If we talk about soulslike games, there is no doubt that FromSoftware’s shadow is too long. Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro and the latest hit Elden Ring represent the Olympus of the genre… but keep an eye out for The Lords of the Fallen, or Lords of the Fallen 2.
Surely you remember the excellent soulslike from CI Games, which shone in the early years of the last generation. Well, this year its sequel will arrive, by Hexworks.
A few weeks ago we were stunned by some 4K images of The Lords of the Fallen, a second part that will be five times larger than the original game. And that’s saying a lot…
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We can expect a huge world, dungeons, fearsome enemies, heart-stopping final bosses and, of course, a high level of difficulty. But, What impact will The Lords of the Fallen have after the overwhelming success of Elden Ring?
It is not an easy thing to explain. In the latest issue of EDGE magazine, the creative director of the title discusses this issue, and even reveals when development began on this sequel.
The Lords of the Fallen and their similarities with Elden Ring
Hexworks openly acknowledges this: Lords of the Fallen 2 is too similar to Elden Ring, but far from it is something intentional. Everything is explained by a question of anticipation, and that is that Hidetaka Miyazaki is very cunning.
In the EDGE interview, Creative Director Cezar Virtosu explains how the announcement, launch and subsequent success of Elden Ring was experienced at the offices of Hexworks, CI Games studio.
To start with, Virtosu opens up: ”everyone braced for shock”, regarding FromSoftware’s announcement of Elden Ring. And it is that The Lords of the Fallen 2 was already in development from before.
If there’s one thing we can say about Cezar Virtuosu, it’s that he’s an honest guy. Acknowledge that they were disappointed seeing how his ”new” weapon (the flail) appeared in the Elden Ring reveal.
“That killed us inside,” admits the creative director of The Lords of the Fallen. The same thing happened with one of the bosses in the Elden Ring (the fearsome Malenia), which looked a lot like one of the more challenging bosses in this sequel.
The question is that one of the bosses in The Lords of the Fallen is almost identical to Malenia, which also hit Hexworks hard. It is not easy to compete with a colossus like Elden Ring.
”There is some pressure, as you can imagine. People have asked, ‘Do you have horseback combat? Do they have an open world?”, says Virtosu in relation to the success of Elden Ring during the development of his game.
But all this translates into one term: admiration. Cezar Virtosu acknowledges that en Hexworks adoran a Hidetaka Miyazakiand they believe that it is the maximum reference when it comes to soulslike games.
”Miyazaki is our dad and our grandfather. Without him, we wouldn’t have a job,” Virtosu admits with a laugh.
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Apart from Virtosu’s statements, the EDGE issue also reveals new aspects of the Hexworks game, which you can learn about in this news.
The Lords of the Fallen is one of the most promising games of 2023, whose exact release date has not yet been announced. It will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X | S and PC, and it sure will be an excellent soulslike. Of that we have no doubt.
