I've been playing some Lords of the Fallen recently on my PS4, and I'm loving it. I can't seem to understand the hate for it though. Sure, it has it's fair share of glitches and it is apparently easier than Dark Souls but it's still a solid game. It does borrow more than a few things from that franchise, but they've been refined, so new players (like myself) can get to grips with it all.
Now I'm not going to spoil much or say anything about the pros or cons, because I'm planning to review this game sometime in 2016, if my laptop will get it's act together. With that being said, I'll only going to talk about the first few minutes of gameplay. The game thrusts you straight into the deep end if you're not familiar with the DS games, so you might be a bit lost, but not for too long. During loading screens, tips will appear, explaining specific things and explaining things that you probably didn't know already. You can also collect loot from fallen enemies, which can be handy. You'll get things such as weapons, sealed runes, quest items and miscellaneous items. Sealed runes may look useless at first, but trust me, they will have a purpose later on. It can feel overwhelming at first, because you'll encounter the first boss of the game in only a couple of minutes, which caught me off guard. Happily, I was able to defeat him in two attempts. After this fight, the game teaches you how to bank your XP and level up, allowing you to spend spell and attribute points to upgrade your stats. Once you've learned all that, it's time to prove your worth out of the tutorial area.
After descending a flight of stairs, you'll eventually venture outside into the freezing cold weather. Snow lies on the ground, flakes drop from the sky, and enemies wait to feast on your fresh blood. You'll notice how meaty the combat is by now. It feels heavy and realistic. Since you carry a lot of heavy equipment during the start of the game (depending on what class you selected), you're movement will be slow to start off with. Rolling out of the way of an attack will take some getting used to, and you're stamina will deplete very quickly. Fortunately, you have spells and special attacks called gauntlets to help you in battle. Spells range from clones of yourself to fool enemies and to help you escape when your health is low to ramming into people from a distance. Gauntlets, on the other hand, play a different role. You can use them to perform ranged attacks if you can't afford to get close to your foe. To get the edge between you and your enemies, you'll need to mix up your play styles. Go in for melee attacks and back away when you need to, and wait for openings during an attack pattern, etc...
If you're into RPGs, you should consider buying this game. It has many things to keep you occupied. Some people tend to give up once they reach the second boss (due to the difficulty) but honestly, it's worth playing through. Killing your enemies and reaping the rewards never goes stale. Get this game if you haven't already, but prepare for a few rough edges, as it's not going to be easy.
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