download the new version Fall of Light: Darkest Edition

And if you die, she dies too, but while your soul is restored at a nearby bonfire - sorry, we meant ‘shrine’ - you’ll need to backtrack to where you died in order to restore her.Ī majority of your time in Fall of Light will be spent swinging various weapons at an endless parade of incredibly similar humanoid enemies, so it’s perpetually frustrating to have to do so via a completely unintuitive combat model. The game never provides a reason to care for her from a narrative perspective, and while her presence does provide helpful buffs (such as increasing the power of your attacks) her role almost always devolves into a 12-plus-hour-long escort mission. Two-man Italian developer RuneHeads has used Ico as its other big inspiration, but much like the attempt to ape the solid systems of Souls, this indie title fails to capture what made Team Ico’s PS2 classic so evocative. In the role of Nyx - an ageing knight who needs to lead his daughter Aether through a perilous set of dungeons in order to reach the safety of some sunlight at the other end - you’ll need to protect your charge and ensure the various minions you encounter don’t snatch her. But it doesn’t take long for Fall of Light’s inherent problems to emerge. At least then you’re a ‘soulless’ rip-off rather than a cheap knock-off. Thing is, if you’re going to be as bold as to imitate such an acclaimed milestone in modern game design, you need to at least do it well.

Sound familiar yet? Developer RuneHeads isn’t hiding just how much FromSoftware’s Souls’ series has influenced almost every facet of its dungeon-crawling title, but there's a fine line between paying tribute and pastiche, and too often Fall of Light: Darkest Edition stumbles into the clutches of the latter.

Enemies that revive every time you’re resurrected. Shrines that become spawn points when you die.

Slow melee combat with a focus on stamina management. Lots of obtuse and cliched references to dark forces and evil people doing predictably evil things.

Download the new version Fall of Light: Darkest Edition