See No Evil, Hear No Evil Review (Revisited Part 2) "You mean I'm not WHITE??!!"

 

 

 

 

 

Well, just as we are about o head into June, I figured I would get one more post done and this one will be another revisit (again I know!) of an oldish post (well two years ago) which was on the comedy film, See No Evil, Hear No Evil starring the comedy duo of Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. 

So, with that said, let's take another look at this one and see how it fairs 37 years on....

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY 

So the film begins set in New York city with a blind man Wally Karew (Pryor) who is looking for a job and he applies for one at a concession shop run by a deaf man, Dave Lyons (Wilder).  At first the two of them argue with one another given their conditions, however they soon put that aside.  Later after Wally invites David out for a drink (with Wally thinking he has got the job) they meet in a bar where they unintentionally start a fight when Dave stands on a belligerent man's jacket and Dave guides Wally and tells him when to punch the man by using clock directions.  After the fight they bond and share how they became deaf and blind and Dave confesses he has a terrible fear of making a fool of himself, but Wally says he can solves his problems in 10 seconds and dumps his ice cream cone on David's head in full view of the public.

The next day, Wally begins his job at the concession store is waiting for the day's papers and a man walks into Dave's store and he buys for time when he sees a beatiful woman named Eve (Joan Severance) enter the building, he asks Dave to read the label on a box of antacid pills, and the man quickly puts a gold coin from his suitcase into a collection box of coins on the store counter.  Eve pulls a gun on the man and she threatens him saying he has to go with her and she wants the gold coin, the two of them struggle which results in Eve shooting the man dead and she takes his suitcase and leaves.  Dave naturally being deaf is unaware of the shooting and as he finishes reading the label he sees Eve's legs as she walks out of the building.  Wally having heard the gunshot wanders in and he falls over the man's body and Dave kneels by the body and picks up the gun, just as the police quickly arrive they are arrested and taken to the police station.

At the station they are interrogated by a cynical middle aged detective, Captain Braddock (Alan North) who takes an instant disliking to them and has them charged as the prime suspects given that Wally owed the murdered book keeper money.  Meanwhile Eve and her accomplice Kirgo (Kevin Spacey) hope to recover the missing coin turn up at the police station, posing as solicitors to allegedly release both men on bail.  However just after Eve and Kirgo leave, Dave recognises her legs and Wally recognises her perfume and then Dave twigs that she is the killer and he tries to tell Braddock who refuses to listen.

Wally then convinces Dave to escape from the police station and they do so in order to avoid being captured by Eve and Kirgo.  However Eve and Kirgo both soon catch up with them and as Eve phones her employer, Mr Sutherland (Anthony Zerbe) for instructions and with Dave's ability to lip read he catches what she is saying on the phone.  After Eve leaves the men, Wally knocks out Kirgo before he has a chance to kill them and Wally and Dave manage to escape in an unattended police car.  And between them they work the pedals and the steering wheel and they successfully evade the police and the criminals but they accidentally end up driving the car onto a rubbish barge which is moving out to sea.

Later on Wally and Dave ditch the police car and with the help of Wally's sister, Adele (Kirsten Childs) they set about to try and locate the killers so they can foil their activities and clear their names from the police...

THOUGHTS 

While it wasn't a critical success on its release (and to this day it holds a 29% rating on Rotten Tomatoes which makes NO SENSE AT ALL!) for me See no evil, hear no evil is Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor's finest comedy and its where they best gelled together as a comedy duo.  And while the premise of the story is hardly original it does allow for a slightly different spin on things with the two protagonists both having visual and hearing impairments.  

Wilder and Pryor's natural onscreen chemistry also works wonders and is what makes the film work so well and their characters are also oddly endearing as they are simply two guys who ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Wilder and Pryor also nicely use the deaf and blind angle to create some really funny moments in the film that combine moments of misunderstanding, but at the same time they never patronise or in any way mock people with such impairments in their portrayals of Dave and Wally. 

Its also worth mentioning that both Wilder and Pryor did their homework to play the parts of a deaf and blind man. Pryor went to the Braille institute of Los Angeles where he was taught how to use a cane and he observed the mannerisms of blind students and Wilder himself to the NY league for the hard of hearing to study for the role and ended up meeting a speech pathologist, who later became his fourth wife. Nice!   

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES ( Warning: this section may contain spoilers and strong language!) 
 
Getting onto the performances things are pretty good with both the leads in excellent form, starting with Gene Wilder as the mild mannered and genial Dave Lyons, a deaf man who befriends Wally and from here his whole life is turned upside down.

Wilder has plenty of highlights in the film such as in the scene where Dave speaks to the building manager, Mr Huddleston (George Bartenieff) who speaks to him loudly using signals to communicate with him. Dave however in the scene seems bemused and says to the man "Mr Hunddleston, there's a vicious rumour going around the bulding that I'm deaf, I don't know how it started but its really humiliating, so why don't we put a stop to it". Dave then says "And don't worry about that fire inspector, he's always around sucking up, looking for bribes". So, Mr Huddleton surprised says "Oh, they said I had to read your lips! I feel such an ass!" and Dave at this point his turned his back and then after gets up and replies "Especially on the last Thursday of each month!" which leaves Huddleston puzzled.  

