that this game is amazing and my game of the year

Fantastic example of the souls-like genre. The addition of new mechanics into the game is a bit confusing at first but quickly becomes second nature and adds a whole level of depth to the game that I haven't seen in other souls-likes before. The game progression is a big easier than some other souls games, but once you get into NG+ or beyond it really starts ramping up difficulty again.

The game could use some balancing with PvP, either increasing the time between invasions, or some sort of power/level balancing so you aren't just getting invaded over and over by item dupers that cheated to level 500. Other than this, the game is perfect.

Best comparison I can give is that the combat/feel of this game is like Dark Souls 2. It feels like an imitation vs authentic in terms of the weightiness and thought of the combat. Similar to DS2 is the level design with some artificial difficulty in terms of ambushing enemies supported by ranged/snipers that you cannot reach.

It ran well on my PC but constant loading screens were annoying.

Dark Soul Reaver.

It's really good. It looks great. It gets updated regularly. It's probably the closest a game has gotten to truly capturing Dark Souls' vibe. Also the Umbral mechanic is great.

I guess it is very demanding and extremely derivative but that comes with the territory these days.

Feels like Elden Ring, although it is (ofc) not as polished and more buggy. In my opinion, bosses are harder and you need to study their move sets more thoroughly since the game is more punishing and less forgiving than other Souls-likes. Overall, I enjoy playing so far. Recommend.

While this game definitely has its fare share of issues with bugs, glitches and crashes most of which have already been ironed out by the devs, and despite having my own crash that corrupted a save with 30 hours of progress i still came back and continued on to finish the game in a fresh play through. The visuals, combat mechanics and umbral puzzles kept my hooked from start to finish.

I love this game.

It's a great Souls like Game, sits between Sekiro and Dark Souls. And Sekiro is my favorite modern game.

It's a linear souls game (there are different routes, but not so open), very different from Elden Ring which is an "open game" (even if there is a route to follow).

Great Quests, with satisfying outcomes, a great story that isn't told in your face, but isn't as vague as Elden Ring, and great NPCs, all memorables.

The game has fewer enemy types, but enough and very unique, they are much more memorable than enemies from other Souls games, I prefer quality over quantity.

Wonderful graphics, beautiful theme, great gameplay, great atmosphere and playing between two worlds is a big difference that works very well.

The only downside I can say is that the game still has random frame drops, but it never happened in the middle of a battle, so it's just an annoyance that happens sometimes.

And the Devs are working and updating the game every week, it even has a free update road map.

Anyway, in my opinion, the best game of the year.

I was really looking forward to this game. I had a feeling it would scratch a particular souls like itch that usually only FromSoftware can. Release was a rough start and almost made me give it up within the first few hours due to performance issues on a fairly high end PC.

That being said, I pushed through it and gave it a shot, and let me tell you I was not disappointed, not least because of the determination of the devs to address these issues. Was genuinely excited to progress and keep playing. Reminds me so much of the Demon Souls remake, which I absolutely loved.

The developers put so much effort into making this a good experience post-launch, where they could've just let it rot and eventually die like so many titles. After many balancing and performance fixes, I can safely recommend this game.

It has a few areas where it falls short, but things like the visual presentation and dual world mechanic make me consider it a great success.

This is a surprisingly good game, but with some very bad performance when loading into a level, it seems to have mostly stopped after I switched from Nvidia DLSS to AMD supersampling, and got out of the early game.

One of the best souls like games i've ever played. And i dont really play souls likes.
Over all this game deserves better than the mixed reviews it has, especially given how the developers are constantly pushing patches and helping this game along.

The game is not long by any means (take that with a grain of salt. there is a lot to do, and multiple paths to take), but has a lot of replay-ability, and will be the only game i will ever replay from the beginning in new game plus.

with all that being said after a few months of this game being out there are still issues when it comes to multiplayer. Invading someone will always result in the host having a severe advantage due to how bad the latency is on the connectors side. Beckoning a lamp bearer will also have an effect on how stable the game plays as well, but i am hopeful that the devs will fix these latency issues and multiplayer connection troubles.

If you want to get into souls likes: Play this game
If you want a good story: Play this game
If you want a good combat system: Play this game

but if youre still being cautious and are unsure if its worth it, get it on sale, but this game was 100% worth it for me.

If there was a yes/no option I would choose that.

LotF is a soulslike DS wannabe. It is enjoyable and it's not at the same time. Every enemy, despite size feels like they weigh a ton. You hit and hit and hit and it doesn't phase them.

