Darksiders III (Nintendo Switch) Review

Darksiders revolves around the endless war between Heaven and Hell, with players taking the role of the Angel and Demon hybrids known as the Nephilim - more specifically, the only survivors of their race: the Four Horsemen. After following the slightly parallel adventures of War and Death, the threequel follows the lady of the group; the warrioress known as Fury, whose story is - sadly - one more parallel one. Is it a good story? Well, on one hand it's just another fantasy tale about demons vs angels, and the humans who are once again caught up in the conflict, but on the other hand it's also better than what came before, mainly because of Fury, who aside from being an enjoyably arrogant and war hungry gal, she has an actual character ark *gasp* with the twists and turns of the plot being a bit harder to guess this time around. Of course, this just the dressing on top of all the hacking and slashing.

In other words, shut of your brain, enjoy the cheesy/cool plot, and start slaying, since all this talk about the escaped Seven Deadly Sins and whatnot is nothing more than the excuse players need to start killing big bad monsters. So, it all boils down to this: is Darksiders III a fun action title? Weeeeell… yes and no. Its fast and mashy combat is certainly more than decent (and much heavier on dodging this time around), but it can get both repetitive, but mostly surprisingly cheap, with many enemies being able to deal annoyingly large amounts of damage just because the dodge move occasionally didn't work when needed, with death sending you way back to slowly return into the fray on foot. This is definitely the hardest instalment yet, but sadly not in the way that it also makes it more fun as well.

As expected from a Darksiders instalment, the heroine can wield more than just her whip, and a part of her arsenal serves a dual purpose. This remains a Legend of Zelda meets God of War kind of deal, with over-the-top battles served right next to some good 'ol adventure-style gameplay, which revolves around gathering key items, using abilities to re-explore previously completed areas, and finding more gear for your warrioress. Fury's main tools of the trade are elemental attacks called Hollows. These offer new ways to explore, be it a higher leap or a skill that enables destroying certain barriers. Pretty typical stuff, and to be honest, a bit worse than what came before, with most "puzzles" feeling more like chores.

Generally, this is an occasion of 'same old, same old,' and while at times it's a bit better, most of the time it's the other way around. The production hell this has gone through is probably the one to blame, something that is obvious when one looks how unbalanced this it. At times boringly easy, at other times annoyingly hard, this definitely needed more time in the oven.

It's far from a terrible game, and many (critic included) will appreciate how it goes back to basics, removing a lot of the things added in the sequel, offering something easier to "digest" - but this is, undoubtedly, recommended only to Darksiders fans, and not so enthusiastically. As for the Switch version, it has taken quite the hit visually, but thankfully it still looks good, despite it looking more like a PS3 rather than a PS4-era title. Be ready for some sudden frame rate dips as you get closer to the finale, though, which is a shame, as this humble system has shown that in the right hands it can do wonders.