Developer CI Games have released a new episode of their ongoing “Lifting The Veil” developer video breaking down what to expect from Lords Of The Fallen II, the upcoming sequel to the 2023 game Lords Of The Fallen (which at one point was referred as Lords Of The Fallen II and The Lords Of The Fallen but that’s a whole other story).
The story here is that this is the first breakdown on how the developers are approaching the combat in Lords II. Gameplay of the upcoming soulslike action RPG was shown back at The Game Awards, but here we see some more footage of the game (in alpha- not representing of the final release) alongside interesting tidbits.
For one, expect the combat in Lords Of The Fallen II to be faster and more reactionary. You are expected to play more aggressively, “in the pocket of the enemy a lot more” where “you are pushing the pace,” as described by game director James Lowe.
In response to Lords Of The Fallen (2023)’s “floaty” combat feel, Lords II is expected to be more “planted to the ground.” Some of the changes to the combat system has since been implemented in Lords 2023 as part of the 2.5 update, so the current iteration of the predecessor is the baseline that you can expect from the sequel.
Dual-wielding is something the developers are doubling down on. Attacking with two weapons will have bespoke animations rather than playing the same attack animation with each hand, giving it that “flamboyant edge.” Expect more variance of animations across the board, more than just three sets as seen in Lords (2023). The animations are not constrained as sets, either.
Executions, new to Lords II, is another way the animations have been cranked up. More visceral finishers. But it’s also a choice whether to do an execution or not—it’s not just for show and it’s part of the risk-versus-reward choice players have to make.
Using magic spells and range attacks as part of a combo with melee attacks is also viable in Lords II. Having mix builds like this was a well-praised part of the predecessor and for the sequel, it will be “turned up to 11” in how well you can mix the three different playstyles.
There will be jump attacks in Lords II. It’s a feature that was only added post-release in Lords (2023) and a direct inspiration after looking at Elden Ring had added jumps and jump attacks. Level design and traversal will now be designed with jumping and jump attacks in mind for the sequel.
Heavy attacks are designed not to just be a longer attack with bigger damage, with more purpose and use in combat, all in service on allowing players to play around with the system. That said, it’s still a risk-versus-reward thing and being a soulslike, a miss will expectedly be punished hard.
The lamp will now have a dedicated button in Lords II.
More fascinatingly, the roundtable talk candidly discuss the genre progenitors, the soulslikes made by FromSoftware. The team at CI Games in this video display an understanding on how Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro and Elden Ring works (for example, players are more rewarded for sticking to one build for the rest of the game) and consciously attempt to do things differently (Lords Of The Fallen series wants to allow players experiment with builds by giving players the confidence of doing so).
The devs also understand the soul of soulslike combat is how it can feel like a dance between the player and the enemy. Tango and the fox trot were regularly said during the conversation. “That’s the DNA of the genre, every soulslike needs to have that feeling,” said Lowe.
Lords Of The Fallen II will be out this year for the PS5, PC and Xbox Series X|S.