Lords of the Fallen

Players welcome the idea. One copy covers two players, progress carries over for both, and nobody has to resummon a partner after every boss. "The coop is infinitely better than any other soulslike game," one player wrote, and another said "Absolutely blew me away when a game studio just lets your friends download the game for free just to play together."

The complaints are about how it works in practice. Guests cannot pick up flask and lamp upgrade items, trade for boss weapons and spells, socket runes or respec. They cannot open most doors, chests or shortcuts, talk to quest NPCs, or wander far before being teleported back to the host. "Friends Pass should be LIMITED FRIENDS PASS, didn't advertise correctly." "The Co-Op feature feels more like a short leash than teamwork." Setup trips up some pairs: both players have to set the same password, the host has to choose Beckon Player rather than Beckon Friend, and some pairs who joined through a Steam invite found out later that nothing had been shared. Reviews from the first weeks after 2.0 report shared-progression lag and a bug that stopped guests from sprinting or climbing ladders. A few were later edited to say the desync had been fixed, while one co-op player described a stutter every few seconds once the shared save grew large: "The hardest boss in the game for co op play is the autosave." Co-op also flattens the difficulty, since a revived partner comes back with full healing. Reviews from late July 2026 blame a patch for breaking Friend's Pass saves with a "full game saves are not supported" error; some were later edited to say a follow-up patch fixed it, while others still reported the problem in mid-August.

Reviews that Steam marks as written by players who got the game for free (931 of them, a group that includes Friend's Pass guests) are 50% positive, against 72% overall. Guest limits come up in 10% of the free-copy reviews, against 4% of the rest.

Fans compare it to Soul Reaver: raise the lamp and a missing bridge appears, cross into Umbral and the level changes around you, die once and you get a second chance in Umbral instead of a game over. Players enjoy the lamp puzzles, the visions of past events and the growing pressure as enemies spawn faster the longer you stay. "I really liked the Umbral mechanic."

Over a full run, many find it tiring. Umbral is grey and muffled, enemies keep respawning, the same handful of Umbral creatures appear in every area, and puzzle solutions mostly come down to checking Umbral. Some enemies are tied to parasites that keep healing them until you burn the parasite away with the lamp. Because more loot and paths exist on the Umbral side, some players stayed there for most of the game and lost the better-looking real world. "Umbral was so tiring by the end of the game." "Staying in the umbral world is better than the real world." Complaints about Umbral turn up more often in negative reviews than in positive ones.

Some like that the story is told more directly than in FromSoftware games, through dialogue and Umbral visions, and enjoy its grim satire of religious fanaticism and its three faction endings. Others call the writing edgy and generic, find the voice acting uneven (accents that clash with the setting), and dislike that some item lore stays hidden unless you have enough Radiance or Inferno stat.

The endings draw the most specific criticism. In the Radiant ending's final fight you kill marked minions until the boss bar empties: "Not a boss, just you going around killing actual level 1 enemies around the arena until the boss hp reaches 0." "Wow, it has been a while since I have seen such lame last boss." The endings themselves are short and some lack cutscenes. Reviewers say 2.5 changed the final fight, and some co-op players then hit bugs in it: "Game is bugged as hell on 2.5 update, had to kill the last boss 3 times".

Souls newcomers often describe it as a gentler entry to the genre, with fair bosses and a relaxed pace. Experienced players say most bosses fall on the first or second try, that the real danger is mobs and ambushes, and that co-op makes boss fights trivial. Some who played before 2.0 think the rebalance went too far: "It was a challenge then now its a walk in the park." "Great game, great update, but for the love of god make it harder again."

Veteran mode, added in 2.5, splits experienced players in turn. "Just beat it on the newer Veteran difficulty and it was probably the hardest I've ever played." Another player wrote, "Even veteran mode(hard mode) is easy", and others say it mostly adds projectiles and damage. Some players find the last third harder than the rest, with spongy enemies and crowded fights.

Some say 2.0 fixed the old sluggishness, with weighty heavy weapons, good hit sounds and a parry that rewards timing. "Combat is great. It feels impactful and responsive." Even some negative reviews concede it: "The game runs well and the combat is really smooth for a non-fromsoft title".

Critics describe floaty swings, extra attacks queued from button presses, rolls that go the wrong way, characters snagging on small bits of terrain, enemies that track and slide into you, and poise that varies from enemy to enemy. "combat is extremely floaty," one player wrote in 2026.

Fans compare the world to Dark Souls 1: areas loop back to the hub, distant landmarks show where you have been, and shortcuts connect levels in clever ways. One wrote that "this game has some of the best world/level design in the genre".

Critics find the same structure exhausting. Areas are vertical and look alike, the mid-game caves and mines drag, there are so many shortcuts and one-way doors that the map gets harder to read, and narrow wooden walkways turn exploration into platforming. "Basically, the exploration in Lords of the Fallen isn't fun." "The game has around 4 doors that actually open when you push them."

Some bought it on sale for around $20 or €20 and call it a steal. Others recommend it only at a discount and not at full price. "TLDR: Buy on sale and experience it once". A few object to the paid Dark Crusader starting class.

Before a 2025 patch, reviewers say, invaders could enter co-op sessions and the only defense was a consumable item. Reviews from that time describe high-level invaders one-shotting characters who had barely left the starting area. "Let me disable forced PvP and ill make it a positive review, I just want to play with friends and chill." "The forced Crimson Rituals kill it."

Reviews dated late July 2025 report the patch that made invasions optional. Co-op players welcomed it, and those who liked PvP did not: "It was already pretty mid , but now they kill invasions." One PvP fan complained that with invasions off by default, matchmaking takes longer.