When I reviewed Darksiders Genesis last year, I gave the game a 9.0; praising the familiar elements of the game whilst attempting to try something new in the franchise. I adore the game and think it’s one of the better games of 2019, so of course I had to double dip for the Switch release. I’m really glad that I did.

Set way before the events of the first game, Genesis goes all the way back to the start, like the name suggests. Just when the Horsemen were first starting out and gaining the Charred Councils favour. We join War and Strife on their very first mission to put a stop to Lucifer’s plans. It’s your standard Darksiders affair with demons to slaughter and conspiracies to uncover, but for the first time we have two Horsemen interacting with each other throughout. Strife is your cocky and confident gunslinger, whilst War is your straight edged get the mission done type of guy. Their interactions with each other can be amusing as their personalities conflict, whilst other times they will be reflecting on the Nephelim war, a major event for these characters.

Like I said in my full PC review, the new switch to the isometric camera angle might seem like a big change at first, but it keeps the spirit of Darksiders intact. It’s still a dungeon crawling hack ‘n slash that combines fast paced melee combat, puzzle solving, epic boss fights, and exploring large areas. But it makes enough changes to the formula to give it its own distinctive feel. We have a new mission structure, a better mix of open and linear areas, and co-operative play (or character switching for solo players).

Whilst all that is great, arguably one of the better parts of Darksiders Genesis is how the progression works. As you kill enemies, you gain cores that you can use to slot into your skill trees. In turn, this will make the brothers more powerful allowing you to take on tougher enemies and higher difficulties. It’s a system that isn’t explained too well in-game and is rather simple, but still incredibly addictive. It’s perfectly balanced to give hardcore grindy players something to shoot for, whilst not getting in the way of people just wanting to progress through the lengthy campaign that spans over sixteen varied chapters.

Thankfully, the Switch version managed to maintain a respectable framerate throughout my time with the game. It would have been great to see the developers push for 60fps, but the solid locked 30fps still plays well in handheld mode. It may not be perfect, but I am very happy with the results. However, to get the game running on the weaker hardware some cutbacks had to be made. A lot of the environments are made up of low resolution and muddy textures that don’t look good, whilst some of the darker sections just look rather odd at times. Also in handheld mode (where I play the most) the dynamic resolution can be pretty varied often dropping from its 720p target to maintain that locked 30fps.

Controls also make a great transition over; being an isometric twin stick game, you don’t really need the greatest aim. Unfortunately there is still some wonkiness in the platforming which is a further problem if you are using the inaccurate joycons. Still, even with these issues they have only proven to be a minor annoyance and with quick resets you will barely even notice.

I’ll admit I was pretty skeptical with the Switch port of Darksiders Genesis, based on the disappointing port of Darksiders 2 to the system. So I was pleasantly surprised by the successful port over to Switch, even though it is not perfect. It’s definitely worth playing, especially if you’ve never tried it before.

 

Graphics: 6.5 Some cutbacks had to be made to get the game running on Switch, but it still looks pretty decent and runs well.	Gameplay: 8.5 Classic Darksiders gameplay with some major tweaks that work surprisingly well.
Sound: 10 Gareth Cokers superb score and the lead character’s great chemistry is of course still here.	Fun Factor: 9.5 Darksiders Genesis on Switch is an excellent port that is still super fun to play.
Final Verdict: 8.5

Darksiders Genesis is available now on Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

Reviewed on Switch.