I’m not that proud to say that I own the Darksiders games when I’ve only actually finished one out of them all. It’s not a terrible series per se but each of its interconnected titles does have a pretty distinct difference when it comes to its actual gameplay which makes some slightly more interesting than others for certain types of gamers. But that changes today… because for once, I have to and well, basically that’s it. Now I don’t consider myself a hater for anything Darksiders-related because honestly I really do love Darksiders II so much that I played it on PC and eventually replayed it again on the Playstation 4. Needless to say, I’m a huge sucker for anything RPG-related so the grimy loots of the second game in the franchise really hooked me in much more than anything else.
However, Darksiders III takes a step back from all that slashing and looting and went for the soulsborne-like approach towards its progression and combat. Something that isn’t too surprising considering how pretty much every game in the series is comparable to every other game out there in the market anyway. It’s not a particularly bad idea however it does make you wonder what kind of identity does Darksiders have other than its lore and history.
It’s a game that is really only tied together by its story that continues on from each of the four horsemen’s perspectives. The first title in the series centred around War who was blamed for destroying the balance and starting the apocalypse to going into the second title and this time having Death, the second of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse that hopes to erase War’s crimes and resurrect mankind. Now we finally get to play as Fury and if it hasn’t rung a bell for you just yet, she’s a feisty ball of rage as her name suggests that really only cares about her own gain as she tries to capture the Seven Deadly Sins to be favoured as the leader of the horsemen. Now while I do love a good dose of the spicy and feisty, her character just doesn’t particularly rub the right way which makes me lose interest in the entire debacle.
Its gameplay mechanics which somewhat seems familiar to a soulsborne title doesn’t particularly stand out either. It still crawls back into a fast-paced hack n’ slash RPG but its soulsborne elements such as losing souls when you die and your need to spend it to get consumables or upgrade your toon don’t seem like a very fitting choice altogether as it can get very brutal pretty quickly when you get swarmed in from all sides unlike the traditional soulsborne games with a bit more strategy involved to how you can take down enemies without much of an alarm. Fury does gain new powers and weapons throughout the game’s core campaign which improves the combat with more freedom to mix and match or chain combos together and this gives the game more of an identity with its fun and unique ways to utilize each one whether in or out of battle.
Unfortunately, the Switch port isn’t a particularly smooth experience, to say the least with a lot of its issues going towards its loading sequences when you move around areas which can take quite a few seconds to load in even when you’re just walking into the next block which does ruin the immersion quite a bit. Not to mention that it does have some bugs like collision which at times would get me stuck in a wall or floor with no way to escape but to go back to the title screen or that one time I jumped into a wind pad only to get stuck in place and indefinitely float in the air.
But if you managed to brush off its issues and shortcomings, it’s a game that is in fact enjoyable, to say the least for its exploration and traversal elements and as you clear through bosses and gain new powers, you can open up new areas that would’ve otherwise be locked until later. It’s a fun experience that never gets old just like how I fell in love with games like Assassin’s Creed with its verticality and traversal. And there are quite a bit of fun boss battles so that’s that.
Visually, it’s not a particular eye-catcher, but for it to be on a handheld console, it does the job done pretty well enough without having to suffer much in its performance. There’s also quite a bit of charm to the whole history of Darksiders which makes the entire game pop out with all these fun designs to both its characters and its world. So with that said, it adds to the fun in exploration and traversal when there are a lot of varied areas to explore and discover as you try to draw a conclusion to the entire game.
In a nutshell, Darksiders III as a whole is a game that is fun and enjoyable to the right audience. It does reek of some bugs every now and then but if you manage to look away from its mistakes, you’ll find the sword play and progression quite interesting and going through each and every area is a fun encounter to the unknown due to how these sorts of games are structured so you never feel like you’re just following one straight path and would have to turn back every once in a while. But considering this game did came out to other platforms already, the Nintendo Switch port with its issues isn’t exactly the most attractive platform to dive into unless you must have that portability option with you.
Developers: Gunfire Games, THQ Nordic
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Google Stadia, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One
Enjoy the review? want to read more of our reviews? then click right here to be whisked away to the realm of our opinions.
You must be logged in to post a comment.