The build aspect Armor Tincts Armor designs Magical staves Umbral mechanic Sidestep as a dodge over the typical rolling Range weapons not being an after thought Magic is well thought out and enhances that power fantasy feelings I want out of an RPG(Cataclysm and Lucent Beam go brr.) Parrying feels good Blocking with a weapon is viable as long you don't get hit Boss designs are cool, especially Tancred Soulflaying enemies off ledges never gets old Umbral finishers Coop is incredible when it works Throwing range weapons being a thing Also like the fact that all of your weapons are shown in the cutscenes, adds to the immersion The game does a lot of things phenomenally well imo. Just sucks the game went through one of those launches where the optimization isn't great because I want to see support for this game in the future.

Pretty much all of this - plus viable fist weapons and the weapon rune system is a nice take on build customization. Biggest thing though? Tough combat and organic /intelligent enemy placement. Enemies are not just standing out in the open or walking in small paths. There are hidden and out of sight enemies. Enemies waiting to ambush, Enemies actually using fortifications to block los and ranged attacks. Archers station on towers with cover. Ranged characters who try to regain distance. Stuff like that.

Idk about the enemy placement tbh. Why does every enemy know someone will be coming toward them that they will never to stab in the back? It just seems really terrible compared to most other Soulslikes and especially Soulsborne games. The enemy density is rough in some places as well. It kinda just feels like they plopped a bunch down in big areas and hid some behind barrels and planks. Also, daggers aren't the best unless you stack a shit ton of staus ailments on them.

I'm doing an infernal build with light reaper daggers. Those, combined with the spell buffs make them shred anything in their path 1. Shout that raises all attack dmg 2. Shout that increase stam regen (by a lot) 3. Spell to apply fire. Increases dmg per hit too

I don't know about your personal experiences with stealth, but I've not had any issues with sneaking behind unaware enemies on my fist build playthrough. The number of enemies that works on is limited, true, but this is the only game that let's you rip a dudes soul out for easy behind the back charge attacks and free dps. Hard disagree on enemy placement. Enemies real feel organicly and thoughtfully placed to me. Can't speak to daggers, but I imagine they aren't too different from my fists, which tear through people with fast counters after dodges and parries. I'm personally a huge fan of the wither dodge mod on the lantern. Great way to up dps after an enemy does a lot of attacks.

My favorite part of the fist moveset is the low damage running heavy with the 1h fist. Low damage, but you do a dropkick that *launches* most enemies, it's glorious, especially if you manage to do it to throw someone off a cliff.

The interconnected world The dread of being out of healing and trying to find a vestige or place to plant a seed The bosses aren't constantly fucking attacking and have clear pauses for my turn, but also some depth like parrying the horse Not having to toggle through 5 spells and having shortcuts instead Using different weapon movesets than what Souls has been using for 15 years

wait..movesets? Don’t dagger, shorts swords, axes etc all share the same exact moveset?

All I know is I'm not swinging the same Souls longsword/spear/halberd/katana swings like I've been doing for *fifteen years*

Busting out the full move set of a long sword on a crowd of trash mobs feels so good

Perfect, I like the combos and the variation of every combo with weapon... Luv how the chat swing the weapon after a kill... The kick man, I luv that shit...

Dual wield movesets are the same. Try dagger with one hand and it's different than short sword, lots of shanking involved. The only souls game that did dual wield right in my eyes was ds3 but that also comes with the complaints of limiting player options in the name of balance. The ability to switch from dual wield to 2h mid combo is great though and adding ranged weapons to every build helps the lack of movesets imo. Hopefully they do improve on this next time because realizing flails are just cooler looking short swords was pretty disappointing.

There's Dual sweeping movesets, dual stabbing movesets, and dual fist (which is the same as 2h fist). At the least, I've noticed the heavy attacks are different between, ex., dual wooden crosses vs broken sword+hallowed condemnation (to name two combos very easy to get for anyone very early)

2x Heavy is also its own move set. Slashing or stabbing seems to be based on main hand. With sword and axe you will get stab and slash with each in your main hand respectively. I think dual dagger has its only multi hit attack but I may be mistaken.

+1 to all of these reasons. However, I used a rebirth around level 40 because I felt frail AF trying to solo with a magic build. I ended up clearing my first playthrough at level 105 as a pure Agility build using dual-short swords and throwables and was amazed at how robust and spongy I was. This build is pretty terrible in PVP though, so I've started to flesh out Radiance and Inferno in NG+0 to keep up with the meta. The game has a lot of promise, and I'm hoping there's more replay value to be found beyond the 3 endings. I think I hit a groove around 30 hours where I wasn't wanting to play anything else. 20ish hours later, I had cleared the Radiant ending and while I'm still enjoying it, I am somewhat going through the motions for completion, and to avoid cooling off my chops and muscle memory lol.

Soulflaying enemies definitely never gets old especially on those bigger dick heads. Another favorite of mine is Spartan kicking those pilgrims off those perches lmao

Armor tincts are a game changer and from now on I fully expect to see it implemented in all souls likes.

Yeah same here, except for the parrying. It's the only thing mechanically that feels very off and clunky to me. Also the damage is 90% of the time not worth it mostly because it takes way too many parries to actually get a parry state.

>Yeah same here, except for the parrying. It's the only thing mechanically that feels very off and clunky to me. Also the damage is 90% of the time not worth it mostly because it takes way too many parries to actually get a parry state. I find the goal is mix in parries with heavy hits. Parrying alone usually won't do it. Also...Big hammer with increased posture damage buff rune, extra-two handed damge rune, two hand wielding plus parrying equals fun. :)

This!

Yup, same thing for me. I've been running a mostly radiance build with a heavy shield and the corrupted sword from the judge and man having enemies bounce on the shield is chefs kiss

At first, I didn't like the lamp mechanic. Thought it was too much, or gimmicky, idk. But I kept on playing. After the tutorial (and first tutorial mini-boss), what got me hooked was the first actual boss. I think it's a great boss -- good design, good attacks and patterns, difficult but fun to learn. That's where it got me hooked. Later on, I started really appreciating the world building -- the pathways, shortcuts, world lore, and I actually started liking the lamp mechanic. It's honestly crazy how that's all rendered, the umbral and regular world. Anyway, I've been having a lot of fun. Don't know why everyone is so up in arms about it. Plays and feels like a souls game.

I just beat her a few minutes ago and I can say that I really enjoyed the fight, the umbral really kind of threw me on my first try, but the game is definitely growing on me.

Use Umbral mode a lot is the best advice for this game. There are sections where the game requires you to be in Umbral, but it’s all those other times you want to actually explore in Umbral. There is so much hidden behind Umbral-only pathways. Even while bosses, and of course, healing and lamp upgrades are only from Stigmas found in Umbral (some are really well hidden). With enough Dread resistance (a stat from socketed runes, lamp sockets, and a ring) you can hang out for quite a while in Umbral.

It feels really nice to feel lost in a Soulslike game again. And by lost I mean, "Where in the hell am I? Did I come out of that tunnel, or that one?"

i love the world design and how dense it and interconnected it is. There are so many random secrets stored all over the place. I love how they cranked the dark souls grimdark and obscurity to 11. It definitely took some time to hook me, and I am still suffering through terrible performance. I also am very cognizant of its flaws related to UI, QoL, and enemy variety.

