Baptism by Shadow: Learning to Love Lords of the Fallen

Stepping into Lords of the Fallen as someone who doesn’t usually play Soulslike games is a strangely exhilarating experience. It feels a bit like wandering into a cathedral built for giants: everything is imposing, everything echoes, and everything seems designed for people who know a ritual you’ve never learned. Yet there’s something magnetic about it, a pull that comes from the game’s sheer confidence in its world. From the moment you take your first steps through its gothic ruins, you can sense that this is a place with history, menace, and a kind of dark beauty that’s hard to resist. Even if you’re not a veteran of punishing action RPGs, the atmosphere alone pulls you in until you want to stay, to explore, and to see whether you can rise to the challenge it quietly lays at your feet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI9ID7BLqqw

The game takes place in a world that once defeated a god, the demon god Adyr to be precise, also known as the Fallen. Long ago, humanity rose up, sealed him away, and built a religion around keeping him imprisoned. That victory shaped the entire world, its politics, and its faith.

But now, centuries later, Adyr’s influence is returning. His followers are stirring, corruption is spreading, and the boundary between the living world (Axiom) and the nightmarish realm of the dead (Umbral) is thinning.

You play as a Lampbearer, a warrior chosen to carry a magical Umbral Lamp that lets you shift between these two realms. Your mission is simple in theory: travel across the land, defeat Adyr’s resurrected lieutenants, and stop his return.

You’re not a chosen hero in the traditional sense. You’re more like a last‑ditch effort, a vessel sent to finish a job that should have stayed finished. The lamp you carry is both a blessing and a curse: it gives you power, but it also exposes you to the horrors of Umbral, a realm filled with restless souls, parasitic creatures, and the remnants of Adyr’s influence.

The game’s world is the first thing that truly grabs you. It’s visually stunning in a way that borders on theatrical, with towering cathedrals, decaying battlements, and fog‑drenched forests that feel alive with threat. The art direction is so meticulously crafted that even as a newcomer, you feel compelled to push forward just to see what the next area looks like. That sense of curiosity becomes a powerful motivator, especially when the game’s difficulty starts to bare its teeth.

Combat, as expected from the genre, is deliberate and demanding. As someone not very accustomed to Soulslike rhythms, I initially approached fights with the reflexes of a typical action‑game player, which the game punished immediately. But once I slowed down and started treating each encounter like a puzzle rather than a brawl, something clicked. Enemies telegraph their attacks clearly, and while they hit brutally hard, they rarely feel unfair. The game becomes a stern but patient teacher, nudging you to observe, adapt, and eventually overcome. Every victory feels earned, and every defeat feels like a lesson rather than a punishment.

The standout mechanic and the one that defines Lords of the Fallen is the dual‑realm system. You exist in Axiom, the “normal” world, but can shift into Umbral, a grotesque, nightmarish reflection of reality. Umbral is visually fascinating, full of writhing organic structures and eerie, corpse‑like architecture, but it’s also where the game becomes significantly more dangerous. The tension of exploring a beautiful world while knowing you can slip into a hostile parallel dimension at any moment gives the game a unique identity. It’s a constant push‑and‑pull between curiosity and dread, and it keeps exploration feeling fresh and unpredictable.

Speaking of exploration, the game’s world design rewards attention and persistence. There’s no glowing waypoint or hand‑holding quest log; instead, you’re left to piece together routes, shortcuts, and secrets on your own. At first, this can feel disorienting, especially if you’re used to a more linear, guided experience. But over time, the sense of discovery becomes one of the game’s greatest strengths. Finding a hidden path or unlocking a shortcut feels genuinely satisfying, as though you’ve earned a deeper understanding of the world rather than simply following instructions.

Boss fights are where the game truly flexes its muscles. They’re massive, grotesque, and beautifully animated, each one a spectacle in its own right. For someone new to the genre, these encounters can feel overwhelming. Every attempt teaches you something like a pattern, a weakness, a moment of opportunity so when you finally triumph over these gigantic enemies, the sense of accomplishment is immense.

As you defeat Adyr’s resurrected generals and uncover the truth behind the church, you’re forced to decide what kind of future the world deserves. The game has multiple endings depending on how you interpret the world’s history and who you choose to side with.

It’s not a simple “good vs. evil” narrative and it’s more like “which flawed ideology do you trust the most.”

Performance‑wise, the game has improved since launch, though it still has occasional rough edges even when playing on a decent PC. Minor frame dips, odd hitboxes, and the occasional janky enemy animation can break immersion, but they’re not frequent enough to overshadow the overall experience. The ambition of the world and mechanics is clear, even if the execution isn’t always as flawless.

Pros

• Stunning gothic world design with rich atmosphere

• Unique dual‑realm mechanic that adds depth and tension

• Fair, readable combat that rewards learning rather than reflexes

• Satisfying exploration with meaningful secrets and shortcuts

• Boss fights that feel epic and rewarding

• A surprisingly accessible entry point for Soulslike newcomers

Cons

• Difficulty spikes may frustrate players unused to the genre

• Navigation can feel confusing without traditional guidance

• Occasional performance issues and janky animations

• Some hitboxes and enemy behaviours feel inconsistent

• The Umbral realm can become overwhelming for new players

Lords of the Fallen is the kind of game that quietly challenges your assumptions about what you’re capable of. Coming into it without a Soulslike background, I expected frustration, maybe even resignation due to the challenge, but what I found instead was a strangely empowering rhythm of learning, adapting, and overcoming. The game’s world is harsh, but it’s also generous in its own way, offering beauty, mystery, and a sense of accomplishment that grows with every step you take. It doesn’t soften its edges for newcomers, yet it never feels hostile; it simply asks you to meet it halfway. By the end, I felt not just that I had beaten a difficult game, but that I had grown into the kind of player who could. And for someone outside the genre, that transformation is its own reward.

XPN Rating: 4 out of 5 (GOLD)

Lords of the Fallen is Available Now!