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Jul 18, 2019 Overall, Keepers of the Void is an excellent piece of DLC that extends Darksiders III's replay value in a clever puzzle-laden way. Darksiders III: Keepers of the Void gameplay video → Whatever, you big pile of stone; let's end this! I'm impressed with Darksiders III's DLC. Darksiders III, in the situation it’s in, doesn’t have that same kind of THQ money the previous games did, but it does its best and ends up being a fun romp, despite some glaring jankiness. But it’s never more than a romp, and some serious fundamental issues with its core combat mechanics keep it from shining alongside its obvious influences.
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As we enter the final month of 2018 and begin to ponder what our games of the year will be, after playing Darksiders III, I know exactly what I will be picking. Without a shadow of a doubt, this title is my favorite game I’ve played in months. Few games this year have been as satisfyingly challenging, nor have any given me the adrenaline rush of just barely surviving a difficult boss encounter. While there are technical issues that disappointingly brings the game down a few notches, as I sit back and reflect on my time with the game, I recall an experience that brings me to the complete opposite end of anger, ironic perhaps, because in this title the player is Fury.
Darksiders III
Publisher: THQ Nordic
Developer: Gunfire Games
Platform: Windows PC, PlayStation 4 (Reviewed), Xbox One
Release Date: November 27th, 2018
Players: 1
Price: $59.99
Publisher: THQ Nordic
Developer: Gunfire Games
Platform: Windows PC, PlayStation 4 (Reviewed), Xbox One
Release Date: November 27th, 2018
Players: 1
Price: $59.99
Starting the game off on a positive note, the story begins with a beautifully animated intro that explains some of the series’ lore. Having not played too much of the previous titles in the series, I didn’t know what to expect when it came to the plot. I admittedly figured it would be pretty weak, thankfully I was wrong.
For a game which tells the story of one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse tasked with killing and recapturing the souls of the seven deadly sins, I was engaged throughout the entire experience. The plot has some moments that are actually quite dramatic, and it has scenes that are awe inspiringly cool. In large part my engagement with the story was held thanks to a player character who is likable and badass.
Fury is a great character and one of my new favorites. Her interactions with the Watcher, a being tasked with keeping an eye on her, is genuinely laugh out loud funny at times, and the character arc of the angry horsemen is wonderfully managed.
In some cutscenes she exudes a level of badassery that I haven’t seen all year. Without spoiling anything, after winning a late game boss fight that occurs underwater, the way she absorbs this particular Sin’s soul is just cool. She’s an awesome chick through and through.
As for the boss fights themselves, they’re well designed. Only one fight didn’t sit too well with me and that was just because I didn’t find their design very enjoyable, but besides that, everything was peachy. The bosses all look and sound great and they provide one hell of a challenge.
The last boss was very well done. Again, no spoilers, but there’s a lot of mechanics and moves to keep track of. When I finally defeated this foe, with hands sweaty and heart pounding, I legitimately stood up and celebrated. It felt great to overcome a tough boss and it got my blood pumping in a way that very few games can manage.
For a game that has a very tiny window for hitting a successful dodge, it was highly enjoyable to learn the Seven Sin’s move sets and discover their tells. For my play through I put the game on ‘apocalyptic’, the hardest of the four difficulty settings, and while it got immensely challenging at times, I never once felt the game was unfair.
The balance within the game is spot on and anytime I failed I knew it was due to my own mistakes. It felt nice to be pushed by a title to quite literally get good.
Combat boils down to combos that can be chained together with various button presses. As the title goes on new weapons and abilities are unlocked which can be chained together in satisfying combinations. One of the menu screens has a chart for all the various combos which has an old school look to it that I think many people will appreciate.
The main weapon in Fury’s arsenal is her whip called the Barbs of Scorn. It’s satisfying to wield and it’s the main weapon I used throughout the game. As the game progresses you unlock new weapons that for the sake of spoilers I won’t describe, but they’re all pretty neat.
