Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition

While the Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition has plenty of positives in its column, this is primarily due to the original release already representing an impressive effort that is largely unchanged here. Frenetic combat and acrobatic exploration are still satisfying, with some optional collectible-hunting and a handful of other sidequests. The game’s lengthy dungeons and impressive graphics and audio have all been well-preserved, and the inclusion of all three DLC spells even more value for money. As positive as that sounds, there’s also a distinct sense of the game resting on its laurels. There’s a dearth of new features, from quality-of-life options to performance improvements — it’s worth noting that the game crashed a few times during the review playthrough. It seems there just wasn’t a whole lot of tinkering under the hood. Even story recaps, soundtrack samples, or cinematic galleries would have been welcome, but are all conspicuously absent, making for a barebones-effort remaster of an otherwise exciting game.