Rate top gamesThe addictive platforming, puzzles, and progression of the series, just zoomed out. If you can get used to that, it’s a blast! Nothing new, but given how people responded to Darksiders III’s changes, that could be a good thing to most. Fun co-op, finally! Solid little great game.
Other reviews4
Don't let the isometric perspective fool you: Darksiders Genesis is a good, old-fashioned hack-and-slash true to the spirit of the original.
It's hard to find fault with Genesis without being nitpicky. The combat is flashy and satisfying (with just as much depth as the original Darksiders, if not more). In solo play, you seamlessly switch between War and Strife, but in co-op you each control one of the pair. War plays almost identically to himself from Darksiders 1, and Strife plays more like a twinstick shooter. The character growth options are versatile enough. The game has you collecting Creature Cores from bosses and enemies in order to activate powerful passive abilities. The animations are smooth, the puzzles are good enough, environments are beautifully done, and the story respects and adds onto the original media. The dynamic between War and Strife is also well done, both in their dialogue and mechanically.
I can think of only three large issues, all of which have been addressed with updates to the game. First, at a certain point, all combat in the game becomes a bit trivial. There have been a few balance patches since release to tweak the numbers, make the game harder, and provide an additional difficulty level, so this has been fixed to some degree. Second, there's one particularly bad platforming challenge called "Leviathan's Landing." This challenge is completely optional, but it does provide one of the best Creature Cores in the game. The developers have added an option to slow down the game speed by as much as 80%, but the game was not made for platforming. The slower game speed helps, but it can only do so much. Third, there were a number of game breaking bugs on release. These ranged from crashing the game upon loading into the final boss to keeping you from getting the achievement for collecting all health upgrades. The devs have been pretty ontop of bug fixes, however, so this is less and less of a complaint with each new patch.
Darksiders Genesis has a passionate team of developers behind it that genuinely care for the Darksiders universe and games (the studio, Airship Syndicate, was formed by the original creative director of Darksiders). They continue to support the game after release. If you enjoyed Darksiders 1 and 2 (or even 3), I highly recommend it.
It's hard to find fault with Genesis without being nitpicky. The combat is flashy and satisfying (with just as much depth as the original Darksiders, if not more). In solo play, you seamlessly switch between War and Strife, but in co-op you each control one of the pair. War plays almost identically to himself from Darksiders 1, and Strife plays more like a twinstick shooter. The character growth options are versatile enough. The game has you collecting Creature Cores from bosses and enemies in order to activate powerful passive abilities. The animations are smooth, the puzzles are good enough, environments are beautifully done, and the story respects and adds onto the original media. The dynamic between War and Strife is also well done, both in their dialogue and mechanically.
I can think of only three large issues, all of which have been addressed with updates to the game. First, at a certain point, all combat in the game becomes a bit trivial. There have been a few balance patches since release to tweak the numbers, make the game harder, and provide an additional difficulty level, so this has been fixed to some degree. Second, there's one particularly bad platforming challenge called "Leviathan's Landing." This challenge is completely optional, but it does provide one of the best Creature Cores in the game. The developers have added an option to slow down the game speed by as much as 80%, but the game was not made for platforming. The slower game speed helps, but it can only do so much. Third, there were a number of game breaking bugs on release. These ranged from crashing the game upon loading into the final boss to keeping you from getting the achievement for collecting all health upgrades. The devs have been pretty ontop of bug fixes, however, so this is less and less of a complaint with each new patch.
Darksiders Genesis has a passionate team of developers behind it that genuinely care for the Darksiders universe and games (the studio, Airship Syndicate, was formed by the original creative director of Darksiders). They continue to support the game after release. If you enjoyed Darksiders 1 and 2 (or even 3), I highly recommend it.
Favorite Thing: It's about 20h of mindless fun.
Least Favorite Thing: Obstructed camera angles.
Date Completed: 2019-01-03
Playtime: 19h
Enjoyment: 8/10
Recommendation: If you want more Darksiders then it's worth a play.
Beautiful looking with fun gameplay, but with way too many bugs, too sensitive controller dead-zones, annoying abilities for mini-games, a horrid camera and some severe enemy imbalances.
The last boss is a prime example of a small developer unable to deliver a fun fight that doesnt bog down to extreme damage dealing and high health boss. Lowering difficulty makes no difference.
The last boss is a prime example of a small developer unable to deliver a fun fight that doesnt bog down to extreme damage dealing and high health boss. Lowering difficulty makes no difference.