🚫 ONLY A SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW IS AVAILABLE. READ MISC SECTION ON WHY 🚫

Thanks to its well executed balance between a hack and slash and an RPG, as well as its system of skills, the relationship between the two main characters and its very compelling combat, there's more than enough here to satisfy those who gravitate to these kinds of games. While not all is perfect when it comes to its less than ideal performance on the Switch screen, Darksiders Genesis has proved itself worthy for everyone to try it out.
👉opencritic SUMMARY

With its fun and engaging combat, a healthy mix between hack and slash and RPG elements and an enjoyable rapport between the two protagonists, Darksiders Genesis might be the most fun chapter in the series so far. Despite a sub-par performance on the Nintendo Switch screen and a not very functional map that could be more helpful, this is a game that will most certainly marvel any fan of the genre and which deserves an opportunity by every other Switch player too.
👉 metacritic SUMMARY

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◻️ ⚠️ Review originally written for FNintendo (defunct website) and published on April 2nd, 2020. Full review is currently unavailable. Expect restored written piece translated into English.
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◻️ ✍️ in European Portuguese (Main body of text translated into English with A.I.)
◻️ 📜 Review Number 30

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ F I N

This game is a really fun time. More so if you're a fan of the series already

This game's multiplayer is optional but I feel it's one of those games where the best experience comes from playing with a friend.

Character work is fantastic, plot is good, soundtrack is really bopping (almost same level as DS2 imo). Level design is very wack though. For his debut, Strife is fantastic to play as and a great character. War is also great, plays miles better than DS1 and has a little more personality thanks to Strife's quips.

However, there's so many little bugs and errors with this game. We ran into a lot of collision bugs when playing, subtitles in animated cutscenes are super out of sync with the events, in game cutscenes have double spaces and spelling mistakes in the subtitles, and I'm convinced that F11 to toggle fullscreen is a developer debugging tool that was left over (The application title is also called by its codename "ProjectMayhem")

I like how every installment of this series goes to a different genre while still saving some of its parts. We had a dumb slasher with War, diablo with Death, dark souls with Fury and now top-down shooter with Strife. I am eagerly waiting for an RTS or arcade racing in this universe.

Now answer me this. Why do you love Darksiders? Most likely this series has a warm spot in your heart but why? The story is nothing special, the gameplay is pretty dull after a while, puzzles are mostly tedious than interesting but I still can't make myself to hate this universe. I still love it after all those years, and I still don't know why.

But back to the game at hand. So here we have some isometric fun with our two dudes of the apocalypse - Strife and War. And if War gameplay hasn't changed at all since the first game, Strife offers us some extremely inconsistent top-down shooter perspective. Why is it inconsistent? Well, one moment you have great fun burning enemies in bulk with your flamethrower laughing like a madman and next you don't do any damage at all because game decided to fuck you for no reason whatsoever, making you burn through your entire ammo supplies just for one enemy. Also fuck black holes ammo, who thought it was a fun idea to include useless crowd control gimmick which deals no damage when you can jump around the arena with your four dashes like a dancing cockroach dodging bullets? Anyway, the design is still great and consistent, like all games before it, thanks Joe, you cool.

So the story this time is about some demons who are trying to conquer the world. And our brave horsemen have to tell those demons to please stop their evildoing in an easily comprehendible language, language of violence. That's, believe it or not, the entire story. And that, believe it or not, the end of my ramble.

Killing Dagon is a pretty miserable experience though. Also I'm kind of getting tired of those incredibly clever mentions of Garry Philipinos Warcraft and his bro Edwar Adam Pro in every game.

I just can't with darksiders, playing 1, 2 and genesis didn't change my mind.

A top-down slasher/TPS/RPG, the rpg elements are very light - just builds - fueled by collectibles. Gameplay itself is simple and mindless for the most part, setting is lowkey generic.

If you liked previous games then sure, give it a shot. Otherwise don't bother, this isn't the one to change your mind about the franchise.

I do like a little bit more puzzle in my Darksiders and this one was definitely more combat focused. Although it took me a while to warm to it, the combat is quite fun. Building up Strife's combo meter to unleash stronger shots is very satisfying. There's new moves and ammo to unlock and if you're into replaying the stages, there's a lot of options for leveling up. The story is probably going to continue annoying fans for being another prequel after sitting on a cliffhanger since the original game in 2010. That said, I actually wouldn't mind a game focused on Strife in a format closer to the other games. What a weird series this has been though.

darksiders tiene una estetica edgy que es la vision de un pibe de 15 años de lo que es el infierno que me encanta pero este titulo son 17 capitulos de lo mismo, un gameplay repetitivo, una historia aburrida con cutscenes pobres, combate contra esponjas de daño sin ninguna mecanica interesante, plataformeo incomodo con un sistema de movimiento glitcheado y lo mas estupido de todo: la necesidad de rejugar los niveles para desarrollar un sistema interesante de habilidades pasivas intercambiables pero cuya unica funcion es basicamente hacer que baje mas rapido la vida de los malos y mas lento la tuya.
si estas interesado en jugarlo con otra persona (motivo por el que lo compre) vayan a jugar cualquier otra cosa, en serio, porque lo unico que rescató un poco el gameplay para mi fue poder cambiar entre personajes a gusto y extender un poco mas la excusa de combos que tienen ambos, el modo multijugador deshabilita esto asignandole a cada jugador un personaje.

