Lords of the Fallen looks good in that horrific Dark Souls way where every creature is an incredibly well-designed horrifying affront to the eyes. If you can hold down your rising bile for a fight against a creature seemingly made of the putrid mire it surrounds itself in, you might have a chance at slaying it. Instead of doing that, I looked into the Boglord’s numerous eyes, gazed upon its gaping maw filled with innumerable fangs, and wept.
Lords of the Fallen nails that messed up Dark Souls design. Whether you’re facing legions of undead, skin decaying on their tortured faces, or trying to outsmart giants, many of whom are interred by barrels chained over their heads, every enemy looks suitably fierce, and classically grim.
The same goes for the mechanics. Slash, dodge, flask, dodge, dodge, stab. You know how Soulslike combat goes by now, so I’m not going to describe it again. Lords of the Fallen does it well, and exactly as you’d expect. It’s got pseudo-Estus and pseudo-bonfires. This is a Soulslike that wears its inspirations on its sleeve, and they all point to FromSoftware.
There’s nothing wrong with this, Lords of the Fallen is an accomplished game. It plays well, and looks good while doing it. It’s not unoriginal, just clearly inspired. But at what point does this grow a little tired? FromSoftware itself is innovating and iterating – Elden Ring was a massive departure from its classic formula in many ways, and further from Dark Souls than many Soulslikes made by other developers. It didn’t surprise me, then, that Lords of the Fallen excited me most when it eschewed its inspirations and changed up the tired formula to try something new.
For most of the game, you roam the living world of Axiom. This is your average messed up fantasy world like Lordran or The Lands Between. If you die, however, you don’t immediately teleport to your last bonfire – sorry, Vestige – you’ll instead be transported to the Umbral realm, the land of the dead. Everything is the same here, until you notice the subtle differences. Use your time in Umbral to unlock shortcuts, complete puzzles, and find powerful items, but if you die here, you die for real.
The Umbral world is the core difference between Lords of the Fallen and other Soulslikes, and it’s the best part of the game. Having an extra life when your health drops to zero is by no means an easy mode, as opponents hit differently in the different worlds. Exploring two parallel worlds keeps you on your toes and the effects of Umbral can always be felt in Axiom.
Umbral’s influence leaks into other areas of the game through the lantern that you carry. Shining its light on the path ahead gives you a glimpse into the undead plane, often allowing you to traverse through locked gates or even walls without fully transporting yourself to the more risky world.
This lamp forms a key part of combat, too, and once you realise this, that element of the game becomes so much more than the traditional Dark Souls fare. Soul Flaying rips your opponent’s soul from their body, allowing you to directly attack their incorporeal form. This is a necessary tactic in your arsenal to defeat tougher foes, and feels different to anything else that the genre has to offer.
I’d be remiss not to talk about bosses. I encountered two in my preview, and both were devastating in both design and brutality. I described the Boglord above, but its foil is the angelic Pieta, who is equal parts Malenia and Joan of Arc. The bosses are suitably difficult and stunningly designed, perfect crescendos of Lords of the Fallen’s formula.
Lord of the Fallen is fairly formulaic Soulslike with great presentation. If you like the genre, you’re sure to pick this up and have a ball. But it’s only when you lift up your lantern and the underworld of Umbral rears its head that this hardcore game really shines, and I wish more Soulslikes would lean further into what makes them unique, rather than riffing on their inspirations for a little too long.