I’m fighting Lords of the Fallen’s tutorial boss, the First Warden, and it’s teaching me about timing and positioning, largely by slicing me in two. Every time I make mistake either by attacking too soon or attacking too late, or positioning myself too close to the warden it’s game over. Often with a single blow.
Damn.. he must be really bad..
Although I guess I shouldn't be surprised seeing as this guy tried to play it as if it was a darksiders clone.
The french dude ( I watched his stream for some time) who has never played dark souls and tbh wasn't good at playing this game didn't have this problem with a tutorial boss..
Instead of running into fights like you might in Darksiders, Lords of the Fallen requires a more patient playstyle.
At first I wanted to exclaim: "LoF isn't supposed to be another Darksiders you dolt!" but then I realized i t s in vain anyway. Quality "game journalism".
Nice. So basically he's saying that this game is better than Dark Souls, even if he didn't want to state it explicitly. Also difficulty very similar to DS2. Very interesting review
Nice. So basically he's saying that this game is better than Dark Souls, even if he didn't want to state it explicitly. Also difficulty very similar to DS2. Very interesting review
What? No. He likes it, yes, but I didn't hear anything that would make me feel he'd think this is better than Souls. They just took solid foundation that is Souls series and added their own twists. By the looks of it they executed it successfully and he likes result. But for example he prefers the subtle way of storytelling in Souls series or no over-the-top fantasy art direction.
"The game is very similar to Dark Souls but it has more realistic, slower-paced combat that feels more meaty than in DS and where the enemies are less predictable than the ones in DS
, who always do a wind-up movement that helps you predicting their next move."
Not exactly how he said it but pretty close. That sounds to me like he's implying the game is better. At least gameplay wise
I don't know about the lore, he stated what you said but it didn't make sense to me as both games are heavy on the fantasy theme
Last edited by 4treyu on Sat, 25th Oct 2014 18:50; edited 1 time in total
"The game is very similar to Dark Souls but it has more realistic, slower-paced combat that feels more meaty than in DS and where the enemies are less predictable than the ones in DS, who always do a wind-up movement that helps you predicting their next move."
Yes and at the same time he compared it to the way FROM themselves are taking it the opposite direction - making Bloodborne game faster paced version of Dark Souls. Slower or "more realistic" does not necessarily make it better.
4treyu wrote:
I don't know about the lore, he stated what you said but it didn't make sense to me as both games are heavy on the fantasy theme
It's fantasy, yes. But it's also over the top. Huge shoulderpads, big ass two handed weapons or pointy things placed all over models without any purpose. Dark Souls in comparison is much more toned down, the models looks more natural and looks like they could actually exist in some place and time. I don't know if that makes sense to you, it's best how I can describe it
Nice. So basically he's saying that this game is better than Dark Souls, even if he didn't want to state it explicitly. Also difficulty very similar to DS2. Very interesting review
What? No. He likes it, yes, but I didn't hear anything that would make me feel he'd think this is better than Souls. They just took solid foundation that is Souls series and added their own twists. By the looks of it they executed it successfully and he likes result. But for example he prefers the subtle way of storytelling in Souls series or no over-the-top fantasy art direction.
I had the same impression as 4treyu:
Movement and combat more realistic (weapon swinging, etc.)
Less predictable enemies
More varied combat depending on enemy type (light vs heavy, etc.)
Better use of the stamina bar by adding side-mechanics like the timing bonuses
More varied mechanics (blood stain, kill streak, etc.)
He seemed to like it, which is saying a lot coming from a hardcore DS fan. Also, he doesn't like that the story is presented more straightforwardly, while I like the idea (one thing I didn't like in souls is that it doesn't really have a story, just some hints of the lore in loading screens and item descriptions).
I don't think we will ever agree on the interpretation of what he said about the gameplay. All-in-all he also sounded to me as overdefending (don't know if this is a proper term) the game.
Now, regarding the lore/story thing I'll have to trust you on this, I'm not that experienced in RPGs to tell the differences in the fantasy aspect based on shoulder pads and pointy things
its all down to personal preference, i for one dont welcome a combat system where its almost impossible to efficiently dodge attacks.
what i love in souls games is that if you are good enough yourself, you dont even need to rely on shitloads of experience points to level up everything but can also beat enemies through skill.
this game seems to rely on your stats and armor more, forcing you to upgrade and not giving your own skill as much importance.
that said it looks very good and seems to be a well executed "souls-like", looking forward to it
yea art-style and atmosphere-wise its definitely nowhere near souls, but the gameplay is the most important aspect, if that clicks, then it ll be a great game still.
yea art-style and atmosphere-wise its definitely nowhere near souls, but the gameplay is the most important aspect, if that clicks, then it ll be a great game still.
RPS did a preview of the game which might give some insight into gameplay.
Rock Paper Shotgun Feature In this WORLD even CAPITAL LETTERS go ROGUE
The PREVIEW we WROTE about LORDS of the FALLEN
By Rich Stanton on October 24th, 2014 at 3:00 pm.
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I’m not usually one to judge a book by its cover, so to speak, but the capitalisation of LORDS of the FALLEN just has me tickled. It suggests we should shout the first word but then drop to a whisper and, when listeners are lulled into a false sense of security, scream the last syllables like a BANSHEE. If you’re thinking ‘only an angry nutter would do that’ then welcome, my genteel friend, to LORDS of the FALLEN.
