Darksiders Genesis - Review

Darksiders Genesis - Review

Review for Darksiders Genesis. Game for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Google Stadia and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 05/12/2019 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 14/02/2020 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 14/02/2020 The version for Xbox One came out on 14/02/2020

Joe Madureira has taken on a delicate mission: to revive, in some way, the fate of a brand as loved as it is in danger. Without ever stealing the limelight, it is clear how much the imaginary basted corresponding to the name Darksiders, has played a primary role in the last generation of consoles and also in the current one thanks to a series of remastered and various porting.



Darksiders Genesis - Review

Under the wing of Vigil Games and THQ, the first installment of the series, which debuted on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2010, has been able to restore luster to an increasingly abused and snubbed genre, offering a solid product not only on a playful level but also on a narrative level. The story of War, one of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, has fascinated and convinced many gamers who then passed to the epic of Death protagonist of the parallel sequel Darksiders II directly related to it.

Darksiders Genesis - Review

The history of the brand from that moment has experienced very difficult moments that seriously risked compromising the very future of the series. The issues in question have somehow burdened the troubled development of Darksiders III, passed into the hands of the newborn studio Gunfire Games, until it reached the market with many doubts from the most ardent fans and professionals. The events of Furia, the third Knight introduced, they only partially convinced, leaving in the hands of Conflitto, the only Knight never used as a player so far, the task of raising the bar of a saga characterized by a fundamentally descending parable.



Some loves, however, never die and Madureira himself knows it well, after having founded the studio Airship Syndacate, has decided to try his hand again in a project linked to the Knights of the Apocalypse, thus giving life to Darksiders Genesis. As the name suggests, this title is not to be considered the fourth chapter but a real prequel, which allows the player to deepen everything that happened in the period prior to the beginning of the series.

Darksiders Genesis - Review

Descent into the Underworld

For this reason, the choice of the playable character fell on the same War, flanked by the last unexplored Knight: Conflict. The duo, at the service of the mysterious and menacing Council, is called to find out what lies behind an oppressive threat that is upsetting the balance of a world dangerously directed towards ruin, but not only. Advancing with the story it turns out that this threat is the result of the Prince of the Underworld Lucifer, allying himself with the most fearsome creatures to pursue an entirely unknown goal.

And it is precisely here that Darksiders Genesis gives its best by weaving the threads of a fundamentally simple story but characterized by a great variety of forces at play, including several well-known faces that will surely make the fans of the series happy. It turns out that the only way to seek out and track down Lucifer is to join forces with the treacherous and venal Vulgrim, a sort of "crossroads demon" to say it to Supernatural, very famous "seller" of the previous chapters who offers his services to the Knights. The very genesis of this strange alliance is explored in a way that is not exactly in depth, but nevertheless functional. After all, Darksiders Genenis is an epiphany of unlikely alliances, in which the forces at stake are continually overturned and subverted and above all in which it is absolutely impossible to distinguish good from evil.



Darksiders Genesis - Review

Advancing with the Conflict and War missions, they discover that they have become involved in a power game far beyond their skills and convictions, in which the alliance with the powerful demon Samael and with Vulgrim the only possibility appears to stop the advance of Lucifer whose motives and actions can only be revealed by the fearsome Arso Councilis. After all, and we also learned it by playing the other three titles in the saga, the latter has very different interests than those demonstrated, interests altogether very far from the simple "defense of balance" of which he is so proud. The two Knights make their way into the most gloomy corners of Hell itself, in search of the fallen angel, whose corruption is spreading to theEden, slaying endless hordes of demons: Belial, Dagon and especially Moloch they are just examples of what we will face once we take on the role of War and Conflict, whose strength however needs to rise to the next level in order to compete on an equal footing with the fearsome threats to be vanquished.

Despite the great charisma of the protagonists (especially that of Strife, sharp and perpetually over the top and honestly the best so far seen in terms of characterization, Ed.) the underlying story is banal, linear and unable to surprise much bringing an aura of disappointment since with the material available and being able to move freely in an ocean of possibilities, we would have expected a different result.


Darksiders Genesis - Review

Atypical, but functional hack n 'slash

Returning to the discourse basically linked to the playful sector of Darksiders Genesis we have anticipated a small structural gem that somehow differentiates the style of play from the past of the series. Darksiders Genesis, beyond the strong differentiation that directly concerns the genre of the game which is no longer an action-adventure but a hack n'slash adventure - with all that follows - it also embraces in a certain way a role factor much more marked than one might imagine. By slaughtering hordes of Diablo-style demons, it is possible to drop their creatures from the corpses of the same creatures. Nuclei of soul, to be equipped in a specific and complex skill three that, depending on the combination chosen, it brings the two Knights to an ever greater level of power.


Each empty slot in the skill tree, i.e. a simple slot to equip upgrades, increases and / or decreases the War and Conflict statistics, thus giving the player the opportunity to create their own - simple - build, perhaps based on on increased damage but with less resistance to hits or vice versa.

Darksiders Genesis - Review

The Nuclei also offer bonuses, both passive and active, fairly relevant to the correct management of one or the other clash, especially against bosses who are much stronger than ordinary enemies and who need a careful and calculated approach. Once you take up arms you quickly realize how much this management of the "build" is actually much more approximate than you might expect. Even without being fundamental in the strict sense of the word, the management of the upgrades still becomes important due to a level of difficulty set decidedly upwards.

From the very first bars in Darksiders Genesis it is very easy to realize how complex the clashes are, especially if you look at the amount of damage of the enemies. Even the "normal" ones in fact generate sincere concern, in particular when using Conflict, physically "weaker" and exposed to greater damage as regards the melee. The choice of the character to use, "switchable" at any time, however, has not only value in clashes, rather. In full metroidvania style, in fact, the skills that are gradually unlocked in the game also influence exploration, the predominant element of the production.

