The Lords of the Fallen is due to arrive later this year, and its publisher has revealed some stunning new screenshots to show how good the game will look upon release. The images might even be impressive enough to ensure The Lords of the Fallen finds its way to several wish lists it didn't previously occupy.

The Lords of the Fallen, developed by Hexworks, is this year's follow-up to Lords of the Fallen. The previous game reached PC and consoles in 2014, and was developed by Deck13. Though clearly inspired by the approach FromSoftware took with Dark Souls, publisher CI Games refers to the previous game as a "power fantasy." Throwing a "The" in front of the old title seems to have turned the franchise into a proper dark fantasy with more fluid combat, which could help it fall more closely in line with Dark Souls. The change in focus could also explain why The Lords of the Fallen dropped the numbered sequel approach.

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The Lords of the Fallen has had eight years to find extra visual polish compared to its predecessor, and the new screenshots show off the dark fantasy world to good effect. They depict fearsome monsters, roiling clouds, molten rivers, and the promise of much violence at the hands of monsters straight out of the most macabre of nightmares. A fantastic fantasy world is almost always welcome. That's especially true in a time when the likes of Elden Ring showed how much ambitious settings can add to the experience, a quality the original Lords of the Fallen lacked.

Although The Lords of the Fallen has spent a long time in development, the process wasn't always a smooth one. The game was first expected to arrive in 2017, but that date passed. Eventually, CI Games handed development of The Lords of the Fallen to Defiant Studios in 2018. At the time, it was still widely referenced as Lords of the Fallen 2. Then the developer of record changed again two years later.

Judging by the new screenshots, development finally started making the sort of progress fans will want to see when Hexworks took over development of The Lords of the Fallen in 2020. It's true the aesthetic is only part of the experience. But if the game lives up to its promise and provides satisfying combat and a dark fantasy world worth exploring, all of that time in development will have proven worthwhile and FromSoftware may finally have meaningful competition for its Soulslike classics.

The Lords of the Fallen is in development for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.

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