Lords Of The Fallen II Dev Interview – Easter Eggs and Secrets Revealed
One of the greatest announcements this week from Gamescom and Opening Night Live 2025 was the confirmation of, and first trailer for, Lords of the Fallen II, sequel to 2023’s successful soulslike reboot Lords of the Fallen. Check out the new trailer here and then read on for a bloody sluice full of easter eggs and secrets straight from the devs, hitting you in the face like an axe. We asked the most important questions, like who is that dude speaking in the trailer with the missing eye, and do you get a castle hub again like last time – you know, the really important stuff you actually want to know. And while not everything can be revealed right now, there’s plenty of information below you won’t find anywhere else!
David Valjalo, Creative Portfolio Strategist at CI Games, answered our questions while getting a Lords tattoo at the CI Games booth at Gamescom! That’s even more hardcore than we were expecting to be fair. With 20+ years in games, David has done it all – retail, QA, journalism, creative direction, marketing, and now strategic direction at CI Games.
Finger Guns – It must feel fantastic to have revived the Lords of the Fallen IP so completely that you are now able to launch Lords of the Fallen II – what’s been the secret sauce to revive this IP?
It’s a great feeling to have Lords where we always intended it to be in terms of quality now, and v2.0 was certainly a big moment for us. It feels like the fans and the team are all ready to embrace the next big step for the series. There’s not a secret sauce, but there’s a number of ingredients that go into this bloody broth; it took humility for the team to acknowledge some of the early issues with the previous game, hard work to build it back better than before and then a passion for the world the team brought to life to elevate it in the sequel. If there is one thing I’d say makes this moment for CI Games unique, or a secret sauce to your parlance, I’d say it’s the attitude. We’re a grungey, heavy metal soulslike team that lives and breathes this stuff. CI Games has this heavy metal humility thing right now and it feels like a special time for us. No one else has this vibe. I’m getting tattooed at our Gamescom booth as I give these answers. How many times does that happen?
Q – Let’s talk about the trailer reveal. Are there any returning bosses from 2023’s Lords – that angel from the trailer, for example? Pieta?
I won’t spoil who is and isn’t back but the best way I can answer this is to say that everything great in the previous game is not just greater now, but it’s more gruesome, awesome and extreme. If Lords of the Fallen 2023 was cosmic horror, this is body horror. Like the Scion in the trailer, it cuts deep and it bleeds heavier now.
Q – What is the ancient evil creature whose tentacles so horribly dive into that poor corpse? And is it the same creature that has taken up residence in the castle in the trailer?
There’s so much buried in that trailer I could discuss the imagery, the teasers and all the cool stuff it relates to in the game for hours. The tentacles I’d say are uniquely symbolic as well as a not so subtle hint of how powerful and aggressive the Umbral realm is now, and the forces around it. If the previous game was about you, the lampbearer stepping into Umbral, this time Umbral is stepping into you.
Q – Who is the deep-voiced speaking man with the missing eye in the trailer? What can you tell us about him?
That is Thaddeus, he’s one of our brand new characters and while he’s a friend to the lampbearer he certainly has his enemies. Think of him like Morpheus in The Matrix, but put through a dark fantasy wringer.
Q – Who is the blonde companion lady in the trailer?
That’s our Dark Enchantress; her class and her costume design are just on another level of cool. Our fans love the drip in Lords, they want to look crazy, sexy and always cool, and she’s our flag in the sand of making character designs and cosmetics leap off the screen. We wanted to find a female counterpart to The Dark Crusader, sort of like a Catwoman to his Batman. We ended up with someone you both would and would not want to bump into in a dark fantasy medieval apocalypse.
Q – Can you tell us any hidden easter eggs in the trailer?
I’ll tease one: Look closely at the streaking comet-like moment in the opening, inside the eyeball’s reflection is a huge plot point. I only noticed it on, like, my fifth watch.
Q – Can you tell us anything more about the story?
I can tell you the world is an even darker and deadlier place that it was before. This is 100 years later and while Axiom is on its last legs, Umbral is positively, grotesquely thriving. The darkness is winning in this world. And deadly times call for deadlier heroes; the lampbearer this time can wield and interact with Umbral in a bold new way. I can also tell you that, as is now tradition in Lords, there is trouble at the top when it comes to the so-called gods of this land…
Q – How focused are you on narrative this time around? Any new ways of delivering the story? Does Lords have a deeper, more linear and meaningful narrative than soulslikes generally get?
