After playing Demon's Souls, all the Dark Souls games, Elden Ring, Mortal Shell, Nioh (1 and 2), Lies of P, and even the goofy charm of Another Crab's Treasure, I finally got around to Lords of the Fallen 2.0 and I reaaaally loved it. I finished the game twice on my xbox series X with regular and adyr ending ng+, yet to finish it here.

The combat is really polished. It feels a lot better than the original Lords of the Fallen which I also have finished on xbox, You’ve got a dedicated jump button now, which is honestly unnecessary but I think it's something some people asked and that's another point I liked, CI Games proved they listen us, and the many complaints people did at launch. The game also have some of that Elden Ring smoothness, but don’t expect the same level of freedom. And while the lock-on system is definitely improved, it’s still not as buttery as Dark Souls 3. Some weapons hit hard and feel super satisfying, kinda like Mortal Shell’s heavy crunch. I used radiance build in my first run and inferno build in my 2nd run, but I feel inferno is the most powerful one.

Now the co-op mode share progression, and they’ve got this Friend Pass thing that lets your friends join in even if they don’t own the game. Again, CI GAMES proving they care and listen to us.

There are two realms—the regular one and this creepy Umbral realm, which gives me goosebumps sometimes. The lamp system that helps with navigation is pretty neat.

Character customization is better now. It’s not on the same level as Nioh 2, but it's also great. And the visuals are amazing, Unreal Engine 5 makes everything look great, and I love the photo mode and the 3d photos, the gothic vibe and the energy the landscape gives me.

I personally enjoyed Lords of the Fallen 2 just as much as I enjoyed Elden Ring and Dark Souls, you must at least try it, you will not regret If you’re into Soulslike games.

I rarely write reviews, but considering this developer is putting the players first, listening to feedback, and putting time and effort into making their product better nearly 3 years after release, I will take my time to put in a review. This is the types of developers/publishers the game industry NEEDS. Please support this game to send a message to the rest of the industry.

With regards to the game itself, I played it BEFORE this 2.0 patch. I enjoyed the hell out of it. I am currently downloading it again to start a fresh playthrough to see what they fixed/added. Great work, devs.

Purchased after introduction of 2.0:

This game features one of the most beautiful and atmospheric settings I have ever experienced. As a fan of grimdark universes, it genuinely stands out – the tone, the world-building, and the sense of mystery are all masterfully done.
The combat and controls may feel a little clunky at first, but for me, they represent one of the best evolutions of the soulslike formula to date. There is real weight behind every swing and movement, and once it clicks, it feels incredibly satisfying.
The design of the environments and bosses perfectly complements the oppressive, haunting atmosphere – visually and thematically, it is breathtaking.

So why the thumbs down for now?

Because despite all the brilliance, the newly introduced shared co-op system is deeply flawed and borderline unplayable. Key progression items can be picked up by one player and then locked out for others, causing players to get stuck in their own worlds. There are game-breaking bugs, frequent desyncs, unbearable lag, and an overall lack of polish in multiplayer.
Worse yet, there seems to be no balancing in place – invasions can feel completely unfair and impossible to win, adding to the frustration rather than the challenge.

And while the major issues are bad enough, the smaller bugs are what make the whole experience even more irritating. In my case, for example, I cannot access the tincts menu unless I am connected to another player’s world. These kinds of quality-of-life issues stack up and undermine the otherwise excellent core gameplay.

If you are planning to play solo or occasionally jump in to help a friend and grab some extra materials, I would still recommend it – that feels closer to the intended experience before the update. But since 2.0 was heavily marketed around seamless co-op and shared progression, I simply cannot recommend the game in its current state.

What troubles me most is the radio silence from the developers. With a patch of this scale and this many issues, I would have expected hotfixes within days. Instead, there has been no official communication, and the game's Discord server appears more or less dead. That lack of transparency makes the whole situation even more concerning.

I do hope this gets fixed because apart form the mentioned, I have really fallen in love with this game and cannot stop playing on my own.