Lords of the Fallen had a rocky start, with glitches and performance problems running wild in the days after launch. Fortunately, developer Hexworks has been open and transparent about its efforts to improve the game.
In a Q&A on Twitch on Oct. 19, the developer answered questions from the community about the state of Lords of the Fallen and its plans for fixes and updates going forward. One helpful Reddit user transcribed the stream, and the answers are very insightful.
Understandably, the developer’s short-term priorities are performance improvements and bug fixes. Performance was the biggest gripe for most players, especially those on PC and Xbox Series S, with stuttering, frame drops, and crashes being frustratingly common, so it’s good to know the game will be further optimized.
The developer also confirmed Lords of the Fallen’s crossplay functionality will be reenabled at some point in the future, although did not give a time frame, explaining that fixing other issues (especially problems faced by players on Steam) was a bigger priority. Crossplay reportedly had compatibility issues with Steam and Unreal Engine 5, and for the short time it was possible, summoning or invading players on other platforms was unplayably laggy.
A big one for many players is item storage. Every other Souls or Souls-adjacent game lets players clear out their inventory by moving excess items to a storage chest, but not Lords of the Fallen. When asked about the developer’s intent to add item storage to the game, it affirmatively replied that yes, item storage is a planned feature that will be coming soon.
Numerous questions asked whether the developer planned to make changes to Lords of the Fallen‘s gameplay, particularly regarding the number and density of enemies, and the removal of Vestiges (like Dark Souls’ bonfires) in New Game Plus and beyond. These are common complaints in the community, with some players lamenting that these design decisions make the game tedious and frustrating. Somewhat controversially, the developer confirmed it will not be making changes to enemy density or repairing Vestiges in New Game Plus.
The developer explained it wants players to be mindful of the way they approach enemy encounters, and there are tools at players’ disposal to deal with them, even alternate hidden pathways. I played an Umbral mage on my first playthrough and had access to lots of high-damage AoE spells and an ultra greatsword, so I had no problem dealing with hordes of enemies, although I do understand where the complaints are coming from.
Among other changes, the developer confirmed the adjustment to reduce Wither damage from parrying will roll out to consoles soon, which should hopefully make parrying a viable defensive option for agility builds. It also confirmed that while players have discovered all the hidden bosses, Lords of the Fallen still has some secrets left to find.
