Review in Progress: Lords of the Fallen

destructoid.com:

Lords of the Fallen is brutal. I mean like, really brutal. I fully intended to have beaten the game and written a full review in time for release. But according to a recent tweet by the developers, there are 30 bosses in total. Which means I have…uhh…afew more to go. And for the record, I’m no Soulslike newbie. I’ve Platinumed most games in the series, and at least beaten those I haven’t. But like I said, Lords of the Fallen is hard.

Of all the bosses I’ve fought so far, I’ve had varied feelings all across the board. Some have been incredibly fun, with well-thought-out mechanics. Some of them felt a bit “Tank and Spank”, so to say, not requiring too much extra effort. And then others have been so incredibly frustrating. And don’t try and tell me to “Git Gud”, I swear that’s not the issue here. A few encounters just have over-the-top or even unfair mechanics.

I already knew I would have a tough time with one of the earlier bosses, The Congregator of Flesh. The colossal abomination inflicts poison damage, which is my Achilles heel. The encounter takes place in an already limited area, which is not ideal given the sheer size of this creature. But the beast also has a flurry of attacks from nearly every angle. A claw swipe, a backhanded swipe, a ground slam, a body slam, a head slap. And if you manage to gain some ground, don’t be surprised if the creature charges or leaps on top of you. All while each attack inflicts poison. It was a challenging encounter, which at times felt like I just had to brute force through the chaos.

But despite the frustration, after downing the Congregator of Flesh I felt accomplished and excited to push forward. Fans of the genre will recognize this feeling.

Lords of the Fallen (PC, PS5