There’s no stank quite like the stank of a terrible launch. Lords of the Fallen’s 2023 reboot was notoriously in an awful state when it came out with its overtuned difficulty that sank the whole experience. It was as if CI Games simply started from “Dark Souls hard” and went from there; an ignoble mantra evident within most of the game’s many flaws. Not many non-live-service games recover from that hard of a bungle, but, against all odds, Lords of the Fallen has transformed into a different game, one that is well worth experiencing.
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But like a live-service game, Lords of the Fallen was patched heavily after it came out. Dozens upon dozens of patches flooded the game from its launch day and that flow hasn’t stopped; CI Games just released an update in early April that streamlined the co-op even more. It’s exhaustive to note every change, but it’s important to look at the biggest ones because the sheer size of the list paints a telling picture. These changes include:
- shorter effective range for enemy snipers
- smaller aggro ranges for some foes
- lower enemy density in many areas
- lower enemy aggression when swarming the player
- Vestige save points in New Game Plus
- cross-platform play
- upgraded sound effects
- new spells
- a storage chest
- additional quests
- boss rush mode
- gameplay modifiers
- stronger bosses
- more lock-on options
- backup saves
- a refined tutorial
- control rebinding
- a less harsh version of the Umbral realm
- more responsive and fluid combat controls
- a more impressive parry
- shared progression in co-op
- a friend pass for co-op
- a dedicated jump button
- smarter and deadlier enemies
- a new user interface
- PS5 Pro support
- a pause function
- a harder Veteran difficulty
- and tons of balance adjustments
Lords of the Fallen’s Many Updates Have Worked Wonders
When faced with that long of a list, it’s not only clear how far the game has come but also how botched the 1.0 version was. Enemy density was the biggest problem and most of its issues stemmed from there. It was too easy to get mobbed by grunts of all kinds or sniped by an army of magic-wielding deadeyes. And if a sniper or mosh pit didn’t cheaply kill you, some jackass hiding behind a corner would, which was a tired genre trope the game pulled far too often. These pain points were only exacerbated in the Umbral realm, as infinite enemy spawns and a ticking timer only ratcheted the difficulty up even more. Soulslikes can often be a pain, but these systems were downright evil with very little in the way of reward at the end. It was suffering for the sake of it.
Bosses also rarely made for a worthwhile reward. While at least more visually interesting than its forebear, these clashes were a bit on the dull side and, in a sickening twist, sometimes revolved around thugs that could continually summon their own gang of bodyguards, essentially emulating the terrible spawns of the non-boss zones. Lords of the Fallen’s inability to hold back made it less of a test of skill and almost entirely a test of patience, something that’s doubly hard to swallow in a genre with some of the best games of all time.
Lords of the Fallen Isn’t Nearly as Tedious Now
Downsizing enemy spawns, decreasing how far enemies would chase players, making the Umbral realm slightly less dangerous, and toning down the snipers did wonders for the game since it allowed players to breathe. Soulslikes should usually feel a bit oppressive, but there needs to be a balance; it can’t be hell all of the time. The current version of the game is far more manageable, and the worst sections of the game have been noticeably improved. Getting through Pilgrim’s Perch is no longer excruciatingly tedious and something to snap a controller over and the wolf-based mini-boss in the above picture is noticeably more fair, for example. There are still a few areas where it’s too easy to get swarmed and a handful of the bosses still just repeatedly spawn adds — some bad habits are hard to completely shake — but aggressively addressing these prickly parts has made the game much more engaging.
Lords of the Fallen is also more engaging because of the changes CI Games made to its controls. The team took out some of the momentum of the main character and opened up the cancel window for dodges, two aspects that do wonders for making fights feel more fluid. Even with the smaller hordes, combat is a constant in the game, so improving the fundamentals has a massive impact on the overall experience. Soulslikes sometimes have an issue with being too slow and weighty, so making solid steps in the direction of being more responsive is welcome.
The myriad other bullet points in the collective patch notes improve the experience but still sit downstream of these systemic overhauls that have an outsized impact on this game that has seen so many changes. And while some have highlighted its reversal, there’s still plenty of launch-era coverage disparaging a version of this game that no longer exists.
However, this change in direction doesn’t transform Lords of the Fallen into a masterpiece that can sit toe to tarnished toe with its inspirations. Boss fights are still hit and miss, the seed-based checkpoint system is needlessly complicated, foes frequently get stuck on the environment, and the Umbral realm parts, while visually arresting, don’t always add to the experience. Games like Lies of P, Nioh 2, and Bloodborne are always going to be better than Lords of the Fallen even with its litany of patches. But these updates have transformed an awful Soulslike into a decent one, giving its announced sequel a better foundation to build upon and showing that the fallen — with the right support — need not stay down.
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