Lords of the Fallen made its debut on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S? a year ago, and now it has plans for Sony's upgraded console. Publisher CI Games and developer Hexworks confirmed plans for PlayStation 5 Pro enhanceme?nts, which aim to give the action RPG even more of a visual boost.

On PS5 Pro, Lords of the Fallen promises "a 40% increase in pixel density over the base PlayStation 5 console." Visuals in Performance Mode have been upscaled from 1440p to 4K60, locking the ?action in at 60 frames per second while increasing the clarity of details in the distance. Ch?aracter and environmental textures have also been refined.

Those who prefer to play on Quality Mode can look forward to a native 4K30 experience, "showcas?ing intricate visuals across the dual realms of Axiom and Umbral at a stable 30 FPS."

Future of the fallen

Since it hit consoles and PC, Lords of the Fallen has had a number of post-launch updates and content releases, including the Clash of Champions boss rush mode that arrived back in May. Hexworks isn't done with it at this point, even without the Pro enhancements taken into consid?eration. 

There are further updates and enhancements on th?e way across all platforms. While we don't know much about the specifics just yet, many of them are apparently based on player feedback, so it should be interesting to see what they have in store for everyone.

There's also that sequel that was referenced in CI Games' ro??admap. Whether or not it ends up hitting the 2026 window with the promised "elevated production values," for n??ow we can get a taste of some visual improvements when PS5 Pro launches in November. 

The post Lords?? of the Fallen details PlayStation 5 Pro en??hancements appeared first on Destructoid.

Though last year's Lords of the Fallen wasn't perfect, the developer Hexworks massively improved the game via post-launch updates and content releases. And?, in fact, it appears to have been su??ccessful enough to warrant a sequel, which is due to launch in 2026 according to new sources.

This information was spotted by Eurogamer in the publisher CI Games' latest product roadmap document, which spells out some really good news for the studio in the short term. Broadly, CI Games is currently enjoying fairly solid financial positioning with a good idea of where it needs to go next. The focus appears to fall squarely on two of its intellectual properties: Lords of the Fallen and Sniper: Ghost Warrior, both of which are due to receive new entries over the next couple of years. Lords of the Fallen 2, for? example, is due to launch in 2??026, which is a faster turnover than one might expect.

Lords of the Fallen 2 is coming in 2026 with 'elevated production values'

As per CI Games' roadmap for the next couple of years, Lords of the Fallen 2 is going to adopt a wide variety of improvements, such as "elevated production values," and a "more commercial" art style and narrative. Whether the latter is a good thing or not remains to be seen, as the over-designed edginess of the 2023 title made for what was, in my opinion, a surprisingly interesting and memorable experience in the end. The document also states that Lords of the Fallen 2 will include a full co-op m??ultiplayer experience with shared progression, whereas the 2023 title didn't allow for this.

While Hexworks is tied up in Lords of the Fallen 2 for the next couple of years, CI Games is looking at the situation from a broader point of view, aiming to leverage its other IPs along the way. More specifically, the document states that CI Games has two more flagship titles ?in development:

• Project SGW Evolved: a Sniper: Ghost Warrior title targeting a 2027 launch window.
• Project H: an entirely new action RPG that shares some amount of development architecture with the modern Lords of the Fallen games, aiming for a 2028 release.

While one might be a tad hard-pressed to think of Lords of the Fallen and Sniper: Ghost Warrior - Contracts 2 as full-blooded AAA games, I'm thrilled with the fact that CI Games is doing well enough to keep producing them. Lords of the Fallen, in particular, accounted ?for 72% of CI Games' revenue in the first half of 2024. ??It moved over 1.3M copies by the end of 2023, too, so there's some staying power to be accounted for here, for sure.

The post Lords of the Fallen 2 is now in active production appeared first on Destructoid.

Having launched in October 2023, Lords of the Fallen quickly made a name for itself as a reasonably solid Soulslike that could've used a bit more time in the oven. Thankfully, developer? Hexworks took the time to deliver i??mprovements, with update 1.5 adding the Master of Fate modifier system.

As Lords of the Fallen prided itself on attempting to innovate the Soulslike niche with features such as its twin-world rendering, it should come as no surprise that its Master of Fate modifiers were the most exciting item on the post-launch content docket. Specifically, Master of Fate allows players to essentially redefine the rules of the experience through custom modifiers that include randomized item and enemy spawns, a full-fledged Ironman mode with perma-death, and loads more. The release of the Master of Fate with update 1.5 signals the end of Lords of the Fallen's post-launch cont??ent roadmap, implying that Hexworks may be moving on to other projects.

Lords of the Fallen: Update 1.5 introduces the Master of Fate modifiers

As described in Hexworks' latest Lords of the Fallen video overview, the Master of Fate is an all-encompassing gameplay modifier system the sort of which we don't usually get in Soulslikes. Unless we discount community mods, that is. Master of Fate doesn't kick into action until after you'v??e already completed the game's main s??tory at least once, mind.

Here's the full list of Lords of the Fallen Master of Fate modifiers:

• Randomizers, which massively increase the game's unpredictability via enemy and item placement (and more)
• Pre-upgraded loot, which maxes out any item you pick up and use
• Ironman mode (perma-death mode resetting your world progress, but not your character progression)
• Withered Healing options, which allow you to heal only if you're dealing damage for a set amount of time
• Vestige Decay options, which reduce the number of Vestiges you'll encounter during your playthrough
• Enemy count options, massively increasing the number of enemies that spawn in

The Master of Fate doesn't appear to be excessively punishing as a system. Players are free to mix an??d match modifiers together however they see fit, and the game world can be reset back to neutral if the going gets particularly tough.

