Darksiders Genesis

 Switch
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 45 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 45
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 45
  3. Negative: 7 out of 45
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  1. duedelhausen
    Feb 15, 2020
    8
    I am satisfied with the implementation. The game is fun, runs smoothly and the price / performance ratio is good.
  2. nusco
    Dec 26, 2020
    7
    Darksiders Genesis is a prequel to the popular franchise. Compared to other games in the series, it introduces two major changes: an isometric perspective, and a tight focus on cooperative gameplay.

    Pros: - Great co-op: I played through this game with my sister over the Internet, and it was a blast. The two main characters have very different abilities, and you can even switch roles    Darksiders Genesis is a prequel to the popular franchise. Compared to other games in the series, it introduces two major changes: an isometric perspective, and a tight focus on cooperative gameplay.

    Pros:
    - Great co-op: I played through this game with my sister over the Internet, and it was a blast. The two main characters have very different abilities, and you can even switch roles when you want to.
    - Good mix of genres: The game has plenty of combat encounters, but also enough platforming and puzzles to break the pace.
    - Exploration aplenty: If you're the completionist type, you'll enjoy combing the levels for the dozens of different powerups that are hidden everywhere.

    Cons:
    - Quite buggy: We found new bugs every time we played, including a few that forced us to restart the game. We lost count of how many times we got stuck in the scenery.
    - Uneven difficulty: On the default difficulty, combat can be challenging early on. By the last few levels, however, even major bosses have become pushovers.
    - Frustrating perspective: The camera view is good for co-op, but it makes for some frustrating platforming, and forces you to squint to see stuff on the Switch's screen.    … Expand
  3. pmasterfunk
    Oct 24, 2020
    7
    I was a big Darksiders fan, I enjoyed the first game enough to get all trophies, and enjoyed the second one quite a bit as well. I didn't enjoy number 3 very much, and though Genesis is a lot more fun to play, ultimately it doesn't do quite enough for me to come back to it.

    I've always and still like the aesthetics of Darksiders, and I think Genesis does pretty well in this regard. It's    I was a big Darksiders fan, I enjoyed the first game enough to get all trophies, and enjoyed the second one quite a bit as well. I didn't enjoy number 3 very much, and though Genesis is a lot more fun to play, ultimately it doesn't do quite enough for me to come back to it.

    I've always and still like the aesthetics of Darksiders, and I think Genesis does pretty well in this regard. It's not the most graphically demanding game out there (especially the Switch version), but I think the strong art direction overcomes the "low-spec" aspects. If there's one thing I dislike about the presentation it's the distant camera, but that decision has much more to do with the gameplay than graphics. However I feel like the level of detail in the character models is lost, and when the camera occasionally zooms in during boss-ending scenes, it's possible to tell there was effort put into the details, which seems like a waste to me. The framerate seems locked at 30FPS on Switch, and there is some pretty heavy slowdown in a few areas, but it didn't bother me that much.

    Gameplay-wise, it plays pretty smoothly, and whatever frustration Darksiders 3 produced in me is long gone. Admittedly the game is pretty easy on normal, but I don't think the challenge of higher difficulties would feel as unfair as D3 did. War and Strife play similarly enough that one is never going to feel completely foreign to the other, but at the same time I wished they played a bit more differently. The action is fun, and the powerups and wrath skills are pretty well balanced. All around the gameplay is quite good, but it's not strong enough for me to come back for just that.

    Story-wise, Genesis doesn't do anything for me. It's fun getting to know Strife, and the interplay between him and War is actually pretty good, but they have very little agency. They're constantly being thrown around on random missions by external forces, and each chapter is episodic and mostly unrelated. There isn't much of an overarching theme, there isn't much character development, there aren't any real big reveals about what's going on in the 'big picture'. Meh.

    Apart from that, I don't have too much to say. The game is a bit buggy (not as bad as D3, but similar to Battle Chasers (another Airship Syndicate title)), but nothing game breaking. Sound design was unoffensive, voice acting is good. I'm not sure if Strife and Dis being coded black is a genuine effort to add "diversity" or tokenism. Strife talking like he's from the inner-city to Thor-wannabe War is a funny contrast, but it seems diegetically off.

    I haven't played with a partner, only single player, and I imagine a 2 player game being a lot of fun.

    So, is it worth it for you? Hard to say. I'm not sure it's a must play for even Darksiders fans, even though it's a decent game. If you want to play it, and want the best performance, I'd say go with a different platform, but if convenience is king, the Switch version is more than functional enough to be considered.    … Expand
  4. Xs
    Feb 15, 2020
    10
    I bought Darksiders yesterday. It is amazing. It is so good I created an account on here just to spread the word. It reminds me of God of War one and two the most. It has a fixed camera like this games. It is nothing like Diablo though it looks like it. The combat system is deep. The puzzles are fun.
  5. StrikerXL
    Feb 16, 2020
    5
    I bought the game physically for 34,99 euro and it’s just ok. If you are expecting the quality of the first remastered game in combination with some Diablo 3 gameplay, you’re in for a disappointing experience!