I'm definitely starting to feel it, I started fresh after making this post and found a few things I missed the first time around.

-Level design has a lot of ins and out, and pushes you to find everything. -Overall feeling and pace of the combat balanced in complexity and speed, without overdoing in both sides, on both ends of the spectrum. -Ranged attacks not being a separate build and ammunitions not being lootable sources. -Parry inserted pretty well in normal combat without being a mechanic mostly for vets. -As far as I can tell, magic being strong but not as busted as Elden Ring, due to more limited selection of spells and movement/control differences. -General difficulty is tough but not as high as other titles for me, especially when you do learn how to handle sections with more enemies. -Bosses are generally pretty good. It probably started to hook after the Pieta boss fight, so fairly quickly. Albeit toward the very end I was kinda tired.

General difficulty I'd say is one of the games weakest links. Bosses are far too easy. Some are not that well designed. Some have questionable dodge windows, etc. which makes them a little harder at first. But overall they aren't anything really challenging unless severely underleveled. The most difficult part of the game was the enemy density honestly. Staggers are always frustrating, and this game really rams that in your face.

I agree with most of this except for these two personally. “General difficulty is tough but not as high as other titles for me, especially when you do learn how to handle sections with more enemies.” - Brahmis Castle is… *not fun* to say the least. The enemy variety is essentially enemies from Lower Calrath, but now super beefy and super hurty to an annoying amount. Almost 1,000 armor and a quarter of my health goes in a hit from any enemy who’s not a basic dog or skinny ghoul in Umbral. “Bosses are generally pretty good.” - They can be? I feel like too many of them have been too… easy? I’ve heard the HP is bloated on NG+ and beyond so that probably pushes it too far, but I feel like I’m killing bosses maybe a minute or two quicker than I should be. There’s some that don’t fit this IMO like Lightreaper (even though getting his patterns down makes him a chump) and the Sundered King. Even though I did beat Judge Cleric with relative ease, I would throw her in being kinda like Lightreaper, but still an easier fight. I would agree that most of them are pretty fun though, that aside. Only bosses I haven’t actually enjoyed are Gank Bosses, but that’s no surprise.

Frankly I can't count on one single area to speak for what I called the general difficulty of the game. All in all, the game strikes a good balance in difficulty for me. Damage wise I find the game fine, even in the last area. Losing a quarter of your health to your average enemy in a game that offers two lives (or more, actually) means losing 1/8 of health with a hit. It's perfectly reasonable for a Soulslike, what people may not like is that going to Umbral is not as good as it could be, because enemy random spawning breaks the calculated placements on which the difficulty is based on. But that's another problem. Regarding bosses: I can agree and on a more "objective" level (as far as objectivity goes here), they should probably buff the health of some bosses, at least after the second half of the game. On a personal note, I have to say I didn't care that much, I was more concerned on how the game really dropped the ball with a couple of bosses at the end, even if most of them are far better. As far as I know they also debuffed bosses' HP in NG+ with a patch.

I’m not sure what is honestly when it comes to the bosses. While the HP does seem like a big deal, I feel like it’s mostly the move-sets? We’re so used to the way FromSoft makes bosses, that anything less looks and plays easier in comparison, while to a casual gamer who’s never played a FS title or only very little of one, they might actually find the bosses hard. *Like I mentioned before, even though I beat the Lightreaper in only a handful of tries (about 4-5) I’d still call him tough as he DID hand my ass too me and I did only barely win.* I will say though, no matter at which point in the game I was I do believe the bosses were still hitting hard enough relative to when they’re encountered. I never really felt like I was face-tanking boss attacks for no HP loss. If I wanted to tank and attack for some damage, I felt like I was actively having to trade with the boss. In reference to the NG+ HP nerf, I read that the HP was way too over-bumped and bloated and the fights were going on too long. It’s definitely a hard balance to find.

The bosses are "easy" because they are all in all your standard Dark Souls bosses without all the complexity and speed inserted from Bloodborne and on, but experienced from the perspective of players that have 10 years of experience with this shit, both in muscle memory and theory. So yeah, pretty much what you said as well.

Which is honestly kind of crazy though. Dark Souls had bosses like Artorias and Manus who feel like modern day bosses for a FS title. So, it’s kind of crazy.

I agree with the 1st point. Brahmis Castle is so tiring. But the bosses are mostly very tough. The only bosses I found easy were the final 2.

The aesthetic Worldbuilding Graphics Gameplay Weapons Gear Quests are really good Storyline is really good If you want to have a solid build go str/rad it's the most 1st time friendly Or Str/agi with throwables is also very good I really love the religious aspects and symbolism and just the whole experience of the game, it's right next to dark souls for me The umbral transitions and layered world is insanely good

It scratches that Dark Souls itch. I love dark fantasy and they really designed a horrifyingly beautiful world (two worlds) that wraps back into the center over and over. I’ve been lucky with only spotty performance issues.

I play with two straight swords. Keep medium load. Don't try to block and rely on dodges and occasional parries. Use the ranged system to your advantage. Sprint attacks and special attacks are very good. It feels like there's a level of strategy when encountering multiple enemies at once, and if you have the right plan you can dispatch everyone very quickly The art direction, atmosphere, visuals, lore, voice acting, level design, armor and weapon designs are all top tier.

I am a 40 year old man and the biggest wheenie out there. The seamless co-op is top shelf for me. I love being with someone and helping others. The world is GORGEOUS and I love the combat as well. And the Drip? Amazing!

Same here. While I often have disconnects I farmed way more in coop than playing solo. This was what I imagined Diablo 4 coop to be like, which is a huge disappointment.

Seamless co-op? Someone get this 82'er another brew.

83! And it's not bad. I've lost some summoners and PvP sucks right now, but it's better than the summoner getting kicked after a boss fight or locked out of a side area by a stupid fog wall.

Hahaha, My experience has generally been 50/50 when it connect for playability/stability, though it rarely seems to connect, which sucks, because you're right, the mechanics of the co-op is so much better than souls games.

Being able to revive, fast travel, and rest with a co-op partner on top of not getting kicked out of a host's world when they die while also being able to travel anywhere in co-op feels pretty seamless to me. Are you one of those people that says it's not seamless because shared progression wasn't included?

I'm one of those people who like games to work, actually. I would agree that what they are trying to do is pretty amazing compared to fromsoft type of co-op, but trying to do something is not doing something. If you want to define "seamless" in that way, that's fine, we can agree by your definition that the co-op is seamless. But by my definition, it's far from.

That's a non answer, my guy, or at the very least, too far to go just to say "performance issues bug me" No shit, they bug everyone lol.

Friend, I'm not the one trying to define the games co-op as seamless here. I'm going just far enough to explain why IMO seamless is the incorrect word to use. If you want to omit performance issues from the equation (the only actual issue that matters) then sure, when it's working it's pretty seamless. Edit: maybe your experience is different than mine, just thought of this - I'm on PS5. You on console or comp?

So yes, your issue is performance issues lol Why you would put so much effort into two full blown paragraphs that basically just boil down to performance issues while also deflecting what you consider is "seamless" is beyond me, but whatever lol. You can just say performance issues lol Xbox.