I wouldn’t normally open with a screenshot of a loading screen but just hark at Harkyn, the gravel-chomping hero of LORDS of the FALLEN. He is PISSED. Someone’s written all over his face, so I guess you would be? Harkyn’s so angry he shouts WHY SHOULD I CARE at NPCs chatting away and screams with guttural rage at moments of triumph, as if the mere thought of happiness is an AFFRONT. At one point an old man asked Harkyn’s advice on dealing with a poisoned hand. CHOP IT OFF was the obvious reply and, when the chap hesitated, Harkyn did the job for him. These LORDS may be FALLEN but, if anger is any indicator of strength, they are also FUCKED.
All this bluster may be a cunning way of differentiating LotF from its obvious inspiration, Fromsoft’s much more understated Souls series. And ‘inspiration’ is putting it kindly. This is a thirdperson combat game with a loose medieval-fantasy vibe where the system is built around a health and stamina bar, and on death you leave behind a ‘ghost’ containing experience that has to be re-collected. You can parry attacks, roll to dodge them, drink potions refilled at checkpoints, and innumerable other familiar details.
The sheer quality of the Souls games meant that such mimicry was inevitable, and so it’s to LotF’s credit that it does innovate a little. The combo system has an element of timing swings perfectly, for example, which makes them use less energy and with certain weapons is essential to trigger the most damaging strikes. You can also charge attacks by holding the key, which uses more energy but deals more damage and can send enemies flying.
The feel of combat is also distinct, surprisingly so given how much it borrows, with encounters neither as deadly nor as fast as those in any Souls game. The key tactic for Souls, in my opinion, is never getting hit – which makes mastering how to roll an essential skill. LotF features three different rolling speeds (as in Souls) but the slower pace of battles means that even the fastest roll feels sluggish by comparison – and anyway, blocking is much more viable and your dude can take more of a beating. I cannot emphasise this aspect enough: in Souls you can be wearing the fanciest armour in the game, and still get slaughtered by a guy in a loincloth with a pointy stick. Here the minor enemies feel much more like cannon fodder, doing relatively little damage and easy to dispatch with random swinging.
What all this adds up to is a kind of Souls-lite combat system where the elements are the same but something’s slightly off about the rhythm. This may very well be to do with the fact that the preview build had only the first location in the game to wander around in, so obviously the enemies are going to be weaker than what’s to come. But even then the bosses were something of a disappointment. Both had a tower shield gimmick that meant you had to wait for their attacks, get a swing in, then back off and do the same until they were dead – maybe I’m missing something but I couldn’t find another tactic. Things got even worse when trying to do them using the dual-wieldable weapons, which depend on your building up a perfect combo to deal out a third super-damaging strike, because the window to get hits in was too small for that strike to ever happen. This was particularly disappointing because the Souls games allow such divergent playstyles to work – pretty much any weapon can be used to defeat any enemy, and your approach to the huge bosses can be either super-cautious or all-out. Here it seemed like there was one strategy to pwn them all.
This may well turn out different in the final game, and I’m certainly hoping to eat my words, because although LotF doesn’t make a great first impression there’s certainly room for a more arcadey take on what the Souls games do. And it has several smart design choices that could develop into something great – the ‘perfect strikes’ idea adds a tactical layer to dual-wielding in particular, and I never got tired of charging up heavy attacks with a giant sword.
LotF alters ideas like the ‘bloodstain’ in small but clever ways – in the Souls games, when you die a bloodstain remains at that spot containing your acquired souls. This is cool as it is, but in LotF your ‘ghost’ will fade over time, meaning you have to get back to it as quickly as possible to get all the experience back – and before it has been collected the ghost acts as a minor but noticeable healing AoE spell. So if you die at a boss, for example, you can forego collecting your ghost immediately to have some automatic healing for a while.
The best idea, by far, is how the experience multiplier works. Basically the more enemies you kill, the higher your XP multiplier will go – but this multiplier gets reset at a checkpoint when you ‘bank’ your XP into the status screen. So this encourages somewhat risky play, and also means that the further you travel without checkpointing the further you’ll have to travel to get that ghost if you die. LotF (like Souls) doesn’t have a difficulty setting so this is a great way of allowing players to establish their own challenge threshold within the game – and even though I was playing in a relatively small area, I did find it eventually making me more careful against even the cannon fodder.
So the early verdict on LotF is mixed. It suffers enormously from a straight comparison with Souls – everything from the combat’s immediacy to the aesethetics to the way it delivers narrative is much less to my tastes. But they’re also much more different games than it first appears. It may well be that you’re one of those who found Dark Souls’ lack of a narrative through-line disappointing (heathen!), or perhaps wanted a more forgiving combat system, and in that case LotF may well deliver. What interests me is where it goes after this opening. If LotF can amp up its challenge and introduce more interesting enemy types then, along with that clever XP system, there’s hope. But if it sticks with this slightly rote and slow take on combat throughout it’s on a hiding to nothing. Check back next week to find out Wot I Think of the full thing.
Anyone know if you get the keys at Plati.ru only at release or when you purchase the game?
As there is no region lock yet for the games:
https://steamdb.info/sub/51010/
And a key costs only like 13$
Enthoo Evolv ATX TG // Asus Prime x370 // Ryzen 1700 // Gainward GTX 1080 // 16GB DDR4-3200
Generally you get keys at a release date, however, for some reason, rpg-market has started sending out keys already (check comments there). I got them from this vendor too.
The console version is being sold already so there's probably several user created reviews and videos available already although if you meant professional reviews it's probably under a NDA until a specific date.
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