Since it first came out, Lords of the Fallen has received over two dozen content updates including new armor sets, questlines, spells, equipment storage, events, and more. This has resulted in a substantially better playing experience in most ways that matter, and with continued bug-fixing and performance improvements, Lords of the Fallen is now a much better game than it was on day one. For those who might've ?bounced off the experience?? early on, Update 1.5 may signal the time to come back and wrap things up at last.

The post Lords ?of? the Fallen: Master of Fate modifier system is now out appeared first on Destructoid.

Hexworks' and CI Games' rather successful Soulslike ARPG Lords of the Fallen is due to receive a fairly subs?tantial sel??ection of bonus post-release goodies for free. While the details are still slim, we now know the game will receive a fair bit of extra content in the coming weeks.

Even though Lords of the Fallen does have its fair share of faults, the game is a compelling experience for Soulslike fans, and the fact that the devs are looking to expand its many? systems and features is bound to draw even more people in. Som??e of the key highlights include all-new armor sets and questlines, spells, events, fixes, inventory expansions, and more.

Free new content coming to Lords of the Fallen in 2023

As per the official announcement from Hexworks, the studio is hard at work to add a wealth of new content to Lords of the Fallen before 2023 fully wraps up. The official roadmap promises the fo??llowing goodies:

• Umbral armor set and questline
• Rhogar armor set and questline
• Radiant armor set and questline
• 2 separate inventory expansion sets
• 2 new spell packs
• Bonus secret boss weapon abilities
• New Grievous Strikes
• New questline event
• Separate PvP and PvE balancing
• Gamepad rebinding
• Modifiers for New Game+ mode

On top of all of these boons, players can also expect ongo??ing weekly enhancements, though there hasn't been any further explanation as to the when and why of these improvements:

• Stability and performance improvements
• Save game fixes
• Multiplayer improvements
• Balancing with PvE prioritization
• More difficult boss encounters
• QoL tweaks

Hexworks also plans to release a number?? of free events similar to the Halloween 'Season of the Bleak' event, each of which is supposed to introduce even more content and gear into the mix. "This is our small way?? of saying thank you," says the announcement. "This is by no means an exhaustive list, but rather a snapshot of our internal developments, in our continual strive for better transparency and communication with you, our faithful Lampbearers of Mournstead."

Players can, therefore, expect plenty of improvements to Lords of the Fallen in the coming weeks and months, which is great news for those who intend to stick with the game for a while ?longer.

The post Lords of the Fallen reveals free content roadmap, and it’s hefty appeared first on Destructoid.

Publisher CI Games has revealed that just ten days after releasing, Hexworks developed Soulslike RPG Lords of the Fallen has sold over one million units across all platforms. In my recent review I noted that while LotF has some issues, it also has its moments of greatness. Lords of the Fallen joins Lies of P as two recently released Soulslike titles to have crossed the one million unit mark.

"Lords of the Fallen is the most important and ambitious game we’ve developed in our 20-year history, and the first in our new planned AAA pipeline of games in the years ahead. o see this fresh and innovative tak?e on the action-RPG achieve one million sales in just 10 days has been humbling for everybody at HEXWORKS and CI Games."

- Marek Tyminski, CEO, CI Games.

Surely one of the reasons Lords of the Fallen has seen some early success is Hexworks dedication to improving the game. Since its launch, several patches have been released on all pla??tforms to improve performance as well as add new features. A revamped New Game Plus mode was just ad??ded to the Soulslike, as well as crossplay between PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Lords of the Fallen is available now on PC, Pla??????????????????????????yStation 5, and Xbox Series X??|S.

The post Lords of the Fallen breaks 1 million sales in 1??0 days appeared first on Destructoid.

At the time of writing my review in progress for Lords of the Fallen, I was a bit torn. When everything is running well, it feels like Lords of the Fallen had the potential to be a landmark Soulslike title. But those situations are few and far between. I had hoped that the back half of LotF would highlight the good. Unfortunately, things got worse, and the final hours of my experience were a slog and, to put it bluntly, just not fun?.

Boss fights seemed to get more and more tedious and just outright unfair. And as I progressed, the amount of performance issues and bugs I encountered just kept increasing. There are times when I really had fun with Lords of the Fallen. But those times were far and few between.

Lords of the Fallen (PC, PS5[reviewed], Xbox Series X|S)
Developer: Hexworks
Publisher: CI Games
Released: October 13, 2023
MSRP: $59.99

A tale of two realms

Lords of the Fallen is a reboot of the 2014 title of the same name. Like its predecessor, the premise is to take the tried and true Soulslike formula and throw in a couple of new features to try and improve on that formula. From a story perspective, LotF t??akes place 1,000 years after the original. The tyrannical god?? Adyr, who the player defeated as the final boss in the original, is being resurrected.

You play as one of about a dozen classes tasked with?? forging a path through the dark world of Axiom and cleansing the five beacons that are providing power toward his resurrection. As you might expect, these classes are just starter templates for your play style. When you progress and level up your character, you can allocate attribute points however you want to truly mold your character to fit your preferred playstyle.

One of the advertised highlights of Lords of the Fallen is its dual-realm system. You se?e?, Axiom is the realm of the living. Axiom is where those who have not yet fallen to the evil forces at play try to find a way forward through the chaos. But there is also Umbral, the realm of the dead. Those who have fallen in their journey are sent to this realm, including the player. Like many in Lords of the Fallen, this new feature feels like a boon in some ways but half-baked in others.

When you die in Axium, you're instantly moved into the Umbral realm, where you have a penalty to your max healt?h. If you manage to visit a Vestige while in the Umbral realm, you can resurrect back into the realm of the living. This in itself is a cool feature. You always have "one last chance", which is a great feature for a Soulslike.

