The best Souls game since Dark Souls 1<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A worthy successor to the Dark Souls mantle.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/lords-of-the-fallen\/news\/lords-of-the-fallen-review-the-best-souls-game-since-dark-souls-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lords of the Fallen review: The best Souls game since Dark Souls 1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A worthy successor to the Dark Souls mantle.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/lords-of-the-fallen\/news\/lords-of-the-fallen-review-the-best-souls-game-since-dark-souls-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dot Esports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" 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He's the former TCG Editor for CBR and holds a Master's degree in Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh. Tom spent six years as a Science Editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, and AstraZeneca before leaving science to pursue his dream career in games journalism at the start of 2023. He loves MMOs, RPGs, TCGs, and pretty much every game by FromSoftware\u2014especially Dark Souls.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.tpefoley.com\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/tpefoley\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/tpefoley\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/author\/tomfoley\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lords of the Fallen review: The best Souls game since Dark Souls 1","description":"A worthy successor to the Dark Souls mantle.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/lords-of-the-fallen\/news\/lords-of-the-fallen-review-the-best-souls-game-since-dark-souls-1","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lords of the Fallen review: The best Souls game since Dark Souls 1","og_description":"A worthy successor to the Dark Souls 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He's the former TCG Editor for CBR and holds a Master's degree in Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh. Tom spent six years as a Science Editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, and AstraZeneca before leaving science to pursue his dream career in games journalism at the start of 2023. He loves MMOs, RPGs, TCGs, and pretty much every game by FromSoftware\u2014especially Dark Souls.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.tpefoley.com\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/tpefoley\/","https:\/\/x.com\/tpefoley"],"url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/author\/tomfoley"}]}},"raw_content":"When the first Lords of the Fallen launched in 2014, I couldn\u2019t possibly have imagined I\u2019d be reviewing its successor nearly a decade later. The original was clunky, frustrating to play, and worst of all, bland. It was the first attempt at a Souls game by anyone other than FromSoftware, which is commendable, but it certainly wasn\u2019t a good one, and it was quickly (and rightfully) relegated to the bargain bin. You can probably imagine my surprise when 2023\u2019s Lords of the Fallen wasn\u2019t just a competent Soulslike but one of the best games I\u2019ve ever played. It has a vast and interconnected world the likes of which I haven\u2019t seen since the original Dark Souls and dare I say it, Lords of the Fallen holds its own alongside\u2014if not above\u2014every other Soulslike and Souls game that came before. It\u2019s Dark Souls 4 and then some It\u2019s impossible not to compare Lords of the Fallen to Dark Souls when it oozes Souls from every pore. The world, combat, and characters all feel like they\u2019re straight out of a Souls game, and if you told me this was Dark Souls 4, I wouldn\u2019t just believe you\u2014I\u2019d be delighted. But Lords of the Fallen is much, much more than that. It iterates on the Souls formula so well that it feels both fresh and familiar, with just the right amount of uniqueness to set it apart from its peers. From the get-go, you have the Umbral Lamp at your side, a mysterious artifact that brings you back from the dead and lets you travel between parallel worlds. Lords of the Fallen\u2019s twin worlds are its flagship feature: Mournstead is split into Axiom, the light world, and Umbral, the dark world. If you die in Axiom, you\u2019re sent to Umbral. If you die in Umbral, you die for real and respawn at your last checkpoint. You\u2019ll regularly need to switch between worlds to overcome obstacles, defeat certain enemies, and find treasures. There are unique paths and rare items in Umbral, but more (and tougher) enemies spawn the longer you remain there. The system is reminiscent of the excellent PS1 classic Legacy of Kain and adds a new dynamic to the Soulslike gameplay loop that makes exploring Lords of the Fallen\u2019s immense interconnected world endlessly dangerous yet highly rewarding. Shortcuts and secrets aplenty Axiom and Umbral are punctuated with jaw-dropping vistas in all directions, and gigantic, otherworldly landmarks loom on every horizon. In one direction you\u2019ll see a colossal clawed hand grasping at the sky, and in another, you\u2019ll see gothic architecture so grandiose it puts Dark Souls\u2019 Anor Londo to shame. I was blown away by just how many areas are visible on-screen at once, with every vantage point offering a breathtaking view of challenges yet to come. Mournstead is staggeringly vast and hauntingly beautiful: As one of