Each new weapon minus one, comes with a new elemental ability called a Hollow that can be activated by pressing the left bumper and any of the face buttons on the controller. These abilities add new means of traversing the environment and ways to get past obstacles you couldn’t pass before.
On top of all that are two magic abilities. One is called Havoc and it makes you a giant murderous beast, and the other, called Wrath attack, changes depending on what hollow you have activated.
Adding some layer of depth to the weapons are enhancements that can be applied to each one which provide various stat boosts. These enhancements can be further upgraded via a returning character from previous titles. Upgrading enhancements requires one of two types of artifacts that can be found with careful exploration of the game’s many areas.
To achieve the highest level upgrade the player also needs an Essence of a Chosen, of which by my count there are only five within the entire game. These must be acquired through the defeat of mini bosses which are hidden behind secret paths.
Just like the enhancements, weapons can be upgraded too. This requires one of four different types of Adamantine, items which become more rare the higher you need to upgrade a weapon. Playing carefully and thoroughly throughout each area I didn’t struggle to find the materials necessary to achieve my upgrades.
By the end of my playthrough a couple weapons were upgraded to max level. It could have been more, but I began to sell items for souls once I had the weapons I primarily used leveled up to a good place. Selling items is done through a character which acts like a Souls series bonfire that levels Fury up, serves as a save point, and fast travel hub.
Leveling up is accomplished via souls, an item you acquire as you kill enemies and discover cache drops within the environment. Upon leveling up the player is given one attribute point which can be dumped into one of three areas. Health, Strength, and Arcane. Of which I primarily focused on the first two.
One thing that surprised me about this game is how it borrows a few cues from Dark Souls. Upon death you drop the souls you’re carrying and must work your way back to acquire them. The game is more forgiving than the Souls series in that they don’t always immediately vanish upon a second death, but it was a welcome surprise nonetheless.
In many ways the boss fights are also semi Souls like, except for the speed and the way combat plays out. It’s as if Bayonetta and Dark Souls had a baby, except instead of being a crying burden, this one immediately gets to work and pulls its weight.
Aiding the player in combat is an item called Nephilim’s Respite. This acts like a health flask and with a press of the directional pad you almost instantly heal. Also linked to the D-pad are items that provide different boosts.
The use of just one of them comes with a fairly hefty cool down timer that in fast paced boss fights needs to be appropriately managed. One item which negated a fatal blow was immensely helpful in some of the toughest fights.
However, in one of the more uniquely challenging game design decisions of the year, and one I think is genius when it comes to keeping a game tough, is that every time you buy a quick boosting item, it’s price permanently goes up.
This not only prevents stocking up on items that can make the game easier, but with currency tied into the same material you need to level up, it makes for a tough choice at times.
Going into a boss fight do I want a strength shard which will have me hitting harder, or would I rather attempt to level myself up permanently. Thankfully, some of these helpful shards can be found within the game world itself.
Broken into six different environments which are all elaborately connected, players will explore everything from a bug infested subway station to a dilapidated shipyard which is overrun with combative angels. Scattered throughout each area are humans to be found and saved.
This serves as the game’s only true side quest minus a handful of optional mini bosses. Exploration is mostly enjoyable and I didn’t get tired of returning to old areas to search for new paths or secrets which could be discovered only after learning a new ability.
Traversing the map, especially towards the middle to end of the game is where many of the technical issues show their ugly head. It’s an open world in the sense that everything is connected and many areas you can see off in the distance when high above the map in the early areas, but what should be a load free experience is rife with pauses in the action.
Sometimes the screen would freeze often with a loading icon in the corner. It wouldn’t be so bad if each new area had just a single load to pop things into existence, but there were times where I’d take a few steps, hit a load, walk for five more seconds, get another load, only to move a few more feet for one more.
I even had it happen during combat. It doesn’t appear the game had the right engine to fully run the game how it was meant to be played, but it is worth noting that the game will have a day one patch which has yet to be released for my review copy version of the game.