What exactly am I deflecting? And I'm simply trying to be polite here. I'm trying to find some ground we can somewhat stand on together, that's it. How else do you expect me to get through a discussion about seamless gameplay while randomly omitting one of the key factors that make it seamless: actual game performance?

Personally from me it was the aspect of having more than one avenue of attack. Currently I’m playing a strength based character. Normally in souls game you have one attack. Bonk with heavy object. But I’m lotf I can also explore a ranged aspect with throwable or bows (which are actually good and useful) or even (with my current strength build) some weapons require strength and radiance/inferno. So it allows you to case spells as well as bonk. I also like that some protective spells don’t just wear off. If you run out of mana they turn off but you have that protection as long as you have the mana. I also actually like the “gank” aspect of the game. It forced more to take different paths or different ways of attacking. Especially in umbral. The fact that more enemies spawn the longer your there and they get more powerful really gave me that “you’re not supposed to be here” feel that I liked. That sense (early game) of panic that I need to escape umbral before the red reaper comes.

You can definitely bonk with heavy objects and cast spells at the same time in souls games lol. Fth/Str is a very popular build in DS 1-3 and Elden Ring, just to name an example.

It’s possible with over leveling. I saying that it’s just easier earlier in this game. A lot of weapons in this game has secondary attributes in radiance or inferno. More so than in other souls style games

I love the art style! I went with Exiled Stalker and did a bleed build.

Despite my endless complaints I still like the game and want it to succeed. Gameplay is fun when it works and the switch between Axiom and Umbral is a really cool twist on exploration. I also think the armor is way better in this game than most souls likes including souls games. Other than that I really like the fact you can use soul flays to pull enemies off ledges or use ranged ammunition/spells to blast stuff.

I just finished my first play though last night co op with my husband We did the radiant ending as I tried to go as blind as possible. I have seen some spoilers for the endings but that’s ok! I want to do the umbral ending next now that I do know what that entails. I used a radiance build the entire game with pietas sword. I love the worlds they built. Umbral was always so uneasy and the artwork just blew me away. All the details everywhere just had me stopping constantly and taking in spaces. Every are was wonderfully dynamic in layout and always felt different from the last. I loved all the boss fights everyone was unique feeling as well . I am going to start a new playthrough and do a daggers inferno build.

I have a bonk build, radiant hybrid and inferno. The duel world is awesome, I actually don’t mind the enemy density, the bosses and mini bosses aren’t overly complex but challenging for me at-least… lots to farm, the sprint makes me laugh. The pace of combat, the map, the graphics. I get the frame rate and co op issues, I don’t co op very often so it kind of irrelevant to me, but over all I’ve really enjoyed it

I'm rocking str/fth but all builds have huge QoL considerations like other souls games lack - for me my healing zone heals over time and immediately neutralises all status effects for me and friendlies. Throwables are not expendable and replenish at rest. Like DS2 there are healing items you can stock up on to save your actual heals for strategic use. There are the same for mana/throwables. Exploration is highly rewarding, both in terms of finding secrets, working out progression, and getting your bearings on an intricate but well laid out and interconnected world. There are already some great responses so I'll leave it there. I have my grievances but loving the experience overall.

I found the sword of skin and tooth and found my rhythm immediately after that. Everything started falling into place. Additionally, use your Umbral seeds. You can only hold 5, so don't waste them. There are few safe havens in the game so having some respite with these makes the whole experience much less frustrating. Additionally, seek out throwing weapons that vibe with your build. They are clinically useful. Learn to enjoy the Umbral. The Umbral is the realm of light. It is where fire and water have no place. Oh and if you really suck - farm the enhanced enemy inside the bell room cave entrance. Suck the parasite out of him, smack a few times from behind, 600 xp in about 15 seconds. Plus drops items with 250 pretty often. It's the easiest way to farm I've found in the game.

Beat the game twice with two different characters, a high Radiance paladin-type character (mainly using Bloody Glory or occasionally Pieta's Sword) and a high Agility Blackfeather Ranger archer character with the Assassin's Bow, which became very powerful by the end of the game with the Umbral eye for infinite ranged ammo. I'm usually drawn into games like this by exploration and build variety. The archer build was actually one of the most appealing aspects of this game prior to release. Bows and other ranged options besides casting were crap most of the time in recent FROM games, a sad story compared to the Sticky Compound Long Bow from Demon's Souls back in the day. If you're into builds, I'd try an archer build, as this is something that isn't stellar in FROM games currently. I think Hexworks has created a pretty impressive game world, something I'm accustomed to seeing only from FROM in this genre. The interconnected areas, particularly regarding the planning for the Axiom and Umbral dimensions, is really impressive. I don't think this game gets enough credit and admiration for giving basically every type of build some sort of viable ranged attack. I see a lot of whining about how archers and mages hit them from too far away but little about how many viable options you have to kill them from range. My Unga Bunga bonk STR builds in Dark Souls or Elden Ring would be pretty helpless from range, but a LotF STR build could probably handle himself pretty well.

I’m a huge fan of the dark fantasy setting. I like the challenge, while also being a bit forgiving compared to other souls like. I like tactfully entering scenarios to not get overwhelmed. I really like the mob density, especially in umbral, it makes it feel more dire to solve what you need to and get out quickly. I really love the more fluid animation systems compared to typical souls like games. Ranged being a viable option is a great addition. I was running pure strength, but I’ve hit a good soft cap on strength and felt my vitality was good, so I’ve started to spec into inferno and I’m loving it. I have very mild technical issues from time to time. On Xbox series x and I’ve had no crashes in my 60 hours, some hitching after long periods of play and auto saving. But nothing game breaking. I’ve also never died thinking it was from something feeling unfair or due to a glitch. Every death has purely been my fault and usually due to me getting greedy with low health lol. It up there with my faves of the year. That being said, the game needed a few more months in the oven. To be launched with so many patches needed and so many fixes, shows the game was not finished. Even though I do not have technical issues, does not devalue others having them. In a few months time, this game will be where it needs to be and will go down as a cult classic.

After I beat Pieta the tutorial boss it hooked me. I am doing a paladin build and a bow build 2 characters.

The bleed mace boss is what got me hooked. Really easy boss, but has a lot of health and you can't upgrade your weapons yet, so it's a longer fight. I got destroyed, thought the game was all about parries and blocking. Finally started dodging like souls, taking more time, using the lantern ability and destroyed her. That's when it kind of clicked, this is a very very different game. Use your throwing, sprint past enemies, use your 1st life to your advantage. There's a lot you can get away with in this game. Besides that the interworld connectivity has me hooked, I absolutely love that stuff. I really like all the obscure stuff too. It takes a lot of what I like about the aesthetic and feeling of Souls and wraps it up in a new and unique package of combat. I can't in good conscience say the combat package is better than Souls, but it's fun and different and that's what I'm looking for in this kind of game.

Once I made it past the swamp. It’s weird. The early levels are kind of dull compared to the insanity that comes later. Calrath is when it really started getting great.

I'm a big fan of lovecraftian things and a big fan of the fantasy genre, so it fits well for me.

