I wrote my first impressions about Lords of the Fallen (HexWorks/CI Games) in my last post. I said after playing up and through the first boss, I would hesitantly give the game a 7 out of 10. I also mentioned that the reviews have been very disparate. And, I agree with almost everything everyone has said. Both negative and positive. I have managed to go up and through the second boss (not that big a deal). The second boss is right next to the first, really. You can do other stuff before that, but you can also just go the the second boss.
She’s in the church next to the hub. She’s called
*SPOILER*
Scourged Sister Delyth. And she’s….ah…I have no idea what’s her deal. Yes there is a remembrance about her, but it’s very vague. And I ran into an NPC who muttered a few vague threats. And there are all the praying people around, but other than that, she’s just a woman with a flail that can be radiant. Oh, and if you figth her in a certain area, she has a shield. Which means you have to find her parasite in the umbral realm and soulflay it before you can fight her–or draw her to the front of the church where she’s not protected by it.
In addition, the arena is weirdly-shaped. This is an issue I’ve had with much of the game. It is way too easy to get caught on a corner or not be able to see the enemy. And not just because the devs LOVE a hidden enemy.
By the way, this is another wrong lesson so many devs of soulslikes have taken from the FromSoft games–hidden enemies do NOT make the game difficult in a good way. In this section of the game, there is a kind of enemy whose first attack is a push. And they like to put him hidden behind a box so that when you walk by him, he pushes you off a cliff.
This happens in Dark Souls III in The Ringed City DLC, and it’s just as infuriating then. That whole opening bit of this area is harder than it needs to be. I actually cried when I reached this bonfire (after a tough boss fight) and was immediately invaded. Ok, that’s speaking to the difficulty of the previous area, but still. This particular section was brutal. I’m talking about Dark Souls III, by the way. Still my favorite game ever, now tied with Elden Ring.
Back to Lords of the Fallen! I had seen Dave from Playstation Access (video included below) do the section I’m in. That helped a lot Well, it comforted me the nth time I missed a jump on the swinging platforms. I did much worse than Dave did, but at least I didn’t have to wear a red dunce cap with someone adding N-O-O-B to it.
He does not die to the enemies that often, but the jump gets him more than once. Many times. And the push guy. Who he forgets is there. As did I. Here’s the reason why. Everything looks the same. In this section, there is a series of jumping on the platforms. Even after doing it, say, ten times, I could not quite remember the sequence because all the platforms looked the same.
That is one of my main criticisms about this game. Everything looks all the same. I turn corner after corner, hopelessly lost. In the best of the From levels, there is gentle guiding as to how to go. Yes, you can go in any direction and there is fruitfulness in exploring. But the main path is usually clear. Not always, but it’s not a case of getting lost or not knowing where you can go.
In this game, everything looks the same. Drab corridor after drab corridor. The platforms swing in the same way and as I noted, it’s hard to tell when you’re running and when you’re not on a little platform. I know this is me. But it’s something I really wish devs would take into consideration when they plan levels like this.
This is a criticism I’ve had with From games, by the way. The platforming is not precise or easy. I don’t mean the platforming itself, but the controls of the platforming. In this case, the platforms are swinging side to side and rotating around at the same time. There is one jump that I missed something like five times in a row.
Look. I expect to die in these kinds of games. I’ve watched people who are good at them and I feel so much envy. It’s so like me to love a genre of games that I’m terrible at. People who can parry perfectly are so beyond me. Or who have great reflexes. Which is one reason why they can parry well.
This is why I want people like Ian from Eurogamer to review FromSoft games. He has enjoyed them, but he has no qualms about summoning. And he’s very critical about artificial difficulty. I really appreciate how frank he is about not caring about being a TRUE GAEMR when it comes to these games.
I have to downgrade from a 7 already. I’m so frustrated when I play because one, there are way too many mobs. Two, I feel like I’m racing through the areas rather than taking my time and exploring. I was watching someone play it. He’s in the same area I am, and he is much better at the games than I am. He ended up running around in a similar fashion because there were just too many enemies to tackle. And he hates the spiky head Let Me Solo Her guy as much as I do. That guy does a crazy amount of damage for where he is and has no poise.
This is another big issue I’ve had with soulslikes. Poise is a very important part of these games. Pound on an enemy enough, and they should stagger. I had this same issue with Lies of P. The parry didn’t seem like it was worth it because you did not immediately stagger the enemy.
I don’t like the run and dodge in this game. It’s way too fast. I understand why some people think the game is too floaty. Plus, the lock-on flicks around way too much. It’s hard to target the enemy you want to target, and the camera doesn’t help with that. It bounces EVERYWHERE.
Here is my big complaint about the combat. I might have touched about it in the last post, but I need to talk about it at length. I am a caster. It’s my bread and butter, so it made me happy to know that there is pyro in this game. I started as a pyro with a basic fireball. It’s pretty strong, and I was happy.
Then, I got a radiance spell (like a miracle/incantation in this game), so I bought a radiance catalyst. Could not use the radiance spell, so I shrugged and moved on with my life. THen, I found the umbral seller in the hub world (thanks, Ian! My friend, Ian. Not Eurogamer Ian), and I immediately bought the umbral catalyst and one umbral spell. Umbrbal needs both radiance and inferno, so it’s similar to some incantations in Elden Ring that takes intelligence and faith.
I tried it out, and it’s great! Then I realized there is only one slot for a hand weapon–which is what all the casting abilities are. In other words, I can only use one at a time. And there are three spell slots (maybe more later? Dunno). Each has a dedicated button. So if I have my pyro hand, then LT+RB would be my fireball. I only have one so far. I do not have a pyro trainer yet.
I am disappointed that I can’t have all three equipped. I can in any of the From games. Well, except the first Dark Souls. I could, but then I would have no shield. But in the subsequent games, you can carry three items in each hand and switch at any time.
So, yeah. In theory, the dedicated buttons for throwables/spells/arrows was a good idea. It happens in the Niohs as well. But I really prefer just using the D pad to flick through them before settling on the spell I want if it means I can mix up the spells effortlesly.
There is another thing you can do in this game that I’ve already forgotten. You can soulflay enemies and then move them around by moving their souls. You can beat on the souls and then they will take damage. you can also throw them off a cliff in this manner.
There is a lot of systems in this game. I think each of them is fine in its own way. It’s just making them into a cohesive whole that hasn’t quite gelled. It’s hard to think about what I need to do in any given moment when there is so much going on.
I want to love this game. I really do. But I just…don’t. I’ll give it a bit more time, but I’m close to throwing in the towel.