Unfortunately, that's not the only use of the two realm??s. Your character has a special lamp that allows?? you to shine it in a direction to show the Umbral realm. This may sound like a cool feature, too, as you can find secrets and shortcuts that exist only in that realm. But some parts require you to be fully in the Umbral realm to proceed. So, you end up having to intentionally kill yourself to interact with the environment and progress. Which, now you have the health penalty. And now have to fight through a ton of enemies just to get to the next Vestige, where you can resurrect in Axium. The two realms often get in their own way and feel like a hindrance rather than an exciting new feature.

30 bosses, most of which are a pain

I wanted to get the full experience of Lords of the Fallen, so I also sought out and hunted down the optional bosses. Was it worth it? Not really. I understand that bosses are supposed to be difficult in a Soulslike game. After all, that's the point, right? But in LotF, difficult often just means unfair.

If you've played any Dark Souls game or Bloodborne, you may have experienced an issue I'm about to talk about. Every now and then, an enemy might turn around in the middle of an attack animation and hit you, even though you just do??dged out of the way correctly. It's clearly some "bug" in most cases and only happens here and there. It's annoying, but you go, "Yeah, ok, stupid mob," and respawn and run back and kill the enemy without the issue occurring again.

But here, it's a mechanic, not a bug. Bosses not only turn mid-animation, but they also lock onto your character and, in some cases, literally move forward mid-attack so they can reach you. So how are you supposed to play? Even after finishing LotF, I'm really not sure. Usually, in a Soulslike, you time ??your dodge to perfectly move out of the way or even iFrames through an attack.

Instead, I often find myself essentially spam dodging so I can dodge to the side, then dodge the laser beam focus?ed toward my follow-up attack, and then the final repeat laser be?am-focused attack. Because the enemies can step towards you mid-animation, dodging backward away from the boss feels useless. So, I often just dodge roll around the boss in a circular pattern. It just feels weird, unfair, and not fun.

Soulslike games are so popular because you feel accomplished when you learn attack patterns, properly dodge attacks and take do?wn bosses. Here, it feels like there's really not much learning to be done, but rather, you'll just have to brute force through it.

A beautiful world...

Graphically, Lords of the Fallen is a masterpiece. The world of Ambral IS beautiful, as is the realm of Umbral. The dark fantasy world is gorgeous, and the lighting is pa??rticularly w??ell done. Even though Umbral isn't always a forced location, there's still so much intricate detail in the visuals of that realm. It's cool to see so much detail put into areas that some players may not even see in specific areas.

A lot of the bosses are really cool as well. The Congreagor of Flesh, even though I hated the actual encounter, was pure nightmare fuel, as was Spurned Progeny, which actually wa?s a pretty cool encounter.

The world and level design is pretty spectacular as well. It's common for Soulslike games to have an intricate layout that connects different areas of the world via shortcuts and unlocking new areas. Lords of the Fallen does this really well. It's always refreshing to unlock a shortcut and realize where it connect?s to and go, "Oh wow, THIS is where I am?" I wish there were a way to see a fly-through of the whole world somehow just to see how much everything connects and intricately weaves through each other because it feels pretty impressive on that front as well.

...but a broken one, too

The tedium with Lords of the Fallen is amplified by the fact that there are a lot of bugs, performance issues, and downright broken systems along the way. I usually prefer to solo my way through these kinds of games, as, for the most part, I think that's how they are intended to be played. But one of the highlighted features of LotF is that co-op is available throughout the?? entire game.

Unfortunately, even almost a week after release, I've yet to be able ?to utilize this feature successfully. In order to jump into co-op, you need to visit a Vestige—similar to a bonfire—and enable it. However, every time I do, I'm just prompted with the command to Log In to the game servers. Which, after about 30 seconds, times out, and I have to do it again. Over and over.

I also had really bad performance issues for quite a lot of the boss fights, which only added to the frustration. Everything in Lords of the Fallen is very fast-moving, so when you start chugging along at under 30 FPS, it's not a fun time. Oddly enough, I only seem to have these issues with certa?in boss encounters. But, if it's there, i??t's there.

For example, I first encountered the FPS drop in one of the earlier bosses, Pieta. As soon?? as the encounter starts, my FPS noticeably drops. It stays that way throughout the entire encounter until I either die or defeat Pieta. Then, the next boss was fine. There have been several updates, so maybe the Pieta encounter itself no longer has that issue. But some later bosses still have the issue as of the most recent update.

In another world

I hate to sound cliche, but my biggest issue with Lords of the Fallen is that it feels like a lot of missed potential. With just a few minor changes, I could see this being a staple Soulslike title with a much higher score. It's cool to ??add new features and systems to a formula. But if they are more often than not making the game less fun, that doesn't feel like the right choice.

When the FPS isn't dipping, and bosses aren't cheesing you every step of the way, LotF feels good. But with myriad performance issues, broken multiplayer, and boss fights that increase difficulty through unfair mechanics as opposed to well-developed ones, it really weighs down on the experience. Lords of the Fallen is indeed a Soulslike. And for some, that's all they need. But be prepared for a challenge to com??plete the journey, and not in a good way.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Lords of the Fallen appeared first on Destructoid.

Lords of the Fallen is off to a rough start, with Mostly Negative reviews on Steam. Curiously, even though the game does have its fair share?? of gameplay-related problems, the problems that have been pushed into the spotlight are far more technical in nature. Namely, Lords of the Fallen runs exceedingly poorly. For some people, that is. Though some have managed to resolve the Unreal Engine 5 title's shoddy performance via driver updates, this is seemingly not a universal solution, meaning that the developer Hexworks has a long road ahead of it. The really curious bit, though, is that Lords of the Fallen seems to run just? fine o??n the Steam Deck, of all things.

