After finishing Darksiders II (about 22 hours on Apocalypse difficulty), I ended up landing on a very hesitant recommendation.
This is honestly one of the strangest games I've ever played because I never really wanted to boot it up, yet I almost always had a great time once I did. For three months I'd play for an hour or two, put it down for a week, then inevitably come back. There's just something about this game that kept pulling me back.
The biggest reason is the presentation. Even today, Darksiders II absolutely oozes style. The art direction is phenomenal. The environments are gorgeous, the character designs are memorable, and the voice acting is excellent throughout. It's not a technical showcase by modern standards, but it has so much personality that I was constantly excited to see what the next area would look like.
Unfortunately, I still don't think the gameplay lives up to that presentation.
The combat initially feels fantastic. Death's abilities are flashy, impactful, and satisfying to use. Landing combos and unleashing abilities looks and feels great. The problem is that the game constantly gets in its own way.
The lock-on camera is genuinely awful and regularly fights against you. On top of that, enemy attacks are poorly choreographed. You're often fighting three to five enemies at once, many of which give very little indication of what they're about to do. Instead of reacting to attacks, I found myself preemptively mashing the dodge button because at any moment an off-screen enemy might throw out an attack I couldn't realistically see coming. Combat often ends up feeling more chaotic than skillful.
I also hated the RPG elements. The constant stream of randomized gear, comparing tiny stat upgrades, and upgrading possessed weapons all felt like unnecessary busywork. Even more annoying was the potion system. I was constantly running out of healing potions in the middle of dungeons, forcing me to fast travel all the way back to a vendor just to restock before returning. It adds absolutely nothing to the game other than interrupting its pacing.
The puzzles start out enjoyable enough, but eventually the game settles into the same formula over and over. Enter a dungeon, collect three MacGuffins, unlock the next area, and repeat. It has a very old school, "video game" feel that some people will probably enjoy, but after twenty-plus hours it became increasingly repetitive.
The pacing also falls apart during the second half. Just when the combat should be hitting its stride, the game suddenly decides to become a third person shooter for an extended level. It is an absolutely bizarre design decision and easily one of the weakest parts of the game. The following angel themed section was actually pretty fun, but then the demon realm completely killed any momentum the game had built. By that point I wasn't excited anymore. I just wanted it to be over.
The technical side didn't help either. I experienced a hard crash early on, then later encountered a progression blocking bug that forced me to switch to the beta branch just to finish the game. That's pretty ridiculous for a game that's been around this long.
The boss fights were another mixed bag. Some were genuinely fun and memorable, but others were incredibly frustrating for the same reasons as the regular combat. Poor readability, chaotic encounters, and attacks that often felt more cheap than challenging.
What frustrates me most is just how close Darksiders II comes to being something special. The visuals, art direction, atmosphere, music, and voice acting are all excellent. I genuinely loved exploring its world. But almost every aspect of the gameplay feels like it needed another pass. The camera, enemy design, pacing, RPG systems, technical issues, and repetitive structure all chip away at what could have been an amazing game.
Even with all of that...I can't deny that I had fun.
Every time I sat down to play, I found myself enjoying it despite all the frustrations. It's a deeply flawed game, but it's also one with a ton of personality. I don't have any desire to replay it or dive into the DLC, but I'm still glad I experienced it.
So yes, I'm recommending it...barely.
If you enjoy Zelda-inspired dungeon crawlers with hack-and-slash combat, I think there's enough here to make it worth your time. Just be prepared to overlook a lot of rough edges along the way.
7/10. Great style. Flawed execution.