I… really don’t know what to make of Darksiders Genesis. I think its my favourite Darksiders game – I played the first game around seven years ago, enjoying it for what it was. The sequels, like the industry around them, packed on the numbers and I slid out of them quick. I’d guess I got maybe a quarter of the way through Darksiders II, if that (despite Death being my favourite horseman) and dropped III after only a few hours. I’ve always considered myself a fan, though, and Genesis had me considering going back to explore these entries. There’s something about the aesthetic and the world that does it for me. It might be that it’s only the allure of unfulfilled promises, but at least they’re alluring. The shift to 2D (technically not, but this entry is certainly showing off at least half a dimension less than its numbered forebears) simplifies things. Strife plays like a twin-stick shooter, while War returns with his big sword Chaoseater. They’re both fun to control, and the progression elements didn’t bother be quite as much as most do. The collecting of creature cores helped a little, I guess, even if their minor stat-boosting effects are the stuff of nightmares. There’s a lot to like here, and a lot to dislike.

The first time I played it, I got a few levels in, got stuck, and got out. Thankfully, I tried it again recently and powered through, enjoying most of the middle levels. Like many action games, the puzzles are of little interest, although the perspective shift helps both here and with platforming. There was less frustration with each than my time in I, II, and III. But ultimately a lot of these elements feel like filler, and while moving through the world is generally satisfying, puzzles are less so. Particularly finicky is the use of Strife’s tools in puzzles, which require reasonably precise aim and are activated with R3 (a side effect of giving him two ammo types at a time in combat, a welcome option but generally an unnecessary one). Such problems are exacerbated by 3D parts of the world which can get in the way. It’s enough to make one wonder why they didn’t just commit to 2D, smoothing out these issues alongside the game world. Even more of a problem is the balancing. Despite ostensibly being overlevelled, based on the blanket numbers given for War and Strife (it’s not levelling, it’s accumulation of various things, but you collect similar yet separate powerups so they’re levelled separately – yay)… what was I saying? Oh, yeah: despite ostensibly being overlevelled, I felt underpowered, engagements pointlessly long as I carved my way through bullet- and sword-sponge enemies. It stopped being fun, and was a disappointing way to end my time with the game.

Despite everything, I’d like to see Darksiders make a return. Of course, I’d want any comeback to be on my terms, not the terms it’s operated on – I’d want RPG elements stripped out entirely (fun merchants like Vulgrim and Dis can stay, don’t worry; we’ll find something for them to do) and a reduced puzzle presence. If I had to pick one to get done, it’d be the former. With God of War (alongside everything else) now an action-RPG, it would be great to see the series step into the limelight as a simplified throwback action game, with platforming spectacle to complement the violence. Perhaps a soft reboot, if necessary, with a single protagonist wielding the weapons of each horseman. I know though, as we all should, that if it returns it will be rife with industry trends and overstuffed with ideas, not a sleek challenge to an industry intent on barrelling down the wrong path. Ah, well, we can only dream.

(Whoops, broke my personal guidelines and got a little wistful there)

Combat is simple but addicting, the fluidity of switching back and forth between War and Strife as you go from melee to ranged back to melee combat is fantastic. Enemy design accounts for either character(for the most part) which is a big plus.
Difficulty curve is weird. I'm not a hardcore completionist but I do enjoy exploring levels and I tend to kill every enemy I see, and about two thirds of the game in I was very overpowered. Unlocking Arena stages with 560 as the power requirement while I'm hovering at 1000+ is a an odd sight, and probably takes away from the possible tension of the later levels. The final boss seemed to be properly scaled though, which makes it all the more bizarre.

As an aside, I was almost tempted to drop half a star for the jumping puzzle designs in The Void. I didn't, because it's entirely optional content and it's basically only for completionists(I gave up in section two of the Leviathan's Landing) but holy shit is it ridiculously hard, and not in a good way!

As my first and only Darksiders, i can't really make any comparisons to the main series, but I ultimately enjoy this game quite a bit. While it admittedly doesn't do any particular thing exceptionally well, i found it to be a very well-rounded and satisfying experience with combat that feels good, difficulty that suited me, progression that felt rewarding (although simplistic), and a surprisingly great soundtrack. I am also fond of the setting and premise of the game, although I suppose this would probably apply to other Darksiders games as well.

The transition to a top-down view worked better than I thought it would, but at a cost of the platforming being much more difficult. The game was definitely more combat-heavy, whereas I would've preferred more of a combination of combat with puzzles and dungeon exploration like the first 2 in the series. Luckily, the combat was really well-done. Playing as Strife made the game a top-down twin-stick shooter with different ammo types, and it was fun kiting enemies. Playing as War felt more or less exactly like Darksiders 1, which I'd say is a good thing. Creature cores were interesting at first, but is kind of bare bones; I didn't really feel the need to experiment because it didn't seem like play-style would change much. All I ended up caring about was seeing my power numbers go up.

I played this game because I'm a fan of the first two games of the series and boy it's a pile of garbage. The fighting is just hitting spongy enemies or dying in 3 hits and the leveling and upgrade system just makes you hit enemies harder or dying in 4 hits. Indeed, I played it alone and not in coop because I have no friends but still, it gets pretty boring pretty fast. Playing as War is just button mashing and playing as Strife is running around in circles while shooting at enemies, I guess in coop it words better because War can frontline while Strife gets them from the back but it's still button mashing and running in circles.
The other games had a servisable story and this is just boring.
The good thing this game has is that the levels are pretty big and open and exploration is encouraged a lot by giving you modifiers for the weapons and some upgrades and stuff so that's nice.
The art direction is still good as usual but it loses impact because everything is far away in case of the characters and because you can't move your camera to admire the set pieces for the scenarios.
Overall, not worth playing unless you are with your bro stoned and bored. Maybe that way it'll entertain you.