Recent reviews by Reibonne

Lords of the Fallen got so much right, so much that even Fromsoft could and should learn from. However, all the things they got wrong will ensure those lessons don't become standards in this genre we love.

You've likely heard about the excessive enemy spam and unforgiving difficulty of the game, but that's not a complete picture. The truer issue has to do with how unimaginative and repetitious the encounters are, offering no relief as you slog from one area to the next. Unlike Fromsoft enemy placement which can sometimes tell a story about the world, LotF would have you believe that the denizens of their world have nothing better to do than stand behind crates and corners as they jump you for the 50th time in the past hour. And, if like me, you see the mastery of each of these encounters as a puzzle, then the sin of LotF is again that the solution to each puzzle will more or less be exactly the same, every time. Once you find your spell, ranged option, or invincibility cheese (looking at you, Umbral Eye of Loash) you will find you can trivialize the game, often feeling as though you are somehow playing it wrong. In brief, the encounters will either be punishingly difficult, or confusingly easy, but they will rarely ever be anything in between, as LotF seems to foster an adversarial relationship in which you are either cheating the game, or it is cheating you.

The actual world layout is a masterclass in interconnectedness, and is probably the main thing that kept me going when I didn't care to play anymore. The number of times I kicked a ladder or activated an elevator that took me back to the hub or some other important location were plentiful, yet never got old. I have heard this aspect of the game compared to Dark Souls 1, and I genuinely think that comparison is fair. They just really did excellently in this, and I could talk at length about it.

I adore LotF's handling of ranged weapons and spells, and would be beside myself with happiness to find this feature spread to other Souls games. Ranged weapons use a sort of ammunition system that replenishes each time you sit at a vestige (bonfire), limiting your usage somewhat, but not making you overly conscious of having to then farm that ammunition back. Spells, on the other hand, are cast using hotkeys (e.g. L2 + Y, L2 + X, etc.) rather than scrolling through a linear list to find what you are looking for. They really nailed both of these systems and are among the main reasons I would like for Souls veterans to at least see LotF in action.

I could go on about the terribly imbalanced PvP, the lackluster character creator, the unreliable lock-on system, and much more. But, I am really and truly ready to be done with LotF, this review included. I'm not sure right now that I have it in me to return if they do DLC for this game, and certainly not without severe overhauls of several aspects and systems. It took everything in me to complete my very thorough playthrough, and I suspect the game I know now is more or less the game it will always be.

Lords of the Fallen should have been great, and at a glimpse it was, which makes the litany of things they got wrong all the more painful. The game needed more development and testing, but instead it was released in a state that it will likely never recover from. Still, pick up the game if you want to learn something about the Souls genre, as LotF has given me a far better understanding for what works and doesn't work, even if it was most often an example of the latter.

As for the story: I truly don't know if it was good. I love dissecting plot and world-building, but I am emotionally clocked out of LotF now. I suspect it's fine, but won't inspire the next Vaatividya unless they're really hungry for a niche.