Indeed, as the aptly named YouTuber Deck Wizard has shown, Valve's low-spec gaming PC seems to be more than capable of running Lords of the Fallen at 60 FPS. It's a shaky 60 FPS, granted, with frame times that are shakier still, but it's a testament to the device's versatility regardless. There are some obvious caveats to keep in mi??nd, yes, such as the butchered image quality, although it's hard to argue against the Deck Wizard's success. So, what's the ticket?

How is Lords of the Fallen running so well on the Steam Deck?

Obviously, many Windows-using gamers are having huge problems getting Lords of the Fallen to run reasonably well on their rigs. As the Steam Deck is objectively a low-spec laptop ?in a handheld chassis, you'd be hard-pressed for it to do any better than the ?far more powerful PCs that are having trouble with the game. It's unclear what, exactly, is the reason for these big differences. In his video, Deck Wizard uses FSR Ultra Performance to get over 50 FPS on the regular, but a relatively stable 30 ?FPS is possible even with the upscaler set to 'Quality,' which is an impressive feat.

This surprising twist may have something to do with the fact that Deck Wizard is using the preview build of SteamOS 3.5, an upcoming operating system update for the Deck that touts meaningful performance improvements and more. Deck Wizard has also installed the popular CryoUtilities tweak that may play a role here as well, it's worth pointing out. Further, Deck Wizard is playing the Epic Games version of Lords of the Fallen here, ??as the Steam version does not have access to in-game FSR at this time.

Yet, the fact of the matter is that this hardware-intensive soulslike - which is running on the infamously heavy Unreal Engine 5 - is seemingly doing just fine on the Deck, all things considered. Since some people report running the game perfectly well while others are having huge issues with performance and crashing, it's likely that all this quirkiness will be smoothed out over the next couple of updates. Deck Wizard demonstrated similar successes with Remnant 2 as well, which means that this humble handh??eld may have a shot at keeping up with Unreal Engine 5 titles after all.

The post Lords of ??the F?allen runs surprisingly well on the Steam Deck appeared first on Destructoid.

Update: Lords of the Fallen Review

Lords of the Fallen is brutal. I mean like, really brutal. I fully intended to have beaten the game and written a full review in time for release. But according to a recent tweet by the developers, there are 30 bosses in total. Which means I have...uhh...a few more to go. And for the record, I'm no Soulslike newbie. I've Platinumed most games in the series, and at least beaten those I haven't. But like I said, Lords of the Fallen is hard.

Of all the bosses I've fought so far, I've had varied feelings all across the board. Some have been incredibly fun, with well-thought-out mechanics. Some of them fe?lt a bit "Tank and Spank", so to say, not requiring too much extra effort. And then others have been so incredibly frustrating. And don't try and tell me to "Git Gud", I swear that's not the issue here. A few encounters just have over-the-top or even unfair mechanics.

I already knew I would have a tough time with one of the earlier bosses, The Congregator of Flesh. The colossal abomination inflicts poison damage, which is my Achilles heel. The encounter takes place in an already limited area, which is not ideal given the sheer size of this creature. But the beast also has a flurry of attacks from nearly every angle. A claw swipe, a backhanded swipe, a ground slam, a body slam, a head slap. And if you manag?e to gain some ground, don't be surprised if the creature charges or leaps on top of you. All while each attack inflicts poison. It was a challenging ??encounter, which at times felt like I just had to brute force through the chaos.

But despite the frustration, a??fter? downing the Congregator of Flesh I felt accomplished and excited to push forward. Fans of the genre will recognize this feeling.

Lords of the Fallen (PC, PS5 [reviewed], Xbox X|S)
Developer: Hexworks
Publisher: CI Games
Released: October 13, 2023
MSRP: $59.99

Reboot Initialized

The original Lords of the Fallen (2014) was the first Soulslike game I actually completed in its entirety. For me, I had an easier time getting into it than Dark Souls at the time because of its more direct storytelling. It wasn't until I played Bloodborne the following year that I came to appreciate FromSoftware's style of storytelling, and went back to—and fell in love with—the Souls series. So when I heard news of Lords of the Fallen returning in the form of a reboot, I was super ??excited.

So far it feels like a proper reboot, with mostly upgrades in place. Visually, the world of Axiom is absolutely beautiful. The decision to make this a current-generation-only title was a good one, by far. The lighting effects create some insanely realistic landscapes. Early on you'll reach a very detailed castle, which is quite a sight on its own. But the way the sunlight bounces through cracks in the crumbling walls is just pure art. Lords of the Fallen is one of the more visua?lly appealing titles I've played.

All the staple Soulslike features are here. Dodging, blocking, Vestiges (bonfires) to rest at and spend your Vigor (souls) to upgrade stats. Hexworks doesn't try to hide their inspiration for Lords of the Fallen, but rather embrac??es it. However, the game seems faster as a whole. From movement to combat, things just feel a bit zoomier, if that makes sense. As a result, dodging feels like the intended defensive strategy here as opposed to blocking. Parrying exists, but I often found it more worthwhile to just dodge out of the way and get some hits in.

There is one thing missing from the original that really bums me out, though. In Lords of the Fallen (2014) there were special weapons that could be obtained by defeating bo?sses while also completing certain challenges during the fight. For example, the first boss would drop a Greatsword for defeating him. But if you could defeat him without taking any damage, he'd drop a special version of the Greatsword that had slightly higher stats and a special ground tremor attack.

From Axiom...

One of the new systems in Lords of the Fallen intertwines death with the world. When you are alive and well, you are in Axiom, the realm of the liv?ing. But on another plane of existence is the realm of the dead, called Umbral. You have a magical lantern that grants you access to Umbral. With this power, you can enter the realm of the dead to reach inaccessible areas, and then return to Axiom once you find a Vestige. The Vestiges are locations where previous?? Lamp Holders have died. Once found, they can be activated which turns them into a checkpoint spot where you can rest and allocate your Vigor.