the first big-budget Unreal 5 games, Lords of the Fallen is easily the best-looking Soulslike, and at times, even stands up to Bluepoint\u2019s visually stunning Demon\u2019s Souls remake. The game is gorgeous, and I occasionally had to pause to behold the sheer magnificence of the landscape Hexworks so expertly crafted. These environments seamlessly branch out in all directions from Skyrest Bridge, a safe haven at the heart of Mournstead. There\u2019s an impressive number of areas to explore in Lords of the Fallen, all with branching paths and shortcuts to unlock. The world opens up substantially around a quarter of the way in, with four or five distinct routes to choose from, and you\u2019ll frequently see upcoming areas telegraphed on the skyline. This is a welcome feature that keeps you well-oriented and ever more curious to find out what\u2019s around the corner. Mournstead\u2019s twisting routes and branching paths make it feel immersive, interesting, and most importantly, alive. There are secrets and shortcuts in every nook and cranny, and you\u2019ll become intimately familiar with the region in the 40 to 50 hours you\u2019ll spend exploring it. The world is the main character in Lords of the Fallen, and you\u2019ll feel it from the moment you pick up the controller to when you beat the final boss. Precise, rhythmic, and remarkably diverse With dozens of unique enemies and bosses scattered across Mournstead coupled with brilliantly expansive build diversity, Lords of the Fallen\u2019s combat easily stands toe-to-toe with its peers. Weapon swings are weighty and impactful, hitboxes are satisfyingly precise, and invincibility frames are surprisingly generous, keeping combat flowing in a back-and-forth dance that often reminds me more of Sekiro than the Souls games. Rolling, blocking, and parrying are all effective defensive options, and although I didn\u2019t quite get the parry timing down, I\u2019m looking forward to trying properly on a new playthrough. While not as mechanically complex as bosses in Elden Ring and Lies of P, Lords of the Fallen\u2019s boss battles feel fun and fair with just the right amount of difficulty. Most are interesting and varied, and around half throw a spanner in the works with an unconventional mechanic or phase change. One filled his arena with lava, forcing me to run to high ground, while another sported a challenging miniboss companion but only in the dark world, forcing me to stay in the light world to avoid being overwhelmed. There\u2019s nothing groundbreaking here, but nothing disappointing either. No boss was too difficult, and I felled all but the hardest after less than a dozen attempts. Most attacks were well-telegraphed and easy to dodge once I got the timings down, which is more than I can say for the frustratingly erratic \u201cdrunken monkey\u201d fighting styles adopted by many bosses in recent Soulslikes (I\u2019m looking at you, P). This may disappoint die-hard Souls fans who love ruthlessly difficult combat, but Lords of the Fallen is more about its world than its bosses, and I found it refreshing not having to spend hours on every fight. Truth be told, I loved the whole journey. If I must name a gripe, it\u2019s that Hexworks didn\u2019t do more with Lords of the Fallen\u2019s parallel worlds. I couldn\u2019t help but feel Umbral could\u2019ve featured more prominently in combat and exploration; it\u2019s such an interesting mechanic rarely seen in games nowadays, and perhaps the developer could\u2019ve done more than simply having players switch worlds to cross a gap, move a platform, grab an item, or kill a hidden enemy. One thing\u2019s for certain: With so many routes through Mournstead and so many viable builds to choose from, Lords of the Fallen is enormously replayable and will likely remain relevant for a long time. This isn\u2019t just a Soulslike\u2014it\u2019s the best Souls game since the original Dark Souls and a worthy successor to the mantle. With intricate world design, unparalleled art direction, satisfying combat, and excellent replayability, Hexworks has crafted a near-masterpiece that is absolutely worth a buy.","apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Lords-of-the-Fallen-photo-mode-review-header.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/992182"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2277"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=992182"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/992182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":992318,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/992182\/revisions\/992318"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/992209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=992182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=992182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=992182"},{"taxonomy":"invoiceable_action","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/invoiceable_action?post=992182"},{"taxonomy":"internal-label","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-label?post=992182"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=992182"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=992182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

