Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition Remastered Review (PS5) – Death Rides Again

The success of a series or franchise usually goes one of two ways. They’re either regarded as one whole “greatness”, despite the law of diminishing returns, or one or two get cherry-picked from the pile. The former has things like the Mass Effect trilogy, or Back to the Future, whilst the latter has Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and The Witcher 3. In regards to Darksiders II, it’s very much in the latter camp.

Following the middle ground reception of the first attempt, Darksiders II kicked some life into the budding franchise. Ditching the grimdark tone for something more colourful, the tale of Death was warmly received. So much so that this isn’t the first but second port of it, so it must be doing something right.

So let’s see if twelve years on, amidst a sea of remasters and remakes, if Darksiders II is still the enjoyable action-adventure it was the first time around. Sharpen those scythes, we’re going in.

War, What Is He Good For?

The first Darksiders, to summarise, saw War of the Apocalypse Four inadvertently kick-starting said Apocalypse a bit early. Yet rather than a slap on the wrist for the jump-start, War is instead caught up in the Endwar and subsequently blamed. That’s the general gist, anyway, this is about the sequel.

It starts with Death, one of the nephilim Horsemen of the proverbial Apocalypse, seeking out the imprisoned War. To clear his brother’s name, a short prologue sees Death sent to the Forge Lands; a realm rife with Corruption. Initially hesitant about what the Creators of the realm ask of him, Death soon realises that he needs their help in reaching the Tree of Life.

This, in a convoluted fantasy story manner, is so Death can realise War and set things right. What soon starts small (in gameplay terms, at least) soon becomes a grand adventure, across many realms and foes to rival a God of War adventure. In terms of story, it’s surprising how much lore and narrative can be woven into “try and stop the apocalypse from happening”.

A Zelda-Like Death

Don’t worry, that isn’t some clickbait header to mislead you into thinking this is a Zelda killer. Instead, it’s actually meant as a compliment, if you can believe it. I said this at the time and I’ll say it again; Darksiders II plays like a Zelda title, more specifically Ocarina of Time. Okay, it’s easy enough to say that an action-adventure is a Zelda-esque game, much like calling any sandbox game a GTA clone. But hear me out on this one, please.

Death, across his rather expansive journey, has to enter various “dungeons” for equally contrived reasons. Be it igniting a forge, finding some interlinking artefact or removing more of the Corruption, it’s the standard template. But unlike an MMO, for example, of just charging through and killing all of the things, there are puzzles too. Again, like Zelda, or even more modern Prince of Persia titles, these are all key-and-door setups through contrivance. Lateral thinking, verticality and platforming, retracing steps to previously locked areas, it’s all there. Hell, the second dungeon’s a water temple, but thankfully not as frustrating as its OoT counterpart.

But whilst a compliment may make it sound generic, it’s far from it. Whilst we’ve had more and better examples recently, that Darksiders II plays like a better Zelda game than the Zelda games of the time is great. This was the Skyward Sword era, remember. Give me Death scaling walls and performing acrobatics over… whatever Skyward Sword is any day.

Who Knew Death Could Look So Good?

Another “proof of the time” that didn’t elude me then is that Darksiders II had some very striking visuals. Again, the first was very grimdark and straight out of Heavy Metal magazine, all demons and angels and Judas Priest concept art. I think that’s what put me off, that it was trying too hard to be cool. Whereas the sequel has a different palette of colour. For one, it actually has colour. Lots of it, from colourful woodland biomes to the aforementioned glowing hot forge dungeon.

But in terms of visuals, its most direct comparison to me is World of Warcraft. Look at the above picture and tell me that it doesn’t give that chunky Blizzard vibe off? Again, easy comparison and compliment to make and again, not a detraction at all. The worlds are varied and pleasant to climb over, the enemies all have that cartoon-y chunk to them, and even those Death talks to are exaggerated and animated.

Yet that was 2012, what’s changed now? What’s been spruced up for a second time to warrant another look? Well, for one the visuals have been upscaled to 4K. The pictures in this review are all a testament to that, and they were captured via PlayStation by yours truly. Transitioning between areas or facing a few nasties at once didn’t cause any lagging or screen tears.

It’s hardly going to wow anyone who’s expecting God of War Ragnarök-levels of graphical fidelity, mind. But for those that don’t mind, and appreciate a bit of upscaled “retro”, it’s very nice to look at.

Scythe And Dice

The other focal point in this action-adventure is the combat, which makes up the “action” side of things. Now, we normally associate Death with a cowl, a scowl and a scythe… and he does have those. The cowl is equippable (we’ll get to that), the scowl is likely there under the mask, whilst the scythe is a modern jobby that splits in two.

That’s right, combat in Darksiders II is formed largely of two parts. Well, two parts as one mode of attack, whilst other varieties make up secondary weapons. You see, Death uses his scythe (scythes?) as a sort of tonfa. This leads to quicker combos, with one-piece scythe kills saved for contextual executions.