Dave and Wally both first meet at the store and as Wally tells Dave that he is blind, Dave asks "Are you really blind?" and Wally snaps back "Yeah I'm really blind, what are you, fuckin deaf?!" and Dave yells "YES! I'M FUCKING DEAF!!".  And Wally incredulously asks him "You're really deaf?" and Dave yes "Yes, I'm really deaf!" and Wally asks "How do you what I'm saying?" and Dave says "Because I'm reading your lips.  Now do you want the job or don't you?!".   

Wilder's scene in the bar with Pryor is also funny when Dave guides Wally around when they fight an obnoxious man who Dave had unwittingly stepped on the jacket of.  And in the scene Dave keeps giving out instructions on where to move and when to hit "Circle right, circle right!  Eight o'clock!  Ten!  Five to three! Oohh, I got confused!" and so on.

Wilder's funniest lines also include when he is at the station and Braddock asks him quickly "Alright no bullshit, was there or wasn't there a woman?!" and Dave asks if him if he is serious and Braddock replies "Yes I'm goddamn serious" and Dave says "Fuzzy wuzzy was a woman?!".  Another funny moment is when Dave and Wally are at the police station, a lab specialist enters the room and tells Braddock that both men had the "Men's Rea" which is the intention or knowledge that constitutes part of a crime.  But as the man turns his back on him and explains what it is, Dave is left in horror thinking this is a sexually transmitted disease and he is dragged screaming out of the room "MEN'S REA!!! OH GOD!!! NO!!!!".

Wilder also has another funny moment in the scene where Dave is repeatedly told to face the camera by a female police officer when taking their mug shots, but he keeps turning to Wally at the wrong moment and the police woman eventually goes off her nut screaming "shit" over and over.  And Dave asks Wally "Is she saying shit or ship??".  And probably my favourite moment of Wilder's is when Wally asks him if he can't hear even if he screams in his ear and Dave asks him to try it and afterwards Wally thinks its worked but Dave turns angrily to him and says "NO, SCHMUCK!!! I'M DEAF!! NOW D'YA GET IT???!!".

And lastly there is the scene when Dave and Wally arrive at Sutherland's grounds to rescue Adele and in the scene Dave stands up on their car using binoculars to scope the grounds but he forgets to put the car's parking break on and the car starts to roll down hill and Dave is thrown from the car and is knocked out.

And after Wally finds Dave and he comes to, Wally apologies to him for getting him involved in the situation.  And Wally says to Dave "You know, Dave, for the first time in my life today I realised I'm full of shit!" and Dave says to him "Well that's true but this morning I threatend to shoot a naked woman with my erection.  Now that is something that doesn't happen everyday!" (referring to the scene with Eve coming out the shower).  And Wally surprised says "No.  The man's got a point!" and Dave says to him "Don't back out on me now, Wally.  We can do this, we really can".  And Wally asks Dave "What if we can't?" and Dave takes a moment and then says "Fuck it!" and Wally smiles and says "Damn you!  I created a monster!".

Richard Pryor is also great and he has numerous highlights as the blind man, Wally Karew, who ends up unwittingly getting himself and Dave into trouble with the killers.

Pryor pretty much get's all the best dialogue in the film and he delivers great lines throughout and has his share of great scenes.

And to start off there is the scene where Wally is on the subway with his sister, Adele, and he attempts to read a newspaper which is upside down and his sister says its ridiculous like he was trying to pass for being white and Wally suddenly jumps in alarm and says "YOU MEAN I'M NOT WHITE???!!  This is a scandal!!! Do you know there has be some big decisions made?! I'm not white! It doesn't feel like it!" and he feels his hair and shouts "Goodness gracious, sis, you're RIGHT!!!" and Adele shakes her head and says "Lord help me!" and Wally asks  "Does dad know???!".

Then there is the hilarious scene when Eve grants a last request to both men and she scratches David's nose as he requests and she then kisses him.  And then Eve asks Wally "Mr Karew, what would you like?" and Wally without hesitation asks "I suppose a fuck is out of the question?" and she smiles and says "I'm afraid so". Also in this scene, Eve searches through Wally's pockets to find the coin and clearly a bit aroused he says to her "I don't know what you're looking for but its a little to the right!".

Another funny moment is where Wally and Dave make their getaway in a police car, with Wally at the wheel he turns to Dave at one point, who says "Don't look at me, keep your eyes on the road!" and Wally says "OK, if it'll make you feel better!".  And he also shares a nice moment with Wilder when they have driven the police car into a rubbish barge going out to sea and Dave says "Right now I'm overwhelmed by the STINK of the 7000 tonnes of garbage you drove me into!" and Wally replies "Is that what it is?!  I thought you let one go! That's why I didn't say nothin!" and Dave smiles and says "That's so kind of you, thank you!".