The two realms also come into play when dying, as well. In more traditional games in the genre, death causes you?? to drop your Vigor/souls/unspent experience. Then you have to make it back to where you died in order to retrieve what you dropped.

In Lords of the Fallen, dying sends you to the Umbral realm, with your Vigor dropping where you died in the realm of the living. You'll have to navigate the Umbral realm and find a Vestige to return to Axiom in order to reclaim your Vi?gor. If you die again while in the Umbral realm, you'll permanently lose your dropped Vigor and respawn at the most recent Vestige.

It's a different system for sure, but I'm not completely convinced it enhances the formula in any way. I've probably been mor?e perturbed by it than anything, but maybe that wi??ll change by the time I have reached the end.

...to Umbral

I've encountered a handful of bugs so far, but nothing?? game-breaking. Also, I feel it's important to point out that Hexworks has been releasing pretty frequent patches throughout the pre-release period. I've had my hands on Lords of the Fallen for less than a week and have already seen several updates co??????????????????????????me through that have noticeably improved my performance on PS5 as well as fixed some bugs I personally encountered.

On a related note, the audio has been a bit hit-or-miss so far. Typically audio cues are vital to certain boss mechanics in these sorts of games. But in most cases, there's just a lot of sounds going on all at once. Sometimes I'll even expect there to be an audio cue so I know a certain mechanic is coming, and then it just...doesn't...and I get smacked and die. And I'm not quite sure how to explain it, but some of the audio just feels off. Executing a parry, for example, feels very underwhelming. It literally sounds like someone hitting a Tup??perware bowl with a wooden s?poon. An unenthusiastic *Thwop*, if you will. It feels out of place, to say the least.

My time with Lords of the Fallen so far has been mostly positive. But I can't help but feel some of the newer systems don't add much good to the game. Mixed with the sometimes unfair mechanics and difficulty of specific boss encounters, it's definitely hampered my experience a bit. However, overall Lords of the Fallen i??s a polished Soulslike game, wh??ich is never a bad thing. I still have a fair bit to play through, so there's a lot of opportunity for the scales to tip one way or the other!

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review in Progress: Lords of the Fallen appeared first on Destructoid.

Apparently someone gave it that award

Lords of the Fallen, City Interactive and Deck 13’s Souls-like, is getting a Game of the Year?? edition on June 26.

Yeah yeah, I know what you’re thinking: ‘who even gave Lords of the Fallen their GOTY award?’ It’s not like the title Game of the Year Edition actually means anything? anyway, so just roll with it.

There’s a fair bit of DLC for the game and all of it should be coming to the GOTY Edition, unlike certain others (lookin’ straight at you, Borderlands 2). This GOTY Edition will come with the  Ancient Labyrinth; the Demonic Weapons and Lion Heart equipment packs; as well as the Monk Decipher DLC.

The GOTY release will also see new weapons and armour introduced too, which is neat. Usually these ??things are just a case of throwing DLC in there and letting it fly free, so it’s nice to see some effort being put in to this one.

Source: Gamer Headlines

The post Lords of the? Fallen to get a Game of the Year Edition appeared first on Destructoid.

Interesting

Well this is an interesting turn of events. Despite not having a version of the game out for the Xbox 360, PS3, or Wii U platforms, developer Deck13 Interactive will release Lords of the Fallen on iOS and Android devices next year.

I'm not quite sure how the game will work out with t??o??uch controls, because while some games are fit for the scheme, this one requires twitch precision -- I wouldn't want to touch it without a controller.

I also found the game to? be a bit underwhelming personally. While I was?? compelled enough to play it, the game didn't really draw me in as much as action-RPGs usually do.

Lords of the Fallen [Twitter]

The post Angry Viking simulator Lords of the Fallen is coming t??o iOS?? and Android appeared first on Destructoid.

Here's a commentary video explaining some mechanics

Lords of the Fallen preview builds are making the rounds, and some folks haven't had a favorable view of the game so far. It seems like a lot of people are having trouble with some of the game'?s core mechanics, so the developer has taken to YouTube to upload a commentary-filled video that explains some of the bigger issues.

Situations like this are always nuanced. Generally speaking, if you need a 16 minute video to fundamentally explain your game, there's a problem. But I'm sure, like the Souls series the game is aping, there are lots of core mechanics that players ??fail to grasp as they're making their way through a game like this.

The post Develo?per responds to criticism for Lords of the Fallen p??review build appeared first on Destructoid.

Bad. Ass.

This gameplay video of Lords of the Fallen gives a look at "Infiltrator" -- a new boss from what seems to be midway through the game. That's neat, but the real winner here is the glimpse at the magi??c gauntlets.

The reason the magic gauntlets are important is because the developer describes?? them as a "medieval BFG." That's a pretty heavy description. They can be decked out in a variety of ways, and the video seems to show them acting as a flamethrower and a turret. Maybe not as gamebreaking as the BFG, but cool nonetheless.

The post Lords of the Fallen has a ‘medieval BFG’ appeared first on Destructoid.

These souls are dark

Lords of the Fallen is a action-RPG in the veil of Demon/Dark Souls. Instead of the constant hack and slash of the old action-RPG days, Lords of the Fallen continues the tradition of Dark Souls by focusing on smaller-scale tactical encou?nters. Enemies will not be the skeleton sword fodder of old, but will be your physical equal as you a?ttempt to clear a path to your objective.

As the playthrough s?hows, defense will be as important as offense as you d?odge under swords to try and get the killing blow. The game features three customizable class archetypes, including a cleric, warrior, and rogue which players can build upon to create the character that fits their style best. Weapons can also be customized to envoke magic to deal more damage against enemies.