The versatility comes from the secondary weapons, ranging from big and heavy axes and hammers, to gauntlets and wristblades for speed. Chaining between scythe and secondary isn’t as buttery smooth as one would like, but there’s no massive delay in switching them up.

It works well for building different playstyles. I like quick, so I favour gauntlets and scythes for dashing about and quick combos. Can’t help it, it’s the Bloodborne in me.

A Stylish Death

But coupled with different weapon builds comes the now-standard ARPG loot-and-gear system. In a similar vein to Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, which came out a few months before, it’s a pretty big part of Death’s journey.

But that it’s big doesn’t necessarily mean complicated, thankfully. This isn’t Baldur’s Gate 3 levels of RPG intricacy, so don’t worry too much. It’s pretty standard: new bits of kit have nice, green numbers on them that will improve the relevant stats. That goes for armour, weapons both primary and secondary and trinkets in-between.

Of course, that’s if you want the standard terminology. But for those that want to cater a little more specific build, there are other buffs. Higher chance of critical damage, more Wrath power earned (Death’s version of magic), or even more execution prompt odds. As I say, it’s not massively deep in its character build system, but it doesn’t have to be.

Personally, I just go for whatever makes me take less damage as a priority. Sometimes I’ll sacrifice a small bit of armour for more critical hit damage, but that’s because I like a quick-paced scrum. If players want to hang back and focus on the Wrath-based attacks, there are armour builds for that too. The best thing to do is play around with it, essentially.

Back In Time, In Game And Reality

When it comes to criticisms towards Darksiders II, mine are… well, as dated as the game is. For example, Dark Souls (and its ilk) has taught us that clicking the left thumbstick is what locks players to enemies. So, imagine how backwards it felt to hold L2 instead, with R1 to dodge. But then, Ocarina of Time has its Z targeting, and we’re used to that because it was the norm back then.

Another gripe about gameplay is the constant tutorial-ness of it all. Yes, game, I know what a Skeleton Key does, you’ve told me enough times. Once would have been enough. Again to use Zelda, it’s like the game has a stop-and-fanfare moment for chests containing five rupees. Likewise when I open a pathway, or raise a bridge: I don’t need the game to stop and show me constantly, I’d rather it happen organically. But then, these are mild annoyances of time capsule gaming rather than issues.

In terms of actual issues, Darksiders II ran smoothly. Groups of enemies on-screen didn’t cause any slowdown, nor did the game loading in its more expansive areas. Occasionally Death would get stuck on a ledge and float for a bit, but it wasn’t anything game-breaking.

For better or worse, it is literally the same as it was twelve years ago. Just with more razzle and/or dazzle.

Fresh II Death

When all’s said and done, the best thing one can say about Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition is that it’s the same game it was in 2012. But that’s the caveat, isn’t it? For players like me, who enjoyed it, it can go two ways: they either enjoyed it to remember it, and won’t play again, or may want to go back with its enhancements.

Like its last-gen Deathinitive counterpart, this one too holds all the Season Pass DLC, including The Abyssal Forge and Argul’s Tomb. I didn’t play these the first time around, so there’s another incentive for me to carry on with it there. For new players, that it’s a sequel might be an instant turn-off, the kind that starts with “Do I need to have played the first one?”, etc. You don’t, much as I didn’t. In fact, what I saw of the first made me hesitant to pick this up, but I’m glad I did (back then).

As a franchise, it might seem like an odd jumping in point, but even if one were to treat it as a standalone, there’s still a massive romp to be had here. I hate to bandy the word “epic” about, but that’s what this is: an epic adventure across lands. Sure, the character designs look like a Todd Macfarlane sketchbook, as does the script writing, but it’s enjoyable.

We Ride!

Maybe it’s just me on a nostalgia trip, off the back of reviewing Dead Rising, Epic Mickey and a Star Wars port, that I’m keen for this kind of thing. But then, it’s not like I didn’t enjoy this twelve years ago and this was its chance to change my mind. That it is the same but better only cements the respect that THQ has for Death’s ride.

To encapsulate, for sound bite purposes or whatever, it is a time capsule of greater amalgamations of the time. Take the adventure and environmental puzzles of [a good] Zelda, the platforming of Sands of Time-era Prince of Persia, and the Kingdoms of Amalur combat and gear, and you get Darksiders II. Any negatives are more geared at the gaming styles of the time, rather than anything that the game itself does.

Yes, it’s a hard sell to those new to it. I’m not on commission, I can’t make you play it. But if the above games are in your wheelhouse, or you’re bored of all the seriousness in gaming, come along on this retro renaissance with me. Sure, it has some fiddly controls at first, and a bit of handholding, but the Reaper’s adventure is anything but grim.

Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition Remastered is available now on PlayStation 4 & 5 (reviewed on latter), Xbox Series S|X. The 2015 Deathinitve Edition is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC via Steam.

Developer: Gunfire Games
Publisher: THQ Nordic