Maybe now with a 40 Series RTX, I’ll get a solid 60 FPS without hiccups in 2023’s Lords of the Fallen. I doubt it though. HEXWORKS and CI Games Studio’s Umbral-based Souls-like has a lot to admire about it, some of which is the fact it isn’t the 2014 release. Nonetheless, the team at HEXWORKS has been aiming to improve Lords of the Fallen (2023) since its launch. Here is what the most recent press release says about the latest update:

“HEXWORKS, a CI Games studio, has [yesterday] released update v1.6 for dark fantasy, action-RPG Lords of the Fallen, which delivers an enhanced onboarding and tutorial experience based on feedback from veteran players. The update continues the studio’s dedicated post-launch support for the game, with a more exploration-friendly Umbral realm, alongside a raft of additional gameplay and performance improvements.

[…] With version 1.6, new Lords of the Fallen players are better introduced to their journey across Mournstead, with a series of changes during the early part of the game. These include a more gradual onboarding into the Umbral Lamp’s unique abilities, and improved navigation in the tutorial area. As for the wider community, a highly sought player request has been the ability to more thoroughly explore Umbral – the game’s secondary, darker realm that runs alongside its core world.

While retaining its dark allure and tension, the changes – which include subtler soundscapes, an adjusted enemy spawn curve for improved pacing, and reduced vignette effect – all combine to better support [the] exploration of the Umbral realm.”

This update comes ahead of the PS5 Pro, launching later this week, who knew? Some of us don’t have that kind of money, Sony, especially after a PC upgrade. The press release goes on to say: “The release of v1.6 arrives ahead of Lords of the Fallen’s launch day debut for PlayStation®5 Pro, featuring a 40% increase in pixel density, with an enhanced Performance Moderunning at 4K60 based on 1440p, and Quality Mode running at a native 4K30.” Let me see, play at 4K at 30 and not really see a whole lot of improvements, or play at 60 and enjoy myself? #PCMasterRace.

The press release doesn’t note specifically what has been done in terms of performance, but there is mention of performance enhancements, difficulty adjustments, enemy perception, and other improvements. Thankfully the Steam change log update is a bit more helpful here. I don’t want to get into too many specifics here, but I will say the performance is primarily for the more graphically demanding areas. Aiming directly at “lower-spec” PCs.

With an improved tutorial introducing the world, I think Lords of the Fallen is easily one of the more accessible Souls-likes, right up there with Another Crab’s Treasure. Though I don’t think a Blackfeather Ranger is going to be like a Horseman and pull out the Glock.

Lords of the Fallen is available now on Steam and Epic, the Xbox Series X|S, the PlayStation 5, and later this week, the PlayStation 5 Pro. If you haven’t picked up Lords of the Fallen yet, there is a 50% discount on Steam right now, until the 11th of November. With the discount, the current price is $29.99, £24.99, €29.99, or your regional equivalent. I highly recommend it, though I will say that performance can be a bit stingy if you are an “ultra everything” type of person.

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