Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition Remastered review

In the game industry, it’s an abnormality for an untested development team to deliver an inaugural hit, and an irrefutable miracle if they can sustain that success. 2012’s Darksiders II demonstrated the team at Vigil Games defeating the sophomore slump. The studio’s follow-up built on the proficiencies of its million unit-selling predecessor, earning a substantial amount of commercial and critical acclaim.

Unfortunately, it was the team’s second and final effort. In 2013, publisher THQ’s bankruptcy meant the end for Vigil. While tragic, few developers can boast about a concluding effort better than Darksiders II. Thankfully, the game has been revived for the PlayStation 5, bundling the base game, DLC, along with a handful of tweaks into a package called the “Deathinitive Edition Remastered”. Luckily, the port is much better than the pun.

The Rare Sequel That Breaks the Mold

Many studios mention brainstorming sessions where groups convene to analyze a game’s strengths and weaknesses for a projected sequel. However, all too often the result is a collection of minor tweaks and negligible embellishments that serve as little more than back-of-the box bullet points. Although Darksiders II replicates some of the broadest design decisions of the original, it’s obvious that Vigil decided to give the sequel the type of conscientious overhaul that occurs with shameful infrequency. Renovating components ranging from combat and environmental navigation, while adding in additional role-playing elements and even a loot system, Darksiders II offered an exemplar of how follow-ups should be fashioned.

Credit the game’s team of writers with offering a sequential continuation that doesn’t just mimic the narrative arc of the first game. Instead, Darksiders II is set concurrently, as War – one of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, is charged with instigating Armageddon. Knowing these accusations are fabricated, his brother Death sets out to both reverse the damage to humanity and more importantly, find evidence to exonerate his sibling.

Smartly, the developers resisted the urge to depict Death as a one-dimensional, horse-riding avenger. Crafted upon an absorbing dichotomy, Death can be both savage and unemotional, while exhibiting acerbic wit in other moments. Undoubtedly, Michael Wincott (Alien Resurrection, Seraphim Falls) deserves credit for his assistance in the characterization, adding enough nuance to maintain the anti-hero’s appeal across the game’s 30+ hour expedition.

Playing with Death Is Surprisingly Fun

Death’s agility and augmented arsenal is the other element that is likely to engross gamers. Generally, he moves with a litheness unseen by his indicted brother, whizzing around low-level enemies, while delivering velvety chains of rancorous violence. Beyond his weapon de rigueur- a pair of flesh cleaving scythes, Death also has access to an indulging inventory of secondary arms, such as axes, hammers, glaives, maces. and claws, which supplement his repertoire of combos even further. For the majority of Darksiders II’s playtime, combat remains both compelling and substantial, only undermined by the appearance of swarms of combo-breaking foes during the title’s closing hours.

Satisfyingly, battles bestow a great deal of dividends- including experience points, dropped loot, and currency. Gaining levels allow players to cultivate two separate skill trees – The Harbinger, which allows basic combat skills to be augmented, and the Necromancer, which presents the ability to bolster Death’s defensive power and even summon minions to assist in battle. Prudently, the game allows you to re-spec your abilities and try alternative approaches to handling conflict. Notably, Deathinitive Edition Remastered significantly reduces load times. But one of the understated upsides is that menus are no longer laggy when you’re trying to customize Death. Yes, it’s now a thoroughly polished experience.

Naturally, Death Has One Bad Ass Weapon Collection

Complementing combat is the title’s robust loot system, which incentivizes plunder at a proper level and rate while making item management a relatively hassle-free task. Beyond the archetypal stat-boosting armor and weapon pick-ups, players will find a large number of specialized enhancements to improve Death’s chance for criticals, amplify his experience growth, or even improve his probability of uncovering rare items. Cleverly, the title doesn’t require gamers to pause the action. Each unearthed piece of gear opens a small window disclosing any statistical boost and allowing Death to instantly equip the item with a single button press. Even junk items are handled proficiently, instead of obliging the dark horseman to pawn the goods at a local merchant, he can feed the items to ‘possessed’ weapons, supplementing specific attributes.

Deathinitive Edition’s visual virtues are evident throughout the excursion. No longer is there a perceptible drop in resolution when the action moves to wide-open spaces, with the remaster outputting unwavering 4K/60FPS quality. Yes, you can tell this is a remaster by observing the amount of on-screen geometry and the indistinctly dated animation routines. But beyond a remake, this is about as good as a twelve-year old game can look. With the inclusion of haptic feedback on the DualSense controller, it feels good too. Now almost every in-game action provides a drone, jolt, or clammer.

Each of the title’s four vibrantly colored realms remain striking, juxtaposing wide-open landscapes with taut dungeons, each location offering architectural detail while exhibiting newly improved lighting and shadowing. Allegedly, there’s ray-shading, but its presence is negligible enough to go unnoticed. Harmonizing with the graphical opulence is Jasper Kyd’s score, which smartly shirks the stereotypical orchestral swells of dark fantasy to underscore the title’s gradations.

Darksiders II Errs on the Side of Leniency

Despite the game’s numerous merits, there are fleeting elements which detract from the title’s ambition. Quests which task gamers which gathering a quantity of items still feels like padding- especially when contrasted against the game’s other, more interesting errands and puzzles. Boss battles are often pedestrian, entailing the same mechanics used to defeat the game’s prosaic underlings.

Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition Remastered is the atypical follow-up that now flaunts a comprehensive modernization. Since the original release, whole systems have been renovated while new mechanics have been added. But underneath it all, Vigil Games’s competence still shines, providing a celebratory coda for a prodigious developer. If you’re a fan of action games, Darksiders II is an essential purchase (or free download if you own the PS4 title) twelve years on.

Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition Remastered was
played on PC with review code provided by the publisher.