Summary
- Lords of the Fallen's frequent updates set it apart from other Soulslike games, resembling a live-service game in terms of frequency and speed of updates.
- The updates have had a positive impact on the game's balance and performance, but there are still some lingering issues, like the game's struggle to maintain 60 FPS.
- Hexworks, the developer, has shown a commitment to improving the game and has provided a roadmap for future updates, but it needs to remain vigilant about bugs that crop up frequently in these updates.
2023 ended up being a banner year for Soulslikes made by non-FromSoftware studios. One of the more anticipated of the year's genre entries was Lords of the Fallen, the semi-sequel/reboot to the early Soulslike of the same name from 2014. While it was somewhat overshadowed by the release and reception of Lies of P, Lords of the Fallen continues to build a cult-following in the wake of its launch, with the developer even recently revealing that there are plans for a sequel. One aspect that helps to set Lords of the Fallen apart from its contemporaries is the frequency and speed at which its developer, Hexworks, is updating the game.
While just about every Soulsborne game and Soulslike has historically received plenty of updates that work toward rebalancing the game, making hotfixes, or even shifting the meta, Lords of the Fallen's updates are much more akin to that of a live-service game, despite the title not actually falling into the live-service category. Hexworks even called its recent holiday-themed update a "season", a term typically reserved for the monetized content drops of a live-service title. While the updates to Lords of the Fallen have had a cumulatively positive effect, there are still some mixed results that arise from the game's frequent updates and patches.
Lords of the Fallen Oddly Abandons a Beloved FromSoftware Soulslike Trend
Lords of the Fallen adopts many traditional Soulslike elements and sensibilities and therefore one omission seems like somewhat of an oversight.
How Lords of the Fallen's Updates Both Help and Hurt the Game
A quick look at Lords of the Fallen's patch history on Steam reveals that, since launch, the title has received more than 25 full patches, updates, and hotfixes. The most recent of these is the 1.1.414 patch, which continues the work of the developer on eliminating various bugs, cleaning up performance, and making various changes to Lords of the Fallen's overall balance. One of the primary sticking points many players had at launch was that the game struggled to maintain its promised 60 FPS, even in performance mode. After a slew of updates, this issue still persists in the most recent build of the game.
Further, one of the unintentional effects of the frequent updates and patches to Lords of the Fallen are the ways in which they act as a bit of "two steps forward, one step back" for the game's balancing, performance, and meta. Certain strange bugs are still common when loading up the most recent build of the game, such as enemies clipping into walls or foes failing to even load onto a map after spawning at a Vestige. To be sure, these are minor issues that will likely be resolved in a future update, but it's led to a bit of fan perception that a new hotfix for Lords of the Fallen will inevitably resolve some issues while creating others.
Hexworks has been clear about its intentions to continue improving the game, even going so far as to provide players with a roadmap for Lords of the Fallen outlining the features and fixes that are coming to the game in the near future. The existence of a roadmap and the labeling of certain holiday-themed updates as "seasons" gives off the impression that Hexworks intends to treat Lords of the Fallen as if it were a live-service, which is untread territory for Soulslikes. Even with the mixed bag that the approach has resulted in so far, there's potential for Lords of the Fallen's frequent updates to set an interesting precedent.
Patches and hotfixes to games are practically a guarantee, and even the highest-profile games are subject to needing regular updates that improve their performance and add-in requested features. Elden Ring is one of the most successful Soulsborne games of all-time, and it was even subject to several patches that worked toward rebalancing boss encounters, changing the meta for certain build types, or generally improving the game's performance and removing the propensity of bugs and crashes. Lords of the Fallen seems to be charting a bit of new territory in how it's approaching updates to the core gameplay, and it'll be interesting to see how both it and its recently revealed sequel fare as a result.
Lords of the Fallen
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 73 /100 Critics Rec: 55%
- Released
- October 13, 2023
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- HEXWORKS
- Publisher(s)
- CI Games
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer
WHERE TO PLAY
An epic, dark fantasy action-RPG set in a vast world of shadow and chaos.
Overthrow a resurrected demon god in this all-new adventure set in an interconnected world five times larger than the original game.
In Lords of the Fallen, you play as one of the fabled Dark Crusaders, who must journey through the realms of the living and the dead to disrupt the reign of Adyr, a cruel tyrant who has ushered in a new age of devastation for humanity.
Along the way, you'll endure colossal boss battles and get to grips with a fast and challenging combat system. With nine character classes and hundreds of weapons to choose from, you'll customize your hero and develop your own play style as you set out to defy the gods. Will your legend be one of light... Or one of darkness?
- Platform(s)
- PS5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, PC
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
- How Long To Beat
- 30 Hours
