Darksiders: Warmastered Edition Review (Miniike)
not sure the last time a game spent its whole so exponentially growing on me??? i basically tried it out cuz i know it was a god of war/3d zelda pastiche and that sounded like something cozy that could scratch some old itches and yea its basically that. tho certainly the opening few hours are a bit of a slog in hindsight, not unenjoyable in the moment but v much Brain Go Off Wheeee except for those kinda frustrating/boring Shadowlurker Challenges or whatever they were called dhjsdhs. but then u hit that first dungeon and man! something clicked for me! the comic booky post apocalyptic world, the surprisingly satisfying puzzles, the way the combat opens up once u start purchasing some of the better moves/combos, and the really really solid and even surprising level design in the non-overworld areas.
it rly does just make sense as its own thing, god of war never had puzzles this fun and thoughtful (to say nothing of the more demanding spatial navigation), 3d zelda never had combat this varied and intense. perhaps the only part that doesnt feel quite like the best of both worlds is the overworld, which was consistently disappointing for me. i never found the setpieces to be as memorable as the cooler dungeon moments, and there's a good number of zelda-esque Come Back Later With A New Item secrets but since u never rly come back thru these areas (theyre all basically paths to new dungeons) the best time to do it ig would just be in that anticlimactic endgame quest lol, at which point they just kinda ruin the flow and energy going into the third act. the actual finale tho is so genuinely awesome that im not even That mad they introduce quicktime events for the first time in the game in the literal final phase of the final boss. what a boss tho!! that jousting! that swordfight! they did like a way better of the twilight princess final boss basically????? wild!!
what surprised me the most tho in terms of affection was the style and the story. for some reason the big dumb celshaded comic book designs and animations didnt make much sense to me just looking at footage and stuff, but fsr once the game was in my hands i totally got it. and while sadly theres a bit too much greyscale apocalypse, there's also good variety and a few wonderful uses of the setting, like the dungeon in the overgrown subway station. what surprised me even more is the story, and like i dont wanna oversell it, and i realize that its convoluted lore that literally puts the fucking proper nouns in purple text for the subtitles may seem a bit Repellent. but it retains an appropriate tone, melodramatic and heightened but also earnest and involved with itself, it practically begs to be engaged with at least a little with its complicated web of uneasey alliances, old grudges, and cosmic duties. the fact that its dressed in such basely evocative Angels And Demons imagery probably helps, but even new players like the council and the watcher are rly fuckin memorable, and the messy ways they tangle with eachother r surprisingly compelling thanks to some colorful vocal performances, dialogue, and moral ambiguity. again i do NOT wanna oversell it, and war in general is far too much of a Stoic Video Game Badass for my taste which was a consistent issue for me, but the quiet thrill i got out of that final stinger made me realize just how much this weird quest and this Game Experience as a whole just charmed my pants off. idk if id ever replay it esp with cutscenes being seemingly unskippable, but its a rare triple A game especially from this era that feels this lovingly realized on a human level. will check the sequel at Some Point
even i dont know whats up with that portal gun tho. cool puzzles but like. yall could have at least changed the colors.....