Hexworks has outdone themselves with another extended gameplay trailer for Lords of the Fallen, the reboot of the 2014 game of the same name. The trailer features over 17 minutes of footage, granting a look at the detailed view of Mournstead in your fight against Adyr, the demon God. Lords of the Fallen is now available for pre-order with the game releasing on October 13 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S.
The game pits you as a Dark Crusader against the enemies of Mournstead. The vicious and demonic creatures are your stepping stones to defeating Adyr, the demon God. You’ll have multiple tasks, such as to Restore Radiance to the six Beacons of the Sentinels, that weaken Adyr over time. To do that, you’ll need to roam through the areas of Mournstead in both Axiom, the land of the living and Umbral, the land of the dead.
Locations Shown in Lords of the Fallen Trailer
Three areas were explored more thoroughly in this trailer, in both planes. The locations are the same, with some differences in Umbral compared to Axiom. Most of the towns and cities in Lords of the Fallen are built vertically instead of horizontally over swathes of land. This is especially convenient for kicking enemies off ledges, which was highlighted a couple times.
- Skyrest Bridge: Early game area.
- Pilgrim’s Perch: Area built into a cliff face.
- Lower Calrath: Flaming City with bodies on stakes and corpses hanging as means of decoration.
Enemies
In Lords of the Fallen, enemies can differ between Axiom and Umbral, but bosses are consistent through both planes. Some of the enemies featured in the trailer are:
- Pieta, She of the Blessed Renewal: Early game boss with two stages. She can fly in the second stage with grand angel wings.
- Mendacious Visage: A giant rock face creature who’s only vulnerable to damage from behind or when it shows its true form, a small head with tendrils inside the larger head.
- A female enemy reminiscent of Pyramid Head: Can launch an energized blood tornado
- Spurned Progeny, Scourge of Calrath: Another boss fight, this big boy utilizes fire attacks
Something to note is that almost all bosses will have multiple stages to their fights. Fall in battle, and you’ll have to face them in the Umbral. You must slay them there or it’s game over.
Gameplay
Once you’re in Umbral, there’s only one way to get out and that’s to activate of Vestige. There are two forms of Vestiges:
- Permanent Vestige: Found throughout the Umbral
- Allows return to Axiom
- Can enlist other players for help
- Activate to level up character stats
- Vestige Seedling: Planted at flowering areas to create a rest point
- Can only have one at a time
- Resource intensive
- Allows return to Axiom
In Axiom, you may find your way forward blocked. Using your Umbral Lamp, you can peer into Umbral. This allows you to see alternate routes, as well as potential Umbral Entities that may halt your progress. Using the lamp comes with a risk, however, as Umbral inhabitants can attack you through its light.
If you find your way is blocked by an Umbral Entity, you’ll need to track its tendrils with the lamp until your find its core. The only way to proceed beyond the blockade is by uprooting it through combat.
Fighting Mechanics
Since this is a Soulslike game, fighting will be one of the main things you do. The combat in Lords of the Fallen is fast paced, thanks to the ability to choose four magic spells or skills to assign to your quick actions. Along with your standard attacks, you can use those abilities to deal large amounts of damage quickly and fluidly.
Being one of the Dark Crusaders and a Lamp Bearer comes with an additional perk, a special attack known as Soul Flay.
Soul Flay: Unleash a devastating attack by using one of your limited soul charges to pull an enemies soul out of their body a la Mortal Kombat. Out of combat, it can be used to manipulate the Umbral environment, like pulling blocks to make a bridge.
Schools of Sorcery
Along with skills and attacks, you can master up to three schools of sorcery, with each of them focusing on a different style of magic. Each school of sorcery requires a different catalyst to cast spells, meaning you may be able to master one school before even finding the catalyst to another.
- Rhogar
- Radian
- Umbral
Rhogar was explored in more detail during the trailer, with the character using it throughout a variety of fights. Rhogar controls fire, allowing you to throw flaming orbs, send out a wave of fire, or summon fire dogs to act as living flamethrowers. The last one was my particular favorite from the trailer.
There’s a lot to look forward to in Lords of the Fallen, and the wait isn’t too long now with the game release coming on October 13 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X and S.
Published: Jul 27, 2023 02:59 pm