Lords of the Fallen will also feature a New Game Plus? system so players can beat the game again and again with the difficulty, items, enemies, and other features changing each time.

You can check out the game when it's released for t??he Xbox One, PS4, and PC on October 28th.

The post ??Feast your eyes on 20 minutes of Lords of the ?Fallen appeared first on Destructoid.

And by psychopaths I mean people inevitably dressed up like Miley Cyrus

Lords of the Fallen is poised to bring its brand of dark fantasy melded with action-RPG to a console or PC near you this October, just in time for Halloween. North America can get i?n on the action on October 28, while Europe can celebrate Halloween the right way by picking it up on October 31.

If you're on the fence about whether or not you're going to be interested in the game, check out Darren's hands-on preview here and see what he thought about it. Or wait and be surprise??d. I know, that's a novel concept when it comes to gaming these days.

The post Celebrate Halloween inside safe from psychopaths with Lords of the Fall?en t?his October appeared first on Destructoid.

I can hardly believe I finished the demo

Where some E3 meetings have PR people hovering or hands-off slide shows to watch, the meeting with CI Games for Lords of the Fallen was on the other end of the spectrum. There was no briefing or helpful tips, just?? a station set up with some headphones and a chunk of time to play.

In a way, the meeting reflects the game itself. There was no hand-holding through the short but brutal dungeon. The player is left to figure out how best to approach each room, and the game pulls no punches in t??erms of difficulty. After around my fourth or fifth death, restarting at the beginning, I thought I would never see the end of the demo, but patience, perseverance, and a little luck got me through it.

Taking on the role of an armor-clad knight of some sort, I fo?und myself at the bottom of a staircase, with an imposing figure near the top, waiting. I took the time to familiarize myself with the controls, wasting a few potions along the way. A few different weapons have been shown, but I was armed w??ith a staff and a shield. After figuring out the buttons for light attack, heavy attack, block, and dodge, I was ready to go.

Or I thought I was, anyway. Charging up the stairs and readying an attack, I was immediately beaten back by the faster monster. Attacks are extremely deliberate, taking what feels like a second or more between hitting the button and the character completing his animation and actually connecting. Additionally, each action in Lords of the Fallen takes? stamina to use, so players cannot string together huge combos, block more than a few hits without being staggered, or roll away if caught in a melee with none left. Stamina does r??egenerate fairly quickly after only about a second of resting, but it informs how battles must be approached.

Even though the first enemy at the top of the stairs was just a minion in comparison to what would come later, he took out a good chunk of my health, and I was quickly dispatched in the following room, where I was ambushed by two such monsters. After several deaths here, I took the time to reexamine my abilities, discovering a magic attack that deals a decent amount of damage and stuns enemies, but took a couple minutes to recharge. After getting the hang of that, I was able to ?pare the two enemies down to one well enough, and take the remaining one out with standard attacks.

After that room came a hallway with a huge armored figure sporting an enormous shield. It seemed like he blocked every attack I sent his way. After several minutes of dodging and failing to deal any damage, he happened to walk in the center of the room, where a few loose boards gave way, caus?ing him to fall into a pit. In hindsight, the pit was pretty obvious, but my attention had always been focused on enemies rather than the environment previously.

After learning ?this, I explored the circular room more fully, finding a switch on the ground with an unclear purpose. It turns out to open up a door in the following hallway, where some ar??mor upgrades could be found in a chest. After that boon, I tried the door across the hall, which had a similar chest. This room was another ambush, with a giant spider dropping from the ceiling.

The spider killed me another half dozen times, each time sending me back to the beginning, forcing me to go through the previous rooms and enemies first. In addition to its regular attacks, it could emit a poisonous gas, a??nd drop smaller spider enemies nearby. I was nearly ready to give up, but ??on my last try, I was able to kill it.

Further on were more of the small enemies and another big guy to lure down into the hole. Further still was a third, but he would not follow me back to the?? pit. Fortunately, the demo's single checkpoint was right before him, so I was able to experiment freely. Failing to defeat him I eventually resolved to run past him and hope not to have to deal with him. Even after finishing the demo, I do not know how to take those enemies out in normal combat.

Fortunately, he did not follow into the next room, which was clearly the set up for a boss battle. The boss appeared, an inhumanly large man with pointy armor called the Champion. He had a sizable health bar, but also a visible stamina bar like my own. With that, I realized that all of the enemies were probably governed by the same restrictions as the player, and the key was to cause them to waste stamina before striking to avoid a counterattac?k.

The boss fight itself was arduous. He had a few ranged attacks that I learned to dodge, and a charge that would send him hurtling into a wall if I jumped out of the way at the last moment. These were the only opportunities to safely land a strike, and as the fight went on they became fewer and further between. By the last half of the fight, I had only a sliver of health left, so I could not take a single hit without dying. Still, afte??r about fifteen minutes spent on the fight, with utmost care taken, I was able to land the killing blow. I realized then that my heart was pounding and my palms were sweating. I breathed a sigh of relief.

In retrospect, the boss fight was not really difficult in the classical sense. All of his attacks were telegraphed with ample time to react, and the timing windows for dodging were fairly wide. The windows for landing hits were not, so greedy play would be punished, so in the end it was more a battle of attrition than one of pure skill. The rest of the demo can be viewed similarly; once the player knows where enemies show up and how best to avoid damage, he can make slow, steady progress. Still, I felt accomplished and relieved to have finished the demo. Lords of the Fallen definitely left an impression on me, wit?h its oppressive world, fights that all demand maxim??um attention, and the thrill of just barely scraping out a victory in the face of defeat.

The post First hands-on with Lords of the Fallen appeared first on Destructoid.