And another hilarious moment is when Wally poses as a Swedish gynecologist at a conference and they ask his thoughts on geriatric sexual practice and he says "Oh boy! Well some of my patients prefer walking, some of them prefer bicycling.  But for best results, to guarantee total satisfaction, most of them like fucking!  You know poonta-poonta-poonta, I like it myself!  One in the morning and late at night!" which leaves the audience agahst.

Then there is the nice little scene where Wally tells Dave he is sorry that he got him into their situation as a result of his bookie being murdered. So, Wall says to Dave "I just wanted to say I think its over. I didn't just fuck my life up today, I dragged my sister into this shit and I hurt you. I just wanted to say I'm sorry, Dave". Dave however encourages Wally and reassures him they can rescue Wally's sister "We'll get her back. I know we can do it" and Wally fearfully asks "What if we can't?" and Dave after a pause says nonchalantly "Fuck it!" and Wally smiles and says "Damn you! I created a monster!".

And last of all is the moment (SPOILER!!) where Wally and Dave try to foil the criminals getaway, Wally dives onto Eve and as they struggle he grabs at her breasts in the process, and she yells "What do you think you are doing?!" and Wally replies "I don't know, I'm blind.  But this is what they tought us at Braille school, to just feel around and see what's happening!".  And later on as the whole business is resolved and Braddock arrives on the scene Wally smiles and says to him "Captain Braddock.  You're a dickhead!". 

The supporting cast are also pretty good starting with Alan North who is hilarious as the cynical and weary Captain Braddock who has a short fuse and is convinced Dave and Wally are the guilty ones.

And North's best moments include his first scene where he interrogates Dave and Wally which provides some priceless comic moments that start with Braddock relieving his second in command, Gatlin of questioning Dave and Wally.

And in the scene he comes in no-nonsense and says to both men "Right! We're gonna stop fuckin around and start talking serious!  Now you claim there was a woman present?!"and neither man responds, so he asks again and Wally asks "Oh, you talking to me?" and Braddock says "You bet your ass I'm talkin to you!". So, Braddock asks "So, was there or wasn't there?" and Wally asks "What?" and Braddock impatiently says "A WOMAN present?!" and Wally says "I SMELLED a woman but I didn't SEE a woman!". 

So, Braddock sighs and then looks at Dave, who Braddock stands behind and asks "What about you, wise ass? Was there, or wasn't there a woman?" and Dave says nothing, so Braddock leans in behind his and says "What do I have to do? Take you into a special room and ask you?!" and Waly explains "He's deaf, you have to be facing him". So, Braddock sighs and stands infront of Dave and shouts "Alright, no more bullshit! Was there or wasn't there a woman?!" and Dave surprised asks "Are you serious?" and Braddock says "Yes, I'm goddam serious!" and Dave asks "Fuzzy wuzzy was a woman?!" and Braddock says "Why the hell did he say that?" and Wally explains "He reads lips, you're talking too fast". So, Braddock slows down and accents his words for Dave "Was there, or wasn't there a woman present?" and Dave says slowly "Yes, there was a woman present" and Braddock asks Wally "Why the hell is he talkin like that?" and Wally teasingly says "Because he's deaf not stoopid!" and Dave laughs.  

And as the scene unfolds, Braddock quickly becomes fed up with both men's impairments and he shouts at Dave "Don't tell me you didn't hear anything because HE HEARD IT!" pointing at Wally and he shouts at Wally "And you, don't tell me YOU didn't see anything because HE SAW IT!" and he points at Dave.  And Braddock continues angrily "Now some poor bastard's dead, so let's start ANSWERIN SOME FUCKIN QUESTIONS HERE!!".  

Then there is the scene where Braddock dispairs to his second in command, Gatlin about how he is being outwitted by Dave and Wally.  And he moans to Gatlin "Thirty two years on the force, a wife and three kids and a blind guy and a deaf guy are making me look like a complete asshole!" and Gatlin absent mindedly says "And that the truth!" which sparks a shocked reaction from Braddock and Gaitlin oblivious of what he said get's on the radio.

And lastly North's funniest moment is after Wally insults Braddock by saying to him "Captain Braddock, you're a dickhead!".  And this prompts Braddock nearly explode and exclaim "You son of a bitch!" and takes his gun out but Gatlin restrains him and puts him back in his police car "Let me shoot em, I wanna shoot them!  Why can't I shoot them?!  I wanna shoot em!".