    The gameplay lacks depth and you don’t feel your making any impact when slaying monster and demons. Shooting and melee attacks just feel hollow. Boss fights are just boring. The    I bought the game physically for 34,99 euro and it’s just ok. If you are expecting the quality of the first remastered game in combination with some Diablo 3 gameplay, you’re in for a disappointing experience!

    The gameplay lacks depth and you don’t feel your making any impact when slaying monster and demons. Shooting and melee attacks just feel hollow. Boss fights are just boring.

    The level are cosmetically big and only extend the playtime. Also the map is really cumbersome and the interface just plain boring the too look at!

    The overall look and feel of the game is mediocre/dull. The game graphics on the Switch are just passable. The voice-acting is well done and the cutscenes have refined comic-book feel to it.

    My advice spend your money on something else!    … Expand
  6. Rpg89
    Feb 14, 2020
    10
    Not all that bad, but the low res & blur can be fixed with an update mainly for the handheld(if you get used to the game though you will forget all about the blur & low res). Regardless a nice prequel, story & big sense of humor that will keep you laughing. Strife is a very funny dude and he really gets on wars nerves with his jokes
  7. david1234
    Apr 3, 2020
    9
    Being a fan of the Darksiders series since the first game "Darksiders Warmastered," I had to pick this up since each game has a unique inspiration. Although the campaign is relatively short, its gameplay, storytelling, and graphics for both performance and cinematics definitely made every minute worth it.

    Pros - I really liked how the developers kept the gameplay simple with the hack    Being a fan of the Darksiders series since the first game "Darksiders Warmastered," I had to pick this up since each game has a unique inspiration. Although the campaign is relatively short, its gameplay, storytelling, and graphics for both performance and cinematics definitely made every minute worth it.

    Pros
    - I really liked how the developers kept the gameplay simple with the hack and slash mechanic like in Warmastered. Although Darksiders 2 and 3 were fun, I wasn't too keen on the loot and making your own build from head to feet for part 2 and the Souls theme for part 3.
    - Graphics are very detailed and exploring each chapter feels very special as there are many relevant secrets to be discovered in an easy to follow map. Looks great in both handheld and docked! I love it when games are just button mashing and exploring in a linear map like Astral Chain cause it's a nice stress reliever from work and more technical harder games!
    - One of my favorite aspects was how the finisher button was readded to the combat systems. It makes battles feel a lot more satisfying and rewarding when you lower the enemy's HP low enough to finish them off.
    -Soul runes are a new feature implemented in Darksiders Genesis where players add runes dropped by monsters to their rune page which provides buffs to stats and certain abilities. This encouraged creativity as players get to play around with these rules to maximize their builds, yet don't feel bombarded with excess loot since runes are accumulated and automatically level up when it's met the threshold
    -Cinematics was my second favorite. Instead of your typical animated scenes, cutscenes were structured in very well drawn comic panels. Not only were the illustrations absolutely beautiful, but it made the cutscenes feel a lot tenser!

    Cons
    -Strife's character is a lot different than the other Horsemen of the series. He's a lot more comical and light-hearted. Maybe it was the voice acting, but his character didn't click at times and got kinda annoying. Stil a really fun character to play though!
    -The scenery feels a bit too zoomed out making characters look really small at times. Although it's meant to stick to one camera angle, I would've loved it if the camera zoomed in during 1v1 combats or a finisher on a single enemy especially bosses and captured the epic scene!

    Overall, the chemistry between Darksider 1's fluid simplistic combat system and Diablo's dungeon themed exploration with Darksider's movement mechanics (wall climbing, flying/gliding, and parkour on giant columns) makes for a fantastic Switch game.

    There's a split-screen coop mode in this game for offline plays. I haven't tried this yet due to the pandemic quarantine, but I'm very sure it'd be a very fun game to play with my girlfriend! (until I get tilted from her dying too much and I kick her out and go back to playing by myself lolz).    … Expand
  8. Blackwizery
    Feb 15, 2020
    2
    I have played this game for 5 hours. And co-op is broken. Had to restart my switch 5 times play levels over again because doors closed again. It really need some patches to fix this. I won't recommend it if you going to play coop
  9. Zegs
    Feb 14, 2020
    2
    They said it will contain the exact same content as other consoles...but it doesnt have pre order dlc like Xone and PS4.
    When in dock mode the grapichs are not that good and it is even worse in handheld mode.
    Some items like a warspike or fence have texture problems.

