Embarking on my journey with Lords of the Fallen, I was filled with excitement and anticipation. The game seemed to be bursting with brilliant ideas and a unique vision that set it apart from other Souls-like games. However, as I delved deeper into the game, my enthusiasm began to wane. It became clear that not everyone on the development team shared the same level of passion and commitment to this vision. It was like traversing a beautiful landscape with breathtaking vistas, only to realize that there was a lack of direction and purpose.
Lords of the Fallen follows the Souls-like formula that many gamers are familiar with. If you’ve played any of these games before, you’ll immediately recognize certain features. Combat revolves around managing your stamina, with heavier weapons and attacks consuming more of it than lighter ones. Your rolls and dodges rely on the same stamina pool, and you have various ranged options at your disposal, such as throwables, bows, and magic spells.
One unique mechanic in Lords of the Fallen is the concept of Wither damage. Unlike most games in this genre, blocking does not completely negate damage. Instead, a portion of the damage is converted into Wither, which is represented by a gray color on your health bar. You can regain lost health by landing attacks on your opponent, but a single hit from the enemy will cause you to lose all of your accumulated Wither.
Upon entering Umbral, the game’s parallel world of the dead, Wither damage becomes a prominent aspect of the experience. Lords of the Fallen’s world exists on two planes: Axiom, the realm of the living, and Umbral, the realm of the dead. When you die in Axiom, you fall into Umbral. Both realms are always present, and you can freely travel between them using the Umbral Lamp.
Umbral serves as a second chance after death, allowing you to either finish a boss fight or abandon it. However, entering Umbral comes with a price. Not only do you immediately suffer Wither damage, but the world of the dead is far more treacherous. Umbral mobs coexist with enemies from Axiom, and the longer you stay in Umbral, the more challenging the game becomes. The developers want you to farm your Vigor (equivalent to Souls) in Umbral, but it’s a risky endeavor. The longer you spend there, the more hunter-like enemies will start chasing you, making it increasingly difficult to escape. The placement of the exit points from Umbral can turn a successful run into a catastrophe.
Lords of the Fallen offers the ability to create your own checkpoints in both Axiom and Umbral. These checkpoints, known as seeds, can be earned by defeating enemies or purchased from a specific NPC. However, you can only have one active checkpoint at a time, making them temporary respites from the game’s lack of consistent checkpointing. While the game does have shortcuts, there is a need for a reevaluation of checkpoint placement, especially in the larger, late-game levels.
Umbral not only presents additional challenges but also provides opportunities for more elaborate level design. There are sections that can only be accessed by traveling to Umbral, often unlocking shortcuts for future runs in Axiom or revealing hidden areas of the world. However, navigating these areas can be extremely challenging, especially when you’re faced with platforming sections while avoiding archers, wizards, and mobs chasing you relentlessly.
One of the major issues with Lords of the Fallen lies in its encounter design. Simply put, you are consistently overwhelmed by more enemies than you can handle, and they often have unfair advantages that put you at an immediate disadvantage. Snipers, in particular, are a source of frustration. They have an uncanny ability to detect you from afar and almost always hit their mark. You rarely have a chance to spot them before they spot you, resulting in surprise attacks and a forced retreat without knowing where the attackers are coming from.
Melee enemies are no different. They always outnumber you and never lose sight of you, relentlessly chasing you down. At times, I found myself simply running past entire areas just to return to where I was before dying, only to be pursued by a horde of enemies, leading to my inevitable demise.
Another issue with the game’s difficulty lies in the reuse of bosses as regular enemies. While this is a common practice in Souls-like games, it’s usually a way to showcase the player’s growth in power. However, in Lords of the Fallen, these bosses are immediately added to the enemy pool, undermining their status as formidable foes and leaving you feeling underpowered.
Boss encounters, boss design, and their entrances are crucial elements in Souls-like games, and Lords of the Fallen falls short in this regard. The quality of the bosses varies greatly, as if some received the attention they deserved while others were hastily thrown together to meet a quota. The frequency of boss fights can be overwhelming, interrupting exploration and adding frustration when you die and have to repeatedly retrieve your lost Vigor.
In conclusion, Lords of the Fallen presents some genuinely brilliant ideas and a unique vision within the Souls-like genre. However, it falls short in execution, with encounter design, checkpoint placement, and boss implementation being major areas of concern. While the game offers a challenging and immersive experience, it often feels unfair and unbalanced. With some refinements and adjustments, Lords of the Fallen has the potential to become a monumental game in the genre.
So, fellow gamers, let’s raise our controllers and call upon the developers at HexWorks to take heed of our feedback. Let them know that we believe in the potential of Lords of the Fallen and that with some fine-tuning, it could become a true masterpiece. Together, we can shape the future of gaming and ensure that our voices are heard. May your adventures be filled with triumph and your victories be legendary! Game on!