Highlights
- Lords of the Fallen breathes new life into a dormant franchise, embracing gameplay innovations while harkening back to the early days of the Soulslike genre.
- The game's interconnected world, reminiscent of Dark Souls' Lordran, is a standout feature, with branching paths and secret areas that create complexity and draw comparisons to the original game's legacy.
- Lords of the Fallen's brilliant art direction, utilizing Unreal Engine 5, showcases its visual brilliance while capturing the dread-inducing dark fantasy atmosphere of Dark Souls, making it a genuine spiritual successor.
Not to be confused with the 2014 game of the same name, Lords of the Fallen is yet another quality Soulslike releasing in 2023 following the excellent Lies of P. As a reboot of one of the earliest Soulslikes to not be developed by FromSoftware, Lords of the Fallen has a rare opportunity to breathe new life into what was previously a somewhat middling franchise. It embraces both the plethora of gameplay innovations in the Soulslike genre over the last several years and harkens back to the time when the Soulslike genre was in its infancy. The end result is that Lords of the Fallen feels like a modern Soulslike, but its most obvious influence is that of the genre's progenitor, Dark Souls.
Although FromSoftware's earlier King's Field games and 2009's Demon's Souls are technically the first titles from the studio to champion the ideas that would come to define Soulslikes, the true genesis of the genre was the release of 2011's Dark Souls. While the core mechanics of Dark Souls have gone on to have a massive impact on the action-RPGs that followed it, there are elements of the original game in the series that even FromSoftware itself have yet to replicate. Not only does Lords of the Fallen make good on following up some of these ideas, it puts its own unique spin on them.
Lords of the Fallen's Interconnected World is the Closest Modern Analogue for Lordran
It's surprising that no other game in FromSoftware's impressive catalog of titles has attempted to closely replicate one of Dark Souls' most defining features: the massive and interconnected world of Lordran. While Demon's Souls had players moving back and forth between worlds via a central hub area, Dark Souls featured one map that players could intuitively explore and chart, eventually finding themselves opening up shortcuts that saw the map fold in on itself in astounding ways. One of Lords of the Fallen's best design decisions is to continue this seemingly abandoned idea.
Both the world of Axiom and its "spirit realm" counterpart Umbral are painstakingly-designed spaces that feature plenty of branching paths and secret areas. Entering new areas typically gives way for players to eventually stumble upon an earlier Vestige (the game's version of bonfires) or unlock a previously impassible door, circling back on a previously-visited part of the map. It doesn't have the awe-inspiring sprawl of Elden Ring's The Lands Between, but it more than makes up for size with its complexity and interconnectedness, drawing easy comparisons to Dark Souls' legacy.
The Use of Unreal Engine 5 in Lords of the Fallen Highlights the Brilliance of its Art Direction
Of course, navigating these spaces wouldn't mean much if the game featured uninspired art direction and a lack of design cohesiveness, but thankfully Lords of the Fallen happens to be one of the best-looking Soulslikes available. Part of the game's visual brilliance comes from its deft use of Unreal Engine 5, showcasing just how much potential there is in the next batch of titles to be developed in it, but graphical fidelity is meaningless in the face of lackluster design. Here again, Lords of the Fallen's aesthetic and tone absolutely nail the dread-inducing type of dark fantasy utilized in Dark Souls.
Similar to the kingdom of Lordran, Axiom feels like a lived-in place with its own rich history and cast of eclectic characters, and entering each new area is a visual feast for the eyes. There's a reason that Dark Souls was the catalyst for FromSoftware's current success, and in borrowing so heavily from the title that establishes the bar of quality by which all other Soulslikes are judged, Lords of the Fallen feels like a genuine spiritual successor. The original Lords of the Fallen was one of the first "Soulslikes", and the reboot firmly cements that the genre's original inspirations are still some of the best to draw from.
Lords of the Fallen is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