1080p won?t let me be

The struggle of next-gen developers seems to be that of “Should it be smooth, or pretty?” CI Games executive producer Tomasz Gop has stated that with Lords of the Fallen, he's ??confident that his team will be able to hit a consistent 30fps with the game, but they’ve had to bid for the lower frame rate to achieve a full 1080p ??resolution.

As related to IGN, Gop explained: "We’re working very hard right now to deliver PS4 and Xbox One in 1080p but I can’t confirm whether it’s possible. It’s probably easier for me to confirm it’ll happen for PlayStation 4, because it appears on this one we’re almost nailing it and pretty much there. For Xbox One? though, it’s slightly tougher and we’re still working on it, so I can’t confirm that yet."

Part of the struggle seems to stem from the disparity between the hardware of the PS4 and the Xbox One. Although their components are similar, it really seems that the GDDR5 RAM and slightly better graphics processor of the PS4 is making it an early winner aesthetically in this console dev cycle. Gop has stated that work on the Xbox One version of the game has definitely been more of a challenge ??when it comes to graphic fidelity. At least there's Kinect? Kidding, of course.

How does this bode for the future of this generation's games? Have we already reached a plateau this early in the running? Will this lead to another Sega vs. Nintendo all out flame war? If my eye can only see 24fps why is 60fps important? Why can’t I ever find true love? All these questions and more will be answered on the next episode of Dragon Ball Z!

Lords of the Fallen Dev: 1080p 'Tou??gher' on Xbox One Than P?S4 [IGN]

The post Lords of the? Fallen dev faces challenges with 1080p on Xbox One appeared first on Destructoid.

Oh, they fallen' alright

Thousands of years ago, people defeated god. They believed evil could be excised from humanity. Sinners were marked with tattoos and exiled. People also believe vaccinations lead to autism and that How I Met Your Mother is a good television show. Point is, people believe dumb, wrong thing??s.

Fast forward to Lords of the Fallen's present and the demons have returned once more. The good, upstanding people of civil?ized life turn to the man who c?ommitted the most deadly sins, the man whose facial tattoos make Zell and Tyson cower.

That man is you, naturally. W??hat, did you expect to play a shivering townperson? Maybe a frightened townperson simulator where you keep running away from relentless, disgusting demons and eve??ry time you die you just jump to the perspective of someone who isn't dead yet and you're just endlessly, brutally murdered until everyone is dead and the game is over. That would be a different game. This one is about punching monsters with big claws.

Yes, you are a cool man with anvil shoulders who twirls his staff around nonchalantly durin??g idle animations ??as if to say, "Hey, look how cool I am. I am wearing this cleric robe despite being a warrior because I want to dazzle my enemies with cloth physics and staff spinning. The kids laughed at me when I twirled the stick in marching band. Who's laughing now?"

This Lords of the Fallen demo was hands off, so I had a lot of time and mental space to make these sorts of observations. Executive producer Tomasz Gop (The Witcher) led anvil arms to some blind "Infested" enemies easily dispatched and then some other Infested equally easily dispatched except they come back from the dead once so you have to kill them twice. Why not four Infested in the next area instead of two that die twice? Why not twice as ?much health? I don't know.

Then a more formidable looking opponent was fooled into walking over unstable planks and falling to his death. It's a sneaky, easy way out for the player, though you miss any loot. I'm wondering if that was just a novel instance or if things like this will be frequent. It would seem a bit tacky to keep?? putting weak planked pits before areas with larger enemies, after all. There is some promised non-linearity in map design -- doors that you might not want to go through until halfway through the game, but could earlier -- but I'm not sure how much ??or how far that extends to the mechanics. Can't let that combat system go to waste. 

Aside from your weapon of choice, you also have a magic gauntlet that can be continually crafted and upgraded. There is a pool of multi-use spells, but also spell trees specific to the warrior/rogue/cleric classes. The rogue has unique spells like invisibility with a boosted attack coming out of it. The warrior has a battering ram and ot?her combat oriented spells.

Like Dark Souls, you'll leave a ghost when you die that contains your experience. You can also st??ore experience points you don't want to use yet at save points. Your soul will slowly leak experience as you make your way back to it, though, which could add to ??the loss even if you're banking regularly.

To round out the demo, Gop took a p?air of claws and some magic to a big bad boss. The boss hit hard and the fight took a couple of tries. But quick claws and massive combo damage won out in the end. The disgusting monster thing was destroyed and his family s?hamed.

I like that Lords of the Fallen isn't a grind-heavy, ?padded action RPG. It's meant to be about big, tough encounters. But I still need to play it to go beyond anything but optimism and b?eing impressed by it looking nice. Here's hoping.

The post Previ?ew: Dropping fools in holes in Lords of the Fallen appeared first on Destructoid.

Lorde has fallen

Lords of the Fallen has been an intriguing action RPG for the better part of the last year, but we've only seen trailers and screenshots. Hamza complaine??d about the latter last month,?? asking for some gameplay, finally. Well, ask and he shall receive, apparently. 

And it looks pretty good. Perhaps a Dark Souls alternate for those that can't handle the Souls games. Not that this is going to be a walk in the park, as t??he length boss fight with a Lord Zed lookalike shows.

The post Lords of the Falle??n finally shows off some gamepla??y appeared first on Destructoid.

Think world exploration like Zelda with fights in the style of a fighting game

A couple of weeks ago I wrote up this little story asking for CI Games to show us some real gameplay footage of Lords of the Fallen. Well, there's still ??no foot??age but at the very least I got to see the game in action earlier this week in person and boy was I impressed.

Visually the game looks like it's truly taking advantage of the new gaming hardware. In fact the screenshots don't do the game justice. From the character designs, to the levels that you'll be traversing in a similar style to the Zelda s?erie??s, it all has a ton of detail that brings this medieval fantasy to life.

