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[GrizzlyAdamz]

I'm kinda surprised there isn't a thread on this yet.

Well, here ya go:
Review!
Gameplay video!

Spoiler: Screenshots! (click to show/hide)

It's a DS clone developed by what look like a couple of small developers in germany & poland. More casual than dark souls, it rewards the player for taking risk but offers more frequent safety nets.
Equipment & abilities affect the gameplay significantly.
More NPCs, & most lore is dictated through them & audio logs of all things.

-No character customization beyond skills, attributes & equipment
-Sometimes dodgy camera, not helped by the tighter quarters
-Lots of complaints of bugs at the moment
-High system specs, follows the current trend of gobbling up PC resources. From the sounds of it it's unplayable on mid-low rigs.
-Voice acting is bad, & lip-syncing non-existent

From the 5 hours I've spent in the first area, I'd give it an 8/10, (no technical issues experienced).
Here's my own talkie-talk:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Followed the lead of that vid, started out with rogue abilities expecting great things from that mimic.
It was very underwhelming- the avatar takes up half your screen & the damage is lackluster.
Stab was good enough, but I couldn't combine it with a regular backstab..
So I rerolled.

Warriors have a fun skill set from the looks- Rage doubles your DPS, allows you to just swing away at enemies. Prayer regens health, which could be rather useful, and Ram is your standard magical punch.
The heavy armor, (and especially the 100% block shield), really have a noticable impact on the gameplay.

Clerics seem to be the best magic class- they start with the first level of prayer, and their shelter ability both increases your defense & heals you, which lets you keep trucking with your experience load & get better loot.


Medium armor doesn't seem to protect very well, & light armor melts, (but the increased mobility is there).

Shield-wise, I think I like kites.
Bucklers have parry functionality, but so far it's been too tricky for me to get the hang of.
Kites can provide 100% block protection, (which is awesome), & a shield bash, (not awesome).
Towers seem to give yet more elemental/magical protection, and you can plant them into the ground for some kinda super-block. It might be incredibly useful for some bosses, but imo they're just a bit too big- they look kinda goofy & the weight load isn't worth it vs a good kite shield.


So far, I'm really considering giving in & going heavy armor/kite shield/cleric, then focus on endurance & faith. Maximize survivability & rely on low-stat magical weapons.
The large, high-strength weapons I've found so far don't seem to perform very well.
Prestige class will probably be warrior.
Has anyone gone faith, & have info on the 15-faith abilities &/or the 'gauntlet's performance? (all-in-one ranged weapon takes mana)

Here's another video, this one from the devs & explaining things.

[coolio678]

If you're the kind that enjoys strange metaphors and highly vulgar language, then Critikal made a short video of it. It does show how poorly it can run on lower end machines, so it's educational!

[Cthulhu]

That whole thing pisses me off.  I just upgraded my computer and system requirements are already bullshit.

Look at this shit.  This has to be a joke.

[Intrinsic]

RPS wasn't a fan of it.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/10/28/lords-of-the-fallen-pc-review/

[nenjin]

Seemed like yet another 3rd person hack 'n slash game with an over-inflated sense of its own gameplay. I watched several videos of this and never saw anything that looked interesting. Basically, any game that likens itself to DS has to work that much harder to impress me, because it's become a throw away comparison.

[GiglameshDespair]

Posting to watch, though this seems like it might be disappointing.

VaatiVidya's opinion seems like it's an ok game, though he agrees heavy armour seems to be better than the others.

[TempAcc]

Eh, from what I've seen, the enemies seem pretty unthreatening. That first warden boss thing moves so slow and so little that you can literally just stand far away and he'll very slowly approach you. Even his "charge" attack seems limited to just a few steps. It seems ok, but nothing terribly interesting, and the system requirements are really silly.

[Retropunch]

Urgh, I'm surprised there aren't more DS ripoffs to be honest, but this one doesn't look especially exciting. I've watched a few videos of it, and the worst thing about it is that it just feels SO uninspired. Like it's basically just tried to smash out a DS ripoff as quickly as possible to ride on the coat tails rather than actually develop something with a story/atmosphere.

As far as system specs go, I always feel in two minds about this. On the one hand, I hate the technical stagnation that we always get at the end of the current gen's console life where everything is held back as they do the both-gen releases (watch_dogs and even DS2 we're looking at you), yet I do completely agree that it's annoying when the minimum requirements are so high.

[Sergarr]

The sword attacks have zero weight behind them. It literally looks like the ranger is twirling a feather around.

And that's terrible.

[Leatra]

Eh, didn't really like Dark Souls anyway. A lot of games trying to copy that overhyped "challenging" game.

[GrizzlyAdamz]

The technical issues really seem to be dragging the scores down.

I'm perplexed as to why it's getting so much flak for being a DS clone- you'd think more of something good would be appreciated, (especially since it invites From to up their game- competition's arrived).
As a new IP, they've got a great start in the combat, and the less-subtle diablo-esque style kinda gives it some needed contrast from DS. I've heard comparisons to WH visuals as well.
The map seems more linear but it has secrets & shortcuts all over the place.
Frankly, if this is how the community receives them, I'd be surprised if there were another DS clone in the next decade.

The first boss sheds armor & moves more quickly as the fight goes on. Eventually he pirouettes across the room in a 10-second-long attack.
Can't shed any light on enemies later on, (argh work), but from what I've seen they're already using clever placement to shake things up- (for example, a regenerating enemy in front of a small gap on some scaffolding, & an archer on the other side. Can't get past the resurrector till he's actually dead, archer plinks away for nasty damage.)

The devs said the equipment actually isn't balanced- using light armor is meant to be more difficult due to it's reliance on manual skills, ('while heavy armor is more restrained by stat allocation', to quote the guy).

