Lords of the Fallen (2023): The Review

Overview

Lords of the Fallen is a visually stunning and mechanically ambitious Soulslike that stands out through its oppressive atmosphere, interconnected world design, and innovative Umbral realm mechanic. While the game suffers from technical problems, frustrating enemy density, uneven pacing, and occasionally exhausting combat design, it still succeeds at creating a uniquely horrifying dark fantasy experience. It may not consistently reach the heights of FromSoftware’s best work, but it absolutely establishes its own identity within the genre.

Score: 8 out of 10

The Positives ✅

Lords of the Fallen immediately grabbed me with its atmosphere. From the opening hours, the game feels oppressive in a way that borders on nightmare fuel, crumbling cathedrals, endless corpses hanging from ruined structures, distant screams echoing through fog-covered landscapes, and entire cities that look like they’ve already lost long before you arrive. It’s one of those games where simply walking through the world feels uncomfortable, and I mean that as a compliment. The visual design constantly sells the idea that this world is dying under the weight of fanaticism, corruption, and cosmic horror.

The Umbral mechanic is easily the game’s strongest and most original feature. The ability to shift between the world of the living and the horrific Umbral realm completely changes how exploration works. Entire pathways, secrets, puzzles, and enemies exist in parallel dimensions, which gives the game this constant sense of hidden danger. Some moments genuinely made me stop and stare because environments transformed into grotesque nightmare versions of themselves the second I crossed over. It creates a level of tension that few Soulslike games manage because death isn’t always the end,  sometimes it’s the beginning of something much worse.

Combat also feels weighty and satisfying once the systems fully open up. Weapons hit with real impact, magic builds are surprisingly powerful, and the game gives players a huge amount of freedom when experimenting with playstyles. Whether focusing on heavy strength weapons, agility builds, holy magic, or infernal abilities, there’s a strong sense of build identity throughout the experience. I especially appreciated how aggressive the combat can become compared to slower Soulslikes. Dodging through attacks, staggering enemies, and chaining offense together creates encounters that feel intense without losing that methodical pacing the genre depends on.

Another thing I genuinely respected was the game’s ambition. Lords of the Fallen clearly isn’t trying to be a simple imitation of Dark Souls. It borrows heavily from FromSoftware’s formula, obviously, but it also tries to push its own identity through interconnected world design, dual-realm mechanics, and an atmosphere that leans harder into full-on dark fantasy horror than many games in the genre.

The Negatives ⚠️

At the same time, Lords of the Fallen can be incredibly frustrating, and not always in the satisfying “Soulslike” way. One of the game’s biggest problems is enemy density. There are moments where it genuinely feels like the game mistakes overwhelming the player with sheer numbers for meaningful difficulty. Certain areas throw wave after wave of enemies at you relentlessly, turning exploration into exhaustion rather than tension.

The lock-on system and camera can also become serious problems during combat, especially in tighter spaces or against larger enemies. There were multiple fights where I felt like I was battling the controls almost as much as the enemies themselves. Considering how precision-focused the genre is, those technical frustrations become hard to ignore when they directly affect survival.

Pacing is another issue. The game starts incredibly strong, but the further it goes, the more repetitive certain encounters and environments begin to feel. Some late-game areas drag on for far too long, and enemy recycling becomes extremely noticeable. There were points where I felt mentally drained rather than excited to continue because the game constantly demanded so much patience from the player without offering enough variety in return.

The storytelling also falls into the common Soulslike problem of being so cryptic that emotional engagement suffers. The lore is interesting, but the actual narrative rarely feels personal or emotionally grounded. Unlike the best FromSoftware games, where mystery often enhances the atmosphere, Lords of the Fallen occasionally feels vague simply for the sake of being vague.

And while the visuals are stunning, the technical performance can undermine the experience badly. Frame rate drops, inconsistent optimization, and occasional bugs pulled me out of the immersion more than once, especially during larger battles or Umbral-heavy areas.

The Experience 🎮

Playing Lords of the Fallen felt like being trapped inside an endless gothic nightmare. The game constantly made me feel small, vulnerable, and lost in a world that genuinely hated my existence. There were moments where simply reaching the next checkpoint felt like surviving a horror movie, especially once the Umbral realm started fully opening up. Few games have made exploration feel this tense because I was constantly afraid of what might appear around the next corner.

What kept me hooked was the atmosphere and exploration. Even when I was frustrated, I still wanted to see what terrifying location or disturbing creature the game would throw at me next. Some environments genuinely stuck in my head because of how grotesque and visually overwhelming they were. Crossing into Umbral for the first time in certain areas was honestly one of the coolest visual concepts I’ve seen in a Soulslike in years.

Combat took longer for me to fully appreciate. Early on, I struggled with the pacing and enemy swarms, and there were moments where the difficulty felt cheap rather than rewarding. But once I settled into the mechanics and started refining my build, the game became significantly more enjoyable. Creating a character that finally felt powerful after hours of suffering gave the progression real payoff.

That said, the frustration never completely disappeared. There were sections where the enemy placement, technical issues, and repetitive encounters genuinely tested my patience. Some nights I stopped playing not because I was challenged in a satisfying way, but because I simply felt exhausted by the game’s constant aggression.

Even so, I can’t deny that the experience stayed with me. Lords of the Fallen is messy, overly ambitious, and sometimes frustrating to a fault, but it also has a personality and atmosphere strong enough to make it memorable. I walked away respecting it more than fully loving it, which honestly feels fitting for a game this brutal and uncompromising.