The best Souls game since Dark Souls 1<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A worthy successor to the Dark Souls mantle.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/lords-of-the-fallen\/news\/lords-of-the-fallen-review-the-best-souls-game-since-dark-souls-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lords of the Fallen review: The best Souls game since Dark Souls 1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A worthy successor to the Dark Souls mantle.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/lords-of-the-fallen\/news\/lords-of-the-fallen-review-the-best-souls-game-since-dark-souls-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dot Esports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" 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He's the former TCG Editor for CBR and holds a Master's degree in Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh. Tom spent six years as a Science Editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, and AstraZeneca before leaving science to pursue his dream career in games journalism at the start of 2023. 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He's the former TCG Editor for CBR and holds a Master's degree in Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh. Tom spent six years as a Science Editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, and AstraZeneca before leaving science to pursue his dream career in games journalism at the start of 2023. He loves MMOs, RPGs, TCGs, and pretty much every game by FromSoftware\u2014especially Dark Souls.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.tpefoley.com\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/tpefoley\/","https:\/\/x.com\/tpefoley"],"url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/author\/tomfoley"}]}},"raw_content":"When the first Lords of the Fallen launched in 2014, I couldn\u2019t possibly have imagined I\u2019d be reviewing its successor nearly a decade later. The original was clunky, frustrating to play, and worst of all, bland. It was the first attempt at a Souls game by anyone other than FromSoftware, which is commendable, but it certainly wasn\u2019t a good one, and it was quickly (and rightfully) relegated to the bargain bin. You can probably imagine my surprise when 2023\u2019s Lords of the Fallen wasn\u2019t just a competent Soulslike but one of the best games I\u2019ve ever played. It has a vast and interconnected world the likes of which I haven\u2019t seen since the original Dark Souls and dare I say it, Lords of the Fallen holds its own alongside\u2014if not above\u2014every other Soulslike and Souls game that came before. It\u2019s Dark Souls 4 and then some It\u2019s impossible not to compare Lords of the Fallen to Dark Souls when it oozes Souls from every pore. The world, combat, and characters all feel like they\u2019re straight out of a Souls game, and if you told me this was Dark Souls 4, I wouldn\u2019t just believe you\u2014I\u2019d be delighted. But Lords of the Fallen is much, much more than that. It iterates on the Souls formula so well that it feels both fresh and familiar, with just the right amount of uniqueness to set it apart from its peers. From the get-go, you have the Umbral Lamp at your side, a mysterious artifact that brings you back from the dead and lets you travel between parallel worlds. Lords of the Fallen\u2019s twin worlds are its flagship feature: Mournstead is split into Axiom, the light world, and Umbral, the dark world. If you die in Axiom, you\u2019re sent to Umbral. If you die in Umbral, you die for real and respawn at your last checkpoint. You\u2019ll regularly need to switch between worlds to overcome obstacles, defeat certain enemies, and find treasures. There are unique paths and rare items in Umbral, but more (and tougher) enemies spawn the longer you remain there. The system is reminiscent of the excellent PS1 classic Legacy of Kain and adds a new dynamic to the Soulslike gameplay loop that makes exploring Lords of the Fallen\u2019s immense interconnected world endlessly dangerous yet highly rewarding. Shortcuts and secrets aplenty Axiom and Umbral are punctuated with jaw-dropping vistas in all directions, and gigantic, otherworldly landmarks loom on every horizon. In one direction you\u2019ll see a colossal clawed hand grasping at the sky, and in another, you\u2019ll see gothic architecture so grandiose it puts Dark Souls\u2019 Anor Londo to shame. I was blown away by just how many areas are visible on-screen at once, with every vantage point offering a breathtaking view of challenges yet to come. Mournstead is staggeringly vast and hauntingly beautiful: As one of the first big-budget Unreal 5 games, Lords of the Fallen is easily the best-looking Soulslike, and at times, even stands up to Bluepoint\u2019s visually stunning Demon\u2019s Souls remake. The game is gorgeous, and I occasionally had to pause to behold the sheer magnificence of the landscape Hexworks so expertly crafted. These environments seamlessly branch out in all directions from Skyrest Bridge, a safe haven at the heart of Mournstead. There\u2019s an impressive number of areas to explore in Lords of the Fallen, all with branching paths and shortcuts to unlock. The world opens up substantially around a quarter of the way in, with four or five distinct routes to choose from, and you\u2019ll frequently see upcoming areas telegraphed on the skyline. This is a welcome feature that keeps you well-oriented and ever more curious to find out what\u2019s around the corner. Mournstead\u2019s twisting routes and branching paths make it feel immersive, interesting, and most importantly, alive. There are secrets and shortcuts in every nook and cranny, and you\u2019ll become intimately familiar with the region in the 40 to 50 hours you\u2019ll spend exploring