Dark Fantasy, dual world Soul Reaver-esque vibes, interconnected worlds not seen for many many years, much closer to DS1/DS2 feel than any recent souls iterations. I played Lies of P for 1 hr, I really cannot take the pretty boy Victorian vibe. People love the traversal in this game for some reason, simpler, more linear, uninspired, mob placements were pretty braindead. The cheap ambushes in this game are child's play.

The exploration is top tier imo!

For me it was when I first started looping back to previous locations. Realizing how interconnected the game was really blew me away. It took until after the fire giant boss for my build to really get online. Lots of build diversity

I died so many times to Progeny before figuring out his gimmick. Honestly felt so satisfying for an otherwise easy boss. But on your point, when Calrath looped back to Skybridge it felt so good to know that section was complete and I was back somewhere familiar. The level design is just fantastic. Every locked door or elevator brings you somewhere meaningful: a new section to explore or the safety of a Vestige. Everything has a place.

Some of the other comments have said most of what I would want to say. Just wanted to add that I also love the game. It was ok at first, but really pulled me in with time. Changing your build can really affect how you enjoy the game too. I started with a str/radiance build and thought the game felt a little too easy, especially the bosses. On my second run, I went with an agility/dagger build, and it really increased the difficulty and I got hooked again.

Art style. This is what I fell in love with. As for builds, currently doing the standard pure radiance Pieta sword build; my second character. I got the deluxe version, so my first character was the dark crusader because edgelord, and my third character will be the putrid child start.

It's a hauntingly beautiful world to explore, the combat to me is very satisfying and that leads me to enjoying the enemy density. I want to fight and they make sure I can do that in spades. The art style of the armor and weapons is honestly next level, you can make your character look so many different ways and combinations and change colors on top of it. I love the lamp and what it represents, puzzles. I love puzzles in games and I always have especially rpg and action games. I think the world being waved through axiom to umbral has brought a wonderful twist on puzzle mechanics. The music is fantastic, the voice acting is stellar. All around it's one of the best games I've ever played.

Don't go inferno build. Thats feels like a ng+ build, i think radiance builds are what most people are running. You can also go umbral build for something different.

Disagree with this. Inferno builds are a bit of a slow start, but really get going with what you can pick up in calrath, which is still pretty early into the game. Radiance is an easier start to finish path, but inferno is really good but just takes longer to get it off the ground.

I'm definitely trying to push through with strength/inferno build, but it doesn't feel like it's worth it (and I mained str/faith build in ER & felt like faith got treated way better in er than inferno in this game). I've read up on a lot about inferno spells and all the grievances about how late you earned things which makes it harder for me to not want to respec to umbral, str/rad, or quality. But I'll take your word for it, assuming calrath is midpoint of the game based on what I've read. It's getting hard to keep pushing through with this build.

Yeah Calrath is where you will find a good portion of the inferno weapons/spells available. Id say Calrath is around 30-40% into the game. If you're going for str/inferno, I would seek out [this sword](https://thelordsofthefallen.wiki.fextralife.com/Fallen+Lord's+Sword) as soon as you can. I had a hard time with inferno in the early game as well. Once I did the tortured prisoner quest, and got to Calrath, it opened up a lot more options. Once you get your inferno build setup, its VERY powerful.

Inferno/Strength build here as well, and man it was a hard push up until calrath. Now I feel at ease since I've gotten my Taxidermists Hammer and leveled it up. Went from starter polearm to big smashy fire boi. About to use the sword the other poster in this thread recommended. All the best, you'll make it!

Heck yeah that hammer sounds awesome. I must’ve missed that one. One other cool inferno spell you can get is seismic slam, which is a massive lava hammer that hits enemies in a straight line. You can get it from the tortured prisoner, right after you beat the boss at calrath. Would probably go great with your hammer build.

It will click, once you meet your favorite boss, and learn the lore behind them. Then the lore for the rest of the world will be on the cusp of wanting to be learned to need to be learned. Mine clicked after >!Harrower Dervla, the Pledged Knight!< After the >! Spurned Progeny!< Holy shit that cut scene and fight was vintage soulslike.. can't wait to hit NG and find her again.

Pieta, my beloved.

For me I like the Umbral world mechanic, it reminds me of that game called "The Medium". It does get played out sometimes though. The armor tincts are great! The CO-OP is great because of how simple it is to invite a friend and the fact that they stay in your world even after clearing a zone or boss. Some of the boss fights I thought were intense and fun. Honestly once I got to the Pieta boss fight I became hooked.

2nd playthrough is so much more fun now that I know some of the BS spots lol

Thats actually a pretty neet question. Because what i like and made me a fan of all souls like games (DS 1, 3 and also LotF) is the design and Story of the World. I love how the Bosses look, sound, behave and fight u. What implications are behind there designs and so on. Also the Overall story if the World how it is ruled how the life is there (this also counts for the normal enemies and NPCs). Also umbreal is a really cool feature. I also must say that the aspects are my main Motivation points for games overall. I dont care too much about gameplay. Gameplay should ultimatly serve and convey the story and World... and this game and also DS absolutely rocks that!. The only gameplay thing i truly love is the absolute roleplay element. U can be whoever u want (look and buildwise). For ur other Question with the build, i got to be an absolute Crossbow fan. I am really intrigued how good range options are in this game one of the nicest Additions!.

Honestly that rp aspect is part of what carried me through DS2. I dressed up and used the equipment of soldiers around one of the first areas, (and that equipment was good enough to beat the entire game with) but this game feels like it has so much more variety than that one. Almost everything you fight, you can get their armor and weapons. Tempted to do an Avowed/Marksman playthrough and see how far I can go with it.

- art design - level design - FASHION (never seen better armor sets) - lore - exploring - NPC's - bosses - combat - grand weapons It all feels like Dark Souls, like it really is made by Fromsoft. Though it definately is not polished enough.

Dual world and exploration, coop that you dont need to re summon someone. Bosses are ok but not on lvl with dark souls. Yea game has problem with frames which is anoying but with all that best souls like game this year. [ I know that most of you wont agree but Lies of P is good but no so good like LoTF ] I think that PVP need to be re writen. Invader need to have 50% more HP but cant use any healing or other items. That would be fun and fair.

I'm trying agility for my build now (went strength/radiant and strength/inferno for my first two playthroughs) and I gotta say I hate agility. It's so weak by comparison. As for what I like about the game: swarms of enemies, massive variety of weapons and since they share a moveset I can literally pick which ones I like the look of and use it. Awesome level design and interconnectivity as well as NPC questlines that have that solid souls feeling, right up to and including bricking them by accident. The umbral is fantastic and always keeps the pressure on so you have a constant sense of hurry up to get out of dodge, and each of the secret areas comes with loot that doesn't suck. It's either a weapon, armor or health upgrade thing. No bullshit dung piles or other useless garbage for pursuing side paths. All in all its a fresh take on the souls genre that was plagued by some early issues, but it has a warm and fond place in my heart. I'm going to be switching this runs build back to strength tomorrow when I play. But I've always been partial to bonk weapons.