The thing about Dark Souls, was it was uniquely challenging and required a "git gud" approach, which was accurate. This game however removes the challenge and just ganks you. There's NPCs throughout the game that cannot be hit, damaged, or interacted with, that will just flat out kill you without a chance to survive.

Also, the game needs optimizing badly. I'm rocking a 4070 and 12 gen i7 with 32G of RAM on an SSD. I should not have performance issues on a 1080p monitor from a 60$ title. Not only are frames frequently dropping to 30's and 40's, but the graphical stuttering has cost me several "souls" or whatever they're called.

Also, I want to like this game, but it's just not that interesting.

_____

Onto the positives, it's fun, it's medieval-fantasy-esque, the 2 dimension thing is awesome. It just needs tweaks. That's why I'm leaving it a positive review. The game is fun at the end of the day. I put 24 hours into it and will probably put 5-6 more.

Uhm... Took me about 30 minutes to find a way to resolve the horrible stuttering/lag in the game. I find it hard to believe I had to turn my settings down to low to have it be playable?? (64gb RAM, Ryzen 7 - 3700X and Radeon RX 7900 XT)

It's kinds fun, but I guess I was spoiled by the Elden Ring experience. I prefer open world.

Plus, there's ZERO way I'll get my wife to play this with me, due to the invasions mechanic.
Refunding and won't be getting a second copy for my wife.

Did this game have a rough technical start? Yes. But the devs have been working so hard and delivering so many updates. The game was a pleasure to play through and it's clear that a lot of love is put into this game.

If you like soulslikes this was one of the best non-FromSoft soulslike I've had the pleasure to play. Absolutely pick it up, you won't regret it.

This game is such trash. I've tried and tried to like it i mean hell i went through almost two complete playthroughs of the game. But every twist and turn you go through is just littered with bugs. I mean ive fallen through the floor fighting elianne the starved 5 times as if fighting the boss isnt bad enough. I've played all souls games bloodborne sekiro the whole deal multiple times over and lies of p. lies of p has more of a foundation to stand on that this absolute piece of trailer trash game. It boasts being able to play with a friend and crossplay but thats only if you're willing to wait an hour to actually connect to a friend. Its almost impressive how much this game is full of bugs. To put in perspective i have a fairly nice PC, 3090 badass cpu the whole deal. there is no escaping this games bugs and they are constant. Like i said its got a good foundation and i like the story and i really wish it was worth playing but at the end of the day it really isnt. its going to give you more of a headache than anything else.

Great Game!

This game is more like Dark Souls 1 and 2 than compared to later SoulsBorne games in the sense of that the world is very interconnected and combat is a bit slower but still quick which was something i was missing in the genre.

The bosses in this game aren't as fine tuned just like how they weren't in classic Souls games which means you wont bash your head in for 5 hours if you are an experienced Souls player while still being challenging, and i prefer it this way honestly.

The game had a bit of a rocky start but most major problems have already been fixed with almost daily patches and the Dev-Team is still working hard in improving it further including a roadmap and seasonal events.

Its one of the few games where i had the urge to complete all Achievments,
so its highly recommended!

I have enjoyed the last 3 hr and can wait for my play time every night. The art work is beautiful and the story is good as well. and very souls like. no rendering problems and it runs smooth. I would get this is if i was looking for NEW SOULS LIKE BUT NOT SOULS GAME.

Seeing some of the controversy surrounding this game caused me to check it out. A lot of the complaints I see are the same kinds of complaints people had about DS1 such as "too many enemies ambushing you". I'm still undoubtedly in the first sections of the game but so far I'm not able to understand the negative reviews. It's incredibly beautiful and I find the combat to be pretty fun so far. The lamp mechanic doesn't feel like a gimmick at all, it's well integrated everywhere I've been. People clearly put a lot of heart and soul into this game. I can see by the near daily patches and updates that the dev team is determined to refine their vision and improve the game.

I feel kind of the opposite about the enemy placement and abundance that some of the negative criticisms have said. That it's too overwhelming. I played Lies of P which I thought was also a marvelous game. Lies of p really was kind of simplistic with the map design, it was far too linear for my tastes and you only fought 1-3 enemies per battle. It had like a mobile game feel almost to how scaled down the whole thing felt.

Anyways, this is not a Lies of P review, but just wanted to say that I prefer the non-linear map design and frantic encounters in Lords of the Fallen. This game is checking all my boxes so far.

