Lords of the Fallen marks one of the most interesting releases this year, as it is rebooting a title from 2014 that never quite found its footing among audiences. Like the 2014 release of the same name, Lords of the Fallen is a Soulslike action RPG set in a dark fantasy world, pitting players against all manner of monsters, corrupted humans, and ancient gods. That's about all it shares with its predecessor though, as this release clearly seeks out to establish a new identity for the series, and it succeeds in doing so.

For better or worse, Lords of the Fallen doesn't deviate much from the Soulslike formula or aesthetic. It utilizes many of the same mechanics, systems, and even U.I. designs found in FromSoftware games, which can be a little distracting at times and, occasionally, a little uninspired. That said, Lord of the Fallen does introduce a few new ideas that have a huge impact in making it feel like its own entity with a strong foundation to build on.

Related: "Bucking Convention, Increasing Accessibility": Lords of the Fallen Preview

An Intriguing And Accessible Story

Lords of the Fallen is set in the Land of Mournstead, which was once ruled by the demon God, Adyr, until he was felled by a group of humans called "The Judges" and the radiant God, Orius. In an attempt to keep Adyr from returning, the followers of Orius, the Hallowed Sentinels, created magical beacons to suppress his soul. By the time the player enters this world, Adyr's whispers have corrupted the Hallowed Sentinels and the beacons they guarded, thus allowing his legion of demons to return to Mournstead and remove any obstacles to his revival.

With the help of Orius, the uncorrupted sentinels found a relic called the Umbral Lamp, which allows its user to cross between the lands of the living and the dead, interact with the souls of others, and preserve their own to avoid death. Those that wield the lamp are known as "lamp bearers" and, with the power they have access to, are crucial in stopping Adyr's revival.

This context is provided to players in the game's opening moments and Lords of the Fallen does an equally great job delivering its story in a clear and direct way throughout its runtime. Like any good Soulslike though, there are plenty of additional details and stories found in item descriptions, environmental clues, and conversations with NPCs. While the pace of the game can be slow, occasionally to a detriment, the story it's telling is never uninteresting and is one of the things that will keep players returning to Mournstead.

Fun Gameplay Overshadowed By Poor Balancing

Prior to starting the adventure, players are met with the classic Soulslike character creator and class selection screens. The former is basic in what it offers but is still fun to play around in, while the latter affords players 9 class options, including a few "advanced" classes and the classic "naked" class - though players who get the deluxe edition will receive an additional class, the Dark Crusader. In the tutorial section that follows, players are walked through the basics of the game's combat mechanics, with a particular focus on melee combat as it's likely going to what players use the most.

There isn't much done here that is different from any other Soulslike or action adventure game. Players have light and heavy attacks for each weapon type, as well as an alternate stance that gives each weapon more attack variety, the ability to block or parry attacks, and a dodge roll. When it comes to combat synergy, players will likely focus on pairing melee combat with magic due to the wide variety of spells available to them, which ranges from healing & damage to adding status affects to weapons. The part of combat that is unique to Lords of the Fallen is the "soul flaying" ability provided by the Umbral Lamp, which allows players to briefly pull out an enemy's soul for a direct attack that deals increased damage and breaks their posture.

Overall, combat feels impactful and varied, especially once players find and upgrade the combination that suits their playstyle. There are some notable issues that affect combat though, such as blocking and parrying feeling inconsistent and still causing players to take damage. The main obstacle to enjoyment are Lords of the Fallen balancing issues found in common enemies and bosses alike. For example, players will inevitably get knocked down by an attack and, for some reason, the enemy will wait to follow up until the recovery animation is at a spot where invincibility is no longer active, but players still don't have control. This can result in one or multiple attacks landing that players can do nothing about. Issues like this, as well as input lag and sharp difficulty spikes, unfortunately overshadow what is otherwise fun and satisfying combat.

The Tantalizing Danger Of The Umbral

The Umbral Lamp is easily the most fun and unique part of Lords of the Fallen's gameplay. Not only does it serve a combative purpose in soul flaying, but it also changes the structure of Mournstead and adds more risk to an already dangerous world. The Umbral Lamp's main purpose if to provide a look inside, and fully transition into, the Umbral. Like The Depths in Tears of the Kingdom, the Umbral is a kind of inversion of the living world. Where there are ponds and lakes, the Umbral has valleys, and where there are broken pathways, the Umbral has bridges or platforms. The differences between these planes allows Lords of the Fallen to turn Mournstead into one giant, well-designed environmental puzzle.

Players can also approach each part of the puzzle in different ways. For example, if a bridge is broken in the living world, players can shine the Umbral Lamp to reveal a bridge that can be walked on without fully transitioning into the Umbral. However, any Umbral specific enemies that appear where the lamp is shining can attack and force them to fully enter Umbral. Fully entering Umbral carries several risks, the first being "withering damage," which is represented by a grayed out section of health that is fully lost if hit, but is regained when dealing damage. The second is that players can only escape Umbral by resting at a vestige (this game's bonfire), or by finding an emergence effigy.

The final risk to entering Umbral is that the longer a player stays there, the more difficult the enemies will become; all culminating in a super strong and aggressive wraith spawning if players have spent too long inside. Since dying in Umbral means having to respawn at the last vestige, it forces incredibly high stakes on the player whenever they enter. The high stakes-high reward nature of Umbral, as well as the fundamental changes it makes to the gameplay and world, easily makes it the best part of this release.

Final Thoughts and Review Score

There's a lot to love with Lords of the Fallen, whether it's the vibrancy of Mournstead and the people within it, the dynamic and dangerous nature of Umbral, the rush of combat when it works as intended, or the plethora of other things that can't fit in a review. There's also a lot to be desired, such as balancing issues, some less than stellar enemy A.I., inconsistent pacing, or the lack of creativity in its U.I. design; which looks like it's pulled straight from a FromSoftware game.

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.

Source: CI Games/YouTube

Lords of the Fallen is available October 13 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Screen Rant was provided with a PlayStation 5 digital download for the purpose of this review.