Played this game over a dozen times since first it got released in 2012. The main draw is the world and designs. The game boasts a very unique artstyle drawn from comics, specifically, Joe Madueira. If you like this artstyle, give it a try.
It is pretty straight forward as far as adventure-puzzle games go hosting a variety of locations with impressive scenery.
The story is very simple without any deep interpersonal conflicts or character growth but the themes are pretty enticing. It's a pretty simple angels and demons setting but it puts you in the role of the badass horseman of the apocalypse with a dominating presence, which is a fun enough archetype to play as. Though it's undecut by the fact that you mostly will be going on fetch-quests for others; always strung along.
The fights aren't the most difficult but there are some cool bosses to fight (a step up from DS1 in terms of movesets). Sometimes the mobs can get a bit obnoxious though, especially with the progression system being reliant on the random loot drops that confer a variety of boosts, ranging from defence, to damage, to magic and there is a basic progression system too accessible by level up and some purchased moves. What I mean is that you will focus more on optimising your stats so as to keep up with the level curve rather than make fun builds that have a significant impact on the gameplay. Honestly, the way you play won't differ much depenant on which aspect you want to focus on, which is kind of a bummer of a missed opportunity, because there was some potential for adding depth to the combat. There's also some cheesing you can do to make the game a breeze by boosting your health regen or critical damage to insane hights but that kind of makes the game a cakewalk.
Still, the hook is to mix and match the right combination of looted gear so as to be the most powerful version you can be. It's satisfying on an 'item managment' level, I guess.
There's a lot of collectibles hidden around the map which you'll have to explore and you'll spend a fair amount of time on puzzles too. This can get a bit tedious though, especially since, at the end of the day, it's kinda checkmarky and, as I said, the gameplay won't be changed much by items you find, but it's just more opportunities for loot drops. That's the main thing here. It's kinda good too if you like to find secrets (despite the underwhelming rewards).
The game is quite short and the climax is also quite succinct as well as there not really being any post-game content of note. I wish there was a bit more, the world is prime for it. It kinda wants to sell itself on being epic but falls short, sadly.
Still, I've played this game a lot and it's not a bad time. The gameplay loop is quite smooth, I'd say, so it's a good pass-time. Not much there to get super obsessed with the world with but still, it's quite unique.
Still, looking forward to finally have a game with all 4 horsemen and see them all interact (never thought I'd see the day). DS4 has been announced and if it's 4p co-op, they might finally have reached the full potential of this franchise after more than 15years and a bunch of games that were soulsearching their genre. Fingers crossed, but I don't hold much hope in nowadays' gaming.
Oh and Michael Wincott really embodies Death well, even given the limited material that he was given —I'd say. Definitely a highligh of the game. Sadly, he didn't reprise the role in Darksiders 3 so I don't think we'll see him in DS4 either.
