Posted in: CI Games, Games, Indie Games, Video Games | Tagged: Hexworks, Lords of the Fallen

Lords Of The Fallen Preview: Punishment Comes In Many Forms

We were given a chance to preview the new version of Lords Of The Fallen from CI Games, and here's what we thought about it.

When the chance comes up to play a Soulslike game, we're always down to try it out, even if there's some punishment. CI Games gave us an opportunity to try out their latest game, Lords Of The Fallen, and by gawd, does it fall into that category well. The company has been teasing this game for a while now with some outrageous artwork, giving us a glimpse into what looks like a hellacious atmosphere mixed with an interesting change to the combat system. The company brought us out to Los Angeles a few weeks ago to try the game out without any training wheels or restrictions, and here's what we thought of it.

Lords Of The Fallen is essentially a relaunch of the franchise that originally came out in 2014. Back then, the game felt like it was one of dozens trying to cash in on what was a massive trend taking place in gaming, and it earned its fans in multiple ways for being different from the obvious frontrunners but fell a bit short on popularity compared to games such as Bloodborne. To call this particular title a reboot doesn't quite fit the bill, nor is it a sequel or a remake. This entry into the franchise is its own kind of beast that, while sharing similarities, has something very different going for it that clearly was better experienced on the current generation of consoles. Which is one of the biggest takeaways for us is that they clearly took a look at what didn't work before and changed it up to see if they can get it right this time around.

This new entry relies more on a darker tone and more fantasy elements than before, with additional RPG elements that give it a very different vibe than you're probably used to. The game has you starting off by choosing the class of warrior you want to be, with various weapon choices at your disposal. But no matter what you eventually go with, you'll have at least one primary weapon and one secondary weapon at your disposal. But rather than forcing you into a box of "I'm a fighter with a giant sword," the initial choice serves more as an entry point, and you build your character out as you go through the decisions you make when upgrading the character. Just because you choose to work with magic doesn't mean you can't eventually swap over to bow for long-ranged combat.

The best aspect, as far as gameplay and storytelling for us, is that Lords of The Fallen has a two-world system and therefore has a two-death system. Your character will, at various times, be transported between the world of the living and the world of the dead. The dead is often creepier and filled with much more danger, but it also gets you around to places you might normally not be able to reach in the living world. This is done through the use of a lantern you carry that reveals portions of the afterlife to you, which you can then transport to. But you'll need to find a respawn point to return to the world of the living. This comes as a bonus in the game to a degree, as you'll die and wind up here with the chance to get back to the land of the living. However, the souls of the dead know you're there and will chase you down relentlessly, even after you kill them. So staying here is not a long-term solution. But it does provide the concept of being able to get a do-over without a Game Over. It reminded me a lot of The Medium where you had two worlds running simultaneously with each other.

We didn't get a ton of the storyline going through the game, other than your standard "darkness is upon the land" kind to tale, in which you are now here to vanquish it or, at the very least, cleanse it from the face of the Earth for now. You're attempting to prevent the resurrection of a fallen demigod called Adyr, who is on the verge of returning, and his presence can be felt throughout the lands. Your role in all this is that you are one of the Dark Crusaders, fabled warriors who come forth to prevent such things from happening. This will have you taking on multiple bosses who are trying to help with his resurrection, and if things hold true to the way most games like this are, you'll probably end up fighting Adyr, or some avatar version of him, near the end. The developers at Hexworks have gone out of their way to make sure that story is told through different systems, including reliving past events, NPC characters who will drop information as you walk by, and specific cutscenes that all provide info to the story without bogging you down in 20 minutes of lore every time you reach a milestone event.

As for those bosses we mentioned, they are no joke. Lords Of The Fallen has a few challenges that are no laughing matter when ti comes to boss battles. The biggest one we ran into was Pietta, who was a fallen knight that had become cursed, and practically turned into the angel of death. This fight is no joke as she goes from being a non-nonsense knight with devastating swinging attacks, to a red-winged angel that has a ton of homing attacks with mystical swords. Like a lot of Soulslike titles, your rolling dodge becomes your best friend as you'll be doing a lot of that to barely escape being cut to pieces. It took us a few attempts, but we managed to take her down and avoided being sent to the afterlife, where she gets slightly harder. Once freed from her curse, she becomes an ally for you to talk to, and her location becomes a type of sanctuary by which you'll take care of some business for your character before heading back out into the chaos.

Lords Of The Fallen does a pretty good job of putting a fresh pair of eyes on a genre that people have come to know and love, but it does tread close to the fire of giving fans of that genre burnout. Much like when you first enter the world of Elden Ring, you take one look out at the vast plane of existence you're on, and you realize there's a LOT of work to do. For some, that's music to their ears, but for casual gamers, that may look like a daunting mountain to climb. At the very least, the game has made sure that it doesn't feel like other Soulslike titles, so while you have a sense of familiarity, there are plenty of changes that will keep you occupied and intrigued. Not to mention the ever-looming idea that you're going to be dying, frequently, in some of the most brutal ways possible. But you got some time to work up the desire to play it as the game will launch on October 13th for PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5.

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