Darksiders is a quite recent franchise published by THQ and THQ Nordic the first of which came out in 2010 for the Xbox 360,PS3 and PC with subsequent sequels coming out in 2012 and 2018. Each follows one of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as War, Death, Fury and Strive.
All of the games follow a hack-N-slash style of play with each of the horsemen having their own signature weapons thus making each game feel unique and varied from the others. The franchise exchanged a lot of ownership and was at one point being looked at by Platinum Games, the creators of the Nier and Bayonetta games.
Is Darksiders 2 Only Getting A Definitive Edition?
This edition is targeting current generation consoles, the Series X and PS5 and PS5 Pro, THQ Nordic stated that the game will have faster load times due to both consoles having SSDs, 4k visuals and there will be haptic feedback on the dualsense for playstation owners.
Also anyone who had bought the Darksiders 2: Deathfinitive edition on playstation or Xbox are getting a free upgrade while those who wish to pre-order this edition will get a 50% discount until October 14th.
THQ Nordic have stated that they are working on a new Darksiders game but there is no further information on whether they plan to reboot the franchise or will it be a sequel to Darksiders 3 or Genisys.IT would be amazing to see their style of hack-N-slash combat come alive on modern consoles and on PC.
What Is Darksiders 2 About?
Darksiders 1 followed the Horseman War, who was initially accused of starting the apocalypse that is set as the background for the sequel titles, War then seeks to clear his name and find the one truly responsible, Darksiders 2 follows Death, Death believes that War is innocent and starts his own journey to uncover the truth.
The game follows a standard gameplay loop of slashing away at enemies with Death’s Scythes, following side quests and complete puzzles. Death also gets access to abilities that function as grapple hooks for traversal and other abilities that give Death the ability to control summons that help in combat and in solving puzzles.
Death traverses through a number of areas, each more unique and distinct from the last such as desolate frozen wastelands, deathly swamps and a ruined city infested with demons, all in an effort to clear his brother War of the accusation he faces.
Just like Darksiders 1, Death also receives a plethora of weapons to choose from and use in battle, although most are just slight variations on his original dual scythes, all of which offer some unique ability.
This game was praised universally for its addicting gameplay, fun puzzles and complex yet easy to follow story. It received high 70s and 80s across the board from various review articles at the time of its release.
It Deserves A Revival
The Darksiders games are as talked about now as they were before, the last one in the series Darksiders 3 wasn’t as well received as players and reviewers alike felt that the game felt dated compared to other titles that had been released at the time.
Pointing out that the choice to follow the “Dark Souls” design was a step in the wrong direction as the combat felt too straightforward and simple and the puzzles felt too boring compared to its past titles. Ultimately, the reviews would’ve done the game in but it fortunately made back its development and marketing cost which allowed THQ Nordic to start the development of an upcoming sequel.
People should give the Darksiders franchise a chance, it had a compelling cast of characters and a lore rich story featuring twists on the Biblical characters we came to know of and also featuring compelling combat, world building and fun puzzles for its time almost a decade ago.
While Darksiders 3 wasn’t up to par, Darksiders 1 and 2 should deserve releases for the fans who supported the franchise from the very beginning, hopefully THQ Nordic releases a definitive edition of Darksiders 1 for current generation consoles too, so that people can get introduced to War and follow the story from the beginning.
