iTechGuides is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more
The new PS Plus RPG is Lords of the Fallen (2023), not a new entry in the Elden Ring series. It was included in PlayStation Plus’s April 2026 monthly-games lineup. Both are Soulslike action RPGs, but they deliver very different journeys: Elden Ring is built around broad, open-world wandering, while Lords of the Fallen channels its combat and discovery through a more directed, interconnected world split between the living realm of Axiom and the dead realm of Umbral.
There is no credible single-number answer to “Which is harder?” Your experience depends on boss familiarity, enemy density, navigation, build choices, death recovery and whether you use multiplayer. The useful comparison is where each game applies pressure and what kind of exploration you prefer.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Elden Ring (PS5) (European Version) | $34.00 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
|
Elden Ring, 1 PS5-Blu-ray Disc | $74.33 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
|
Elden Ring: Nightreign - Seekers Edition /PS5 | $43.95 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
|
Bandai Namco Entertainment Elden Ring (PS5) | $40.00 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
|
Elden Ring - PlayStation 5 | $39.99 | Buy on Amazon |
What the PS Plus RPG is, and why the comparison matters
Lords of the Fallen launched on PS5 on October 13, 2023. PlayStation later selected it as one of the three PlayStation Plus monthly games for April 2026. That makes it an unusually accessible way for subscribers to try a modern Soulslike without immediately buying a separate copy, although monthly-game availability, subscription tiers and regional dates can change. Check the current PlayStation listing for your country before assuming the entitlement is still claimable or playable through your plan.
PlayStation presents the game as an “all-new, epic RPG adventure in a vast, interconnected world” with “colossal boss battles” and “fast and challenging combat.” Hexworks describes its central fiction more simply: “Fall in the world of the living, and rise again in the world of the dead.” The two descriptions point to the key distinction from Elden Ring. Both games use stamina-conscious action combat, character builds, dangerous checkpoints and demanding bosses, but Lords of the Fallen makes switching between two versions of the world part of ordinary route finding and progression.
#1 Best Overall
- Collaborating with George R.R. Martin to create the ELDEN RING mythos has been a genuinely delightful experience and a source of wonderful inspiration. The team is working hard to ensure that the world of ELDEN RING will be a fascinating place for players to explore, filled with peril and wonder from its furthest reaches to its lowest depths. This is a FromSoftware title through and through, rich in fantasy and RPG action. We sincerely hope you look forward to it.
- Building the world of ELDEN RING with Miyazaki-san and his team was a treat! The graphics, mythos, and action-RPG gameplay will deliver an unforgettable experience. I can’t wait for people to see what ELDEN RING has in store for them.” Said George R.R. Martin.
The game has also changed substantially since launch. The PlayStation Store listing records more than 70 updates, including version 2.0’s fully revamped combat system and difficulty balancing. Consequently, impressions based solely on launch-day videos may not describe the current version. Hexworks says it has continued adjusting weapons, spells, combat abilities and enemy behavior using player feedback and internal telemetry.
At a glance: the two games serve different Soulslike tastes
| Comparison point | Lords of the Fallen (2023) | Elden Ring |
|---|---|---|
| World structure | Directed, interconnected regions designed around layered routes and two realms. | Large open world that encourages wandering, optional detours and discovery at your own pace. |
| Signature exploration idea | Moving between Axiom, the living realm, and Umbral, the realm of the dead. | Broad geographic exploration with many optional locations and approaches. |
| Combat identity | Fast, challenging action combat, build-based progression and large boss encounters; later updates substantially revised combat and balance. | Soulslike combat with a very broad range of weapons, skills, spells, summons and player-created approaches. |
| Where difficulty comes from | Boss learning, enemy groups, route management, realm-based surprises and build decisions; enemy-leashing and balance have been revised over time. | Boss patterns, varied enemy placements, optional areas, build choices and the freedom to enter content in different orders. |
| Multiplayer listed by the store | Online play for up to three players. | Multiplayer options are available, but the relevant comparison here is that Lords of the Fallen explicitly supports up to three online players in its store description. |
| Current PS Plus context | Included in the April 2026 monthly-games lineup; access depends on your region, entitlement and subscription rules. | Not the PS Plus game referred to by the title. |
These are structural differences, not a claim that one game contains more total content or is objectively superior. Choose according to whether you want a concentrated, route-solving Soulslike or the broadest possible open-world discovery experience.
