7. Lords of the Fallen

Lords of the Fallen Gameplay

Lords of the Fallen is an action role-playing game developed by Deck13 Interactive and CI Games.  Journey through haunting environments, battling monsters, in an effort to stop a demonic invasion from a powerful god.

Play as Harkyn, a criminal with face runes that mark him as such, as you are released from prison to combat a deadly evil.  As your journey continues, you can tailor Harkyn to your own fighting style by choosing between three types of magic (brawling, deception, and solace) and three types of armor (warrior, rogue, cleric).

In the vain of Dark Souls, Lords of the Fallen utilizes hubs as centers for each act of the story.  As you progress, fight your way through multiple areas, slaying any demon in your path.  As you adventure between the demon and human realms, the line between good and evil blurs as betrayal lurks heavy in the air.  As the game takes influence heavily from Dark Souls, the relative ease of the boss fights in comparison is noticeable, finding more challenge among the fodder of the level. 

Like Dark Souls, Lords uses a checkpoint system.  However, the game goes further to build upon it and challenge the gamer.  As you progress in the story, a multiplier grows, amplifying your experience gains.  However, if you use a checkpoint or die, the multiplier resets.  Interestingly, if you can return to the place of death and avenge yourself, the reward will be epic.  They call this the risk and reward system.

As much as Lords of the Fallen borrows from Dark Souls, the game is still well on its own and is much more forgiving than the Dark Souls franchise.  In all, it delivers as an entertaining piece with excellent hack and slash combat focused on magic with a rich and dark world befitting a dark fantasy title.

Fight enemies in a format similar to Dark Souls.  Notice the HUD of Lords is pretty much the HUD from Dark Souls just shifted around.

Face off against challenging bosses that put your skills to the test.  This is not a game for the easily angered, a tone borrowed from Dark Souls.