Joan Severance, who we've hardly heard from since is also quite good in her role as the seductive and deadly Eve and she has a rather alluring shower scene where Dave pretends he has a gun in his pocket (which is actually his boner!) and he get's her to drop her towel.  However in the DVD/ Blu-ray edition, probably due to the ratio of the screen you don't get to see her breasts, which are not visible on the screen! So, no doubt any breast "enthusiasts" will bound to be disappointed (as was I to be honest!). ;-)

Joan also has a couple of other good moments such as the scene where Eve and Kirgo turn up at the police station, posing as lawyers for Wally and Dave and Wally can't help but aroused by the smell of her perfume.  So before Eve and Kirgo leave, Wally asks her "Excuse me, Miss, have we met somewhere before?" and Eve says "No, I don't think so" and he says "Are you wearing Shalimar perfume?".  And Eve surprised replies "Yes, I am.  You have a remarkable nose!" which leaves Wally beaming.

Then there is the scene where Eve and Kirgo capture Dave and Wally and as Eve talks to her employer (Sutherland) about what to do about them, she comes off the phone and tells both men they are to die but grants them one last request. So, as Dave asks about what is happening, she tells him "You see, I'll soon be leaving and you'll be dead". Dave then asks "Don't we get a last request?" and Eve asks "What would you like?" and Dave asks "Will you scratch my nose for me?" and she does with a coin and then gives him a kiss on the lips and Dave smiles a little and says "You are a sick woman". Eve then asks Wally "Mr Karew, what would you like?" and Wall says "I suppose a fuck is out of the question?" and she smiles and says "I'm afraid so".

And lastly there is the scene near the end where (SPOILER!!) Eve tries to make her exit after offing her employer and she prevents Dave from picking up one of the dead men's guns.  And Eve says to Dave "But you see, you're the ones they're looking for. Not me. If I get on that helicopter with the coin, I get out of here squeaky clean" and Dave says to her "You're too tall for me anyway!".  

Kevin Spacey also makes a noteworthy appearance as Kirgo, Eve's smarmy English accomplice, although it has to be said his English accent is far from convincing! Spacey himself during the film, has a noticeable lump on his right cheek, which turned out to be a cyst, which he had surgically removed after filming had finished. 

However Spacey does have some funny moments such as when he is knocked out by Wally during the shoot where Kirgo readies himself to shoot Wally and Dave on the streets but Wally manages to knock him out by surprise using Dave's telling the time method of attack they used earlier in a bar brawl.

And in the scene as Dave says different times to Wally to prompt him which direction to punch in Kirgo disagrees with Dave and he says to him "Its not twelve o'clock!  Its 11:15!" and then Wally knocks him out.  And not long after, Kirgo comes around and he get's back up and he says to himself "I hate it when that happens!".  And then he stops a taxi in the street and he says to the driver "Police emergency, out of the car!" and the driver says to him "What are you stupid?  You wanna die or something?  Show me your badge!" and Kirgo takes out his gun and points it at the driver and says angrily "This is my badge!". 

Then there is the scene where Wally and Dave manage to track down Eve and Kirgo who have at this stage (SPOILER!) kidnapped Adele, Wally's sister.  And as Wally keeps whistling to get the attention of the guard dogs on the grounds of their employer, Mr Sutherland, Kirgo eventually finds Wally and steps on his foot to silence his whistling.  And Kirgo points his gun at Wally and says to him "I'm so glad you decided to join us!".   

Last of all is the final scene for Kirgo, where he tries to renegotiate his contract with Sutherland and says to him "Mr Sutherland, I currently have a gun pointed at you head. I think its time we renegotiated" so, Mr Sutherland says "Yes, what a good idea, how about one third of (number) million dollars? Does that sound satisfactory?" and Kirgo says "Yes, that's most..." and Sutherland fires a shot fatally wounding Kirgo. 

Kirsten Childs is also pretty good in her role as Adele, Wally's headstrong sister who looks out for him and tries her best to keep him out of trouble (well as much as that is possible!).

Kirsten also has some good moments and I will mention a couple, firstly there is the one where Wally and Adele ride the subway and he pretends to read a paper, which he holds upside down!  And Adele says to Wally "Why do you feel you have to pass for someone with 20/20 vision when you're blind as a bat?!".  And Wally defensively says to her "I don't feel I have to pass" and Adele says to him "Yes, you do. It's a sickness in your brain, just like if you were trying to pass for white!" which prompts Wally to suddenly get up and shout that line "YOU MEAN I'M NOT WHITE???!".

And lastly there is the scene (SPOILER!) where Dave attempts to rescue Adele from Sutherland's grounds and Dave get's into a struggle with Eve and a henchman.  And as Dave has Eve in a position to hit her, Adele yells at him "Hit her, Dave!!  SMACK HER!!" but he hesitates and instead as Eve makes a move to hit Dave, she punches Eve in the face, knocking her out.  And this leaves Dave stunned, yelling "Jesus!!" and Adele says to him "I grew up with brothers!".  

And lastly Anthony Zerbe is also good in his role as the mastermind behind the criminal operation, Mr Sutherland, who as it turns out is also blind and he and Wally have a face off later on, which is one of the film's best non-comedic moments.

