Lords of the Fallen review

[Neon Ignition]

Just had a quick go to see how it holds up, playing via PC. Now, I'm interested in seeing what objective Souls players think as the similarities are immediate when you begin. Personally, that series has never grabbed me as though they're balanced for what they are I hate the online aspects and find the game too archaic to play. I was hoping for something that played more fluidly with this and on first impressions I might have found it.

The game begins in a battle, Souls fans will likely make quick work of the enemy but I had to acclimatise. But once felled I could take it in more and as you progress you quickly start to get used to the rhythm. It's not a stunning game but by its inspirations standards it's lovely, really nicely lit at time too.

My main concern is how the balance will hold up long term as I've only just felled the first boss but I can already tell it's going to be poorer than Souls at several things but from a purely personal point of view, better at others.

[Shozuki]

Really enjoying this, I imagine it's no patch on Dark Souls, but I think it looks great, plays well and I'm just generally digging it. I managed to get this for ?12 and for that it's well worth it.

Btw if you got the russian VPN version you'll likely have issues with the language being set to Russian with no options, this has been fixed.

You just need this.

[speedlolita]

That link doesn't look sketchy as fook.

[Greg Moss]

Loving this too. Nowhere near as immersive as Demons/Dark Souls, doesn't have the atmosphere or the fine tuning the combat received in DS2, but it's still really good fun. It hasn't got many new tricks up it's sleeve, but I do like the upgrade system, the combat is simpler but satisfying and imo it looks great, especially as it's only 5GB on Xbone.

Main chap is dull though, wish it had a character creator.

[Uli]

anyone playing this on X1 and can report if the game received a substantial patch to iron out framerat issues and minor bugs? as a huge Dark Souls fan i would really love to play this game but i am really fed up with buggy and unfinished games for this year.

[Uli]

just 5 posts for this game? honestly? where are all the Dark Souls fans?

however, i am now about 10 hours in the X1 version and, so far, i would say Lords of the Fallen is a highly enjoyable game and very good effort to offer Dark Souls fans a meaty snack while waiting for Dark Souls 3! go give it a try!

okay, here are a few impressions, from a Dark Souls fan perspective if you like.

gameplay:
this is the strong point of the game. it's very much hard core Dark Souls 1, minus some intricacies in terms of levelling character and equipment. the controls are very similar too. overall difficulty and balance, especially with boss fights, is somewhat less challenging though, so this makes the game more friendly to newcomers to this format. the game was also designed for NG+

story:
pretty much a mess. it's as if the game wanted to tell a story but the respective cutscenes were lost or forgot to include. i would have prefered the Dark Souls way of storytelling here. a subtle and refined way to use the environment and NPCs to provide just information about the world. however, the atmosphere and feeling of immersion in Lords of Fallen is still very good, this is mostly due to the very stringent gothic fantasy world design.

graphics:
this game looks absolutly gorgeous, especially if taken into account that this game started as a last gen project. detailed textures throughout, good use of tessellation/POM, nice physics and ambient lighting, lots of dynamic shadows and strong use of particle fx. only downside is the poor animation in cutscenes and the frequent drops in framerate. if you are susceptible to variable framerate or a 60fps junkie you better stick to the PC version.

audio:
is well done too with lots of crystal clear ambient sound fx and a fitting soundtrack, which is also included as a CD in the special edition. the surround mix is a bit strange though as dialogue is presented in stereo and a few sound fx, which i would expect in the front stage, come from the the rear speakers.

[darkangel]

Cheers for the impression from a Dark Souls perspective, huge fan of the Souls series so following that, can you give a little more detail on the gameplay/controls system please? What I love about the Souls series is that every enemy encounter deserves respect. No matter how far you've got in the game, even the most minor of enemies can wipe the floor with you if you don't treat it with caution and planning. Is that the same for this game? Cheers.

[Uli]

well, like i said, it's copy-paste in terms of gameplay and controls. you can lock (or auto lock) on to enemies, roll, jump, sprint and do the infamous backstab with different brutal animations depending on weapon. the combat is a bit faster and more action oriented than in Dark Souls. exploration is important and rewarding. also the visuals are amazing and will make DS2 look like a poor last gen effort.

and, yes, this game is very brutal and punishing too. but it has a very nice save system that let's you store your precious XP at a checkpoint and there is an item that recovers your lost souls. so it's maybe a bit less frustrating than Dark Souls

i'd say if you are still unsure about a purchase then check out a Let's play on Youtube. but basically, as a Dark Souls fan, you owe it to yourself to give this game a try.

.

[Uli]

the game gets better and better for me. there's lots of stuff that makes this game distinctive, like the legendary weapons you can obtain from the bosses under certain winning conditions or the truly epic soundtrack. just listen to this stunning opening theme and if you don't fall in love with it i can't help you.

['Press Start']

the game gets better and better for me. there's lots of stuff that makes this game distinctive, like the legendary weapons you can obtain from the bosses under certain winning conditions

Not sure that is much different to the part of the bosses you could cut off and forge a legendary weapon in Dark Souls.

When I get a PS4 I will defo get this, I was championing it ever since seeing the unveil trailer. Bloodbourne first though.

[Uli]

i can't wait for Bloodborne too, just know that Bloodborne is not going to be a Souls game, even though it uses familiar mechanis. it plays differently, more like an action game. most DS fans who haven't had a chance to play the demo are not aware of this it seems.

['Press Start']

i can't wait for Bloodborne too, just know that Bloodborne is not going to be a Souls game, even though it uses familiar mechanis. it plays differently, more like an action game. most DS fans who haven't had a chance to play the demo are not aware of this it seems.

Interesting, I just read it was being handled by the Demon's Soul creator and after that I went on media blackout. Ha ha.

For your LOF impressions and championing it, I hope it did well at retail.

[Uli]

i fear it didn't. at release the game was plagued by lots of bugs and technical problems - and to a degree it still is. most of all, it lacked the media hype. just look at the number of posts here! this forum was always a bastion of Dark Souls fans - where are they now?

['Press Start']

i fear it didn't. at release the game was plagued by lots of bugs and technical problems - and to a degree it still is. most of all, it lacked the media hype. just look at the number of posts here! this forum was always a bastion of Dark Souls fans - where are they now?

I can think of about 5 on here but non have next gen yet, me included. Actually Brad loved Demons/Dark Souls, have you had a bash at this Brad?

[darkangel]

I'm definitely a bastion of the Souls series, Dark Souls 2 with all the dlc is getting a PS4 port soon, so I may just wait and get that. Lords of The Fallen does sound good, but I only have a limited budget for games, so I may just hold off for the DS2 port and Bloodbourne and wait for this to go down in price...