I played 4 hours into the upcoming reboot of Lords of the Fallen, and its bizarre lantern jumping around the world is a nitrous boost for a well-worn formula

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Many studios have tried to jury up their own Dark Souls brand. I'm happy to report that after four hours with the 2023 Lords of the Fallen reboot, Hexwork's new experience isn't trying to reinvent the wheel. Instead, its developers build a custom ride using a tried-and-true frame, with a good chunk of exotic Umbral nitrous strapped to its engine.


Lords of the Fallen has a turbulent past. Its namesake, 2014's attempt at the souls-like genre, was seen by some gamers as a hollow imitation of the real thing - one of the first outsiders to take a stab at turning a profit on the spinoff successes of Demon's Souls and Dark Souls.


The twin specter of the double entendre and accusations of it being "robbery" looms over its releases to this day, and I imagine my response to news of the remake was the same as many others - "Huh, really? Lords of the Fallen?" Well, but why not start over with a title New IP?” But the folks at CI Games and Hexworks know their own history, and after spending some time with Lords of the Fallen, I think they're far from destined to repeat that.

Colin Gilzen of publisher CI Games explained, before promising that the release of the remake was a step into a new era of modernity.

I wasn't surprised by this self-awareness - it would be strange if they didn't talk about it. What struck me as I pitched the game was how clearly they meant it. When I hear phrases like “two lives, two worlds,” the sneering imp in my brain wakes up, ready to cry. But I'll be damned - I think they went ahead and pulled it off.


Lords of the Fallen has two versions of the game world: Axiom, the land of the living, and Umbral, the land of the dead. If you die in Axiom, you go to Umbral, if you die in Umbral, you die forever. Umbral isn't just an Axiom with a blue filter - it's a strange world with its own mechanics and personality.

under my ella umbrella

You can open a window to Umbral whenever you want by raising your lantern. You can then choose to move to the parachute, or you can simply hold it to interact with its geography in a limited capacity. For example, if a portal in Umbral crashes, you can keep your lantern on and off while staying in the Axiom.


Scouting Mournstead, I saw a platform over a very wide gap to jump on. Then she lifted the lantern, revealing an Umbral bridge of bones and flesh. "Surely that's not going to work," I said to myself, and kept the flashlight pointed straight at the ground as I walked around. When I put the lantern away, I stepped down the platform again at the Axiom, with a giddy smile usually exclusive to fast runners discovering new technology.


The four hours I played were filled with exploratory nuggets like this - Umbral isn't just a second life, it's an alternate reality you're constantly dealing with. It sounds quite tangled up — but according to Cezar Virtosu, who I spoke with after the preview, things didn't really look like this until halfway through development.


“Since the beginning, we've had the lamp as a catalyst to interact with the Umbral world. However, the concept of raising said lamp to look at the parallel world came about halfway through development, when our talented designers made a small prototype on our own time. The moment we saw the lamp lift And flooding the screen with an Umbral veil of hell, the penny fell. He was the missing link."


I agree with you - Mournstead wouldn't be half as compelling to explore if I didn't feel the constant tug of war between two mirror dimensions. However, Umbral isn't just a neat exploration mechanic - it's an alien ecosystem with its own antibodies, and it hates you.


Hold your breath


You can open a window to Umbral at will by raising your lantern. You can then choose to move to the parachute, or you can simply hold it to interact with its geography in a limited capacity. For example, if a portal in Umbral is broken, you can turn the lantern on and off while staying in the Axiom.


Scouting at Mournstead, I saw a platform over a very wide chasm to jump onto. Then she raised the lantern, revealing an umbral bridge of bones and flesh. "This definitely won't work," I told myself, and kept the flashlight pointed straight at the ground as I walked around. When I had put the lantern away, I stepped off the platform again at the axiom, with a giddy smile usually exclusive to fast runners discovering new technology.


The four hours I played were filled with exploratory nuggets like this - Umbral isn't just a second life, it's an alternate reality you're constantly dealing with. It looks quite tacky — but according to Cezar Virtosu, who I spoke with after the preview, things didn't really look like that until halfway through development.


“From the beginning, we've had the lamp as a catalyst for interacting with the Umbral world. However, the concept of raising said lamp to look at the parallel world came about halfway through development, when our talented designers made a small prototype in our own time. The moment we saw the lamp Lifting and drenching the screen with a veil of hell, the money fell. It was the missing link."


I agree with you - Mournstead wouldn't be half as compelling to explore if I didn't feel the constant struggle between two mirror dimensions. However, Umbral isn't just a neat exploration mechanic - it's an alien ecosystem with its own antibodies, and it hates you.


Hold your breath

Umbral adds a whole new dimension to the formula we're comfortable with - but getting that formula right was still important to Hexworks, and I'm happy to say they're doing great things there too.


Action-wise, you can still build the giant daddy of your dreams, but the default pace is nice and fast. I was able to play tireless invincibility with a backspin, or get out of the dribble with a full roll—and when I started running, my lantern holder was grabbing my butt.


This is another lesson I learned from Hexworks' past, Virtosu told me: "The overwhelming amount of feedback the first game received in terms of movement and combat in general... while still delivering the fantasy of a slow, indomitable tank with enormously impressive weapons, for light and medium levels From the burden, movement and evasion will be more responsive."


One of the two bosses I fought — Pieta, She of Blessed Renewal — felt like an apt guide to the games focus on timed blocks, ranged attacks, and stance breaking. I did a back-and-forth dance with her that echoed some of my favorite brawls in FromSoftware's gallery of rogues — Artorias, Genichiro, and Hoarah Loux — albeit with a greater focus on movement and positioning, like seeing an old friend with a new haircut.


This feeling persisted for the rest of the preview time. The second boss, a terrible mass of writhing limbs at the bottom of the swamp, felt like a bog standard—until I realized I needed to raise my lantern to get rid of the Umbral parasite with my lantern like a ghost bird. Or, after dying and going to Umbral, I can run up and hit him. It's all very familiar, yet with enough newness to rekindle that old flame.

Lords of the Fallen certainly has a history - but what you saw in those four hours wasn't some cynical cash grab designed to ride the gaming giant's coattails. Instead, I was confidently tackling on the set of old mechanics, self-assured enough to mix things up while wearing her inspirations on her sleeve.

Second chances are rare in gaming — beloved MMOs are being shut down, studios are shutting down, and some games are even killed before they get a chance to hit our hard drives. But Hexworks isn't working from the past, as Virtosu wrote to me: "There are nine million unique users who played the 2014 title, so we wanted to do good by them. We respect the source material very much, and we've totally absorbed it."

"The feedback received about combat, RPG elements, spells, biome diversity - we wanted to address it first and foremost. Our ambitions and desires came second and third." In the end, Lords of the Fallen is an attempt to do better, and from the short time I've had with it, I think Hexworks has a good shot at making it happen.


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