And in the scene (SPOILER AGAIN!!) after Sutherland shoots Kirgo dead, Wally suddenly has an uncomfortable thought and he says to Sutherland "How come I got the feeling I'm not the only blind man in this room?".  And Sutherland says to Wally "Because you have great intuition, Mr Karew.  I also suspect you have excellent hearing, like myself".  And as Wally stoops down to try and find Kirgo's gun, Wally nervously says to Sutherland "I can't see your face, but I bet you're not crying" and Sutherland says "Nor can I see your face, Mr Karew, yet I can hear stooping down to find Kirgo's pistol.  Am I right, sir?  Or must I put a bullet through your head to prove it?". 

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC 

Getting onto the director, Arthur Hiller, who also previously directed the Pryor and Wilder film, Silver Streak (released in 1976) does a fine job here with the pacing of the film and also keeps the tone nice and light throughout.  Hiller also does well at eliciting good performances from the cast and he certainly let's Pryor and Wilder's onscreen chemistry shine through very well here.   

And as for the music, well the film's score was composed by Stewart Copeland formerly of The Police, who had already previously wrote the score for Oliver Stone's drama, Wall Street.  And here Copeland provides a fine upbeat and jaunty music score, which is quite synth heavy but it still works pretty well and overall its quite catchy and it suits the comedic tone of the film perfectly.  The score also has more than a passing resemblance to his score for Wall Street but that doesn't detract from it as its still pretty good and worth a listen.  

FLAWS 

So moving to flaws.....yeah OK, See no evil, Hear No Evil does have some.

And to start off it has to be said that the film's simple biggest weakness is its plot, which is very thin and it is hardly original, with two guys on the run from the police and the killers and are wanted for a murder they didn't commit, the only difference here being one is blind and the other deaf.  It adds a slightly different spin on things but the fugitives "on the run" thing has been done so many times before. 

It is also mighty silly and far fetched to say that a blind man and a deaf man could outwit and escape the police, evade their captors and later on go on and foil the criminals.  I mean I'm sure that sort of thing would happen everyday!  And I'm not discriminating against anyone with visual or hearing impairments as I can hardly even imagine two people without these impairments do the same thing on their own.  But again it is just a film and you have to suspend disbelief for an hour and a half or so.

And another stupid aspect of the film is also why is the gold coin so valuable???  And as an explanation all we get is that Mr Sutherland claims it is a superconductor of sorts which is very valuable, but it is hardly explained at all why it really is so useful beyond that!  So in the end the whole gold coin thing is just a bit of a red herring and it feels like a last minute slapped on piece of lazy scripting, which again highlights the flaws in the wafer thin plot.

There is also the odd lapse in continuity as well as there are one or two moments in the film where you actually do get the impression that Dave can hear Wally, as there is one scene when Wally and Dave have just escaped the police and Dave leaves Wally behind briefly to check out for the police nearby and Wally's calls out his name and Dave turns back to him as if he actually heard him!  But for the most part both actors play out and deal with their parts of being deaf and blind really well despite that odd lapse now and then.   

Anyway so that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to sum up See No Evil, Hear No Evil is after nearly 40 years still a highly enjoyable and very funny comedy, which really does showcase the comedic talents of Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor who provide some of the funniest moments onscreen here.  And yeah OK the film has one or two niggles and its plot is mega thin but if you forgive those minor flaws then its still worth checking out and its a great pity that since its release that the film has lost bost its stars, but this for me is still their most enjoyable partnership on screen. Despite also the mixed to negative reviews it got at the time, this film is way better than that and deserves alot more credit. 

So, I will rate See No Evil, Hear No Evil:

8.5 out of 10 (unlike those idiots on Rotten Tomatoes!! 29 percent??? Pah!!).

So, that's it for now and I will be back sometime next month with another post.

Until then bye for now! 

Lords of the Fallen Version 2.5 Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, its a bit late in the month but figured its time for another post and this one will be an update on a previous post, which was the action RPG, Lords of the Fallen, which recently had its latest and final version of the game released, version 2.5.

So, is the game any different or better than on its release? Well, let's find out! 

PREMISE 

So, as the game is a Soulslike, it is essentially similar to Dark Souls in that uses swords and sorceries but the twist here is that you can go between two different worlds, one which is called Axiom, which is the realm of the living and the other is Umbral, the realm of the dead. So, throughout the game your character must traverse the land of Mournstead and go between both realms and fight many dangerous enemies before finally reaching your goals, which will vary depending on which ending of the game you go for.

THOUGHTS

As for my thoughts on the update of Lords of the Fallen, it is in some ways an improvement over the original release for sure but I still prefer version 2.0, which was released prior to this and was a bit easier (maybe too easy for some!) to get through, as this version definitely can be quite challenging. Regardless there are still some good changes that have been added here that make it worth a revisit. 

GAMEPLAY

As for the gameplay, I will split this section into the usual sub-sections as I always do for video game reviews.

