Bilawal Bashir 
Lords of the Fallen was released with a decent review average, but the release soon turned sour with mixed Steam user reviews.
The 2014 version of Lords of the Fallen was released to mixed reactions but nearly a decade later, the developers have shown improvement. Most reviews praise the two-realm mechanic that lets the player traverse between the world of the living and the dead. User reviews paint a different picture.
Judging by Steam reviews, Lords of the Fallen might be the worst major release in the Soulslike genre this year. The game is getting bad reviews from gamers despite getting decent scores from multiple publications. That isn’t exclusive to Steam, either.
Lords of the Fallen has an improved story from its predecessor and nails the Soulslike gameplay fans of the genre expect. The game has a lot going for it but is still getting negative reviews on not just Steam but also consoles. So why is there such divisiveness when it comes to Lord of the Fallen’s reviews and is the game ultimately worth checking out?
Is Lords of the Fallen a bad game?
Lords of the Fallen is not a bad game, and is actually a respectable Soulslike title that hits all the checkmarks of the genre.
It’s not an “Elden Ring killer,” but is an enjoyable ride. The combat flows well despite showing a bit of jank at some places. The enemies are punishing, and the game sometimes shines with its world-building. The big issue in Lords of the Fallen reviews published by gaming media is its inability to consistently pay off the struggles that define the Soulslike genre.
The first half of the game promises a grand adventure that doesn’t fully materialize in the latter half. The unique two-realm mechanic is cleverly used but can make some enemy encounters too easy. The most prominent complaint reviewers and gamers have is the overuse of mini-bosses to the point of repetition.
Some reviewers criticized the bosses as being too easy. It’s the opposite problem from another recently released Soulslike, Lies of P which had boss encounters that were so brutal they got nerfed. While it’s a flawed experience, the real issue that has pushed it into “worst Soulslike” discourse is its technical issues.
Why is Lords of the Fallen getting bad reviews?
Lords of the Fallen has severe performance issues on every platform, especially Xbox.
The game has micro-stutters on even the best of PCs, which hampers the overall experience. Slightly older PCs still well above the minimum recommended specs are also struggling with the game. Most negative Steam reviews are from gamers suffering from poor performance or facing game-breaking bugs. The game is recently released, so some hiccups are always expected.
Unfortunately, the manual troubleshooting methods that may work on PCs are completely unfollowable on consoles. The PlayStation 5 is faring better than the Xbox Series X/S, but only marginally so. Gamers on Xbox are facing slowdowns during gameplay and frequent frame drops. Sometimes, the frame rate drops as low as 15 FPS, leaving fans frustrated.
These irons may get ironed out with patches. If they do, Lords of the Fallen may pan out to be one of the best Soulslike games on the market even if the reviews are already set in stone.
