Darksiders II

!!!! BEFORE YOU PLAY THE GAME DOWNLOAD THE BETA VERSION BY RIGHT CLICKING GAME -> PROPERTIES -> BETAS -> publicbeta !!!!
This is important because the Deathinitive Edition has some bugs that get fixed by doing that (but it will still have some due to THQ being shut down back then and it was never FULLY fixed but the beta solves most of your issues)
That aside, this is one of the best games I have ever played if not the best.
The world design, the OST, the gameplay, it's all nothing but incredible.
If you like the idea of playing a lovechild of God of War and Legend of Zelda this should absolutely be for you.
As far as the lore goes, the first game is important but it's also very different in it's design as it's a linear hack and slay, this one is open world and feels a lot different, although some key elements are the same.
The first game is also insanely fun so I recommend playing both if you want the full experience.

I love the Darksiders series and feel quite sad that they’re not as popular as they used to be.
The seconds installment in the series was quite a shift from the original and boy was it a shift in the right direction. The combat feels amazing the ARPG-like loot system and upgrades you get are great, the hidden bosses, the Actual bosses, the story, the voice acting and the visuals all are superb. This really is one of the better games ever made, it might not seem like much now as many games do what it does but for its time this was amazing. I recommend anyone to try it and finish the story at least once.
Overall score 8.5/10

Much better game compared to the OG in every aspect.
+Fun combat.
+Interesting puzzle and dungeons.
+Boss fights.
+Diverse Environments.
+Character designs.
+Unique art-style.
-Mission of Earth.............grrrh

Doing a fresh run after 9 years and forgot how amazing this game is. The battle mechanics, music, story/narration, it all draws you in. Plus you get to play as Death, the best of the 4 horsemen (though they're all pretty cool). The game still holds up great even in 2024. If you haven't played it yet, do yourself a favor and check it out.

Best game in the series hands down.
It is a bit buggy be aware.
Make sure to install the beta patch via steam.

Darksiders 2 .... What a perfect game and sequel of first perfect Darksiders.
The game itself is wonderful.
You play as first and Oldest Rider - the Death itself. And in your quest you must free your brother War. So much fun in playing this game. the game has so much fiun builds you can play through. The philosophy and pure love.
Gameplay 9/10
Game design 10/10
Story 12/10
Sound track 11/10
it's a purre perfection. A work of true love <3

