How Lords of the Fallen’s Realm of the Dead Entered The Land of the Living

“Well, it’s a beautiful story…” and so begins this excitable yet reflective conversation between Saul Gascon, executive producer and head of studio at Hexworks, and Cezar Virtosu, creative director at Hexworks. They’re about to share with me the development story of Lords of the Fallen, which is available today for Xbox Series X|S. Both developers remembered the early stages of production at the beginning of 2020/end of 2019, which coincided the establishment of Hexworks, a brand new studio. They recalled how any sequel to the 2014 original game, of the same title, had to be an action-RPG with souls-like gameplay.

“The original pitch we had signed off by CI Games was for a much smaller, narrative focused game that would follow the struggle of a templar-like character,” Gascon explains. “But we expanded it significantly because of the potential we could see. We’d have small strike teams that would work on a particular feature for enemies, the player character, bosses, etc. There was obviously a dedicated strike team for Umbral, and then every two weeks they’d check in with us and the game’s other directors.”

Oh, yes. Umbral. Lords of the Fallen offers players the unique opportunity to traverse from the in-game’s realm of the living – Axiom – and that of the dead, Umbral, at will. S’s ultra-fast SSD) and software (the game is one of the first to launch built using Unreal Engine 5) provides an exciting and innovative gameplay experience.|S’s ultra-fast SSD) and software (the game is one of the first to launch built using Unreal Engine 5) provides an exciting and innovative gameplay experience. Using a powerful and mysterious lamp, the player’s character can peek into this supernatural and nightmarish realm in real time, or even transport themselves to it on demand to solve puzzles, overcome enemies, and more.

Umbral is a genre that’s notorious for being challenging. Lord of the Fallen’s take on an action-RPG sees the protagonist wake up in the realm of the dead the first time they’re defeated by an enemy. That’s one more chance to take them down and eventually find their way back to Axiom, or suffer defeat once more and perish. “Umbral came to be from several seeds that we planted with Cezar,” Gascon says. “We wanted to be disruptive and change a bit of the action-RPG’s death loop gameplay. It’s such a key part of the genre, we wanted it so when you died in Axiom you arrived in Umbral… somehow. And at first, we didn’t know how.”

We wanted to be disruptive and change a bit of the action-RPG’s death loop gameplay. It’s such a key part of the genre, we wanted it so when you died in Axiom you arrived in Umbral… somehow.

Saul Gascon

“Umbral became our unique selling point to make us distinctive in the action-RPG genre,” continues Gascon, before Virtosu quickly adds that the journey to iterate on the idea was elusive. “Saul and I had Soul Reaver in our heads as one of the points of inspiration,” he says. “But Umbral expanded beyond those references in time. To be perfectly honest, for the first year and a half of development we weren’t sure if it was going to deliver on our vision. For some time, it was the same layout as Axiom but in a different hue… however, we were fortunate to be able to take the early versions out to playtest, and the feedback was very positive.”

Gascon explains how the iterative process Umbral worked: “We started having dynamic spawns; we tried a dynamic defense mode so when you died, you’d control the protagonist’s ghost in the realm and have to defend your physical body from otherworldly spirts until you generated enough power to resurrect,” he says, before clarifying why the mechanic was cut. “Simply, it didn’t work well if the player died during boss battles.”

Ultimately, it was the Umbral strike team that went rogue and – in Virtosu’s own words – “did a black op” without the directors’ knowledge. The idea of a lamp that would allow players to gaze into the realm of the dead was always part of the player’s toolset, but because of various technical and design decisions, it mean it was only usable when standing still. It was the team’s task to find a dynamic way of making it so players could still be moving in Axiom while looking into Umbral.

The results wowed Gascon, Virtosu, and the others; they knew it was what they’d been looking for. “It became the lynchpin of the experience,” reveals Saul. “We basically had everything confluence around that idea of Umbral,” he adds in satisfaction.

The team was based around Spain and Romania. Both countries are steeped with religious and spiritual belief. In this context, it was perhaps not surprising that the team’s core members were based in and around Spain and Romania. Both countries are steeped in religious and spiritual beliefs. Lords of the Fallen’s development would be inferred by the two cultures – especially the gothic and superstitious stories of Romania. A Bucharest native who splits his time between the Romanian capital and Barcelona, Virtosu sheds some light: “Romania has a religious and spiritual people; we’re afraid of ghosts and superstition. We have a reverence for death.”

He continues, “For instance, during funerals we take a long and twisted route to the cemetery so the dead cannot find their way; when the procession crosses a bridge, we put pile of money on a towel and then remove it so the dead cannot pay the toll. During the development of the game, we looked to tap into this rich tapestry woven across Romania and wider folklore – the fear of the dark is such a primal fear.”

A lore bible was produced very early on, a source of reference for the game’s locations, characters, and more. For instance, for the game’s overwhelmingly foreboding monastery, the duo would pose their questions like: Where was the aqueduct in relation to this towering landmark? How did monks get water to the abbey from the outside? What was the location of the prayer for the wealthy in comparison to the poor? “We had a lot of lore to work with, that’s why it was easy for us to make rapid progress,” says Virtosu.

“Most of our team are at senior points in our careers, so when we encountered a challenge there was like a symbiotic relationship between us all that meant we were able to quickly overcome it,” Gascon tells us.

Virtosu adds: “We iterated relentlessly; we didn’t have to find things to remove because anything superfluous to the game was cut early on: Confusing layouts, removing things for better navigation. During those first months, we only had 12 members and were approaching our first deadlines. The product looked really good. We did a lot of prototyping,”

He smiles: “Saul would say it was like lightning in a bottle.”

Maybe it was a lamp of a different world, a kind of mystical light that showed the way for action RPGs.

Lords of the Fallen now available on Xbox Series X|S.

Lords of the Fallen

CI Games

☆☆☆☆☆
75

★★★★★

Get the following bonuses by pre-ordering Lords of the Fallen:

– Exclusive Bronze, Silver and Gold Armour Tincts, used to re-colour any in-game wearable armour item
– 3 x XP items – used for boosting XP
– 5 x MP items – used for replenishing mana
– 5 x HP items – used for replenishing health

Lords of the Fallen presents a new epic RPG experience in a world five times as large and interconnected than the previous game.
Adyr the demon god was finally brought to justice after an era of the most brutal tyranny. But Gods… do not fall forever. Now, aeons later, Adyr’s resurrection draws nigh. Journey through the worlds of both the living and dead as one of the legendary Dark Crusaders. This expansive RPG features colossal battles with colossal enemies, challenging combat and thrilling characters encounters. Will your legend be one of light… or one of darkness?
Dare To Hope

Discover a vast, interconnected world
Explore two vast, parallel universes on your quest to topple Adyr. The living world is filled with its own challenges. But the realm of the Dead hides untold horrors.

Define your own Legend
Fully customise your character’s appearance from a wide array of visual options, before selecting one of nine character classes. You can customize the character you create to suit your style by upgrading weapons, stats and armour.

Master the Fast and Challenging Fluid Tactical Battle
Survival is only possible for those who master tactical warfare. Select from over 100 unique weapons with brutal attacks, or choose magic instead.

Online Multiplayer: Unite or fight
You can either play the extensive single-player game alone or invite your friend to take part in an uninterrupted online coop. But be warned – heroes from other realms can, and will invade.

Weave a Weapon of Ungodly Strength
The lantern you use has the power to travel between universes. Use dark magic to find lost places, uncover fabled riches, or even manipulate your enemy’s soul.

The Rise of Death
Fall in the world of the living, and rise again… in the world of the dead. All manner of monsters descend on you as they try to drag you back into your former state.