Is Lords of the Fallen About to Revolutionize the Soulslike Niche?

Sometimes, what you really need to do with a franchise is to mercilessly reboot it after just one series entry. Except... that's not really what's happened with Lords of the Fallen, which you shouldn't confuse with Lords of the Fallen. We're only being half-cheeky here, because the new game, which is due to launch on October 13, both is and is not a reboot of the IP. Check out the featured article if you'd like to learn more!

For this article, we're going to gloss over that particular aspect of the game for a bit. Our main focus remains squarely on the new title's promised feature set and why it may genuinely be one of the best true soulslikes of the year. Will it? Won't it? One way to find out!

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The New Lords of the Fallen, Explained

The first Lords of the Fallen was, in fact, the first soulslike ever made. While a different team may have produced it - the one that would go on to produce the awesome Surge 2 - it still stands on its own two feet as a kick-off for something truly special. That specialty appears to be coming to a head with the new Lords of the Fallen, which has got so much more going for it that it's almost ridiculous to even compare it to its predecessor.

The crux of it all is decidedly simple: Lords of the Fallen bifurcates its game world to help you take down the world-ending demon Adyr once again. This bifurcation is key, because players can literally jump from one world into another whenever they want or need to do so. A heck of a main feature for a soulslike, wouldn't you agree?

Get the Lords of the Fallen via 2Game to save money!

Defining Lords of the Fallen's Novelties

We all know what a soulslike is at this point. Thanks to FromSoftware's intervention in the ARPG genre, there's now a burgeoning sub-niche of action adventures that are hardcore, difficult experiences that aren't afraid of dishing out punishment to the player. The Lords of the Fallen is precisely that, but also a bit more.

Any modern soulslike is forced to straddle the fine line between outright copying FromSoftware's output and veering too far away from crucial genre trappings. There are no two ways about it, because a true soulslike is something very, very specific. What this means in practice, then, is that the devs need to be delightfully inventive to differentiate their product from all of its competitors. There's no shortage of that in Lords of the Fallen!

In short, there are two big game-selling features you need to keep in mind here:

Indeed, in this soulslike you'll be able to play with your friends, family, and pets at any given point, without mucking about with in-universe items or other such nonsense. Sure, there's charm in Dark Souls' handling of multiplayer, but sometimes, you just want to play with a pal! Lords of the Fallen lets you do just that.

The Things Lords of the Fallen Does Better

For a good reason, FromSoft games are the golden standard of the soulslike niche. Aside from, well, literally establishing the niche in the first place, the studio's games have historically been... phenomenal. There are very few ways in which a third party could compete with FromSoft at this point, but that's precisely what Lords of the Fallen is trying to do.

The game's world of the dead is a dimension that imposes itself upon the world of the living. Or vice-versa, depending on how you feel about things at a given point in time. The protagonist can freely switch from the world of the living to that of the dead to open up new pathways or navigate the world in wholly unthinkable ways. If that sounds like The Legacy of Kain a bit, you're on the right track!

This, combined with Lords of the Fallen's uninterrupted online multiplayer, promises a potential evolution of the soulslike niche. But, will it take?

Could This Be The Next Step Forward?

Two fully parallel worlds operating in tandem. A seamless multiplayer feature that just works. Quality combat and exploration underpin these two key features, with ample customization and progression goodies to top it all off. Sounds pretty good, doesn't it?

From what we've seen so far, Lords of the Fallen is a flagship release. Built on Unreal Engine 5, this is a visual masterpiece with gameplay systems to match its graphics. The specifics we're still somewhat unclear on, but both IGN and Game Informer believe that soulslike fans have got something special cooking here.

"I’m impressed with how great Lords of the Fallen feels to play and how unique its world and systems are to interact with," said Wesley Leblanc. "Hexworks is taking big strides to make it stand out not just from its 2014 predecessor but the rest of the genre, and I commend the efforts. While two hours of play isn’t enough to call it a success, I’m hopeful the final package will coalesce into a new Soulslike favorite."

The new Lords of the Fallen is coming out on October 14, and you can snag a lovely discount by purchasing your PC copy via 2Game!

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Sometimes, what you really need to do with a franchise is to mercilessly reboot it after just one series entry. Except… that’s not really what’s happened with Lords of the Fallen, which you shouldn’t confuse with Lords of the Fallen. We’re only being half-cheeky here, because the new game, which is due to launch on […]