Lords of the Fallen (2023)

"Lords of the Fallen is an exciting kind of Sous-like. Whereas many others aim to perfect the formula, Lords of the Fallen&s;s goal is to innovate. It certainly has its own array of problems, like lacking audio, repetitive enemy types, …"

"Umbral is a beautiful dark twisted fantasy, and then there’s all of Axiom to explore as well. The developers have made the most of these realms, layering distinct challenges atop one another. And the result is the best of both …"

"In its current state, however, Lords of the Fallen proves that Hexworks still has a bit to go before it learns the same lessons that many souls-like developers have in terms of quality-of-life adjustments and making sure that it strikes …"

"Lords of the Fallen is one of the most interesting souls-like games of recent years, providing new ways to face exploration in the genre, as well as a superb artistic section. Even with its irregular technical section and its roughness …"

"Despite its many problems, Lords of the Fallen has managed to conquer us by combining the soulslike of always with a mechanic as novel and interesting as the jump between worlds. If they correct their failures, we could be facing …"

"Lords of the Fallen is a good follow-up with some unique aspects to help separate itself from the past."

"After nearly a decade since the launch of the original Lords of the Fallen, CI Games and HexWorks deliver a reboot that exceeds all expectations. With responsive, precise, and challenging combat, innovative twists, stellar grimdark presentation, and more, it&s;s one …"

"Most of what fans of Soulslikes want are at the maximum: masterclass-level design, unforgettable bosses, and extensive freedom toward build creation. The combat can feel rough at times, and there are way too many enemies in certain levels, but these …"

"Lords of the Fallen copies Dark Souls so thoroughly it feels like game design plagiarism but, astonishingly, it&s;s indeed worthy of being mentioned in the same sentence as FromSoftware&s;s brutal dark fantasy classics. Anyone who&s;s survived Lordran, Drangleic and Lothric …"

"Despite its missteps, Lords of the Fallen is a solid soulslike with great potential."

"In all though, this is such a comprehensive replica of the Souls formula that a brief glance at the screen will result in most folks thinking that you’re playing a From Software game. Indeed, for the most part, 2023’s Lords …"

"Missing the elegance of FromSoftware, Lords of the Fallen is let down by Soulslike clichés and performance woes."

"Lords of the Fallen is a game that wears its passion and love of the genre on its sleeve. A gorgeous world, gripping gameplay, enthralling bosses, and depthless worldbuilding persist in spite of some rough edges and a struggling sense …"

"Lords of the Fallen boasts impressive visuals and an interesting story for a soulslike, but unfortunately, that&s;s where the praise ends."

"Lords of the Fallen does a lot of things right. Its exploration is its strongest point, and jumping from the human and Umbra realms provides unique enemy encounters and secrets. However, while its combat could have been great, it&s;s ultimately …"

"Some of the best boss fights in the genre&s;s recent history, riddled with difficulty spikes in all the wrong places."

"Taking all of this into account, it&s;s still safe to recommend Lords of the Fallen to anyone remotely interested in this genre, be it veterans or those looking for an entry point. When it comes to Soulslikes, this release is …"

"Lords of the Fallen is a marked improvement over the original and the mechanic of traversing between two realms makes it feel unique among its contemporaries. If not for a handful of questionable design choices and an overall lack of …"

"Lords of the Fallen comes with some big caveats - it&s;s designed to ambush the player in really snide ways, its boss distribution is erratic, and it really needs a proper map. Despite these annoyances, I’ve been utterly entrenched in …"

"I desperately want to like Lords of the Fallen, but it&s;s the first game all year that&s;s actively annoyed me. I love the Soulslike genre more than any other, but this game took all of the lessons it could have …"

"Lords of the Fallen just about justifies the return of this forgotten franchise by being basically fine. It has a few clever ideas and a whole bunch of very predictable ones, ultimately resulting in a soulslike experience that won&s;t feel …"

"A far more confident and competent iteration of the Souls template than what came before, Lords of the Fallen&s;s all-round impressive design is marred by occasional technical issues and all-too-frequent questions on its very philosophy around challenge."

"While Lords of the Fallen has a good foundation, what is built upon it often leaves a sour taste, and not all of it can be boiled down to personal preference. Poor optimization, wonky hitboxes, poor enemy variety and a …"

"With incredible art design, challenging action, and a very innovative, dual-world mechanic, Lords of the Fallen is probably a must-play for fans of Soulslikes. But it’s hard to ignore the game’s issues, too, from sometimes unrefined movement and clunky combat …"

"Lords of the Fallen is an enjoyable, challenging game, and the aesthetics are out of this world, but it suffers at times from a lack of focus."

"Possibly, we are facing the closest soulslike and almost equal to the Dark Souls saga itself. It has absolutely everything a fan of the franchise could want from this type of game: It is difficult, challenging, but not impossible or …"

"While Lords of the Fallen has all the right Souls-like elements, its disjointed pacing and painful checkpoint system make much of the game a slow and frustrating march."

"Ultimately, this new incarnation of Lords of the Fallen was only partially able to convince us."

"Lords of the Fallen is a game of uneven quality. At its best, it offers level design, bosses, and combat that’s generally up there among the best Souls-likes. At its – more often – worst, it leans hard on quantity …"

"When the FPS isn’t dipping, and bosses aren’t cheesing you every step of the way, LotF feels good. But with myriad performance issues, broken multiplayer, and boss fights that increase difficulty through unfair mechanics as opposed to well-developed ones, it …"

"As unfairly challenging as I could find Lords of the Fallen to be, I also appreciated its creativity. The Umbral world and mechanics surrounding it made for an extremely compelling and risky adventure where I often rode the line between …"

"Lords of the Fallen is an awesome soulslike with a fantastic dual-realities premise, even when performance shortcomings and wimpy bosses crash the party."

"Despite a solid gameplay foundation, stunning world, and unique two-realm mechanic, by the time I reached credits after 48 hours, I was overjoyed to be done."