    I hope they will fix it soon.
  10. SomaXD
    Feb 18, 2020
    10
    Just as much Darksiders as any of the mainline titles... this one offers some insight into the pre-darksiders 1 storylines.... a must have for any darksiders fan!
  11. Voodooseeker
    Feb 17, 2020
    10
    I'm new to Darksiders - I've never played the game. I was thinking this game is just another Diablo spin-off (for me boring). BUT Darksiders is so much different, it's puzzles, platforming, awesome story and amazing characters. I love dark brutal gore games - and Darksiders Genesis delivers it.
    It's nothing fancy about it - but it's entertaining and lots of fun. I've been playing 25+    I'm new to Darksiders - I've never played the game. I was thinking this game is just another Diablo spin-off (for me boring). BUT Darksiders is so much different, it's puzzles, platforming, awesome story and amazing characters. I love dark brutal gore games - and Darksiders Genesis delivers it.
    It's nothing fancy about it - but it's entertaining and lots of fun. I've been playing 25+ hours this weekend from launch. So happy I downloaded the game on my Nintendo Switch.    … Expand
  12. duke_dobo
    Sep 5, 2022
    9
    Overall nice and entertaining game.A lot of crashes however.This is not too annoying during the story mode due to the regular autosave option, but after a few hours on the arena and the game crashes with all points lost, that is very disappointing .Very poorly executed switch port.It stands with the tendency that the Switch is the poor member in the console family and the ports are usuallyOverall nice and entertaining game.A lot of crashes however.This is not too annoying during the story mode due to the regular autosave option, but after a few hours on the arena and the game crashes with all points lost, that is very disappointing .Very poorly executed switch port.It stands with the tendency that the Switch is the poor member in the console family and the ports are usually bad and not well executed.… Expand
  13. Phuz
    Jul 15, 2022
    4
    OK 13 years before this game, Ys Origin did everything this does, but way better. Price wise this was £12 and Ys Origin is £25 from the same shop. Just pay the extra £13 and pass on this.

    In short if you took Ys Origin and said take this masterpiece ARPG and turn it in to a cheesy, over the top, piece of Hollywood **** then Darksiders Genesis is roughly what you'd get. It is    OK 13 years before this game, Ys Origin did everything this does, but way better. Price wise this was £12 and Ys Origin is £25 from the same shop. Just pay the extra £13 and pass on this.

    In short if you took Ys Origin and said take this masterpiece ARPG and turn it in to a cheesy, over the top, piece of Hollywood **** then Darksiders Genesis is roughly what you'd get.

    It is inexplicably boring. The graphics, the characters, the music, the dialogue. I have slightly enjoyed it and the controls are pretty tight, so I really couldn't give it a 0 but that 4/10 was just for mindless hacking and slashing fun and to be honest Sword Art Hollow Realisation is my go to for that and it is much more fun on SAO.

    Even 4/10 is a bit generous. It's just so generic.

    You'll get this kind of cheap fun, cheaper. It was no more fun than Croixleur Sigma and that cost pennies.    … Expand
  14. Kacek1996
    Aug 20, 2022
    7
    Fun game, if you do like hack and slash type of games it is a good choice for you. They did a great job with isometric graphics. I preferred to play as Strife over playing as War, but their interactions were one of the pros about the game. Graphics and the humour were the things I liked a lot, but there were some bugs and I had like two instances of my game crushing down. I liked it, butFun game, if you do like hack and slash type of games it is a good choice for you. They did a great job with isometric graphics. I preferred to play as Strife over playing as War, but their interactions were one of the pros about the game. Graphics and the humour were the things I liked a lot, but there were some bugs and I had like two instances of my game crushing down. I liked it, but it's not a game I would play a second playthrough of. As a person, who haven't played anything from the Darksiders series, I liked it quite a bit.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

92
#92 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
74

Mixed or average reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
  1. Nintendo Insider
    May 6, 2020
    70
    Darksiders Genesis is a pretty decent hack-and-slash adventure that takes the series in an interesting new direction. While my experience with the game rarely left me jaw-dropped, I nonetheless had an entertaining time slashing away at demons and finally getting to play as the fourth and final horseman.
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  2. FNintendo
    Apr 2, 2020
    70
    With its fun and engaging combat, a healthy mix between hack and slash and RPG elements and an enjoyable rapport between the two protagonists, Darksiders Genesis might be the most fun chapter in the series so far. Despite a sub-par performance on the Nintendo Switch screen and a not very functional map that could be more helpful, this is a game that will most certainly marvel any fan of the genre and which deserves an opportunity by every other Switch player too.
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  3. Universo Nintendo
    Mar 5, 2020
    90
    Darksiders Genesis is an awesome introduction to the franchise, with a fluid gameplay, well-drawn stages, great replayability, awesome soundtrack and voice acting that help to build characters full of personality. It has a few flaws but they aren't enough to hinder the gaming experience.
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