Darksiders III

Darksiders 3 is a much different game than its predecessors. The ideas here aren’t bad, so much as they are poorly executed. There’s still an interesting story and great presentation to experience, but you’ll likely have to overlook the technical issues even if the core gameplay suits you.

The straightforward simplicity of Darksiders III is a refreshing change of pace after exploring so many dense open-world games. That simplicity doesn’t refer to the combat or boss battles, though, which are complex and almost startlingly unforgiving. Its throwback philosophy is comfort food for action gamers of a certain age, but it would’ve been nice to see the third game in the series introduce some new concepts to relaunch Darksiders in the modern age.

I love its character and enemy designs; its world draws you in and surprises you with the way all of its environments are linked together; and it really does have some epic boss fights. Throw in some light puzzling and an engaging story, and you have a no-frills adventure game that somehow feels fresh. Games like this, that sit comfortably between indie hits and AAA giants, just aren’t that commonplace anymore, and that saddens me. Can we have some more, please?