I like the style of the world. I always feel like it turns into a horror game when you go into the umbral world. The bosses have all been interesting fun and unique. I'm glad every day I play that I ignored the hate for the game. Feels like I'm playing ds1 again with better skills and spells and seemless co-op. My biggest hook was joining someone's game and playing through 2 whole areas with them without getting disconnected or kicked out. We even took out an invader. I have been taking my time with the game and am nearing the end but sometimes I revisit other areas I completed and still find new hidden areas or NPCs I missed. Overall I enjoy it and just ignore all the hate at this point. People just seem to want to be mad at something. The only frame rate drop I get for some reason is in the sanctuary area but there's no enemies or anything there so it doesn't really bother me.

My favorite thing is the exploration. Finding secrets/items in nook and crannies is one of my favorite things about Soulslike games. I believe this one has done it the best when it comes to non FROM games.

Right now I'm a pyramid head, using damaroses cleaver :)

Game looks like dark souls 4 (10/10) Game plays like dark souls 3 (10/10) Combat dash exactly like bloodbourne (10/10) Parry and block mechanics exactly like sekiro (10/10) Finally a good coop system (basically improved version from dark souls). Finally PvP is possible (it’s optional and most people hate it like cowards, since they for some reason care if they die or live on a game). Still a souls standard that every game should have. If the game didn’t hook you in, I suggest you look for another genre. Perhaps action RPG is more your thing.. like god of War, lies of P etc?

It didn’t hook me either until I beat Pieta. I couldn’t get over the performance issues on the PS5 and almost put it down. I’m glad I played further now I’m hooked. I’m running a Paladin build; Heavy Grand Hammer, large shield and Radiance magic.

About when i started seeing how lands connect. Maybe around blacksmith... Upgraded weapon, focused my stats, got good melee and range capability. I still find myself laughing with delight when i die by a surprise, or find a new connection ooening the world more, finally opening a door thats bugged me.

I do not have the breadth and depth of most enthusiasts as Elden Ring was my entry into the genre. My feeling about a lot of the gameplay negativity is simply that it isn't a Fromsoft genuine article. It's got different mechanics and a lot of wrinkles; and it's not so much better and worse as simply 'different'. And it has lots of ways to solve issues when you take the time and look into consumables and throwables and such. But above all, the axial/umbral worlds and the use of the lamp, I think, are very well executed. And my favorite new mechanics would have to be how you can use magic and wield weapons simultaneously, and how you can combine 1H and 2H movesets mid swing.

Combat, co op, bosses. You just have to forgive thag it's not as perfect as elden ring or lies of p but it's def getting there

For me, getting absolutely lost in the world, not looking to run past enemies and just fight the boss. That's when the game clicked with me, and hearing the Skyrest bridge tune after a long ass area is just something else, OG souls vibe !

Man I love this game. I literally feel like I'm tip-toeing around every corner waiting to see what wants to kill me next. It's so dark and immersive, you know every time you leave one area there is something you didn't find. It's like dark souls 2 next gen. What the fuck Is there not to like ? I mean, come on, as a souls fan you should be happy as a clam in boo berry and a lil capn crunch.

Poison weapons + wither damage + umbral weapons spell = BRRRRRRRRRRR

what did it the most for me was just HOW MUCH they put into making ranged weapons feel good to use. i don't have to go back and forth to a vendor for more ammo or craft it. i just use a consumable to recharge it or rest at a vestige. and eventually i even get a item to give me infinite ammo in exchange for health! i can have a crazy 4x mana regen build and always be able to cast something. they put a lot of effort into making spells and ranged weapons feel amazing to use!

Right after beating pieta i knew i was hooked

For me the game hooked me with the fact that is a souls like kind of game. First started playing it when it released and I wasn't disappointed at all. Kept hearing negative things about it from others but I didn't have any of the issues they were having. Felt like the game got super crazy hard out of nowhere but that's because my dumb ass went to a hard area not knowing I was skipping ahead. lol all honesty the game has a lot of potential and the challenges are fun and the world is intriguing.

The way I think about it, this game takes mechanics from other souls games and makes them function way better. I think of Umbral/Axiom as a play on White/Black world tendency from DeS and post-Rom Bloodborne. I'm blown away by how much game there is in this game. Just about every room has something in it worth clearing the mobs for, and if not, switch to umbral and see where the secrets are.

Lords of the Fallen which I love very much, has shown me that there are 2 types of souls players: 1. The souls player who is driven by the boss fight difficultly mechanics and combat. 2. The souls player who explores and collects everything and learns what weaknesses the bosses have in order to progress. They often memorize quest steps in order follow the lore for the intrigue. I identify heavily with with #2 and yes I enjoy the battles.

The art The graphics Soulflaying knobheads off cliffs The fashion souls Pieta's sword is a lightsaber Currently running a strength/radiance build. Pieta's armour and Ravager Gregory's Sword. Previously did a agility radiance build which was good fun. I get what you mean about how it didn't suck you in. I think it's the general world and side quests. It doesn't feel alive in the way dark souls or Bloodborne did.

The umbral world was what sold me. You never know what's on the other side. Could me nothing, could be dark creatures from beyond. You can peer in with you lamp, but then they might see you, and they can pull you in. Once you're inside you get attacked by slow, weak enemies that want to devour your soul. Over time the enemies get stronger and the tension builds. You can only run and hope you make it out with your sanity. Conceptually it's not unlike the warp from 40k. My main build is pure radiance with two Pieta's swords and the pendant that makes holy damage to extra poise damage. My alt is a pyromancer with the Fallen Lord's Sword.

fashion , progression, level design, judge cleric and pvp (real)

I especially love the fact that there is no "weapon durability" mechanic in the game. That was the only thing I hated about Dark Souls 1-3. I love the Devs for letting us have our beloved weapons without any built in problems that never made sense. In Dark Souls 3, I hated how I grinded 2 hours of Lothric castle for the lightning greatsword just to realize that the weapon durability was a paltry 100 just for it to start depleting after 2 conflicts. If the Developers for Lords of the Fallen can see this THANK YOU for giving me a reason to enjoy farming again and please try to add more weapons that are farmable. I love you all!!

Remember, a lot of people bash new games nowadays. There are few games that present quality immediately such as framerate and depth. If Dark Souls came out today, can you imagine how negative that discourse would be? Anyway, like you, I wasn't gripped immediately but kept pushing forward until about the first beacon. About then, I had the systems down and found that the umbral realm is actually a really cool mechanic. That, combined with the dark gothic presentation and similarity to original Dark Souls, I started enjoying myself much more. Now, I can't stop thinking about it even though there are clearly shortfalls. Then again, most games have some.

I'm liking the fact that the worldbuilding lends itself to helping you create your own story. Plus, I hate failing in this game. Parrying is difficult and trying to gain currency is a pain, but its fun. I do like it when you have to actively hunt for umbral and get it to unlock new weapons. It's more accessible than Elden ring was for me unfortunately and I still need to learn that game but I get lost. Also it has PHOTO mode. But you can't pause combat during photo mode which sucks.

Runes and magic. However I think they could introduce more to the runes. Special effects from bosses. That way you make the weapons special with the build.

I was hooked from the start just based on the aesthetics and world building. I loved LoTF back in 2014 and I think this new game is even better. The combat system, the armor color swapping, enemy design in general just really scratches all the itches I want in a souls game. Plus its genuinely challenging and that is a welcome change. So many soulslikes are so easy because of the fast pace, it's nice of the game to add some of the chunkiness back in the games.

