Lords of the Fallen’s Latest Major Patch Offers a Compelling Reason to Play

When Lords of the Fallen hit the shelves in October 2023, it didn’t exactly receive a hero’s welcome. Many, including myself, found plenty to critique in the initial release, and while some of the major design flaws never quite got ironed out, the game’s developer, Hexworks, showed an incredible commitment by sticking with it longer than anyone expected.

Just when everyone thought the game reached its final chapter with update 1.7 that rolled out last December, bringing notable enhancements to many game elements, Hexworks surprised us again. The team just dropped another major update.

This latest patch for Lords of the Fallen is so comprehensive that the developers are calling it version 2.0 of the Souls-like action RPG. It doesn’t just tweak core mechanics and revamp large parts of the game; it also introduces an exciting new feature for newcomers that I personally haven’t seen before in this genre.

Taking inspiration from Split Fiction and Hazelight Studios, known for It Takes Two, CI Games is introducing a Friend’s Pass. With this, players can invite a friend to join them in online co-op, even if the friend doesn’t own the game. This means anyone can download the game for free, create a character, and jump into the fully revamped tutorial. Once that’s complete, they can join a session with any friend who has the full game.

Explaining progression gets a bit tricky, but version 2.0 introduces several changes to make co-op more feasible. While character progress and loot are saved between sessions, only the host keeps world progression. Both players save their story progress individually, including defeated bosses and lit Beacons. Each can earn Vigor and drop loot independently, and they have the ability to revive one another.

The 2.0 update doesn’t stop there. It brings a slew of significant gameplay changes. Players will now find a dedicated jump button! Combat has been overhauled with refined lock-on targeting, more precise weapon handling, smoother movements, faster dodges, and new sound effects for all combat moves. A new feature allows the use of the Umbral Lamp as a guide to your next destination.

In this substantial update, players will also notice a cleaner UI and upgrades to the overall interface. There are numerous quality-of-life improvements, including quicker and automated Vigor collection and a few other adjustments to streamline the gameplay experience.

And here’s the kicker: in celebration of this monumental update, Lords of the Fallen is on sale across all platforms for up to a whopping 72% off. The sale periods vary depending on the platform, ending as early as April 23 for some and extending to May 1 for others.

At the very least, I’d recommend grabbing the Friend’s Pass on Steam or whichever platform you prefer. Play through the tutorial—it’s worth experiencing firsthand. The patch isn’t live on every platform just yet, but you can expect it by Monday, April 21, at the latest.