Lords of the Fallen vs Elden Ring – the main differences

Lords of the Fallen vs Elden Ring. Which of these massive RPGs reigns supreme, if there is one and what are the differences between them? There’s a lot to consider when it comes to comparing the two games. You need to take a look at their maps and respective worlds, the bosses on offer, how the co-op multiplayer experience is, and more. Elden Ring is the 2022 Game of the Year winner, while Lords of the Fallen competing for similar accolades.

The Lords of the Fallen release date is here, bringing a line of impressive Lords of the Fallen bosses to players worldwide. Much like Dark Souls and Elden Ring, there are various Lords of the Fallen classes to consider when the time comes to dive into Lords of the Fallen character creation in order to have the best experience in Hexwork’s title. But, what separates one of the best RPG games of all time with a reboot of a series that never took off?

Lords of the Fallen vs Elden Ring

The main differences between Lords of the Fallen and Elden Ring are:

Lords of the Fallen vs Elden Ring map

There are a couple of core differences between the Elden Ring and Lords of the Fallen maps, the first of which is that the former is a sprawling open world while the latter is a semi-open world with intertwining areas. As such, both offer you plenty of land to explore with hidden pathways that reward your curiosity, but Elden Ring offers you that bit more freedom in the grand scheme of things.

However, Lords of the Fallen features two different worlds, Umbral and Axiom. Those two realms offer a new dimension to how you explore a Soulslike and also include a lot to discover. You can get deeper into Lords of the Fallen Umbral and Lords of the Fallen Axiom in our guides, but Umbral is core to the experience according to The Lords of the Fallen development team.

So, if you are looking for a larger world, Elden Ring is your choice, but Lords of the Fallen potentially offers a more intricate and layered land to explore.

Lords of the Fallen vs Elden Ring bosses

Bosses are one of the most important elements in any Soulslike so it’s no surprise that both Elden Ring and Lords of the Fallen feature plenty. Elden Ring has some of the most unique, hardest, and most beautiful boss fights the genre has seen thanks to the likes of Radhan, Melania, and Renala.

There’s a lot to live up to for Lords of the Fallen, but the announced bosses indicate a nice variation, and with more than 3o bosses, the game promises to keep you busy. It’s a good number that may help prevent duplicate boss fights, which is a frequent occurrence in Elden Ring outside of the main bosses. Mind you, the core Elden Ring bosses are some of the best you can come across in videogames and the Lords of the Fallen bosses don’t stack up.

Lords of the Fallen vs Elden Ring multiplayer

Both of the games feature multiplayer, allowing co-op play as well as invasions. Yet, there are small differences between the two that help Lords of the Fallen stand above the 2022 Game of the Year. Firstly, for Elden Ring multiplayer, you have to use in-game items, meaning you might have to farm materials which can be time-consuming. Whereas in Lords of the Fallen multiplayer, you don’t use any in-game items and get to experience a seamless multiplayer experience when playing with a friend, however, this is just for two people, not three like in Elden Ring.

In Elden Ring, death is the end as your companion returns to their world, but Lords of the Fallen allows you the opportunity to revive them, due to the seamless experience. Not only that but once you defeat a boss or complete a goal, you can keep going. The game doesn’t tear your friend away from you and demands that you expend valuable resources to bring them back.

As such, Lords of the Fallen definitely offers a more enjoyable and approachable co-op experience.

Lords of the Fallen vs Elden Ring difficulty

All Soulslike games pose a challenge, that’s part of their appeal, but while Lords of the Fallen looks to be a hard game, it’s similar to Elden Ring in that it has a mechanic to make the game a bit more accessible to players. In From Software’s title, you can use spirit ashes to help you in a fight, but thanks to a lot of nerfing, the best spirit ashes are no longer as useful.

In Lords of the Fallen, you get two-lives thanks to both Axiom and Umbral and that makes Lords of the Fallen a bit easier. Thanks to this feature, you don’t have to worry about losing your progress. You get a second chance to get to where you need to go. FromSoftware’s library of games isn’t quite so forgiving, so when it comes to difficulty, despite still offering a challenge, Lords of the Fallen is likely to give you an easier time than Elden Ring.

Lords of the Fallen vs Elden Ring replayability

If there’s one thing that keeps players coming back to RPGs and Soulslikes is replayability. Elden Ring is perhaps the most replayable to date, thanks to all the create builds you can create courtesy of a vast amount of weapons, sorceries, miracles, and pyromancies. More than that, the game has six endings, a couple of which take a lot of work to achieve, meaning you need to replay the game to get them all.

Lords of the Fallen, meanwhile, offers three endings, giving it plenty of replayability as well. However, at 25-to-30 hours long, there may not be too much else to explore outside of the three endings after one run – besides an odd quest or two (although we aren’t sure yet). In comparison, Elden Ring has many secrets hidden throughout a huge open world and takes several dozen hours to complete when you focus on the main objectives. The bottom line is both games are replayable, but Elden Ring has slightly more to offer on subsequent playthroughs.

Lords of the Fallen vs Elden Ring Developers

Elden Ring is developed by From Software, the company that founded the Soulslike genre with Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls. When you take that into account, it’s not surprising that Elden Ring is perhaps the best Soulslike game out there, though everyone has their own favorite.

Meanwhile, Hexworks serves as the developer for Lords of the Fallen. Hexworks is just three years old at this point, so in terms of developer experience, the team behind Elden has a lot more experience with Soulslikes as a formed team. Although, the studio has pulled in a variety of talented developers.

As such, there isn’t a definitive game to favor here as ultimately the team at FromSoftware just has more experience with the genre. But, Hexworks definitely could be creating a fantastic soulslike here.

In the Lords of the Ring vs Elden Ring debate, it does appear as though Elden Ring comes out victorious, thanks to a prestigious developer, incredible bosses, fantastic world design, and engaging gameplay. It also offers up to hundreds of hours of content. The games share some similarities but also some crucial differences that give them their own identities. One thing is for sure, Elden Ring set a really high bar, but Lords of the Fallen tries to leap over it with some interesting innovations like the dual worlds and gameplay opportunities Umbral offers for you.