Which sword? Short or long or great? The great hammer for example is utter garbage, so there's certainly going to be injustices, but I'd say it actually felt pretty nice to wield the long sword.

[Cthulhu]

It's not like the idea is new.  This is one of the first I've seen that straight rips the formula but "Dark Souls" has been a buzzword for a year or two now.  And like all buzzwords it's empty and stupid.

[Rez]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I don't know if DS2 could be more overrated and huge problems more overlooked. It would be hard for the franchise to be managed and supported worse than it has been.

All you have to do to make a better DS2 game than From is make collision models match meshes (yes, that's right).
Don't nerf spells because you don't understand how to balance your stat system and items. 
Don't have racist matchmaking regions devs. 
Don't half-ass covenants and PvP and PvE matchmaking (it's impossible to level brotherhood of blood by invading people. Repeatedly sunbroing completely breaks your soul memory) 
SM is probably the single most idiotic initial decision they made and it's the only thing they did to leveling to 'stop' twinking (it also doesn't work). 
Maybe, that's actually that nearly all mechanics on the PC are broken because the port leaves everything tied to framerate. 
They castrated PC graphics: massive prevarication about how the game was going to look. 
I think blanket banning to deal with hacking/MODDING is a contender for worst decisions too.
Show a little creativity beyond "dodge boss or get 2 shot" on end-game bosses.

Basically, From hit a niche that was almost totally untapped with a statty, skill focused sword'n'shield RPG.  Their games are incredibly flawed and, honestly, badly done.  Rant/infodump completed.

The point of that digression is you better have a real, hype-unrelated understanding of DS if people are using it as a comparison for things.

It looks a bit easy, but I'll definitely give the demo (ROFL DEMO? WHAT'S THAT?) a shot.  I hope it succeeds, even if I don't like it, because this genre desperately needs competition.

[Stuebi]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I don't know if DS2 could be more overrated and huge problems more overlooked. It would be hard for the franchise to be managed and supported worse than it has been.

All you have to do to make a better DS2 game than From is make collision models match meshes (yes, that's right).
Don't nerf spells because you don't understand how to balance your stat system and items. 
Don't have racist matchmaking regions devs. 
Don't half-ass covenants and PvP and PvE matchmaking (it's impossible to level brotherhood of blood by invading people. Repeatedly sunbroing completely breaks your soul memory) 
SM is probably the single most idiotic initial decision they made and it's the only thing they did to leveling to 'stop' twinking (it also doesn't work). 
Maybe, that's actually that nearly all mechanics on the PC are broken because the port leaves everything tied to framerate. 
They castrated PC graphics: massive prevarication about how the game was going to look. 
I think blanket banning to deal with hacking/MODDING is a contender for worst decisions too.
Show a little creativity beyond "dodge boss or get 2 shot" on end-game bosses.

Basically, From hit a niche that was almost totally untapped with a statty, skill focused sword'n'shield RPG.  Their games are incredibly flawed and, honestly, badly done.  Rant/infodump completed.

The point of that digression is you better have a real, hype-unrelated understanding of DS if people are using it as a comparison for things.

It looks a bit easy, but I'll definitely give the demo (ROFL DEMO? WHAT'S THAT?) a shot.  I hope it succeeds, even if I don't like it, because this genre desperately needs competition.

I completely agree. Otherwise I'm pretty sure we're gonna have a series that steadily decreases in quality, because nobody is challening the market it operates on.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Also, about your rant. I'm one of those oddballs that only very casually used DS2's Multiplayer features, mainly because I think the community sucks big time in PvP. I sunbrod a bit for Souls and the lightning spear, and had a twink PVP'ing in the clocktower for giggles. So I might have circumvented quite a lot of complaints you have (I also never had an issue with controls and the like, but people seem to be torn on the port anyway). I will totally agree that the Spell nerfs where f-ing bullshit tough. I had to completely reroll my Cleric, as lighting spells are basically useless after their nerf. For the most part, I consider DS 2 a very good game, altough one that wasted quite a bit of potential.

That whole thing pisses me off.  I just upgraded my computer and system requirements are already bullshit.

Look at this shit.  This has to be a joke.

I actually hoped it would be a bad joke. A fkin 2 Gig VRAM Graphics card? On MINIMUM requirements? A new Rig has been on my list since Shadow of Mordor, since it's struggling with a lot of new releases. But if those bleeding morons continue like this, I simply cant keep up with upgrading. Getting a new Graphicscard every year or two is fine. But it's getting f-ing ridicolous now.

Onto the subject of the thread. I had entertained the thought of actually preordering this thing, but I'm glad I didnt. Lots of technical issues and bugs it seems. So I will definetely test it on a friends account first, before even thinking about buying it.

[rumpel]

Meh, seems like another generic overpriced AAA title to me (just like The Evil Within a few days ago... games which average people buy on release date because of all the advertising and then huge PC game give them a positive review while the game really is true garbage). I'm not interested at all. The reviews speak for themselves aswell.

[...]
I actually hoped it would be a bad joke. A fkin 2 Gig VRAM Graphics card? On MINIMUM requirements? A new Rig has been on my list since Shadow of Mordor, since it's struggling with a lot of new releases. But if those bleeding morons continue like this, I simply cant keep up with upgrading. Getting a new Graphicscard every year or two is fine. But it's getting f-ing ridicolous now.
[...]

Ahaha, awesome. Dude, we're in the same boat. For the past years I only had a netbook and a laptop. The netbook was mainly to browse and play DF in slow motion, the laptop was trash and didn't work well but at least could handle a few really old games. Got a new laptop last year and it's truely awesome to be able to play like everything right now, but the downside is that I have to stick to it for many years and can't upgrade it nor buy a new one (because of no money for such kind of things and because I'm still paying by installments).