Lords of the Fallen (2023) Reviews
While the Umbral Lantern was a creative and fun mechanic, it was not enough to look past the sluggish boss fights and complicated level design. Lords of the Fallen failed to bring anything different or better in the bloated Soulslike market
Review in Arabic | Read full review
You can show Lords of the Fallen to someone and say that it is Dark Souls 4 has leaked. Chances that people will believe are pretty high. But this build is not so polished as you would hope.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Lords of the Fallen is a great addition to the Soulslike family. The game feels familiar but brings some welcomed changes that I think many people will enjoy and find challenging. There are so many secrets to experience and there are a ton of different character archetypes to try out. You will encounter the occasional hiccup or quirk but it doesn’t kill the experience. If you are looking for a new challenge, this is a great game to jump into.
Lords of the Fallen feels like a passionless soulslike, relying on the same old tricks to make its experience "difficult" all the while failing to lean on its most innovative ideas.
I am quite sure that some people will absolutely love the intensity of the horror and dark fantasy that infuses Lords of the Fallen. As cartoonishly silly as it comes across by trying so hard, it is technically impressive. Similarly, the game is perfectly solid mechanically, and while it does have some issues with pacing and the design of some boss battles, it is, for the most part, very playable. I had more fun with this than I think it deserved, and while I’m not sure whether I was laughing with it or at it most of the time, I was definitely laughing and having fun with it. Who knows? Perhaps satirising the self-seriousness of dark fantasy was the entire creative point and if so, bravo developers, you nailed it.
Lords of the Fallen is full of good ideas and has the qualities to be a great Soulslike. But, in order to reach its full potential, some enemy mechanics and technical issues must be addressed.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
There's a lot to enjoy in Lords of the Fallen, especially with its phenomenal dual-world reality that adds a layer to exploration. Slaying bosses and trekking ahead may not always be a delight but what's here is still very good nonetheless.
Lords of the Fallen is an imperfect title, with numerous aspects that could have rendered it better, but it is still one of the most interesting soulslike games around. Some of the innovations introduced in this title make for a first run with great interest and, were it not for the technical problems, Lords of the Fallen could have aimed even higher.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Lords of the Fallen (2023) is a competent soulsborne game with everything it needs to have to be considered an instant classic. Unfortunately, some very bad game design choices and execution of most basic game mechanics hampers the experience considerably.
Lords of the Fallen far exceeded my expectations and has instantly jumped to be among my favourite Soulikes franchises alongside hits like Nioh and Remnant. The huge interconnected world was a joy to explore and the huge variety of weapons, armour and stats lets you really customize your character to your liking. If it wasn't for the performance issues this would be a near flawless experience.
While I enjoyed exploring Mournstead and appreciate what Lords of the Fallen brings to the soulslike formula, it ultimately fails to maintain consistency throughout.
Lords of the Fallen is one of the better Soulslikes we’ve seen in a long time, but some design choices hold it back from true greatness.
after all this waiting and the beautiful early showing of the game, Lords of The Fallen the hope was on it to provide something unique and successful . Despite the beautiful design of the worlds and the use of some tools, it failed to establish the game in the genre it is based on and provide good bosses, in addition to that are the major technical failure that plagues the game. All of this makes it one of the most frustrating games of the year.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Lords of the Fallen can take and sweep the house with the 2014 release. It's a game with its own charisma, very rewarding artistically, and with ideas that fit the genre like a glove. I only regret that it didn't debut as polished as the standards demand, but I trust that HEXWORKS will update it over time to become a game that achieves excellence.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The team does a fantastic job of world building, while making a challenging and rewarding game. The game may start out as rather linear, but as you open it up and spend a few dozen hours in the game it really starts to excel at basically everything.
As you can see, Lords of the Fallen won't be one of our Games of the Year in 2023. While the title is still an improvement on what it offered us in 2014, we're not there yet. Yes, Axiom and Umbral are beautiful and make the game intriguing. But we quickly discover all the game's negative points, and they're far too present to make the overall experience enjoyable. The combat can be excellent or mediocre, the level design disappointing and the story uninteresting. Perhaps we'll be treated to a third attempt in the future? As far as I'm concerned, I'll be missing out this time...
Review in French | Read full review
While it addresses many aspects lacking during the franchise’s first outing, the overall experience still misses the high-water mark it aims for, with a glut of gameplay systems and wonky mechanics rearing their ugly heads each time a measure of success is achieved elsewhere. It outpaces its predecessor in terms of quality, to be sure, but not enough to make for an emphatic recommendation.
Lords of the Fallen doesn't reinvent the wheel and can be fun at times with some nifty new mechanics, such as traversing dual worlds and setting up custom checkpoints. However, due to its uneven difficulty spikes and some performance issues, Soulslike fatigue sets in a lot quicker compared to other games of its type. I wouldn't check off Lords of the Fallen entirely, as it really gets a lot of aspects right in creating a fun Soulslike game. The visuals and gameplay are on point, creating the mood and feel that many Soulslike aficionados are searching for. However, I feel it is a missed opportunity due to its many technical issues.
The game design and exploration logic tied to Lord of the Fallen's main mechanics work great, thanks to a game map layout that remains elaborate and intelligent throughout. Unfortunately, the lack of variety of enemies and poor management of their placement, coupled with a number of serious technical inaccuracies in the control system severely ruins the gameplay.
Review in Italian | Read full review
For a title with such a troubled development process, to some extent the mere fact that Lords of the Fallen (2023) was released in such a state is in itself a small achievement.
Review in Greek | Read full review