Combat: similar foundations, different pacing and presentation
What a fight feels like in Lords of the Fallen
Lords of the Fallen uses the familiar Soulslike foundation: read an enemy, manage attack opportunities, avoid overcommitting, improve a character build and learn a boss through repeated attempts. Its official descriptions emphasize fast, challenging combat and colossal boss battles rather than a slow, purely defensive duel. Encounters therefore ask you to make decisions quickly while still respecting stamina, spacing and recovery windows.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →The game’s build structure lets you shape a character around different weapon, spell and combat-ability priorities. A heavy weapon user, a faster melee fighter and a spell-focused character can approach the same area differently. That flexibility matters because the game’s pressure is not only a test of reflexes; it also comes from deciding which tools to upgrade and how much risk to accept while exploring.
Version 2.0 is particularly important when evaluating combat. The update is described in the PlayStation Store listing as a fully revamped combat system accompanied by difficulty balancing. More than 70 updates are listed for the game overall. A review or video made before those changes may accurately document an earlier build, but it should not be treated as a precise guide to current timing, enemy behavior or balance.
How that differs from Elden Ring
Elden Ring is the better reference point for combat variety at enormous scale. Its open world lets you leave a difficult encounter, investigate another region, find a different weapon or spell, and return with a changed build or strategy. That freedom can make an obstacle feel less like a fixed wall and more like a prompt to explore.
Lords of the Fallen concentrates comparable Soulslike fundamentals inside a more directed journey. You still have build choices, but progression and combat are more tightly connected to the route through its interconnected regions and the decisions you make about Axiom and Umbral. The result can feel more focused: less about surveying a continent for the next activity and more about solving the next connected stretch of terrain while staying ready for a fight.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Rank #3
- Elden Ring: Nightreign - Seekers Edition /PS5
Calling either game simply “faster” is misleading without qualification. Individual weapons, spells, enemy types and post-launch balance changes alter the rhythm. The safer distinction is presentation and pacing: Lords of the Fallen foregrounds rapid encounters, dramatic bosses and realm-based route changes; Elden Ring gives you a much larger space in which to choose when, where and how to engage.
Bosses and build experimentation
Both games use bosses as lessons in pattern recognition. Expect to learn attack tells, punish windows, positioning and phase changes rather than win by trading damage indefinitely. Lords of the Fallen advertises “colossal boss battles,” so spectacle and set-piece presentation are central to its pitch. Elden Ring offers a wider range of boss contexts because its open world lets you discover major, minor and optional encounters in different sequences.
Build experimentation has a different practical value in each game. In Elden Ring, exploration itself is a powerful respec-and-retool loop: a failed attempt can send you toward another region, item or summon. In Lords of the Fallen, changing weapons, spells or abilities helps you adapt to a tightly connected route and its enemy combinations. Neither approach is automatically better; the choice is between breadth of experimentation and a more concentrated set of route-and-build decisions.
Exploration: open-world wandering versus two-realm route solving
Elden Ring’s broad discovery model
Elden Ring is the benchmark for open-world Soulslike exploration. You can spot a landmark, ride toward it, ignore it for hours, investigate a side path or approach a major objective from another direction. Optional discovery is the point: the game repeatedly rewards curiosity with alternate routes, encounters and ways to strengthen a character.
That structure also makes difficulty self-directed. If a region or boss is overwhelming, you can often pursue another objective and return later. The world may be dangerous everywhere, but your route through it is comparatively open.
Lords of the Fallen’s interconnected journey
Lords of the Fallen is described as a vast interconnected world, more than five times larger than the original game. That statement is a description of its scale relative to the earlier Lords of the Fallen, not a claim that it is larger than Elden Ring. Its regions are linked as a journey rather than presented primarily as one uninterrupted open-world map.