Darksiders Genesis - Review

War and Conflict have different abilities that allow you to overcome some obstacles in more than one situation, even very complex ones. As per the tradition of the series, the environmental puzzles return strongly also in this chapter, thus alternating with the most numerous and predominant combat sequences. To this is added the classic wave of skills and upgrades that can be purchased from good old Vulgrim, with a small novelty: now also appears Dis, a sort of female version of the aforementioned demon, which offers several upgrades directly linked to the weapons ability in the hand of the two Knights.

Overall the gameplay of Darksiders Genesis, while derivative and not very original, is a pleasant surprise. Although we are convinced that this playful formula will not be repeated for any new chapters of the saga, the hours spent in the company of War and Conflict have left us with good feelings, but with more than one reserve.

Darksiders Genesis - Review

Net of the many areas that can be explored, the feeling of emptiness in the Darksiders Genesis maps rises more and more as time goes by. If collectibles and various objects are certainly not lacking, what is seriously missing are secrets, accessory bosses and extra clashes, proposed in an excessively small number. Even in terms of the variety of enemies, excluding the bosses, there is immediately a strong vein of recycling and "little effort" justified by the low cost nature of the project. What made us turn up our noses more heavily is undoubtedly the level of challenge and the balance of the usable characters themselves. Some bosses appeared to be characterized by an almost unjustifiable level of challenge: each mission is characterized by a recommended power level but although we were heavily over the threshold we still found ourselves having to repeat the clashes over and over again.

Same situation as regards the two Knights. For different reasons and situations, one of the two will always appear inadequate, forcing you to make a forced choice that just didn't convince us. Very similar speech also for their skills: we are sure that you will always rely on the same ones that are decidedly more useful than others and this forces an approach that is too schematic and habitual. Nothing sensational or unforgivable of course, but the premises of the eve seemed to veer in a different direction. Applause, however, for the "Arena" mode: after a few history missions, in fact, real challenges will be unlocked with lots of prizes based on the result. These missions are to be considered very similar to the "Horde" mode of the various Gears and provide for the arrival of increasingly stronger groups of enemies to be defeated in sequence, up to the clash with a final mini boss on duty. Nothing original but certainly a good opportunity to perfect your style of play, as well as a pleasant expedient to increase the already excellent longevity of Darksiders Genesis.

Darksiders Genesis - Review

Style to sell

Where Darksiders Genesis leaves its mark is certainly in the characterization of the cast as regards both the protagonists, both the unlikely allies, and the enemies, at least the important ones. If we have already sung the praises of a simply fantastic Conflict, we can also get some applause for Guerra, which appeared here much deeper and less schematic than the first chapter: over time, the Knight tries to shake himself from his torpor, starting to see with different eyes what happens around him. The maturation of Guerra balances with the representation of the forces of evil, all very well characterized on an artistic level and consistent with the ideological background on which they are based. Belial, for example, favors corruption and this is clearly felt by exploring the maps dedicated to him.

On a strictly aesthetic level, albeit artistically inspired, Darksiders Genesis certainly does not scream a miracle. The nature of a low-cost project is felt and there is no isometric camera that takes. On the polygonal front, albeit clean and stable on our mid-range PC (with Ultra setting), neither for variety nor for quality there is the need to cry for a miracle.

Darksiders Genesis - Review

Furthermore, the Darksiders Genesis review code we tested was not free from several problems that, in some cases, practically forced us to redo entire missions. We are sure that these details will be fixed with the inevitable patches on day one, but we do not hide our disappointment in this regard, also considering the far from frightening requests of the title in question in terms of computing power. All this remains very pleasant overall thanks to a solid frame-rate on the 60 FPS which makes the clashes enjoyable and frantic enough. The dubbing is appreciable: the title of Airship Syndicate is in fact entirely localized, and this is a great merit, and the quality of the dubbing is all in all of a good level, except for a few items (Moloch, for one thing) absolutely out of place.

The background soundtrack is completely anonymous that fails to be memorable. Final remarks on the possibility of using the title in local or online co-op (with friends, without match-making). Even without having been able to try the game online due to the closure of the servers, we had a lot of fun with the split screen and, if you have the opportunity, our advice is to find a game partner before starting the adventure . You will not regret it!

Darksiders Genesis is an overall successful experiment, which returns to fully breathe the air of Apocalypse to all fans of the saga created by Joe Madureira. Although with obvious limitations, the product intersects very well in the general imagination of the series, bringing with it several shortcomings on a strictly playful level. The new game formula convinces at first but shows the side to various problems such as a poor balance of the general difficulty and a conformation of the maps that does not push the player to explore them. Some insights have been able to demonstrate excellent things but overall we would have expected a little more. Gigantic praise for the characterization of the general cast, in which Conflict stands out above all. The fourth Knight is already from the very beginning a fantastic character, capable of stealing the show without problems from his brothers with gun shots and trashy jokes with a strong ironic charge. Longevity is also very good: the adventure of Strife and War will take you away at least 15-16 hours of pure fun. Too bad, therefore, for the problems listed above: with a little more attention we would be talking about the umpteenth little pearl of this amazing 2019.

► Darksiders Genesis is a scrolling fighting game developed by Airship Syndicate and published by THQ Nordic for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Google Stadia and Nintendo Switch, the game was released on 05/12/2019 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 14/02/2020 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 14/02/2020 The version for Xbox One came out on 14/02/2020

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