After a lengthy period in development hell, the sequel to 2014's Lords of the Fallen has finally re-emerged. An announcement trailer at Gamescom revealed the game's new look, and interestingly, a new title too. Developer CI Games has decided that the new game will simply be The Lords of the Fallen, rather than Lords of the Fallen 2 as expected. This is a small but possibly significant change that gives away some clues regarding the game's identity.
Lords of the Fallen is a game that divided opinion when it was initially released way back in 2014, and despite a sequel being announced that same year, the road to its development has clearly been paved with difficulties. After entering into a partnership with Defiant Studios in 2018, CI Games announced in 2020 that it was replacing Defiant with one of its subsidiaries, Hexworks, and since then not much had been revealed prior to this brand-new trailer. This footage shows that the sequel, now titled The Lords of the Fallen, is very much alive and well. The game's new title indicates it may be a reboot of sorts, but with no gameplay footage revealed yet and limited details known, much is left to speculation.
Lords of the Fallen Helped to Start the Soulslike Trend
When Lords of the Fallen was released in 2014, Soulslikes were not really a thing. Many developers still saw creating games based on raw difficulty as too much of a risk, despite the success of Dark Souls. Developers CI Games and Deck 13 Interactive clearly didn't get the memo though, creating a game that very much wore its Dark Souls inspiration on its sleeve, almost like a badge of honor, unknowingly helping to kick off a sub-genre: the Soulslike.
Placing more emphasis on traditional storytelling than a Dark Souls title ever would, Lords of the Fallen attempted to weave an intricate narrative throughout its Soulslike levels and boss battles. Despite these grand ambitions, uninteresting characters and a largely forgettable plot meant that the game had to rely mainly on its moment-to-moment gameplay and combat in order to shine. While it was far from awful, ultimately the combat in Lords of the Fallen was slow, labored, and decidedly clunky in parts, which made for a rather disjointed and unbalanced experience.
Despite these shortcomings, the game was still an enjoyable experience overall and sold moderately well - well enough for a sequel to be announced later that same year, before the game fell into the gaping chasm that is more widely known as gaming development hell. Finally, eight years after its announcement, The Lords of the Fallen looks to be somewhere near completion despite a release window not being indicated in the trailer.
What We Know About The Lords of the Fallen
Despite the trailer giving gamers a glimpse of an Elden Ring-style world, details about the game itself are limited at the moment. The sequel is said to take place 1000 years after events in the original game and will be roughly five times larger in size and scope. The game will also feature full online co-op support, and the combat has been described as ''fast, fluid, and challenging''. This indicates a shift in design from the slow and labored combat in the original game, and it certainly bodes well. Magic will once again be available for use both offensively and defensively.
The game will only be releasing on current-gen too, with no sign of a PS4 or Xbox One release. This indicates the developer is keen to harness the power of the current-gen consoles, and does not want to be held back by having to cater to last-gen consoles and the restrictions caused by their hardware capabilities. The original Lords of the Fallen was released very early into the PS4's life cycle, and this resulted in its graphics being one of the strongest elements of the game, with the cutscenes, in particular, being visually striking at the time. No doubt developer Hexworks will want to ensure that The Lords of the Fallen reaches the same heights, and by focusing solely on current gen, it has given itself the best chance to succeed on the visual front.
The trailer, which is fully narrated, speaks of a time when man has toppled the overlord in an age of tyranny, but warns that gods do not fall forever. It starts out like a very typical Souls clone in terms of its tone and the plot, but then throws a curveball when the sounds of metal music begin to play, and it descends into a scene that is very reminiscent of the movie Thor: Ragnarok, as the unnamed protagonist begins to fend off hordes of monsters all while the track Mother by Danzig plays loudly in the background.
This change of direction is certainly an unexpected one, but it could pay dividends, and may explain why the '2' was dropped from the game's title. A reboot, and a re-imaging of Lords of the Fallen's world, replacing slow combat and dull characters with fast, fluid gameplay and a more upbeat tone, would go some way to resetting gamers' expectations when it comes to this franchise. With Lords of the Fallen being an early entry into the Soulslike genre, all eyes will be on this sequel, or reboot as it were, to freshen things up, and to do things differently. Soulslike games are a dime a dozen these days, and if anyone were going to shake up the formula, it would be fitting for it to be a game that helped start the trend in the first place.
The Lords of the Fallen is currently in development and will be available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series S/X.