The defining exploration mechanic is the relationship between Axiom and Umbral. Axiom is the world of the living; Umbral is the world of the dead. Moving between them changes what routes, encounters and progression opportunities are available. Umbral is therefore not merely a visual filter or an alternate color palette. It is a gameplay space that can expose a different way forward, alter the danger around you and make a familiar piece of terrain function differently.
Illustrative route: how the two realms change a decision
Consider this representative situation rather than a named location: you reach a broken passage in Axiom and the visible route appears to end. Instead of treating the obstruction as a permanent dead end, you shift your attention to Umbral. The same stretch can contain a route, encounter or progression clue that is unavailable in the living realm. You then decide whether to continue through the altered space, search for a safer connection back to Axiom or risk a fight before returning to the main path.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsThe important lesson is the decision itself. In Elden Ring, a blocked route usually encourages geographic wandering: look around the landscape and find another path. In Lords of the Fallen, a blocked route can ask a different question: which realm makes this route possible, and what danger arrives with that change? The games both reward observation, but they ask you to observe different kinds of information.
How Umbral affects encounters, navigation and progression
Umbral changes exploration in three connected ways:
- Route finding: A path that is unavailable or unclear in Axiom may become readable or traversable in Umbral. You are solving a layered map rather than a single static one.
- Encounter planning: Entering the dead realm can change the threats around the same physical space. The safest-looking route in one realm may not remain safe after the transition.
- Progression decisions: Realm changes are tied to moving forward, so exploration and advancement are linked. You are not merely sightseeing in an alternate dimension; you are using it to determine where the journey can continue.
This system creates a more deliberate rhythm than Elden Ring’s horizon-driven wandering. You still explore interconnected spaces, but you also inspect them for realm-dependent solutions. Players who enjoy environmental puzzles and revisiting a location with new information may find this more compelling than a huge map full of optional markers. Players who mainly want uninterrupted freedom to roam may prefer Elden Ring.
Difficulty: compare sources of pressure, not an invented ranking
Neither the publisher descriptions nor the developer’s balancing notes establish a shared scale that can prove Lords of the Fallen is a specific percentage easier or harder than Elden Ring. A universal ranking would hide the variables that actually determine your experience.
| Pressure source | What to expect in Lords of the Fallen | How Elden Ring differs |
|---|---|---|
| Boss learning | Colossal encounters demand pattern recognition, timing and a build that suits your approach. | Bosses range from optional fights to major progression checks, and open-world detours let you return with new tools. |
| Enemy density | Groups and route-specific encounters can make the journey between bosses as important as the boss itself. | Enemy placement varies widely by region, with more freedom to bypass, retreat or approach from another direction. |
| Navigation | Axiom and Umbral can alter the route, so reading the environment is part of the challenge. | Navigation is primarily geographic: landmarks, terrain, dungeons and alternate roads shape discovery. |
| Death recovery | Recovery decisions are affected by the connected route and the hazards encountered while returning. | Open-world scale gives you more options for leaving a dangerous area before attempting recovery again. |
| Build choice | Weapons, spells and combat abilities remain important, and balance has been refined through updates. | The huge range of builds and optional content lets you solve many obstacles through experimentation. |
| Multiplayer | Up to three online players are supported in the store listing, which can materially reduce pressure for a group. | Multiplayer can also change the experience, but the comparison should account for each game’s specific modes and current rules. |
What the post-launch balancing means for players
Hexworks says player feedback and internal telemetry informed changes to enemy leashing, with the goal of giving players more freedom during exploration. The developer has also continued refining weapons, spells and other combat abilities. These changes matter because difficulty is partly a pacing problem: an enemy that follows you too far can turn a careful route into an unavoidable chain of fights, while a more controlled leash gives you room to reset and make a new plan.
The store description’s reference to rigorous difficulty balancing and the large number of updates means you should judge the current build rather than rely on launch-era claims that the game is simply unfair or universally easier. The updates do not remove the game’s demanding identity; they shape where the demands occur and how much control you have over them.
