Is Lords of the Fallen Open World? Is there a Reboot?

Is Lords of the Fallen open world? And, is there a reboot? Read on to find out! Depending on how familiar you may or may not be with 2014's Lords of the Fallen, you may have been surprised to hear that a Lords of the Fallen reboot was being developed out of the blue. While technically true, this isn't entirely correct, as the new game from CI Games is, in fact, a direct continuation of the old Dark Souls-like.

No, yeah, you read that right - this is a sequel!

If you are surprised to find this out, we were as well! Thrilled, too, because as we explained in our Soulslike summary piece - when we were waiting for Elden Ring to hit, no less - Lords of the Fallen did in fact deliver on many fronts. It was a smaller-scale AA production, to be sure, but it could pull its own weight and was plenty of fun in its own right.

Most importantly, however, as well as tactical combat, Lords of the Fallen had some very solid lore. The lore that we're happy to report will be retained in The Lords of the Fallen, which is the new offering due to launch in 2023. Let us explain!

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Is Lords of the Fallen Open World, and What Exactly is the Reboot?

Now that we've established that CI and Hex Games are, in fact, making a sequel, it's important that we contextualize the game's plot. Because, while it's certainly a sequel lore-wise, in that it's set in the same world as the events of 2014's Lords of the Fallen play into its lore, it takes place over 1,000 years in the future.

The two games are, therefore, tangentially related - and feature the same antagonist, the Demon God Adyr - but won't necessarily overlap in any meaningful way. This gives the developer, Hex Games, ample room to leverage the IP's existing lore and add its own twist to the mix, which is really for the best of this new game.

But, is The Lords of the Fallen open world? From the looks of it, The Lords of the Fallen is a semi-open-world game. With a more linear path, you don't have complete freedom, but players can forge their adventures as they take on enemies in a familiar combat style, set on a map that's roughly five times the size of the original. Said world is, really, in a state of cataclysmic disarray in the first place. The curious bit here is that the semi-open world game will span not one but two parallel worlds /states of existence. With this dual-world system, players - in the role of the Dark Crusader - will need to battle it out across these two worlds with a potentially fascinating gameplay twist to boot. Since the map for Lords of the Fallen is huge with a variety of different bosses, you might find it easier to explore first, defeating enemies and leveling up your skills before facing off against the main bosses.

The Gameplay of The Lords of the Fallen

The Lords of the Fallen has a death mechanic that may or may not be inspired by that of Mortal Shell. Namely, once the Dark Crusader dies in the waking hellscape of the real world, their magical soul-lantern-thingie revives them in the world of the dead. Described as a place where untold terrors roam free, the dead world is effectively the Dark Crusader's trump card. Even though they will, inevitably, die over and over again, as long as they can rip and tear their way through the (un)dead, they have a chance to get back to the world of the living.

It's certainly a Silent Hill-esque sort of twist, but one that we haven't yet seen in a game such as this. It remains to be seen if the dual worlds are entirely different and separate, or two aspects of the same thing. One thing that the reveal trailer shows off well is that the Dark Crusaders will be forced to deal with threats that appear to be entirely different from what they may encounter in the waking world. This could, therefore, signal an immense variety and flexibility in this semi-open-world game of two worlds.

Can The Lords of the Fallen Differentiate Itself From the Competition?

Whereas the first Lords of the Fallen game didn't really do much to set itself apart from the competition, this semi-open world game has all the makings of a potential niche classic. Its exciting new world-switching/ dual worlds feature alone could be leveraged to bring it up and above any potential competition, and with Elden Ring having romped its romp over the course of 2022, odds are that players will be looking for something new and exciting to fill the Dark Souls -like void.

Developers have already mentioned that customization and progression will be huge aspects of this Soulslike, too. With hundreds of "uniquely brutal" weapons, nine starting character classes, and a supposedly immensely flexible character creation system, things are certainly looking up for The Lords of the Fallen.

And, as a major plus, the game will support two-player co-op and invasion functionality, to boot. Giving it all it needs to ride a more linear path, Dark Souls-like wave, for a good long while. These features won't be enough if the game isn't good, granted. We've got high hopes though for what looks to be an epic quest!

Stay Tuned for More!

This is just the start of our The Lords of the Fallen coverage, of course. There's not that much information available right now about this semi-open world game in which, you won't have the complete freedom of an open world, but you can navigate between two distinct realms – Axiom (the world of the living) and Umbral (the world of the dead). And there are virtually no specifics of any sort. Having said that, a hypothetical Lords of the Fallen 2 has been rumored for quite a good long while now, and it's entirely possible that this iteration of the game has been in the making for some time.

We've got some high hopes, then, especially now that Elden Ring has Souls'd its likes. FromSoftware is yet to provide any real information about its DLC plans, and everything suggests that the game may get one substantial DLC at most. As long as it doesn't directly compete with The Lords of the Fallen, CI Games and Hex Games have a chance to pull off something special! Let's see how they fare!

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