While the dual-realm mechanic was one of the standout features of 2023's Lords of the Fallen, many, myself included, felt the Umbral world mechanics left something to be desired, adding more complications than exciting features. In the latest episode of the Lifting the Veil developer series, Lead Systems Designer Dan Rean, Game Director James Low, and Producer Alex Harkin revealed that the Umbral Realm in Lords of the Fallen II has shifted into a sort of "Umbral 2.0," becoming "bigger, bolder, and bloodier," while addressing criticism based on player feedback.
"We read the comments. We saw what people thought of Umbral in Lords of the Fallen 23 and people weren't satisfied with it," the team admitted, noting that the original iteration could sometimes "feel like a chore." A major focus for the sequel is "repairing the players relationship with Umbral," moving away from a system where players felt forced to either run through it as quickly as possible or stay in it to farm.
One of the biggest changes Lords of the Fallen II introduces to the Umbral world are the time limit mechanics. The team admits this made exploring the realm not really satisfying, which made them go with a system based on player interactivity that makes the world a "living breathing place" which feels like a "open wound." Instead of a ticking clock, the realm now reacts to the player's presence: "If you were to put your finger in an open wound, you're going to feel it. And that's the player right now... pushing that wound a bit further and further and Umbral doesn't like this."
The improved Umbral realm in Lords of the Fallen II also addresses the "limited visual variety" of the first game, introducing different biomes and new enemy types, including the new morph enemies. These enemies can transform from standard Axiom realm creatures into "horrific Umbreal abominations." These mechanics has been created based on the idea of shifting the player's mindset from a typical Soulslike to an experience closer to horror where they must always be on their toes for the unexpected.
The Lords of the Fallen II developers also teased how moving between Axiom and Umbral will change over the previous game, as players will "rip into Umbreal and rip right out of it." The veil that separates the two worlds is much thinner this time around, and Umbral will feel as an "invasive force" bleeding into Axiom, so much so that the developers wanted to make it as if the surface "could just grow teeth and just snap."
Although 2023's Lords of the Fallen had quite a few issues at launch, CI Games took criticism to heart, addressing many of them in post-launch updates that significantly improved the game. With the concept of respecting the player's time being one of the principles defining Lords of the Fallen II, and with these interesting changes to the dual-world mechanics, the next entry in the series is setting up to be one of the most interesting traditional Soulslikes to keep an eye on.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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