COMBAT & WEAPONS

Starting with the combat, Lords of the Fallen uses a third person perspective similar to the Souls games and does the usual mix of regular and strong attacks, along with shield parries and even kicks, plunge attacks and critical attacks, where you can stun an enemy with a strong attack behind, which will allow you to perform a finisher attack. Similar to Bloodborne, you also have a rally system of sorts where when entering Umbral you will lose some health but on attacking enemies you can go get it back as you strike them, however if they attack you, then that white health (or withered health as its known) will disappear and you will need to use a healing item.  

As for the weapons, there is plenty of variety here to choose from as the player has access to the likes of short swords, long swords, axes, spears, halberds, flails, daggers as well as bows and crossbows and you also have the option to dual wield weapons. You will also have access to catalysts that are used for casting spells and come in different varieties for casting different types of spells, which I will mention in a bit also.

DIFFICULTY MODES

As for the difficulty level, this paragraph will relate to the latest version of the game (2.5) as they have now included two different difficulty levels for players. The first being, legacy mode, which is the standard version of the game, which is aimed at a more balanced challenge but with the bosses now tougher than before . The second however is the veteran mode, which is a much tougher test of players' skills, where the enemy AI is more aggressive and they have higher poise. So, if you fancy a challenge then feel free to try either version as its a tough game either way.  

AXIOM & UMBRAL REALMS

As for one of the key concepts of the game, it is split into utilising two different worlds, Axion, the realm of the living and Umbral, the realm of the dead, which the player can access the Umbral realm via their umbral lamp. And in order to progress the game, there will be times where you need to swtich between the two different realms to access areas where you might not be able to access in Axiom, you need to switch over to it Umbral to access unseen paths or climbs unseen ladders that will come apparent when you switch. 

There will also be what's called umbral entities in the Umbral realm, which you need to destroy as they will block you path otherwise. And although you can enter Umbral whenever you want, you can only exit umbral by finding certain exit points resetting yourself at a checkpoint. The Umbral realm will also have its own enemies, which appear as ghostly figures that will attack but as you remain in the realm, the enemies will become more present and stronger, so its dangerous to remain in that realm for too long. Its also worth noting that when you die in Axiom you will be transferred into the umbral realm and when you die there, that's you properly dead and you will lose your souls (or vigor as its known here).

UMBRAL LAMP AND SOUL FLAYING

Another key item of the game is your umbral lamp, which will let you character traverse between the two worlds but it also can be used to gain access to platforms or unlock umbral entities that block your  path. You can however also use the lamp for attacking enemies and using a technique called soul flaying, which will force an enemy briefly out of their body allowing you to attack their soul-like form, or you can even pull their form over a cliff, which when the enemy will recover its normal form, they will fall off the cliff. Nice! 

RADIANT, UMBRAL AND INFERNO SPELLS

In the game, it uses three different types of magic for players that want to play as a caster, so you have the choice of radiant, umbral and inferno magic. Starting with radiant spells, they are very similar to miracles in the Souls games, where offensive spells will deal holy damage and resemble lightning and laser like beams, however you also have healing radiant spells that restore your hp. As for the umbral magic, this is more akin to like regular magic in the Souls games which has a blue light to it and is a mix of projectiles, magic weapons and weapon buffs. And lastly are the Inferno spells, which are basically pyromancies from the Souls games and again features mix of offensive projectiles and fire infused weapon buffs or damage buffs. 

VESTIGES AND VESTIGE SEEDS

Another key aspect of the game are the use of its checkpoints, which are known as vestiges, which are found throughout the game but they can be quite far apart from one another. However, as a way around this, you can use what is called vestige seeds, which you plant in areas known as flowerbeds, which will become visible when you see your umbral lamp glow. The only issue here is though, you can only plant one vestige seed at a time, so you need to be careful with your usage of them but you can carry up to 99 of them with later updates, which is pretty good given you could originally only hold 5.   

CHARACTER STATS

As for character stats, they are again quite similar to the Soul games, where your character has six stats to choose from to level up their character. So, the stats are strength, which you can level up to use strength based weapons, agility, which can be used to wield skill based weapons, endurance, which affects your stamina levels and equipment load. The other stats are vitality, which determines the amount of health your character has and also effects your equipment load, Radiance, which is used to increase your ability to use radiant spells and weapons and lastly there is Inferno, which is used to boost pyromancy spells as well as umbral ones. An important secondary stat also worth mentioning is called Mana, which is basically like your focus points bar in the Souls games and determines the amount of spells you can cast at one time, which can be replenished with the use of items called mana stones.

CHARACTER CLASSES

Moving onto the character classes, you will have a similar mixture to what you see in the Souls games of knight classes, warriors, sorcerers, pyromancers, hunters and the most difficult class, the condemned, which starts off with the lowest points of any class. So, you can choose between these different classes when you start the game and you can also later respec your character if you want to rejig your stats to fit your character. You will also gain three new classes based on the ending you choose, which are the Radiant Purifier for the radiance ending, the Lord for the inferno ending and also the Putrid child for the umbral ending. You can also purchase a bonus class, which is the Dark Crusader if you buy the deluxe version of the game. 

