Game #914: Darksiders Genesis(Switch)

  There ain't no War without Strife.

 In an effort to keep the story from moving forward since the very first Darksiders game, the fourth entry in the series, Darksiders Genesis is yet another prequel, this time focusing on the only Horseman that's yet to be playable, Strife.... as well as the hero from the first game, War.

 Since with every installment they tackle a different genre, Genesis is a Diablo-like Isometrical beat'em up game. You could call it an RPG, but the game mechanics veer more into the beat'em up genre. So, yeah, not an RPG, and while it looks like a loot-based dungeon crawler, there's no loot here. 

 The upgrade system is alright, defeat enemies, obtain souls and use souls to buy new moves or a few enhancements to your potions. Exploration is the name of the game, as the game has a ton of secret items hidden behind puzzles that require specific tools and noggin' joggin' to complete.

 The game can be played in co-operative mode, in which each player takes control of each Horsemen. In single player, you can swap between them at will. I liked how each character felt very different. War is slow, heavy and very powerful, while Strife is much weaker but can zip around the battlefield, as well as shoot enemies from afar with various different types of ammo. Each character also has two unique tools they can use to solve puzzles, as well as three different wrath-consuming abilities.

 Instead of leveling up and obtaining equipment, you can obtain 'Cores' from fallen enemies, which can then be placed in a grid to enhance your stats as well as obtain nifty passive abilities depending on the core, such as leaving a trail of fire behind you every time you dash.

 The in-game map is serviceable at best, while it highlights every collectible, once you find the 'Map' secret, it won't mark where you are. The area in which you are will be highlighted, but not the exact spot you are standing on, which is pretty dumb. And you can't move the camera around, which will be an annoyance at least a couple of times.

 Not only was the game made on a budget, with cutscenes being made up of beautiful hand-drawn art, but there were plenty of little bugs and the odd typo here and there. It's easy to get stuck in the environment, although in single player you can usually get out by swapping characters. One time, when going through a door, the game failed to load the next area twice, I had to quite the game and restart it to get it to work. The cutscene before the first boss played twice, once before the fight, and another after the fight..... and the game crashed on me a couple of times. Lastly, this Switch version looked very blurry, at least in handheld mode, which was a bit disappointing since characters are pretty tiny from the get-go.

 Darksiders Genesis was a fine game, but to be perfectly honest.... considering how much I love the series, I expected something a bit better. I also expected Strife to get his own game and for the story to finally push forward, but I'll take what I can get.

 7.0