Am a total souls noob so i can’t compare it with other games in its genre.
But i can tell my opinion about the game:
The graphics are incredible beautiful, the characters look really good with sooo many customization options - i just love it.
The movement feels very good, especially the dodge roll (probs cant enjoy conan exiles combat anymore now lol).
There is a large variety of weapons, you can wield them either as one handed with or without a weapon (dual wield)/shield of your choice, or you can wield them as a heavy two handed weapon - this can be changed midfight as you like!
The combat:
Again, am total souls noob. But i had a lot fun fighting the monsters up to the Pieta boss fight. They are perfect to learn how to parry attacks. If you are not careful and take your time, you will get punished for that. Some monsters steal your souls if you die, so you either kill them next time or you lose them.
So learning to master the combat is very rewarding.
Now about the first boss fight, Pieta… i think that‘s one of the most stunning boss fights i have ever experienced.
Her animations, attacks, seamless, beautiful and majestic but at same time deadly. And all that covered with an incredible soundtrack… It may sounds weird, but her battle feels like a Schwanensee dance for me and i totally feel it…! Maybe i‘ll defeat her one day.

So yea, absolutely love the game!
It’s a masterpiece of game, and well worth the price. And get the soundtracks as well!

Only issue so far is, that here and there the game crashes but am sure they will fix it.

Lords of the Fallen is a fantastic Souls-like, it's not without issues like anything. The weapons feel great they hit hard and look amazing. My only real complaints are: I've died to gravity more times than I'd like to admit, and some of the areas are loaded with basic enemies that just feel cluttered. Many of the bosses are fun to fight and have that twisted imagination look to them which I love. The interconnectivity of the world is so cool, just like Dark Souls 1. Souls clones being a big thing lately, Lords of the Fallen definitely stands out.

This game has a lot of issues even now with the devs still squashing nasty bugs and changing enemies/bosses, buffing and nerfing weapons for PvE/PvP, etc. and I would still recommend it cause the devs are putting in that work to make this game fantastic. Also it's super ez : )

I'm not really far into the game but so far I am experiencing no lags, very nice classes to try, a world with amazing graphics and nice mechanics. The lamp reminds me of old school tomb raider because of the clues, mystery and everything.

I really wanted to like this game and was hoping it could fill the souls like void i've been feeling for a while. The whole umbral or whatever gameplay is a really cool concept, the music is wonder, and the art style is great, but the game just isn't fun. The controls feel floaty, similar to how Dark Souls 2 was, but with DS2, my attacks felt like they had weight behind them. This game does not scratch the itch. I would rather play DS2 again, which was objectively the most mid of the Souls games but still more fun than this.

OK, I got a lot to say about this game, and not a lot of it good unfortunately.
The only original idea in this game - the "Umbral lamp" gimmick, is actually pretty cool in theory, and does lead to some really cool visuals while in the umbral world, but it is only used for glorified fetch or wire chase events, essentially wasting that idea. Unfortunately, that's the kindest thing I have to say about this game. The UI, level design and combat system are *Heavily* based off of FromSoft's repertoire of games, not bad in theory, but when you straight up steal several mechanics (I.E; the "Withered health" is just the health regen from bloodborne, the Umbral assassination or whatever it was called is just the weak point stab from sekiro, ETC) it makes me feel less comfortable playing the game. Not to mention that the combat feels choppy to put it kindly, Jerking forwards every time I dared clicked the left mouse button. Speaking of the left mouse button, the Keyboard optimization is utterly abhorrent for a game that had a day 1 steam release(V to sprint?!?!? how many thumbs do you think I have???) and the controller scheme didn't work at all, if the menu interaction button was bound at all, it wasn't bound to a face button. Do I wish HEXWORKS all the best in the future of this project? honestly no, I wish I could say I do, and I can see the work of very passionate and talented people in the project. but the game as a whole feels like a soulless (pun intended) cash grab jumping off of miyazaki's recent success with elden ring. HEXWORKS if you read this, please go back to the drawing board, it's okay to take inspiration, but this just feels like stealing.

Hard bosses, Sekiro like death and parrying system, and a two world type system what more could you ask for. A little buggy when opening the game for the first time, just close the game and reopen it should be silky smooth. Overall great game and the bosses look sick plus being able to revive your friends when doing co-op helps so much during hard bosses, can only imagine a dlc for this game.

Game still runs poorly. Combat is janky and unsatisfying. Weapons are all the same in each class as far as moveset, just different stats. A couple cool bosses but most are just regular enemies. Forces you into umbral alot and then just spawns guys on top of you constantly.

Truely a beautiful game, a lot of passion went into crafting this world. An excellent souls-like that I would definitely recommend to Souls and Elden Ring fans. It does have some issues here and there, but the devs have been working hard and knocking them out one by one. Really look forward to future content for this game!