XP AND VIGOR

Another aspect of the game is the use of XP (or experience points) which you will gain when you kill enemies, you will gain vigor, which is similar to souls in the Souls games, which is your currency for buying items or leveling up your character. Also similar to the Souls series, if your character dies then they will lose all their vigor and they will need to pick it up afterward they have respawned at the point where they died last, but if they fail to get it and die again, the vigor will be lost forever. Your required vigor level will also go up each time you level up your character but overall the level requirement remains quite low as I get up to 11,000 vigor per level after I had finished my first playthrough but then the vigor gained from enemies is also lower than you find in the Souls games. 

ENEMIES AND BOSSES

As for the game's enemies, there is reasonable mixture of humanoid and monster enemies to be found throughout the game, which will vary in challenge from easy to downright difficult and areas can quite often become overwhelming to deal with as there plenty to be found! As for the bosses, again there is a variety of humanoid and monster bosses to fight and some of them can be very challenging whereas others can be pretty easy, which does highlight the game's somewhat inconsistent in terms of difficulty.  

There have also been some newer bosses added over time, such as General Engstrom, who is said to be one of the hardest bosses in the game but you need to undergo a specific number of steps in order to access his fight. Then there is the final boss, (SPOILER!!) Adyr, which has been amended from a gimmicky fight to an actual boss battle and been renamed as Eidolon of Adyr. 

MULTIPLAYER MODES

As for the game's multiplayer, in version 2.5 there has been a few changes with modes for the host (i.e. you the player) to share co-op on a progression or non-progression basis. This means the the guest can join the player's playthrough but they must match their progress in the game to within one boss of each other and they will both also get the same items and rewards. As for non-progression, the guest will not be able to get the items or rewards for boss fights but the host retains them. You also have the option to join a host yourself as a guest, which pretty much works the same way as described above for the guest options. 

Then there is the invasion mode where players can invade another online player's world to challenge them to fight similar to how the Souls games work. This is performed via the multiplayer menu and choosing the amusingly titled option "slaughter lampbearer" which will allow the player to be matched up online with another. You can however also use an item called, the mirror of protection, if you don't want to be invaded, which will last for 30 minutes at a time.  

NPCS & SKYREST BRIDGE

And last of all, I will mention the NPCs in the game and there quite a few to be found here and there are some that will have their own quests that you can follow throughout the game. Some of the NPCs you will find are at the central hub of the game, which is known as Skyrest bridge, where you find NPCs such as Exacter Dunmire, who will give you a series of tasks to complete, Pieta, who can boost your character's healing item's potency and number of usages known as a Sanguinarix and Gerlinde, who is a blacksmith, who can upgrade your weapons. 

You will also meet plenty of other NPCs that you can summon into boss fights, such as the Iron Wayfarer, Pieta (the game's first main boss) as already mentioned and Kukajin, who you need to free but once you do, she will move to the hub and you can summon her but she requires you to pay her if you defeat the boss. Some quests if certain steps are missed or not favoured in some way, may also lead to actual boss fight encounters as well, so if you want to follow a specific NPC quest, be careful to read a guide for the necessary steps.     

GRAPHICS

As for the graphics, the game itself looks very impressive and it features a good mixture of environments that have plenty of good detail in their surroundings and the game also has a good colour palette as it offers some nice vivid colours in areas, which is a nice welcome to some of the more dreary coloured games out there. The character models pretty decent in the game although they are not the very best out there as there are way better ones but they aren't bad.  

In terms of the game's frame rate performance, thankfully the game now runs very smoothly (especially on PC as I just replayed it there) as it was originally a real mess on its original release with stuttering frame rates all over the place! But thankfully, this has now been resolved and it plays great like it should have been on release. 

MUSIC 

As for the game's soundtrack, it was composed by American composer Cris Velasco and Norwegian composer Knut Havenstroup Haugen and overall its a great score with plenty of variety in its themes. So, the score has plenty of standout moments such as the boss fight themes for Pieta, The Hushed Saint, the Skinstealer, the Lightreaper and many more and even the main theme of the game itself is very good. So, overall I was quite impressed with the score's variety of styles and at times it sounded like I was listening to a mix of Souls games, The Matrix and even Doctor Who. So, the score is definitely one of the game's strongest aspects and personally one of my favourites to listen to independent of the game. 

FLAWS

As for flaws...yes Lords of the Fallen does have some worth mentioning.

For starters the game's difficulty level in version 2.5 is for the most part quite balanced but towards the end of the game, it remains consistent with the original version's difficulty as it turns into sh** show! So, yeah the later areas, specifically Abbey of Hallowed Sisters and Bramis Castle are STILL both a nightmare to navigate through with plenty of enemy gankage going on! So, yeah at this point, the game can start feel a bit waring with its enemy overkill.