Other technical problems is one massively annoying one where Fury wouldn’t grab ledges. There were moments I would have to jump up towards a ledge upwards of five to ten times before she’d finally achieve the animation in which she hoists herself up. My game also crashed a few times, but for some reason that seems to be the norm on any new game I’ve played on my household’s two PS4 Pros this year.
Sound also has problems. In specific areas it would become as if my speaker had been submerged into water. Either coming out completely distorted or cutting out altogether. An elevator near the weapon smith always did this no matter what.
When the sound does work, it’s mostly great. Some sound effects were questionable and at times the sound mixing seemed off. A creature could be above me and off center by 30+ feet while being separated by concrete but it’d sound as if they were to my right and screaming into one ear.
Those qualms aside, most of it does its job. I was especially fond of the music. Given this series details a war between Heaven and Hell one must expect an epic soundtrack, and boy does this game deliver. If I had to pick one issue, it’d be that certain tracks didn’t show up enough.
Seriously, some of the music is awesome. One orchestral string section towards the end of the game has me considering obtaining the soundtrack just for that song alone.
The voice work is solid too and the voice actress behind Fury did good work bringing her to life. What initially seemed like a one dimensional character pre-release is actually full of depth and her delivery is well done.
The bosses all sound good as well, but my favorite delivery probably came from the Watcher. There’s a cheesy over the top nature to some of the delivery of character’s lines, but it fits the tone of the game nicely and I think that was the intent.
Overall the voice cast did a good job and I was pleased by most, if not all of it.
After just under 30 hours, and with a 91% trophy achievement rate, I did almost everything I could in this game, and as stated above, Darksiders III is definitely my game of the year. As a fan of it I’ve already started a new playthrough just for fun.
It may be rough around the edges, but as I reflect back on my time with it I’m only greeted with positive memories. It’s a challenging title that pushed me in all the right ways, and it contains a story that was surprisingly good.
There are a few qualms here and there, like its technical issues, and at the end of the day I wish it offered more enemy variety, but even when considering those problems, the game is a blast.
Gunfire Games, the studio behind this title, did a wonderful job and unlike most other games that I play. I actually look forward to what the future DLC may hold, and given the slight tease at a sequel the story ends on, I’m now anxiously awaiting a fourth game.
Darksiders III was reviewed on PlayStation 4 using a review copy provided by THQ Nordic. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s reviews/ethics policy here.
The Good:
- On the hardest difficulty setting this game is a satisfyingly challenging title
- Combat feels great and there’s ton of combinations
- The world is fun to explore
- Fury is a great character and the bosses are exceptional too
The Bad:
- The game has technical issues that may require at least one or two patches, thankfully I’ve been assured there will be something on day one.
- One boss fight wasn’t too particularly good
- While definitely not bad, the graphics can be rough around the edges at times
- The audio can sometimes cut out or sound distorted
One of the most popular franchises that publisher THQ had was Darksiders, a fantasy action role-playing game (RPG) series that put you into the boots of a Horseman of the Apocalypse. The last game in the series before now was Darksiders II, which was met with some solid praise from both critics and fans alike.
With people praising the game for its mechanics, artistic direction, and for the lovably dry and sarcastic protagonist, Death, it looked as if Darksiders was on the path to fame.Sadly, this was not to be. In 2012, THQ filed for bankruptcy, and the Darksiders intellectual property was sold to Nordic Games. Fans held onto hope for a new game, but as the years went by without any news of one, there was concern that the series was being abandoned. Thankfully, though, this was not the case.
As with the previous titles in the series, Darksiders III is set on a post-apocalyptic version of Earth in which the armies of Heaven and Hell eternally fight one another. This conflict nearly destroyed humanity as a result, and as humanity struggles to survive, the powerful Seven Deadly Sins plan to wipe them out permanently. The Charred Council, a powerful court that maintains the balance between mortals and immortals alike sends you, Fury — one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse — to stop them.The plot of Darksiders III isn't deep, but its cast of characters is phenomenal.This is essentially the entirety of the plot, and while there isn't that much depth to it, it's good enough. The real meat of the script lies with the characters.