We’re doing more with less, in a way – the idea this time was less density, less complexity, more clarity and more concise storytelling. The team was supremely ambitious in trying to tell a rich, cosmic-horror inspired story of benign power creeping through the world. This time it’s about humanity’s last stand and cancelling the apocalypse that was triggered in the previous game. Soulslikes have a tendency to lean into mystery and curiosity in their unique blend of environmental storytelling and narrative. We learned the hard way that sometimes a good story well told is all you need. In Lords 2 we hope the player more fully understands where they’re headed, why they’re headed there and who’s ass they’re going to kick on arrival.
Q – Your castle in Lords 2023 was this fantastic home hub – will we get a new home base area in Lords of the Fallen II?
We love a good hub! If you liked Skyrest in Lords of the Fallen, you’re gonna love what we’re doing here. Just hope you’re not afraid of heights. Without spoiling anything, you may even already have a really strong hint about where that hub is in our trailer…
Q – Are there any completely new weapon types to learn? What’s your favourite?
There are, but nothing I’m gonna spoil until we come out all swords blazing with gameplay very soon… What I will say is the weight, heft, feel and impact of weapons is just in a different class now. The team has created a brilliant dance of death for its weapons. Each encounter is like cinema.
Q – You speak of a deadlier Umbral? What’s changed? Is it not a second chance anymore?
If you call being sent to hell a second chance then I guess that’s fair. Haha. What’s changed is Umbral is a heck of a lot healthier in the world now; and by healthier I also mean more squishy, squelchy and gross. As Umbral builds up momentum and strengthens, towards the endgame, it’s like rotting flesh being replastered onto a corpse. Even though it’s flourishing, it’s a twisted world-eating entity that’s flourishing. So it’s both elaborate and awful. That tension is really interesting from a creative perspective, it taps into that body horror paradox of life colliding with death.
Q – Umbral is one of Lords of the Fallen’s most unique components. Are there any completely new systems/mechanics that you can’t wait for players to experience this time?
There are so many, actually; nothing I can talk about yet but you can absolutely bet that Umbral is even more integral to literally everything this time. Umbral feels so alive, and alive in what you and the enemies do…
Q – What do CI Games think of ‘Soulslike fatigue’, and have you thought of ways to make Lords of the Fallen II fresh?
We’re always thinking about the reasons why we’re doing what we do. We don’t want to make the same game twice, while staying faithful to what’s gone – and been loved – before. So that’s one of the ways we don’t just avoid Soulslike fatigue, we avoid same-game fatigue. In terms of how we approach the established norms of the genre and any trends that are likely to become fatigued by the time we arrive in the market, Umbral has always been key. It’s the one big aspect of Lords which helps us stand out, and it’s not just a feature or mechanic, it’s so intrinsic to the plot. It’s that dream USP – one that has narrative and thematic relevance which we pay off through the way you play.
Q – What’s the difficulty level like in Lords of the Fallen II? Where does Lords of the Fallen II come in the difficulty rankings?
Difficulty is such a unique challenge and priority in a Soulsike. We want as many people as possible to play and enjoy our game, but “enjoyment” almost feels like a colonised or relativised term in Soulslikes, because dying repeatedly is very much part of the experience. So I’d say with Lords 2 our approach has been to try and make sure that it honours the difficulty curve fans expect of the genre, but then has enough fresh ingredients, variety and ways to play – from abilities to items and classes – that you can DIY your challenge, as Soulslike players like to do. There’s no one size fits all difficulty in these games, but we can make a game with the tools for the player to find and set their own challenge in and around the core “default” experience if we want to call a sword-and-shield strength build playthrough that.
Thank you so much to David and CI Games for giving us all those easter eggs, secrets, and insights into Lords of the Fallen II. We’ll have to be patient and wait for the gameplay reveal to see more. Check back here at Finger Guns for more Lords of the Fallen II in the coming months!
And in case you missed it, here’s the Gamescom trailer.
Lords of the Fallen II is slated for 2026 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series consoles and PC. Gameplay reveals are coming soon.
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