I also felt there were a few bosses that felt a bit unfair in this version (or maybe I really just suck!) especially the Bringers boss fight, which I died to numerous times as I couldn't figure out how to NOT die to them as I kept either falling off the platforms or died to their BS combos. Then there is the second to last boss, the Sundered Monarch, who was a real nightmare in this version and he feels more aggressive here than before plus he hits pretty hard. However in the end, I did manage to eventually get him with a cheese strat involving a crossbow.  

Another of course relates to the limit checkpoints in the game as there are very few vestiges to be had in the game with only or two tops in each area. However you can of course use your vestige seeds to plant a seed in an umbral flowerbed and use that as a temporary checkpoint but you can only place one at a time and be careful that you don't run out of any as you progress although they are only 1200 vigor each, so its not too bad in that respect.

Another issue I had with the game (and its BIG one!) was the disappearance of the one of the key merchants in the game, Thek-Ihir, who sells cures and resistance balms for different ailments such as poison, bleed, fire or ignite build-up as well as other useful items. However, at a certain point late on in the game (at the Empyrean vestige) he will disappear forever and you will never be able to purchase anything from him again! So, I found this to be a REALLY stupid decision on the developer's behalf, because it means you then need to try and farm these items off specific enemies instead, which is nowhere near as handy or straight forward.

Update: to be fair, even though, Thekh-Ihir's disappearance is very annoying, you can still get some rings that will help with certain elemental damage as well as some spells that can combat this damage (dependent on your build though). There are also the moth ring and bountiful ring, which can be used to increase vigor gained and boost item discovery respectively, so even if you can't buy anymore lucky paws for item drop boosts, you still have this ring.  

Then there are also some frustrating issues to do with the layout of the areas, as you can easily get lost in certain areas after a while and one such area for me was Forsaken Fen, which is a poison area and it took me forever to get through that area alone on my first run! I also spent a lot of time running around trying to find an entrance into the Revelation Depths area, which you access via the Sunless Skein area but again the access point is far from obvious or easy to find. So, this game is definitely quite frustrating when it comes to navigating its confusing areas. 

And then we have the issue of the enemy variety as there is simply not enough enemy variety in the game here and you will have seen pretty much the same enemies in each area over and over again as you progress. There are one or two new enemies included in the later areas but overall in the final areas of the game, I was just seeing the same old enemies and its a pity the developers got lazy with their choices here as more variety would have been a good thing.  

Last of all, I had to mention issues I've had with the multiplayer features of this latest version, which proved to be a real pain for me on my latest PC playthrough! For starters, I was confused by the changes to the different modes at first for shared and non-shared progression, so I ended up going into another player's world to help out but realising I was in an entirely different area, I quit out the game. However on doing this, I discovered, I had now inherited this player's game save and I found some areas I had not already accessed, which are now open to me! 

Now this doesn't sound too bad but then I discovered that there were some items I wanted to get, such as saintly quintessences but when I got to an area (the revelation depths, which the player had already done) I could not get the one I wanted, as this player had already taken it!! This was also the case with another item, I wanted, the inferno spell, infernal weapon (fire buff for melee weapons) which had disappeared at the shrine of Adyr, as they had already accessed it! So, yeah this was definitely very frustrating missing out on these items! 

Further to this, another issue was to do with the crossplay feature being enabled as I was literally forced into an online player session for a boss fight without my permission!! This was really infuriating as I did not want to be summoned in and I was trying to farm for items at the time on my playthrough. So, this is definitely a change that really sucks in the latest version of the game.

QUICK TIP: before finishing, I thought I'd mention a quick tip if you get caught in this scenario like I did, if you are forced into an online co-op session, just go into the network settings and click on the leave option and it will take you back to the menu. From here, you should now be able to access your previous save, so then it will save it from being overwritten with the player you were helping (or forced into helping!). Also ensure to select the option in the network for crossplay to off, so then this will prevent from being summoned in the first place. Last of all, also ensure to back up your save before going into any co-op option as well, so that way you can load the original back in to undo any problems. 

So, that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, Lords of the Fallen in its latest version 2.5 remains a very enjoyable Soulslike, which will present you with many hours of enjoyment if you are into RPGs. The game definitely feels more balanced and optimised for the most part from its original release and technically its way better as I really enjoyed having smooth frame rates on my PC run unlike the mess on my original Series X one. There are still some issues here and there and some bosses still felt a bit unfair and the multiplayer has quite a few problems, which can result in your save file being overwritten!   

However, if you can forgive it all its faults, then Lords of the Fallen is still worth checking out and for the most part, it remains a worthy and enjoyable Souls-like RPG.

So, I will rate Lords of the Fallen V 2.5:

8.5 out of 10 (well 8.5 for the game but probably just an 8 for version 2.5!)

So, that's it for now guys and I will try and be back with another post before May is out.

Till then, its bye for now!