I'm not doing my usual format for this review. Instead allow me to preface this review by asking you two simple questions.

1: Do you like Dark Souls 2? Then rejoice, this game is basically Dark Souls 2 2.
2: Do you dislike Dark Souls 2 but thought it had cool ideas that you would have liked to see in other games? Then rejoice also, because this game is Dark Souls 2 but better.

I'm not joking with my answer to that second question, Lords of the Fallen 2023 is basically a vastly superior Dark Souls 2, it took what that game did do well and Hexworks made a vastly superior game in almost every conceivable way. Where Dark Souls 2 felt sloppy, low quality, filled with some of the most terrible level design ever made and crammed it all with non-stop bs to create a veneer of "challenge", Lords of the Fallen feels like a really well made and well thought out Souls-like where every aspect of the game got the love it needed and deserved. Plus it has excellent level design filled with shortcuts, really weighty and responsive combat, great build variety, a large number of really unique and interesting spells, a great system for ranged combat, useful consumables and so much more.

Combine those positive I mentioned with inspiration from Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver and its world of the dead mechanic in the form of Umbral and heavy inspiration from Blasphemous in its art direction, then you have a game that's very both interesting and a ton of fun. Plus the game has a great interconnected world, which made my second playthrough without the use of warp really fun to adventure through.

It's not without its faults of course. The game does have balance problems, with some bosses being too easy while certain mobs can be really difficult and it still has a slew of performance issues still in dire need of a remedy. Players have also reported online play being finicky, but I haven't experienced any issues during the multiple times I got invaded. It does also have its fair share of jank, sometimes getting stuck on an incline you have to roll off of or falling off the edge of ledges where you think its safe to stand.

But despite its faults, I find the game's positives far outweigh its current negatives, which will seemingly be smoothed out even more over time thanks to the regular updates adding new content, features and tightening the experience up as a whole. In fact, I liked the game so much I did a second playthrough right after finishing my first, which I almost never do. The last two Souls games that managed to get me doing that is the original Dark Souls and Hellpoint, which are among my favourite games of all time.

It's also a game you can make as easy or as challenging as you want, giving the player the opportunity to create their own checkpoints with vestige seedlings and offering summons for boss fights, along with other forms of help. Hexworks have also designed the game to work really well with challenge runs, which made my second playthrough, a low vestige seedling, warpless run, incredibly fun. It's gotten me cooking up more ideas in my head on how to challenge myself in future playthroughs.

Lore-wise this game takes everything from the first game, vastly improves upon it all and expands upon its lore, stories, themes and characters in ways that makes its world feel like one that's worth delving into, while remaining faithful and respectful to what Deck 13 made in the first Lords of the Fallen. It also tapped into my nostalgia nicely, seeing gear from the original and reading lore mentioning events from the original. And as someone who actually liked the original game, it even got me with a few feelsy moments involving a certain important character that ties back to the original game, which I will not spoil for obvious reasons.

So despite the mixed reception this game has gotten, for me it just proves that a game being rated as "mixed" does not always equate to it being bad, which people seem to forget. While it absolutely has its issues which are in need of fixing, Lords of the Fallen 2023 has ended up becoming my second favourite Souls-like so far, it's just barely behind Hellpoint since that game still does the interconnected world and sense of exploration a lot better. But the sheer amount of work, love and quality put into every aspect of this game by Hexworks is undeniable.

I am really excited to see what this developer will do with future updates and potential DLC. It also seems to have sold well enough to warrant a sequel one day, so I am very excited to see what the future of this series holds.

I'm not doing my usual format for this review. Instead allow me to preface this review by asking you two simple questions. 1: Do you like Dark Souls 2? Then rejoice, this game is basically Dark Souls 2 2. 2: Do you dislike Dark Souls 2 but thought it had cool ideas that you would have liked to see in other games? Then rejoice also, because this game is Dark Souls 2 but better. I'm not joking with my answer to that second question, Lords of the Fallen 2023 is basically a vastly superior Dark Souls 2, it took what that game did do well and Hexworks made a vastly superior game in almost every conceivable way. Where Dark Souls 2 felt sloppy, low quality, filled with some of the most terrible level design ever made and crammed it all with non-stop bs to create a veneer of "challenge", Lords of the Fallen feels like a really well made and well thought out Souls-like where every aspect of the game got the love it needed and deserved. Plus it has excellent level design filled with shortcuts, really weighty and responsive combat, great build variety, a large number of really unique and interesting spells, a great system for ranged combat, useful consumables and so much more. Combine those positive I mentioned with inspiration from Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver and its world of the dead mechanic in the form of Umbral and heavy inspiration from Blasphemous in its art direction, then you have a game that's very both interesting and a ton of fun. Plus the game has a great interconnected world, which made my second playthrough without the use of warp really fun to adventure through. It's not without its faults of course. The game does have balance problems, with some bosses being too easy while certain mobs can be really difficult and it still has a slew of performance issues still in dire need of a remedy. Players have also reported online play being finicky, but I haven't experienced any issues during the multiple times I got invaded. It does also have its fair share of jank, sometimes getting stuck on an incline you have to roll off of or falling off the edge of ledges where you think its safe to stand. But despite its faults, I find the game's positives far outweigh its current negatives, which will seemingly be smoothed out even more over time thanks to the regular updates adding new content, features and tightening the experience up as a whole. In fact, I liked the game so much I did a second playthrough right after finishing my first, which I almost never do. The last two Souls games that managed to get me doing that is the original Dark Souls and Hellpoint, which are among my favourite games of all time. It's also a game you can make as easy or as challenging as you want, giving the player the opportunity to create their own checkpoints with vestige seedlings and offering summons for boss fights, along with other forms of help. Hexworks have also designed the game to work really well with challenge runs, which made my second playthrough, a low vestige seedling, warpless run, incredibly fun. It's gotten me cooking up more ideas in my head on how to challenge myself in future playthroughs. Lore-wise this game takes everything from the first game, vastly improves upon it all and expands upon its lore, stories, themes and characters in ways that makes its world feel like one that's worth delving into, while remaining faithful and respectful to what Deck 13 made in the first Lords of the Fallen. It also tapped into my nostalgia nicely, seeing gear from the original and reading lore mentioning events from the original. And as someone who actually liked the original game, it even got me with a few feelsy moments involving a certain important character that ties back to the original game, which I will not spoil for obvious reasons. So despite the mixed reception this game has gotten, for me it just proves that a game being rated as "mixed" does not always equate to it being bad, which people seem to forget. While it absolutely has its issues which are in need of fixing, Lords of the Fallen 2023 has ended up becoming my second favourite Souls-like so far, it's just barely behind Hellpoint since that game still does the interconnected world and sense of exploration a lot better. But the sheer amount of work, love and quality put into every aspect of this game by Hexworks is undeniable. I am really excited to see what this developer will do with future updates and potential DLC. It also seems to have sold well enough to warrant a sequel one day, so I am very excited to see what the future of this series holds.