Lords Of The Fallen™ 2014 Review Summary

Impressive and enduring graphics: The game's graphics are consistently praised for their beauty, unique style, and ability to hold up well over time. Players highlight the detailed design, lighting, and atmospheric visuals that contribute to an immersive experience.

Enjoyable and fun gameplay: Many players find the game enjoyable and fun overall. They appreciate the gameplay, weapons, and exploration, making it a good game despite some flaws.

Souls-like gameplay: The game is often compared to the Dark Souls series, offering a similar gameplay experience. It is considered a good entry point for those new to the Souls-like genre.

Detailed and immersive environments: The environments are praised for their detail and Gothic-inspired design. High-resolution textures and atmospheric visuals contribute to the game's immersive experience.

Unique and stylish armor designs: The armor designs are frequently praised for their uniqueness and style. Players appreciate the aesthetic and variety of the armor sets.

Clunky and slow combat: Many players find the combat mechanics to be clumsy, heavy, and slow. This includes issues with imprecise controls, slow animations, and a general lack of fluidity in combat actions.

Uninspired and boring bosses: Boss fights are often criticized for being uninteresting, repetitive, and easy. Many players find the boss design to be uninspired and not challenging enough.

Excessive camera shake: The camera shake is a significant issue for many players, causing discomfort and detracting from the gameplay experience. Some players report it as excessive and unreasonable, leading to motion sickness.

Weak and unremarkable story: The storyline is often criticized for being shallow, weak, and forgettable. Players find the plot to be generic, unremarkable, and not compelling.

Slow movement and gameplay: Players frequently mention that the game feels slow, including slow player movement, slow dodge mechanics, and slow combat animations. This sluggishness can make the gameplay feel tedious.

Stamina-based combat system: The combat system is heavily focused on stamina management, making it slow-paced and strategic. Players need to carefully time their attacks and manage their stamina to succeed in battles.

Character builds and progression: The game offers a variety of character builds and progression systems, including different classes, armor, and weapons. Players can customize their characters and level up through an RPG-style progression system.

Enemy variety and design: The game has a mix of feedback regarding enemy variety. Some players appreciate the enemy and armor design, while others criticize the lack of diversity and repetitive enemy encounters.

Boss fights and design: Boss fights are a significant aspect of the game, with some players finding them challenging and engaging, while others criticize them as slow, frustrating, or uninteresting. Boss battles can last up to 25 minutes and often have gimmicks.

Open world and exploration: The game features open-world exploration with secrets and various areas to discover. The interconnected map design and catacombs level design are highlighted as notable aspects of the game's exploration.

Optimization issues: Players experience a mix of good and poor optimization, with some noting excellent performance on high-end hardware while others report optimization issues.

Smooth performance on various hardware: The game runs smoothly on a range of hardware, from lower-end to high-end systems, though some areas may experience slowdowns.

Frequent game crashes: Many players report frequent game crashes, including crashes to desktop and crashes at launch.

Occasional bugs and glitches: There are reports of occasional bugs and visual glitches affecting the gameplay experience.

Steam Deck performance: The game runs well on Steam Deck, though some players report battery drain issues.

Recommended for Souls-like fans: The game is highly recommended for fans of the Souls-like genre, including those who enjoy Dark Souls and are looking for a similar or slightly easier experience.

Buy on sale: Many reviews suggest purchasing the game during a sale due to its better value for money at a discounted price.

Worth playing for specific audiences: The game is considered worth playing for those who enjoy slower-paced combat, dark themes, and for players with low-spec PCs.

Consider alternatives: Some reviews recommend playing other games like Dark Souls, Elden Ring, or The Surge series instead, suggesting they might offer a better experience.

Good for beginners and casual players: The game is seen as a good entry point for beginners in the Souls-like genre and for casual players looking to get more serious.

Community fair range: $2.00 - $10.00.

Game completion: 15.0h.

Story completion: 15.0h.

Session length: 5.0h.

The game initially presents a steep learning curve and can feel punishing early on, but once players master the combat mechanics and acquire better gear, the experience becomes more enjoyable and satisfying.

Reported time to anchor: 2h.

Friction: Steep learning curve; Repetitive enemy types; Lack of depth in character customization; Punishing early game checkpoints.

Casual Explorer: Explores the game world, enjoys visuals and story, and plays casually without focusing on extreme difficulty. Motivation: Enjoyment of visuals and casual gameplay. Stance: sale.

Bargain Hunter: Looks for games on sale or at a low price, enjoys trying new games within a favorite genre. Motivation: Finding good deals and value for money. Stance: deep sale.

Lore Enthusiast: Enjoys exploring game lore and history, appreciates the game's connection to other titles in the series. Motivation: Interest in game lore and history. Stance: sale.

Steam Deck: The analysis of user feedback for the Steam Deck experience of the game reveals several critical issues. Stability problems, including frequent crashes and game-freezing incidents, are highly prevalent. Battery drain is another significant concern, with users reporting that the game consumes battery life rapidly. Control and responsiveness issues are also noted, affecting the overall gameplay experience. Additionally, performance and optimization problems, such as frame drops and high CPU usage, are frequently mentioned. These issues collectively impact the user experience negatively, indicating that the game requires significant improvements to enhance stability, battery efficiency, controls, and overall performance on the Steam Deck.

External guides: The primary user complaints revolve around the necessity to use external wikis to understand quests, game mechanics, and hidden secrets. Additionally, there is significant frustration with the lack of a map and unclear UI, which hinders navigation and increases stress. The need for external data to progress in the game is a major barrier to user experience.