Lords Of The Fallen 2 aims to be more popular with Dark Souls fans
Lords of the fool me once
Back in the year 2014, before Dark Souls 3, there were those of us out there looking to find some more Souls-style RPGs who hoped perhaps we'd find it in CI Games' Lords Of The Fallen. No such luck, as it turned out to be quite an average attempt to emulate the formula. Now, CI Games are talking up their planned sequel Lords Of The Fallen once again, revealing a logo and plans to make the series more popular among those Dark Souls fans they didn't quite convince the first time around.
As a recap, the original LotF was published by CI Games and developed by Deck 13, the latter of whom went on to develop the sci-fi Souls-like The Surge with a different publisher. CI Games brought in Defiant Studios to work on LofT 2 but later dropped them in 2019. CI Games have since announced their own new internal studio Hexworks to focus on their dark fantasy action RPG. The image up top is of the original, not the sequel, mind.
As of today, CI are back to talking about LotF 2 and have revealed its logo. "Lords of the Fallen 2 is our largest project in terms of the whole of CI Games," CEO Marek Tymiński says. "The previous game was a full priced, full featured release and we’re approaching the next one with an even larger scope. The sequel will move the franchise to dark fantasy and will offer a revised and challenging combat system."
CI Games say that their plans for LotF 2 have grown since originally announcing it. They believe that Hexworks are developing a sequel that "has a strong chance to not only make the franchise becoming more popular among Soulsborne/Souls-like communities and beyond, but establish it as a long-running franchise for CI."
The bar to best the original game isn't very high, though there are so many competing Souls-aspiring games now that CI and Hexworks will find the field more crowded than when LotF lumbered out. If you're curious about what Hexworks are building off of, you can find the rundown in RPS's Lords Of The Fallen review.
Nowadays there are better Souls-y options while you wait to find out if LotF 2 can make something of itself. Although if Elden Ring takes long enough to show up I suspect I'll be more likely CI's series another chance.