it. The world is the main character in Lords of the Fallen, and you\u2019ll feel it from the moment you pick up the controller to when you beat the final boss. Precise, rhythmic, and remarkably diverse With dozens of unique enemies and bosses scattered across Mournstead coupled with brilliantly expansive build diversity, Lords of the Fallen\u2019s combat easily stands toe-to-toe with its peers. Weapon swings are weighty and impactful, hitboxes are satisfyingly precise, and invincibility frames are surprisingly generous, keeping combat flowing in a back-and-forth dance that often reminds me more of Sekiro than the Souls games. Rolling, blocking, and parrying are all effective defensive options, and although I didn\u2019t quite get the parry timing down, I\u2019m looking forward to trying properly on a new playthrough. While not as mechanically complex as bosses in Elden Ring and Lies of P, Lords of the Fallen\u2019s boss battles feel fun and fair with just the right amount of difficulty. Most are interesting and varied, and around half throw a spanner in the works with an unconventional mechanic or phase change. One filled his arena with lava, forcing me to run to high ground, while another sported a challenging miniboss companion but only in the dark world, forcing me to stay in the light world to avoid being overwhelmed. There\u2019s nothing groundbreaking here, but nothing disappointing either. No boss was too difficult, and I felled all but the hardest after less than a dozen attempts. Most attacks were well-telegraphed and easy to dodge once I got the timings down, which is more than I can say for the frustratingly erratic \u201cdrunken monkey\u201d fighting styles adopted by many bosses in recent Soulslikes (I\u2019m looking at you, P). This may disappoint die-hard Souls fans who love ruthlessly difficult combat, but Lords of the Fallen is more about its world than its bosses, and I found it refreshing not having to spend hours on every fight. Truth be told, I loved the whole journey. If I must name a gripe, it\u2019s that Hexworks didn\u2019t do more with Lords of the Fallen\u2019s parallel worlds. I couldn\u2019t help but feel Umbral could\u2019ve featured more prominently in combat and exploration; it\u2019s such an interesting mechanic rarely seen in games nowadays, and perhaps the developer could\u2019ve done more than simply having players switch worlds to cross a gap, move a platform, grab an item, or kill a hidden enemy. One thing\u2019s for certain: With so many routes through Mournstead and so many viable builds to choose from, Lords of the Fallen is enormously replayable and will likely remain relevant for a long time. This isn\u2019t just a Soulslike\u2014it\u2019s the best Souls game since the original Dark Souls and a worthy successor to the mantle. With intricate world design, unparalleled art direction, satisfying combat, and excellent replayability, Hexworks has crafted a near-masterpiece that is absolutely worth a buy.","apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Lords-of-the-Fallen-photo-mode-review-header.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/992182"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2277"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=992182"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/992182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":992318,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/992182\/revisions\/992318"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/992209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=992182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=992182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=992182"},{"taxonomy":"invoiceable_action","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/invoiceable_action?post=992182"},{"taxonomy":"internal-label","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-label?post=992182"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=992182"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=992182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Rokurou

{"id":992182,"date":"2023-10-12T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-12T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/?p=992182"},"modified":"2023-10-12T08:00:56","modified_gmt":"2023-10-12T13:00:56","slug":"lords-of-the-fallen-review-the-best-souls-game-since-dark-souls-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/lords-of-the-fallen\/news\/lords-of-the-fallen-review-the-best-souls-game-since-dark-souls-1","title":{"rendered":"Lords of the Fallen review: The best Souls game since Dark Souls 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the first Lords of the Fallen<\/em> launched in 2014, I couldn\u2019t possibly have imagined I\u2019d be reviewing its successor nearly a decade later. The original was clunky, frustrating to play, and worst of all, bland.<\/em> It was the first attempt at a Souls game by anyone other than FromSoftware, which is commendable, but it certainly wasn\u2019t a good one, and it was quickly (and rightfully) relegated to the bargain bin.<\/p>

You can probably imagine my surprise when 2023\u2019s Lords of the Fallen<\/em> wasn\u2019t just a competent Soulslike but one of the best games I\u2019ve ever played. It has a vast and interconnected world the likes of which I haven\u2019t seen since the original Dark Souls<\/em> and dare I say it, Lords of the Fallen<\/em> holds its own alongside\u2014if not above\u2014every other Soulslike and Souls<\/em> game that came before.<\/p>