Best Value
- ELDEN RING, developed by FromSoftware Inc. and produced by BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc., is a fantasy action-RPG and FromSoftware's largest game to date, set within a world full of mystery and peril
- Journey through the Lands Between, a new fantasy world created by Hidetaka Miyazaki, creator of the influential DARK SOULS video game series, and George R. R. Martin, author of The New York Times best-selling fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire
- Traverse the breathtaking world on foot or on horseback, alone or online with other players, and fully immerse yourself in the grassy plains, suffocating swamps, spiraling mountains, and foreboding castles
- Create your character in FromSoftware’s refi ned action-RPG and defi ne your playstyle by experimenting with a wide variety of weapons, magical abilities, and skills found throughout the world
- Charge into battle, pick off enemies one-by-one using stealth, or even call upon allies for aid - many options are at your disposal as you decide how to approach exploration and combat
Co-op is a meaningful difference when difficulty is the concern
The PlayStation Store lists online multiplayer for up to three players in Lords of the Fallen. That is more than a social extra if you are comparing difficulty. A coordinated group can divide enemy attention, create safer opportunities to heal or cast, and make a boss’s attack pattern easier to study. It can also change the game’s intended tension, so a solo comparison and a co-op comparison should be treated as different experiences.
Before choosing the game as a solo challenge, check the current multiplayer requirements and regional rules. If you already finished Elden Ring alone, co-op gives Lords of the Fallen a practical reason to revisit the Soulslike formula rather than simply repeating the same kind of run.
Is Lords of the Fallen worth playing after Elden Ring?
Choose Lords of the Fallen if you want
- A more directed, interconnected Soulslike journey instead of another enormous open world.
- Exploration based on switching between a living realm and a dead realm.
- Fast, challenging combat and large boss encounters, with a current balance shaped by extensive updates.
- A build-focused action RPG that supports up to three online players.
- A low-risk way to sample the game if you claimed it through the April 2026 PS Plus monthly lineup and still meet the relevant access conditions.
Stay with Elden Ring if you want
- The broadest possible freedom to wander, change objectives and discover optional content in any order.
- A world where leaving a difficult encounter to pursue another region is a central part of progression.
- Maximum room for experimentation through different weapons, spells, skills, summons and routes.
- A single, continuous open-world discovery loop rather than realm-based route solving.
Finishing Elden Ring does not make Lords of the Fallen redundant. It gives you useful skills—reading attack cues, managing stamina, scouting routes and building around a weakness—but the second game asks you to apply them to a different map logic. The strongest reason to switch is not that it is “the next Elden Ring.” It is that Axiom and Umbral create another way to turn exploration into a combat and progression problem.
PS Plus access, ownership and equipment considerations
If you claimed Lords of the Fallen through the April 2026 monthly-games lineup, access is governed by your active subscription, the entitlement attached to your account and local PlayStation rules. Monthly-game windows and tier eligibility are not permanent facts; verify them in your region before planning a long playthrough around the subscription version.
If you want to keep the game outside your subscription, look for a Lords of the Fallen PS5 physical copy. That route gives you ownership of the disc independently of whether the monthly-game entitlement remains available. Check the edition, region and current retailer terms before buying.
Either game benefits from a responsive controller because both depend on precise timing and camera control. A PS5 DualSense controller is an optional hardware consideration for players who want to use the same setup for solo play or online co-op; it does not change the underlying difficulty or replace the need to learn each game’s combat rhythm.
Outdated Drivers Are Slowing You Down
One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchPC Slower Than It Used to Be?
A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11Bottom line: pick the exploration model you actually want
Lords of the Fallen is the better fit for a focused two-realm Soulslike: fast, challenging combat, imposing bosses, interconnected routes and the constant question of whether Axiom or Umbral holds the way forward. Its post-launch updates, including the version 2.0 combat and balancing overhaul, make current impressions more relevant than launch-day judgments.
Elden Ring remains the better fit for broad open-world discovery, optional detours and the freedom to solve difficulty by changing where you go next. Neither game has a defensible universal difficulty score. Compare the source of pressure—bosses, enemy density, navigation, death recovery, builds and co-op—and choose the one whose decisions sound more enjoyable.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
