Darksiders III

Outside of the obvious omission of a map, the simple act of playing Darksiders III is fun, challenging, and rewarding. The Switch port, save for the expected visual downgrades, is on par with the originally targeted systems. The only problem is it never ran particularly well on those systems either. If anything the Switch version actually improves on some elements of the original performance, but it can still be a bit of a rough ride. This was always a game that required more powerful hardware to push through its shortcomings and the Switch obviously can’t totally deliver on that. At the same time, with slightly faster loading and solid handheld performance, I’d probably still take this over going back to the original Xbox One version.

Darksiders III is a good action and adventure title that, although its story has unfinished aspects, will appeal to most of its fans. It is far from being the best game in the franchise and the Switch port can be improved, but it is enjoyable and includes two DLCs.

The art and story of Darksiders III is engaging and beautiful to look at, even in this remastered take on the game. Adding a new game option to make the game more like its predecessors was very welcome, but not enough to save the game. Controls that don't respond when you want them to make the game frustrating in times of peril. Expecting players to understand what direction to go, or how to solve a puzzle without teaching them mechanics before hand made my time with Darksiders III unpleasant.

Darksiders 3 is a game with no personality in combination with mediocre gameplay and mechanics, a definitely forgettable experience. Along with the poor gaming experience, the Nintendo Switch version makes several graphical concessions that don't reflect on good performance.

Third time's not the charm in the case of Darksiders III, which is a - mostly - mediocre third entry in a line of games that weren't really that great to begin with. The quality of the Switch port doesn't help either, not so much because of its downgraded visuals, but because of its severe frame rate dips, and long load times, something that plagued the original versions as well. At least Fury looks cool…

At first, the Switch version seems fine enough. A clear visual downgrade, but it’s all running reasonably smoothly. But once you start getting to busier battles, more crowded areas, and situations with more chaos, everything comes unglued. The framerate flies all over the place, which is bad in a game whose chief combat gimmick is timed dodging. It hitches up at times, and flatout stops in the middle of the action to do whatever. I recognize the technical challenges in realizing this port on this hardware, but if this is the best that could be mustered, it perhaps should not have been done. We’re left with a heavily troubled port of a rather middling game, and I don’t know that filling in the story gaps is worth dealing with that.

This version could certainly benefit from some additional content, but most of all its technical performance falls below the expected threshold, with frustrating moments becoming too frequent as the screen gets more populated. While it's commendable that the game's entire content was transported to the Nintendo Switch, its execution ends up harming the overall gameplay experience.