Intriguing new Soulslike Lords of the Fallen reviews are out and the critics are rather roundly divided on its qualities. For many, it is an interesting dalliance with the popular Souls design handbook, but one that runs into too many annoying problems to reach its full potential. You can tell that it’s a difficult game to communicate the finer points of — almost every extract on Metacritic is a block of text, rather than the usual one-or-two-line pull quote. To me, that’s a surefire indicator that, beyond the determination of whether to purchase, there is at least something interesting to talk about here.
Another note: As you may have seen online, the Xbox version of Lords of the Fallen is running a bit late. As such, all Lords of the Fallen reviews, including the ones below, were conducted on PS5 and PC.
As we always do with our review round-ups, let’s start here at home and see what the local critics thought.
The Aussies
It appears there were not that many Australian outlets to get a code for Lords of the Fallen. For the sake of complete transparency: Kotaku Australia did receive an early PC code for this title. However, as we are a two-person team currently drowning in Q4 releases to play through (and MIGW falling bang in the middle of the review window), we simply haven’t put enough time into Lords of the Fallen to render a full review. Looking around at our fellow Aussie outlets, I suspect we are far from alone in that particular boat. You can check out my thoughts on a four-hour preview I conducted at Sega’s Sydney offices in August right here.
Player 2 quite enjoyed the game on PC, awarding it an A- and saying, “Lords Of The Fallen doesn’t mess around. It’s a no-holds-barred, unapologetic rollercoaster ride from start to finish, and I can’t wait to go again.”
Well Played also liked the game, but its reviewer seemed to be working hard to look past its more obvious flaws. “Lords of The Fallen delivers on the macabre, challenge, and exploration hallmarks of the Souls-like genre. It thrives in the eerie shadows of its obvious inspirations and shines a light on its best features by reimplementing most of them with the benefit of the sexy set dressing brought to life in Unreal 5. While the combat often frustrates when foes begin to crowd, Hexworks seems aware of this with its placement of enemies and world layout. Venturing between the living and the dead with the lamp transcends novelty. Surviving with a partner in tow is also exhilarating. If you can make it past the dense player onboarding that assumes you’ve beaten Dark Souls, then you’re likely to experience the best imagining of a Souls sequel this side of FromSoft.”
The rest of the world
IGN, like Well Played, seemed to be trying to focus on the positives even as it frequently returned to the negatives in its 8/10 review. “Lords of the Fallen is a great soulslike, and its killer new idea of swapping between two versions of the world to solve puzzles and slay enemies is an excellent twist to set it apart from the pack. That concept is unfortunately hamstrung by numerous, highly annoying technical issues and weak boss fights, but awesome explorable areas and fantastic buildcrafting more than make up for those shortcomings. If, like me, you’re a sucker for a quality action-RPG even amid a clear overabundance of them, then this reboot is well worth your time.”
ScreenRant’s four-star review felt similarly. “Taking all of this into account, it’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 very accessible to new players to the genre and offers more than a good challenge to those with more experience. While it still has plenty of fine-tuning ahead, Lords of the Fallen is a worthy reboot of its predecessor that offers something new and lays a strong foundation for future adventures in Mournstead and beyond.”
Dexerto also fell into the “I really want to like this” category, saying “Lords of the Fallen isn’t trying to be for everyone. This is a game for those who miss the ‘classic Souls feel’ and wish to return to an adventure on a smaller and more detailed scale. It’s for those who fell in love with Dark Souls or Bloodborne and now yearn to play something like that again with all the polish of a modern title – although it must be said, some technical issues hold it back…We didn’t miss the vast open world of Elden Ring and even found it refreshing to return to a smaller, but wonderfully interconnected map where danger lurks around every corner. We didn’t realize we had an itch to return to this era of Soulslike games until we played Lords of the Fallen. While we may never set foot in Lordran again, we’re hopeful that our adventures in Mournstead are just beginning.”
PC Gamer was slightly hard on it, awarding a 79/100 and saying “Some of the best boss fights in the genre’s recent history, riddled with difficulty spikes in all the wrong places.”
TheGamer liked that Lords of the Fallen tried to do something different from other Soulslikes, but ultimately felt that it tripped over its own ambition quite a bit. From its three-and-a-half-star review: “Lords of the Fallen’s Umbral world is unlike anything we’ve seen, providing a unique spin on the Souls genre. Copycats have started to stagnate in recent years, rarely offering anything new, and the genre as a whole risks growing tired. FromSoft itself tried to break out of that habit by exploring what it would look like in an open-world setting with Elden Ring. To see a Soulslike that iterates in its own way rather than chasing new trends is a breath of fresh air, and offers hope for a genre that has never escaped FromSoftware’s shadow.”
PCGamesN agreed with TheGamer. “With some strong new ideas and often solid core design, Lords of the Fallen is an enjoyably grimdark soulslike. That said, Hexworks’ debut release borrows a lot from Dark Souls, and while this makes for a good baseline, it could do more to escape the shadow of better games.”
Game Informer was quite hard on it, its 6/10 review indicating that its reviewer was pleased to be done with it. “When I rolled credits on Lords of the Fallen, I felt no joy aside from being happy I was done, which is a shame because its first half left me excited for what was yet to come. A beautiful world, distinctive two-realm mechanics, excellent voice acting, and combat that feels good when not over-encumbered by enemies and artificial challenge, create a solid bedrock. But Lords of the Fallen fails to impress beyond that, instead growing more and more frustrating the further into Mournstead adventurers travel.”
Eurogamer hit Lords of the Fallen with the lowest score of the lot, at just two-stars, saying “Missing the elegance of FromSoftware, Lords of the Fallen is let down by Soulslike clichés and performance woes.”
Polygon’s unscored review was far from favourable. “Lords of the Fallen, then, faces a peculiar conundrum. In its crusade to innovate and stand out from its 2014 predecessor, the experience focuses on sheer quantity and artificial attempts to trap you into overstaying your welcome, ignoring the pillars of the genre — from the carefully crafted pacing to the methodical sense of challenge. This ignorance is, at times, supported by a self-fulfilled artistic identity, with formidable vistas and oppressive environments that are worth witnessing. But ultimately, my curiosity about the world of Lords of the Fallen was met with needless restraint at every turn. After seeing the ghosts surrounding the experience, I’m desperate for the chance to shift my gaze away from this realm.”
Rock Paper Shotgun’s review echoed that of IGNs, desperately searching for the positives. “I really want to like Lords Of The Fallen more than I do. Sure, its bosses might not be spectacular or its maps brimming with character, but thrills abound when you defeat a tough enemy or finally poke your head into a crumbled house and see the cosy light of a Vestige. Moreso when you shine your magic lantern on a wall and it fizzles away to reveal a secret passage or a levitating platform that looks like the Adams Family’s kitchen island. The lantern almost elevates it into special territory! And at times, there are flashes of a grand adventure to cleanse a kingdom of rot. But there are just too many little annoyances that prevent the journey and its umbral counterpart from ascending into Soulslike royalty.”
Image: CI Games
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