Unveiling the Dark Secret Behind Lords of the Fallen's Flawed Adherence to Dark Souls

Highlights

Lords of the Fallen draws inspiration from Dark Souls, but its outdated jump mechanic hinders exploration in its beautifully designed world.

Players must become proficient in the challenging jump controls in order to navigate numerous platforming sections crucial for advancing in the game. However, the presence of persistent performance problems contributes to the overall frustration, as it combines jerky graphics with unpredictable controls, resulting in unintended deaths. Additionally, the game's respawn system may also result in irrevocable setbacks in progress.

Like many other Soulslike games, Lords of the Fallen draws inspiration from the impressive catalogue of titles developed by FromSoftware. Specifically, it takes a clear influence from the original Dark Souls, incorporating core elements such as combat, art direction, world design, and tone into its reboot/sequel. While aiming for the same level of quality as Dark Souls is a lofty goal that Lords of the Fallen mostly achieves, its adherence to outdated game design from twelve years ago hampers one of its strongest aspects: exploring its intricately designed world.

In Dark Souls, the ability for characters to jump was initially omitted in Demon's Souls and later added with a convoluted mechanic that required players to hold a button to dash and then tap it to execute a jump after building up momentum. This complex button sequence often resulted in accidental deaths, prompting FromSoftware to address the issue in their latest title, Elden Ring, by introducing a dedicated jump button. It is disappointing that Lords of the Fallen employs a similar outdated jump mechanic to the original Dark Souls, especially considering the beauty of its world design and the significant amount of platforming required from players.

An Abundance of Platforming Makes Lords of the Fallen's Jump Mechanic Feel Stilted

Executing Dark Souls' complex jump mechanic was tolerable because players rarely needed to jump to complete the game. While there were tempting items scattered throughout, they were optional and not crucial to finishing the game. In contrast, Lords of the Fallen incorporated a significant amount of platforming sections in its dual worlds, making mastery of the jump controls essential.

Although the jump controls in Lords of the Fallen are easier to activate compared to Dark Souls, they still fall short of the fluidity found in Elden Ring. Given the abundance of platforming required in both Axiom and Umbral, including challenging sections necessary for progressing through the main quest, a dedicated jump button would have greatly benefitted the player. Instead, the jumping controls detract from the otherwise exceptional aspect of Hexworks' impressive Soulslike: the navigation of its exquisitely designed worlds.

Lingering Performance Issues in Lords of the Fallen Make for Exacting Jumps

Lords of the Fallen suffers from outdated controls and performance issues, resulting in frustrating platforming challenges. The game occasionally stutters and experiences frame rate drops, leading to unintentional deaths. Additionally, the Umbral mechanic can cause players to respawn in impossible situations, leading to permanent loss of Vigor. While the game's adherence to Dark Souls' design has had a positive impact overall, the frustrating jump mechanic is a disappointment.

Lords of the Fallen is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.