Lords of the Fallen and the chase for Fromsoft’s success

As a long-time fan of Dark Souls and a current player of Elden Ring, a new game that offers a challenge and unique combat is interesting. Challenging video games is nothing new but a game that can compete with the quality of FromSoftware and what they have accomplished.

Despite the success (and some failures) of Elden Ring, the games themselves have been criticized for their obscure lore that leaves much of the story open to interpretation. However, the strength has always been the combat and the world design. Asmongold, a Twitch Streamer, has praised the first Dark Souls game as one of the best gaming experiences. My favorite is Dark Souls III but of all the Fromsoft games, Elden Ring is designed the best.

Lords of the Fallen looks to capitalize on the success of the “hard, but fair” mentality Fromsoft is famous for. Originally announced in 2014, Lords of the Fallen is a re-reboot of a game of the same name. While the game has taken time to create, it looks polished and ready to go as we head into the end of the year AAA time.

To separate itself and give a unique experience, the game has two separate worlds to dive into. Axiom is the world of the living whereas Umbral is the world of the dead. Given the two separate worlds, the weapons and magic spells will be different in both areas instead of the way FromSoftware hits the Ashen worlds and the world you are in, like Untended Graves in Dark Souls III or the Ashen Capital in Elden Ring. This will give the player a new way to explore and approach the world and give us the ability to solve puzzles. I’m not much of a puzzle solver, but in certain games like the Jedi games from Respawn, it makes sense to add that element.

Another aspect of the game I hope we see is a semi-open world to give players the ability to do as they please. An aspect of Elden Ring I enjoyed was the freedom to do as you wish, but it was also a downfall as well. During my first playthrough, I went from Limegrave to Caelid and was subsequently destroyed over, and over again. Not realizing there was another area I should’ve gone to first (Lornuna Lakes) and even did Atlas Plateau before going back to Caelid.

Having an open world is a good thing but giving the players too much to do is also a bad thing. Take Assassin’s Creed for example. Those games suffer from “go here, do this.” The developers force you to do certain things before you progress in the game which leaves much to be desired for too. Having a balance between giving the players the freedom to do as they please while also giving the players proper leveling for the area is a delicate balance that I hope they hit on the head.

Lords of the Fallen does seem like a game I think we can all get behind and the developers have really taken their time to make the game look incredible. The PC requirements are also relatively low with the minimum including a GTX 1060 and a Ryzen 5 2600. Even more important is the multiplayer mode that seems to be integral just like in Elden Ring.

Cezar Virtosu, the creative director at Hexworks, has been open about his excitement and the development process. The game looks like a house of horrors and I’m here for it. Even more interesting is the ability for the monsters in the dead realm to come through to the living realm.

My hope for this game will be to have a story that is less convoluted and more engaging than anything Fromsoft has done lately.