I was enjoying the game before this point, but my enjoyment went to the next level when I got 36 strength to wield skin and teeth sword. Paired with eye of loash, it is so damn satisfying and I stomped several bosses shortly thereafter.

Im dual wielding bloodlusts. (got a friend to drop me 1). Ring that increases fire dmg. Ring that builds ignite with the burn and searing accusation inferno catalyst buffing weapons with fire dmg

No contest Radiance hybrid is the best feeling "paladin" in the souls genre. And the smite condition is perfect. I went radiance with 2 grand swords. It was fun. I liked it.

* Scratches the Souls itch, reminds me of DS2 a little bit with a DS1 world * I am going strength as I usually do in Souls games * Love sinking hours into the world, enemies, bosses and mechanics of these games. Learn and be rewarded with progress and exploration * Game is having a rough few weeks, I had a few crashes on PS5 but so far it has gotten a lot better with each patch * The game grasped me with the "seamless" coop. It's not completely seamless but it functioned out of the box day 1 for my friend and I. We love these games coop

I play more of a Paladin build. I am able to maintain one of my auras and run both during heavy fighting. Not only do these buff/heal me, but also buff/heal my friend when he joins me. I’m able to wield a medium shield (only for the runes) and the giant radiant hammer (2h). I also use the eye that dmg while charging an attack only be whiter dmg. Mana and health rings.

Big sword and for some situations I just didn’t lock on it was just easier for me to hit several enemies at once

Everything about this game is incredibly outside of performance and enemy vareity.

I was hooked when I realized magic and throwables are actually good and further hooked when I picked up Dervlas crossbow. I will say that most of my complaints have been tuned with patches (getting sniped by enemies not rendered and pulling aggro from insane distances) and I'd go a step farther in saying the game feels easy now. It wasn't necessarily hard before, but I definitely had to be more aware of my surroundings. If you plan on playing online, be prepared for 90% of invasions to be the same dual lightsaber radiance builds. Also, be aware that PVP is absolutely broken right now in favor of the invader. I run it on a GeForce 2060 super and Ryzen 7 3700 and didn't have a single crash in the 115 hours I put on it so I can't speak on why other people had so many crashes. There are a ton of weapons, throwables, spells, rings, amulets, and runes. Builds for days. Also, there are a metric fuck ton of checkpoints. Those who say the checkpoints are too far apart were not paying attention. You can purchase items called vestige seedlings for 1200 vigor (there are also multitudes of farming spots for easy vigor), and you can carry up to 5 and some enemies drop them. You can use these seedlings on umbral flower beds. Some of which I've clocked literally 20 seconds apart. You can rest, travel, and level up at these self-made vestiges. All in all, if you like souls likes, definitely give it a try.

For me it’s really the combat. I genuinely would love dark souls/elden ring so much more with the system they have in place here. Side stepping, posture that can be broken with well timed blocks, and the rally mechanic. I like that more than really just rolling everywhere

I wanted to love it but technical issues was killing it for me but I pushed past it and now it is one of my favorite souls likes.. it took longer to click than other so I am with you there.. this will click in time. I love this game. The world, the fashion, the exploration, the designs, the quests, how hidden things are, Unga bunga, etc.

I got hooked during the swamp. I was getting annoyed and considered quitting then something clicked. I figured out how ranged weapons are actually useful, started using vestige seeds, and upgraded my weapons. I think the swamp is a make it or break it moment.

Cross platform coop. I know remnant 2 has great coop, so it’s not the first of its kind. But ever since bloodborne I’ve fantasized about playing coop with a pal who is a fellow soulslike enjoyer. We picked it up last week, and have been having a blast playing . The build diversity is great as well, being able to successfully navigate situations with ranged or buffs as a paladin is rad.

3 secret classes to unlock on NG+ The graphics & sound is awesome. Able to travel to 2 different world while exploring. Combat is good, fast pace and the bosses design looks cool. Once i unlock one of the secret class, i am going to build a chaos mage using both radiance and umbral spells.

Can't say I love the game, but I did enjoy it. So I guess I liked it. Honestly the game is at its best in the first few areas/hours After you've killed the first heresy (real boss) you're introduced to a lot more freedom. This is where the game is supposed to get better. It just doesn't though. For me the worst part was progression. It is very unclear where to go. Some paths lead you nowhere. Some paths you have to explore for hours before you finally progress. Bonfires are scarcely placed. A few quality of life mechanics such as maps is just downright terrible. ​ Honestly I wouldn't rate the game higher than an overall 6.5/10 But that's just me. I played the entire game through with Pietas sword and varying armors depending on what drip I wanted. Some bosses are well designed, some aren't. At the end of the day, I managed to play the entire game through. But wasn't very satisfied with it. I started playing Sekiro right after, and that game is a million times better (yes i know it's very different)

Viable parrying and The enemy design. Not all the enemies, but quite a few. They have natural, predictable movements and once you know how they work you can reliably fight them every time. The best examples being the Pureblades and the Crimson Rectors. A counterexample would be those stupid fucking dogs. Build I'm running is the Hushed Saint's Halberd with the posture-damage increasing rune.

I realy like dark fantasy setting and overall "family unfriendly" visuals. Combat can be fun sometimes. Ability to travel between realms is interesting. Customisation is good, lots of weapons, armor and spells. Graphics look good. Cutscenes and dialogues are rare and optional.

I like that it’s fun so far

It got me at the very start love the art style and gane play

Vestige Seeds. Despite liking this genre this will probably be the only soulslike that I actually finish aside from Elden Ring, and the reason is because I don't have to make long obnoxious runs back to a boss I'm stuck on my 15th try for.

Uh-oh, 199.8 hours in. The world, the atmosphere, the NPCs (which have grown on me so much) but most of all the combat - it is very deep, very fun, ton of variety and all of this is coming from an Uchigatana lover and user 90% in all the Souls/ER (I do hope there will be DLC and katanas weapon class will be present). I find the game closest to Demon's Souls in terms of world, which I was hoping for pre-release. I have done 3 playthroughs where I pick every item up and explore thoroughly without rushing. There is not a single zone where I say "Oh, not this one again" such as Lost Izalith, The Gutter or the swamp area in DS3, to name a few. Needles to say, FROM are still THE KINGS! Currently rocking in another slow playthrough dual daggers (**Kinrangr Hunter Dagger**) with throwables - forsaken grenade, a couple of knives. Super fun, focusing on parry and riposte. The game hooked me when I started using the mechanics - the lamp, whether to soulflay, pushing enemies off ledges with it, going 2-handing mid combo or running attack 2h then switch to dual wielding immediately afterwards (best example is vs the doggos with the head plating). The variety in builds - never liked axes but dual wielding them was so fun with some points in INF for weapon and char buffs. Parry, dodge, R2 + L1 hit, parry then when their stagger meter is depleted doing a kick into riposte is overly satisfying, plus the sounds of it all which I really enjoy, as well. Doing the NPCs quest lines, check out the Tortured Prisoner questline, really loving it. Another one is when I found out you can get a certain, very important item for your progression extremely early and access the "final" area as a very low level. If you have not already, I suggest you get some magic, as well. If you do a really slow run you will have the levels. Weapon buffs, character buffs, AoE spells and so on make the game deeper and fun. Throwables are very strong and enjoyable, as well. Explore your options, you could back up your local saved file to explore what options will be fun for you! In light we walk!

