2. "It Takes Too Long To Do Anything"
IGN's Dan Stapleton
remarked that it took him 12 hours to get to the first boss - to which he died and gave up altogether. Fine, but the reasons that led to this eventual "Eff this!" moment weren't the most convincing. Instead his main complaint boiled down to not getting enough back from the game fast enough to warrant continuing - instead he stated the grinding of enemies was too hard, alongside his own personal choice of diving back to the Hunter's Dream hub-world repeatedly (and thereby choosing to suffer the awful load times) meaning the gaps between his 'inevitable failure' were even longer. At some point you just have to manage your time accordingly, taking the time to systematically clear out areas by drawing the attention of specific enemies (that's what the pebbles are for!) and then if you want, taking the trip back to the Dream to cash everything in. Part of the fun - and something Lords of the Fallen capitalised on with a multiplier that extended your count in-game - is this Sonic-like ring-hoarding sensation of having a good haul of echoes on you, whereby the game lets YOU decide how much you want to gamble with what's round the corner versus cashing in and starting again.