Lords of the Fallen is hard.
I say that as a Soulsborne diehard. While those games had a learning curve, they always felt fair. And I don't really know if I can use the word "hard" or "difficult" to describe those games anymore, now that I'm fluent in the gameplay. I can see how it's hard for newcomers but on their own, these games have a lot of mechanisms that allow players to make their experience easier for them, such as items, checkpoints, leveling, and so on.
Lords of the Fallen is more challenging for me than any other Souls-like to date. I don't know if I can call it fair yet; not in the same way I can call FromSoft's offerings fair. There are a lot of things working against the player in this game.
One example is the aggro range. In the Souls games, the odds are never more against you than if you find yourself engaged by multiple threats. "Pulling" enemies - wherein a player attracts the aggro of a single enemy in a group - is a good strategy to take out mobs or areas dense with enemies, slowly picking opponents off. You can do this in LotF but it's less viable because enemies aggro more easily relative to FS games.
Another element players use when pulling or dealing with multiple threats is "leashing," wherein the player runs far enough away from an enemy to lose their aggro, creating an opportunity to rally and try again. In LotF, the leash range is vastly increased. Sometimes, it's either not practical or not possible to lose some enemies' aggro range, leading to the player feeling harried in a way not present in previous Souls-likes/SoulsBorne (hereafter referred to as Souls games). Retreat is a universal component of combat strategy; having this option reduced and in some cases neutralized altogether results in a more difficult player experience.
Another example is ranged attacks. Players have a generous lock-on distance but that of enemies is even greater, so much so that it's been partially addressed with at least one patch from the developer. One of the first zones requires the player to carefully traverse a vertical labyrinth of cliffside scaffolding, making the player especially open to enemies that utilize ranged attacks, of which there is an obnoxious abundance. Many times, it's hard to even tell where the attack came from because the distance at which the enemy can target the player is so great. Other times, attacks hit the player through what one would assume is an impenetrable barrier (this being because players themselves cannot attack through said barrier; this has always been present in Souls games for the most part, but only with melee attacks. To my knowledge, magic attacks have never been able to hit players through walls or other obstacles). Add to this the frequent mixture of melee enemies attacking you while you're targeted by ranged enemies and you have a mixture that's much more challenging than previous Souls games.
A third example is the checkpoints. Bonfires in Lords of the Fallen are called Vestiges, sites where previous heroes, champions, or warriors have fallen whilst bearing the lamp that player carries with them. Players can also erect temporary Vestiges using a relatively uncommon item. This being the case, self-built vestiges are limited and can't be done at will. There are plenty of sites where this can be done but the player is unlikely to have enough to be able to do this as often as would be comfortable, forcing the player to be very deliberate and considerate about where they choose to use that item. That aside, the reusable game-provided Vestiges are far more spread out than the checkpoints of previous Souls games. This example isn't as egregious as others but it is still a challenge to navigate; death comes as easily in this game if not more so than previous Souls games and not having more plentiful checkpoints results in more time spent tediously retreading old ground to get back to where the player left off.
The last example I'll talk about before moving on is player leveling. It's relatively inexpensive to level in Lords of the Fallen but it doesn't feel as helpful as in previous Souls games. Many a player of those games found themselves stuck at an area, whether because of a skill deficit or lacking the right gear. It was feasible to get around these issues by taking the time to grind levels out and brute force those sections or bosses. With Lords of the Fallen, that strategy just doesn't feel as viable. In my experience, the leveling difference isn't significant enough to warrant grinding. With that being the case, you kind of just have to 'git gud' in Lords of the Fallen.
All of this is totally fine to me. I don't think any of this makes Lords of the Fallen a bad game. I do, however, think all of these make this game objectively harder than previous Souls games.
It could also be that I'm just bad at this game.
And I also think it's a shame it's this difficult because the world, art design, aesthetic, you name it; all of it is interesting and engaging. Every turn of the corner brings me something new to gaze at and analyze. Every door I see beckons me to open it and see what's on the other side. Every distant location is a place I look forward to exploring.
But I have to get there first. And getting there can feel woefully challenging sometimes.
And yet, I love the game so far. As I mentioned, it's absolutely beautiful to look at. Graphics aside, the art style is exactly in line with my preference. And the lore and story engage me more than I expected. Talking with NPC's is not as much a chore as it can feel in other games. There's less obscurity and more to chew on which I appreciate, as someone who would rather experience a more traditional story rather than be fed jigsaw puzzle pieces only to make clear the picture days or months after I've rolled credits. I don't have a problem with that way of storytelling but I'm glad the developers of Lords of the Fallen didn't lean as far into that aspect as they did the combat and gameplay elements.
And speaking of combat and gameplay, that, too, is also enjoyable. This is a sentiment I don't see commonly agreed upon so maybe I'm an outlier in this instance but I do like it. The heavy-handedness of swings and the punch of striking an enemy is satisfying. I also like the mechanic where blocking typically doesn't result in physical damage but instead creates "wither" damage, thus allowing a player a chance to regain the health lost. This results in blocking feeling like less a punishment than previous games.
But even with that said, it certainly feels like the developers don't want you blocking as much as they want you parrying which I can't endorse. Leaving that much of success up to the player's reaction time feels cruel. Sekiro's entire gameplay loop was based around that timing so I won't criticize that game for it but in Lords of the Fallen, it's in an odd position. It's as if the game is saying "you don't have to learn each enemy's parry timing to succeed, but...do it anyway or else it's hard." It is damned satisfying when you pull off a string of parries, though.
The last thing I'll talk about is the exploration. It's highly rewarding and is easily my favorite part of the game. Not just exploring in the goal of progressing in the game but navigating the paths and the world in general. It's easy to get lost and being slow and methodical rather than simply cruising through the game is more rewarding and increases the player's success. There is a lot to do, a lot to look at, and a lot to pick up, and all of it can be easily missed or overlooked. I have no doubt there are dozens of side paths and items I've missed, despite my tedious scrutiny of each section and area. I want to see everything in the game and I plan on doing so.
So I love it so far. I hope it continues to maintain this level of quality throughout. I think I'm less than halfway through the game so my thoughts could very well change. But right now, I'm loving it and don't want to put it down.