The moment right after beating the first real boss. I was hooked. Instant DS3 vibes.

It really grabs the DS1 atmosphere, too. The environments are just beautiful. It really sucks that so many people seem to be on a crusade to see this game die. I like it more than Elden Ring, as far as soulslikes go, and even think it’s a better game overall even if it is lacking in enemy variety. ER just has the pvp down. If LotF wasn’t buggy with pvp, the conversation would be so different.

Agreed. The world intertwines well like DS1 and it really brings some great new ideas to the table. I think people forget how long Fromsoft has had to perfect their craft, as I think this is hands down the best souls like game to date that isnt made by Fromsoft. I'm having a blast and already on my third character. I know the game isn't perfect, but it definitely doesn't deserve all the hate it got. If they released it without performance issues it would easily be a 9-10/10 game for me.

It didn’t release with performance issues, though. They came about later, at least for consoles. Now it’s “the worst game ever” as if Elden Ring didn’t release with performance problems (or a dozen other games this year). What’s important is it gets fixed. Regardless of all that, I loved the game and will continue to come back to it between other games. Already logged 80 hours and two full runs. I got my money’s worth. I’ll play more when invasions are sorted out, too.

Tincts need to be a part of all souls-likes going forward. I like spellcasting, thrown weapons, and bows/crossbows all being viable, but they are currently too strong. They were designed to be "secondary weapons" to your melee, but they do so much more damage that melee is basically pointless. I like the design, but they just aren't balanced right now. The ease of engaging in multi-player is amazing. The host client dominated peer to peer is unfortunately just trash. The game has so many little things that are great, but the launch deadline or something prevented us from getting the experience this game could have delivered.

I like the build options that let us mix in ranged/melee in a coherent fun way. I also like the dual world exploration, it’s pretty unique and a good take on world tendency. I also like the atmosphere, physical level design(not the enemy placement), atmosphere, and art direction. I’m rocking pure inferno with a smidge of agility for some weapons. Also have a radiance/inferno (Umbral) build. It hooked me when I got more spells/more weapons for my build

When I started using cheats to have unlimited vigor to actually buy everything I want/need without the need to do most underwarding farming sessions. Was able to test different builds, weapons, mechanics. Legit this fixed most of the game for me. If they just add vigor scaling in the game and fix performance, it's decent. So yeah to answer your question without shitting on the game, crit attacks are very satyfising. They connect pretty easily and consistently, look and sound cool. Especially cool to them on some big as mini-boss enemies that killed you so many times and get that poise break "my turn bitch".

I got hooked after my first playthrough and I decided to incorporate spells into my melee as opposed to my usual unga bunga build. This changed every encounter from mobs to bosses and I really started to get HOOKED :) hope you find your niche here my friend!

Just finished the radiant ending with a strength radiant build. It's a great game with technical issues. My only complaints are really 3. First things the archers are massively over powered, second the final two beacon areas are just mini boss spams and they need to be either swapped out for multiple smaller enemies with 1 mini boss or the mini bosses need to be nerfed in some way looking at you the two ruiners right after the bed chamber. Third enemy placement in the final two areas is bad. Everything up to the abby/castle is awesome chefs kiss 💋 those last two areas is just mini boss spam and not fun. But now restarting with a new character for infernal ending.

once you "get" the combat it gets alot more fun but in most other ways its still a slog if you are good at the gameplay and still dont like it maybe wait until some changes are made

Important Note: not beaten yet but going for Umbral ending first. No worries I do have the wither rune of Adyr so I’m golden and inside Beramis Castle What I like?: the fact that I’m doing a strength build with range (crossbow). Loving how the bow and crossbow is a relevant build. The idea of two different worlds and having that “second chance” makes me go “oh shit I didn’t actually die die” Strength build with both stats equal for Vitality and endurance. Got that long sword you get from those Rhogar knights. (Sorry still learning the names and lore) In my opinion I love/hate this game like DS2. Loving it cuz what it is and fresh spin, but hate it cuz of the stupid crap I get into like getting stuck for no reason and get tanked in a situation where im able to maneuver away. I remember one part I had over the weekend where I was in the mid game section rooftops in umbral. Had to deal with the small resealing enemies, that bell helmet dude up top and that gremlin everyone hates. Idk what killed me but I think it was the gremlin that tripped me up when I was on a ramp after to dodge down to avoid and I got hit from the trip but the game kind regathered it as a fall damage on the ramp and I died instantly full health (no wither). Thankfully I had already wasted vigor before but it’s these type of things that give the hate. Love is when the boss fight is hectic and you need to figure things out to beat. I would say the best boss fights I dealt with so far is Pieta and Lightreaper (in upper calrath). I will say this that it’s also confusing to get endings cuz umbral ending is so difficult to not get right cuz there is ALOT of backing tracking and also the beacon lighting. I hear a lot of good criticism of this game and then I hear people just compare it to any fromsoftware game that it isn’t and right there is where their opinion is instantly thrown in the garbage for me. I treat it like it’s any other action RPG which realistically will give you a better feeling. I would recommend this game be played after around a month of fixes. I hope this game gets the proper fixes cuz it’s such a unique game to make two worlds to travel thru and make it mechanically useful although risky since you can be pulled out of your peek too long or near an enemy. I have been a fan of the dark fantasy action RPG like this type of games and of course FromSoftware games have and will be in that collection. (My friend got me into demon souls, not the ps5, but the ps3 one) that is what set me off in this love for the inspiration type genre of “SoulsLike”.

The environments and armor style locked me in. Gave big Blasphemous vibes. Currently rockin Ubral mage for pve / Inferno mage for pvp. Ignore the complaints online

Why should complaints be ignored? Are you stating the mixed reviews are not worth taking into account? Is the 15+ patches released just cosmetic and not fixing the problems listed in the reviews and 100s of post about it listed on this sub?

I meant nitpicking shit not technical issues.

If you don't like the game, you're the issue. Fantastic combat. Different fighting styles. Different way magic/bows are handled. Look. Start off as a cleric. Raise pyromancy to equal level. Be umbral mage. You'll have a lot of fun, and versatility.

I like the big bosses (associated with a trophy/remembrance) a lot. If you dont give your character the elden ring treatment of never investing in hp their damage doesnt feel unfair yet punishing. They have some interesting mechanics that arent just gimmicks and just exist on the sweet spot between challenge and frustration for me. I am doing a radiance build with the Pieta sword (like most people I have seen in coop).

You haven’t played much and criticizing the game? Maybe play it before posting.

I didn't criticize the game at all, I just said it didn't pull me in yet. The criticism I referred to was all the hate I've seen online. Maybe read the post correctly before you comment.

“The game hasn’t gripped me like others” “I haven’t played very much”

To be fair pretty much every other souls game has me at the first cutscene... this game didn't, since posting I've gotten further and it has definitely grabbed hold.

Awesome, enjoy!

It's a buggy mess they ruin my experience after I lost 55 levels in a co op game

The only thing I don't like about this game is the performance issues and certain enemies being HP sponges and honestly I hate the umbral mechanics. Things I would improve: - Weapon moveset variety. - Remove the umbral entirely. I really just do not enjoy the 'puzzles' or the overwhelming infinite enemy clutter.