Fury, like Death in Darksiders II, is witty, sarcastic, and dry as a bone. However, she's also rash and speaks before thinking, giving her a unique touch that makes her dialogue a treat to hear. In addition, the Seven Deadly Sins are a fantastic bunch. Each of their personalities and appearances perfectly represents the sin that they're named after.
For example, Sloth takes the form of a terribly obese and lazy grasshopper, while Wrath is a bloodthirsty savage encased head-to-toe in fiery armor plating.There are plenty of minor characters too, and each one is written and voice acted with great effort and care. In Darksiders III, the characters are the story. In terms of gameplay, Darksiders III is a departure from the wide-open world design of its predecessor. Instead, the world resembles something you would find in a Dark Souls game: a series of linear environments connected by a network of different pathways. Aside from starting and quitting the game, there aren't any loading screens in Darksiders III at all, and that alone helps everything feel more immersive and fluid as you traverse the lairs of the Seven Deadly Sins. Choosing to explore off the beaten path will reward you with valuable items that you can use to upgrade your weapons with.Speaking of weapons, Fury utilizes a razor-sharp metal whip in combat, slicing and dicing foes in true hack-and-slash fashion. However, unlike Darksiders II, there's a bigger emphasis on timing here — simply mashing the attack button won't get you far.
Death was fast and agile, diving into the fray with scythes flying. Fury, though, uses heavier, wider attacks that require you to hit foes after dodging their attacks or spotting an opening in their guard.In addition, once they're unlocked, Fury can transform into one of four different magical forms at will. These forms give her special powers and weapons in combat, as well as skills that can be used outside of combat to solve puzzles.
For instance, her Flame form lets her use fiery double blades and safely wade through lava, while the Lightning form gives her an electrified spear and the ability to float like Storm from the X-Men. These forms add a ton of depth to the gameplay experience and using them to discover secrets hidden in the world is a blast. Visually, Darksiders III is a gorgeous game with a stylized, colorful artistic direction that stays true to the series' roots.
Each environment in the game world feels unique and beautiful in a strange way — even the Bonelands, toxic wastelands filled with zombified angels, have a charm to them. In total, there are seven of these locations, one for each Deadly Sin.Everything, from the world to the creatures within it, is beautifully brought to life.The characters and the enemies are also fantastic.
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Beyond the Seven Deadly Sins, the various hostile mobs that you encounter in each location ooze creativity. Lanky lizard warriors, egg-laying crustaceans, gigantic spiders, and demons from Hell are just a fraction of the things that you'll be slashing at with your whip.
You'll dislike Darksiders III's framerate and gameplay flaws. As beautiful as Darksiders III is, it's marred by the fact that framerate consistently struggles whenever there's a lot happening on-screen. Thankfully, this isn't too common, but there are instances where you get swarmed by a dozen or so foes. Trying to time your dodges and attacks in this scenario is already hard enough without the framerate taking a dip, so having to contend with that as well is annoying. Using Fury's Havoc ultimate ability (pictured above) in particular is guaranteed to cause this, as your attacks while using it are filled with flashy special effects.There are some issues with the combat as well.
While for the most part, it's amazing, it's not perfect. Some of the encounters in the world feel a bit cheap with how some foes will ambush you around corners and score free hits, and sometimes hit detection feels off — both for you and your opponents. This can lead to times where an important attack of yours that should have landed does not, or an enemy gets a hit on a swing that you're positive you dodged.It's unfortunate to see Darksiders III abandon some of the second game's RPG systems.Another thing that bummed me out with Darksiders III was the absence of armor loot.
In Darksiders II, Death could find pieces of armor in the world that improved his defenses and gave him special traits, but none of that is present in Darksiders III. In its place is a system where you can give weapons enchantments that alter how they perform in combat, but this doesn't have the same level of depth. There is a tab on the inventory screen for armor, but I went through the entire game without finding any. This could indicate that at least some form of cosmetic armor types will come in a future DLC, but in my opinion, it should have been in the game at launch. Should you buy Darksiders III?
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