I have had Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition in my steam library since the dawn of my steam account. I did play it back then in 2017 but my PC at the time was, very bad to say the least. Here I am 7 years later to finally play the game to 100% on a computer that can actually play the game.
Is Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition worth it? In my opinion, yes it is but I encountered a lot of bugs/issues while playing. Bare in mind it's age before I get into the review. Below I will mention all the issues I encountered, a pros and cons list and my opinion but fist, a quick disclaimer!
This review is MY opinion, MY own personal experience and MY thoughts. I am brutally honest when it comes to reviewing games. If you don'tt like my opinion, my time or respect my personal experience, please move on.
Pros
⚫If you are a fan of The Legend of Zelda then you will respect how Darksiders 2 does it's dungeons. They take heavy inspiration from TLOZ and I love TLOZ so I might be a bit bias with this one.
⚫I loved the environments from Darksiders 2. Seeing Hell for the first time was awe inspiring. The castle, the sky, the lava... it all looked gorgeous and it was not only just Hell that blew me away with how good they looked. Here is a screenshot I took of hell:
⚫The detail on some of the armour and characters was so well designed it actually had me in awe, specially for it's age. Have a look at Lillith:
⚫The game implements an RPG system compared to Darksiders (1). You can find gear to equip to make you stronger and has random stats on them. Each piece of gear you find, you can tailor a build just for yourself like any other RPG game.
⚫Darksiders 2 also has a very well designed fast travel system and a unique way to "know where to go". Death is accompanied by DUST, a crow. If you hold down "LS" (controller) Dust will show you where you have to go. For a game in 2015 to now, 2024... not many games have something like this. They either hold your hand or just don't.
⚫Seeing how they done Death in Darksiders 2 compared to War was phenomenal to witness and experience. Death is VERY agile compared to War which made Death truly feel unique compared to War. For example - Death has something called a "deathgrip" which helps him free-run along walls and then grab a chain/anchor point to pull himself to it and continue running along the wall and to top that off, it was not only just used for movement purposes either. Death could use it to pull himself to big enemies or pull little enemies to him.
⚫When Death opens up chests he uses his "reaper forms" arms to pry them open. This was completely different from how War opened up chests and I thought this was a really well thought about seeming Death is "agile" and not pure brute strength.
⚫When Death approaches a door the eyes of the skulls light up which I thought was a FANTASTIC idea.
⚫Deaths weaponry/fighting style was rather fun to master. Chaining his FAST scythe attacks with his heavy secondary attack all while throwing in a "deathgrip" here and there AND (in my case) summoning a "murder of crows" or a group of "angry skeletons" to fight by my side. War definitely had nothing like this at his disposal.
⚫The story is not as bad as people say. It's decent but It could have been done better, I won't lie.
Cons/Issues
⚫I want to mention this first as this was the VERY first thing that went wrong. At the start of the game you are being taught how to play/climb. When you go to climb a VINE, Death just get's stuck holding onto the vine unable to move. The developer is aware of this issue as he is STILL talking in the steam discussions page TO THIS DATE - yes that is correct, almost 10 years he has been saying the same thing to people "ENABLE VSYNC". This fixed that issue instantly.
⚫Before I enabled Vsync I was crashing whenever I opened up my map, went to change my gear and also changed my settings. Enabling Vsync seemed to have fixed all of these issues for me.
⚫I had several Audio issues playing the game. It would randomly stop giving me audio for attacking or talking which was really weird. No matter what I done, nothing fixed this issue. I had to restart my game for it to work again.
⚫There is a bug late game when you are in the IVORY TOWER and you use portals to propel your "STATUE SELF" over a metal railing but for some reason it gets stuck before it. I will provide an OLD Reddit discussion about it, sadly I do not have a picture of where I got stuck but this post does:
⚫These next "cons" are personal dislikes - When I went into the Arbiters Maze, you get no XP or GEAR for killing enemies. This felt tedious and boring.
⚫Secondly - You are forced to play NG+ to earn 8 levels for Death for an achievement and FULL access to the crucible. This felt like FORCED padding on the game to extend play hours. Why was this a thing? Locking the crucible behind NG+ levels.
⚫Lastly - About NG+ = Collectables and Secondary quests are NOT carried over to NG+ meaning if you go past the point of no return, you have to re-collect all collectables (relics, book of the dead pages and mystic stonebites) all over again. Same goes for all secondary quests, you need to re-do all 21 (I think) of them again.
⚫There was way to many FETCH quests in Darksiders 2. I'd say 85-90% of the quests had you fetching 2-3 of something for someone to then have to do it again for someone else.
⚫The puzzles are way to over-used. You have the same mechanics for almost all puzzles in the game - grab a bomb, blow that up, climb wall, progress. No puzzle was challenging because you already knew what to do.
My Verdict
After all is said and done, Darksiders 2 is a good game even in 2024. Yes it has it's issues, it's technically 12 years old, the original that is. So the fact that I had fun, despite the issues I had, compare this to some of the more modern games nowadays that are rushed, un-opitimised, over-priced e.t.c I'd rather play Darksiders 2 than half of these "NEW" games nowadays,
Darksiders 2 is no GOTY, nor is it anything MIND blowing but it is still a sequel to a STELLAR "hidden gem" that Darksiders (1) was.
7.5/10. Despite it's flaws, I enjoyed playing Darksiders 2 and the story of Death trying to redeem his brother War will not be forgotten anytime soon!