The Best & Worst of Lords of the Fallen

Deck13 Interactive and CI Games' Lords of the Fallen is an action RPG that wears its influences on its sleeve, lifting heavily from From Software's popular Souls series. Thankfully, it's not just an empty clone. It's a sound execution of that forumula, and while it doesn't reach the same lofty heights, its borrowed features and own deviations have kept me occupied for multiple playthroughs. With that in mind, let's take a look at the best and worst of Lords of the Fallen.

 

Best

Build Customization

The first decision you have to make is between one of three magic specializations - Deception, Solace and Brawling - and then a set of light, medium or heavy armor. Beyond those choices, you're not locked into any specific playstyle. You could play a rogue wielding healing magic heavily invested into the spellpower attribute, or a warrior who ignores magic altogether. There's room for experimentation.

Combat

If you've ever played Demon's Souls or Dark Souls, Lords of the Fallen's combat will be instantly familiar. You similarly dodge roll to gain invincibility frames, attack from behind to occasionally inflict devastating backstabs, switch between holding your weapon in one or two hands, stun your enemy with parries and shield bashes, and so forth. They're satisfying mechanics, but what makes it for me is the weight each attack can deliver. You really feel the impact of each blow and how heavy some of these slabs of metal must be, thanks in large part to its quality animations. Enemies and player alike are sent reeling from their strikes. The camera shakes and ground trembles. It's supremely gratifying.

Risk & Reward

Every kill and completed quest earns you experience to bank into either attribute points or for the purchase of new spells. This can only be done at manual checkpoints, and like in the Souls franchise, when you die you drop what you've been hording. Die again or fail to pick up you've lost within a certain period of time and all that experience is gone for good. Back to the square one.

However, Lords of the Fallen does something a little different from its muse that makes it worth your while to ignore those checkpoints and hold onto your cache of experience. As you kill enemies, you'll start building up an experience multiplier. This is an effective way to level up faster if you're confident in your abilities. Furthermore, drop rates for gear increase the longer you wait to save. This adds a layer of nervous tension that's rewarding as it is risky.

Loot

Speaking of gear, there's a lot of it. You'll constantly be earning equipment and slottable runes from chests, enemies and challenge rooms. Some of the better items require a bit of work to acquire, too, such as meeting certain conditions during boss fights. Best of all, there are no weight limits determining how much you can carry. 

Visuals

At the highest settings, Lords of the Fallen is a visual delight. Textures are sharp. Animations blend well. Volumetric lighting is used frequently, casting thick, reactive beams of warmth against a cold world. And those cloth physics! I'm a bit of a geek when it comes cloth in games, from flags to capes. Rest assured, they're fantastic here. 

That's just on the technical side of things. The art style equally impresses. Every piece of armor is sculpted with wonderful detail that makes for an impressive sight no matter what type is being worn. Heavy armor in particular casts an imposing shadow, looking like something straight out of the Warhammer universe. That's not something I'd ever complain about.

New Game++

After the credits roll, there's no need to stop playing. Hitting continue puts you at the start of a new game with your attributes and items carried over. Moreover, you get to select another magic specialization in addition to the one(s) you already have. By the third playthrough you'll have all three.

New Game+ is also a chance to take different quests paths. Why be compassionate or cruel when you can be both? Quests will open and close depending on how you choose to act. You can't do everything nor see all the endings on the first go.

Worst

The Hero's Journey

You play as Harkyn, a criminal whose sins are tattooed upon his face. But as creatures called the Rhogar invade from another dimension, hard men are needed to fight a hard menace. Harkyn is released from prison in the hopes that he can succeed where righteous others have failed.

There's some interesting story to be had, specifically in the form of scrolls (basically audio logs) that tell tales of a dead god or questionable religious leaders. Unfortunately, it's rarely presented upfront. What you get is a plot that rears its unsurprising head mostly near the conclusion and is made worse by an emotionless protagonist with little character to speak of.

Balance

Overcoming the oppressive challenge of Demon's Souls and Dark Souls is highly euphoric, but some people find their hills too intimidating to climb. Lords of the Fallen has a much gentler slope while still sharing many of the same gameplay systems. And by gentle, I mean it may as well be flat. Deck13 and CI Games may have taken the philosophy of accessible a bit far.

It's very easy to break rather than be broken by the encounters thrown your way, especially if you invest into any class spells. I chose the Solace specialization, which granted me powerful healing and reflect magic that meant I never had to touch another health potion again. The limited number of attack patterns and wide openings of bosses meant they were all beaten on the first attempt. New Game+ is suppose to push back more, but having upgraded my spells and equipment during the first playthrough, the second offered little resistance. In fact, I can count the number of times I died in total on one hand.

Visual Variety

As good as it looks, there's not necessarily a whole lot to see. Harkyn's journey takes him through castle-like monastery walls, snowy exteriors, and to the Rhogar realm and back. Few distinct areas round out to each. Many of these locations are also cut of the same cloth, put together into literal mazes, making it easy at times to get turned around. 

LordsoftheFallen.exe

Slowly moving through the monastery halls with shield raised can be a harrowing experience. Each moment that goes on inspires dread that makes palms sweaty and brows furrowed. You don't know where the checkpoint is and your experience multiplier is at its limit. 

Sadly, that's not a result of the its atmosphere. Lords of the Fallen has a tendency to crash on the PC. Bugs abound, as well. I've had enemies go invisible, backstabs fail repeatedly against certain enemies, item attributes not working correctly, and even had one foe lose hostility but continue to follow me around like a pet. I was sad when my friend finally resetted. To be fair, it's not as bad as it sounds, but the crashes do make the aforementioned risk and reward system just plain risky.

Conclusion

Lords of the Fallen has some room to grow, but the best of it far outweighs the worst. Its meaty combat and large collection of secrets keep it at the top of my play list. If the mechanics of the Souls games were their main draw for you, or if you were interested but put-off by their reputation for being difficult, then Lords of the Fallen is worth checking out.