Soulslike fans may not be getting another entry in the genre with From Software's Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon, but Lords of the Fallen is soon coming to quell their hunger.
As we draw near to the game's October 13th launch date, publisher CI Games and developer Hexworks are ramping up the marketing. Lords of the Fallen is currently featured as part of the monthly IGN First initiative, and the latest deep dive video is entirely dedicated to the Umbral Realm of Death.
When your character begins their journey, they'll be given the Umbral lamp, which is your bridge between the Realms of Axiom and Umbral. While you're in Axiom, you can open up a window into Umbral by holding up the lamp, allowing you to peer into the parallel world and potentially spot interesting differences or pathways that may provide you with clues as to where to go. Some gates may impede your progress in Axiom, but when you hold up your Lantern, you'll find that in Umbral, no such gate exists. What may be a gap between platforms in the realm of the living may have solid footing in the realm of the Dead.
Not every path can be illuminated with just a lamp, however, and eventually you will have to voluntarily pull yourself into Umbral in order to physically interact with certain objects that will allow you to find a path forward. Coming into Umbral of your own volition comes with a very significant risk, however. While in Axiom, if you die, you're able to respawn in Umbral, essentially giving yourself a second chance; but if you die in Umbral, you're actually dead and will have to do the usual Soulslike journey of retracing your steps from your last checkpoint back to the spot where you died in order to claim your lost Vigor.
The second game in the Lords of the Fallen series has been a long time coming. The first iteration (which bears the same title) launched in 2014, and a sequel was announced almost immediately for a 2017 release. However, Lords of the Fallen 2 was supposed to be developed internally, whereas the first installment was made by Deck 13. The internal development encountered many rough patches until CI Games decided to hire Defiant Studios to make the game. That partnership didn't last long, either, and the project ultimately landed in the lap of the newly established studio Hexworks, which is finally bringing the endeavor to completion.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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