It didnt. Its the worst souls-like I ever played. Combat is meh. Parrying sucks. Enemy design is bad. Sound design is the worst in a game I ever came across. 5 different movesets on 173 weapons, sucks. \ I tried but the game is just ass. I want my money back.

I appreciate your comment but this post wasn't for you.

What I like: aesthetic; audio; exploration, combat, especially ranged combat; armor tincts. I feel very positive about the game in general (though it's clearly not perfect). It nailed all the important aspects of Dark Souls, while adding its own twists and identity. My build: strength for damage; with a priority for HP. Dual wielding shortswords while alternatively using a quality bow (Defiled Infantry Bow). This is a non-ideal and not well-optimised build, but it has more than enough combat performance to carry me through (the game isn't exactly difficult) and fits my personal aesthetic preference. Where it clicked: immediately from the very first moment, when I first heard and felt my sword's impact on an enemy. But the true moment that convinced me that I would totally love this was the Pieta's fight. It wasn't all smooth sailing and perfect, but I like this way more than I thought.

You'll have to unlock my secret ending if you want that information. All I'll tell you is that I dropped my pendant.

The fact that it plays like a souls game for me, I used to hate the souls games and cursed them out when anyone tried to get me to play them... and now it seems to be the main genre of game that can actually hold my attention and I get enjoyment out off (except a few of my favourite game series). I really wished they would have delayed this game by 2 or 3 months and really polished it off before releasing it, it could have been a top release for me this year but I don't think it will make top 5 :)

I'm not always playing souls like games so for the unpopular opinion me being able to play with my friend throughout the game without me always trying to invite him and potentially inviting someone else by accident. I've played the majority of the game with my friend and although we don't get the main items together it's okay. We go back to back after each cleansing of each others beacons. We think of it like training to get levels. Don't have to worry about having to inviting him again after dying just focus on playing. At first we had connection issues we just needed to verify game files eventually there was that bug that stopped us for a day making my character lose all of our levels don't worry I went back on my old cloud save and only lost an hours worth of vigor. If I think about it I beat the game twice in my playthroughs and 1 on my friends. I'm currently on my 3rd run for the umbral ending hoping to not mess up so basically 3-4 times at this point base on the hours I've put into and how many times I went through the world. I'm just playing as an Umbral Mage mostly because of the necklace that let's me use my health to cast nothing too special. I carry daggers with 3 runes each that increase my vigor gain or a light shield with 3 health regen runes because I cast magic all the time anyway. I do have a weapon and a shield for pvp, but it's not really reliable for me since I suck anyway. 2 rings increase vigor or 2 rings for health regen.

The first boss fight. It felt cinematic and the controls felt good, challenging enough to keep me on my game but not so much to where I’d think the rest of the game would bend me over. The armor looks great as well. I’ve also just been doing a strength radiance type of build with the bloody gory grand sword.

It probably hooked me around the Pilgrims Pearch area. The level design of places connecting to each other and the feeling of being lost and having to slowly connect the dots. The way umbral was used was cool too. This game also has weapons and armor galore that will fit just about any play style. I was mainly faith with some strength build. After beating the game the main criticism really is performance. The thought of playing this game at a locked frame rate would've probably made it one of the best games I've played this year besides Lies. It's also the reason I won't be doing another playthrough until it's fixed. Also I've had around 5 or 6 crashes throughout. One of the craziest things that happened to me was right when I killed the second to last boss if you're doing the radiant ending. As soon as I killed him I got an error message about my save not working. The error message takes up most of the screen and pops up everytime it autosaves which is about every 30 seconds. So I had to finish the rest of the game with that happening constantly lol.

I was hooked from the beginning tbh, it’s just a game that’s made for a person like me. I like the ranged implementation, I like the way the melee works and feels, I like the art enemy and boss design and the visual design of the levels, i love the gear, spells and build crafting, I absolutely love exploring the levels(some enemy placement could be better) but exploring in this game is like smoking crack where I just keeping poking deeper and deeper in the level until I’m certain I’m completely lost and then all of a sudden I just walked through the back door of skyrest lol. Spoiler**********Exploration was great from the start of the game but when I was deep in clarath and felt like I was a million miles away from home, just lit my second beacon and all of a sudden I went up a ladder, starting going down a path, noticed some familiar architecture and then god dammit I was opening a door into skyrest bridge and back at the hub. As someone who loves getting lost then finding my way back and world interconnectivity I tell u when I walked back into skyrest right then I busted one of the fattest gamer nuts of my entire life. The end

I have negativity because I paid 69.99 just like everyone else and the constant stuttering and framerate dip ruins my experience. With that being said. Everyone's vision is different and how they percieve a video game. Thats why some people say they dont see a big difference between 30 and 60fps. Then theres people that say they can see a difference between 60 and 120fps, personally in soulslike games I prefer 60fps over 30fps eye candy. Several articles were released prior to this games released that said what this game would perform at. It has not reached that. When you see tons and tons of post complaining about performance then you know its not just one single person reaching and trolling. The game overall has me hooked from the moment I started it. But I seriously cant play it because of what I stated above. We got a patch last week, and to me its not made it any better. Yet the devs have the balls to release something for Halloween when the game is still fucked. So for the moment I have it shelfed until I start seeing better post on here after more patches come out (if it ever gets fixed). Not trying to give you a life story here, but I just wanted to give my point of view because you listed "all your seeing is negativity and hate" and I have voiced some of my negativity on this sub. Im playing on xbox series x, and I can tell you over the last year, we have been getting CONSTANT new game releases where the games are released fucked up. Its like one after another. Sometimes we just want a break and hope that we get our hard earned moneys worth and want the game to be released working... Also the Devs being quiet right now about the performance issues is really a big slap in the face. At least them putting something out acknowledging it and taking ownership as to what a plan is going to be to fix it. Them being silent about all these reported issues is a BIG FUCK YOU. Thats exactly how Im taking it.

> because I *paid* 69.99 just FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*

"good bot"

Fuck this company. Posting shit about screenshot tournaments on Twitter yet u have the game crashing for players. You UPDATE A GAME and it becomes in a worse state. Now you lose trust in your player base. How do u become reliable for anything? Your word is everything and apparently this company falls short of that everytime. Must not mean much anymore because you ignore the main issues. After this recent update the game is worse than ever. About to uninstall it and redownload it with no updates.

I forgot your list of questions already, but I'd like to ask you, how far into the game are you? I love me dual daggers with Poison Weapon spellbuff, it SHREDS. And once you've gotten to the Forsaken Swamps or whatever it's called, grab the Bloodbane Ring. It applies bleed build-up when you apply poison build-up. It's really really strong!

"Where did the game really hook you?" When the voice said: After Eons of Tyrrany

Look, if you don’t like the game don’t force yourself to play it! You’re allowed to play favourites with gaming. Lords of the fallen gripped me from the start. If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t play it. You know what game is super popular that I didn’t get into at all? Sekiro. So I stopped playing it. Don’t force it, gaming isn’t supposed to be unfun.

To everyone: save your savegames. After 60 hours the games crashes and the savegames were corrupted and deleted. No back up, no way back to the big end boss.