What I'm really looking forward to is the combat. The action-RPG is more strategy rather than a hack-and-slash, and you really ??have to experimen?t with each fight to see what works. Going in blindly swinging will just get your ass kicked, especially against the bosses that can take you out in one hit sometimes. That should tell you something especially considering that most fights will typically be one-on-one battles. 

"We wanted to try to make it feel as if Tekken or Street Fighter was imbued inside every one-on-one [fight]," executive producer Tomasz Gop told us. That said it's not trying to be a completely hardcore game as there will be a lot of tools to help you experiment and not get totally frustrated. "I think it's a tactical kind of game," Tomasz commented. "Very advanced in terms of combat, but at the same time we're trying to make sure that it's not a treadmill kind of experie??nce."

Most of what I saw was pretty much covered by Destructoid in the past if you want to learn a little more about the combat system and character customization. I do want to give you a deeper dive, but not until we get some actual hands-on time. Otherwise, Lords of the Fallen will be o?ut this Fall for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

The post Lords of the Fallen won’t be a walk in the park appeared first on Destructoid.

More like Lords of the Tease

Hey City Interactive, I'm really interested in Lords of the Fallen but enough with just releasing screenshots like the two new ones in our gallery. Yeah, you released a neat looking teaser, but where's some actual gameplay footage? Only people that have previewed ??it know what the game truly looks like.

Destructoid's Brett Makedonski has previewed the game for us in fact, noting that it has a lot of promise. But for the rest of us I think we're over the slow drip of scr?eens. Come on a??lready!

But the stuff I do read about the game is what's holding my interest still. Specifically how executive producer Tomasz Gop has compared Lords of the Fallen to Dark Souls.

"This is a game about you crossing the gap," Tomasz told VG247. "The difference and distance between being a random noob at the beginning, and skilled pro player at the end. This crafting of your skil?l is what this is about, and I thought Dark S??ouls was exactly about the same thing.”

Okay Lords of the Fallen, you still have my attention ... for now.

The post Hey Lords ?of t?he Fallen, show us actual gameplay already appeared first on Destructoid.

Start keeping tabs on this one

Lords of the Fallen looked good at E3; it looks even better at PAX Prime. After another hands-off demo, the next-generation action role-playing game really seems to be coming along nicely. Admirably, it seeks to improve, or at least? deviate, on the formul?a that a certain well-known and similar couple of titles nearly perfected.

There's no two ways about it -- Lords of the Fallen invites comparisons to Demon's/Dark Souls. The developers are painfully aware of the fact, almost immediately surrendering into an anticipated half-chuckle as the first syllables of the From Software's projects names were uttered. That's ultimately okay though, because Lords of the Fallen doesn't aim to mimic the Souls games. 

Rather, Deck13 is structuring Lords of the Fallen to be a bit more of an accessible Dark Souls. That doesn't mean it's going to be easy -- spending any amount of time in front of the game makes that much wildly obvious. But, it's also not going to ??be punishing. Challenging and complex? Definitely. But not punishing.

If Lords of the Fallen comes off as punishing, there's a fair chance that you're doing something wrong. Dying will happen, but the developers don't view deaths as a failure; they view it as part of the learning process. If you're repeatedly dying, try something new. Be more patient, learn the patterns of your opponent, and try to limit battles to one-on-o?ne.

There are times when you'll encounter multiple enemies at once, but those will likely be few and far between. The developers think that the majority of the game will be spent engaged in single-enemy affairs. "I may be prone to exaggerating, but we want every single fight to feel sort of like a Tekken or Street Fighter battle," one developer told me.

It's obvious that combat is the primary concern in Lords of the Fallen. Actually, the developers went so far as to say that it really isn't story-focused. Sure, there will be a narrative, cut scenes -- everything needed to make it a coherent experience -- but, Deck1?3's putting more emphasis on ensuring that the fighting sequences are up to snuff.

However, exactly how those fighting sequences play out are entirely up to the player. Magic spells looks as if they'll play a big role, ??but the game can be beaten strictly with conventional melee attacks. Each class will have a few unique spells, which appears to be the only way that players are barred from complete customization. As shown at E3, changing gear can effectively switch the player's class on the fly, but these magic spells are a way to lend weight to the class decision made at the beginning of the game.

We're still a long ways away from Lords of the Fallen's release, as it's slated for late 2014, but any action RPG fan needs to keep tabs on this one. Every time we see it, it's looking better and better. Hopefully it ca??n deliver on all this promise it shows. 

The post L?ords of the Fallen keeps looking better and better appeared first on Destructoid.

More like Lords of the Ballin'!

I forgot Lords of the Fallen was a thing at this recent E3 and announced a month earlier for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Maybe because it didn't get any sort of snazzy t??railer, like this crazy, CG debut trailer. A man with a giant hammer clones himself, uses some sort of magic on a giant monster, and yells at the gods.

City Interactive doesn't have the most stellar track record, but it seems the developer is swinging for the big leagues with Lords of the Fallen. Tomasz Gop, who was the senior producer on The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, will be heading up development and our E3 preview compared the slice we were shown rather favorably to From Software's Dark Souls.

Battles are often with a few enemies and focus on sk?ill rather than button mashing. Not too many of those around so it's nice to see? another. From the game's website:

A challenge in games can be measured wit?h the difference between randomness and skill. Our goal is to make a game that rewards players for doing what it takes to cross that gap. A game where learning skills and ultimately mastering them is the basis of fun and entertainment.

Sounds enough to at least get me interested in the? semi-standard-looking action-RPG.

The post Lords of the Fallen debut?: Sm??ash monsters with a hammer appeared first on Destructoid.