Darksiders 3 has just landed on Nintendo Switch, thanks to a port that allowed us to live again the adventures of the knight Furia in portability. This third chapter that tells the story of the horsemen of the apocalypse was released for the first time in 2018 and, net of a good combat system, left some perplexity on the narrative level, even in the face of the loss of its creator. Said this, how does the game play on Nintendo Switch? Let’s find out in our review of Darksiders 3 on Switch.
The Darksiders 3 review on Switch
As we have already mentioned at the beginning, Darksiders 3 certainly cannot be defined as born under a lucky star. In fact, the game was developed without the father who gave birth to the saga, Joe Madureira, and actually in the work we played in 2018 and now on the Switch we feel the lack of the original author at times. In fact, the narrative discrepancies can be seen immediately.
Primarily in the character of Fury herself, who seems really too inclined to believe the words of the Arso Consiglio and to stigmatize the brothers in the name of his promised position as leader of the knights. Only towards the end of the game will the protagonist begin to feel the stench of burning and conspiracies that are felt from the very beginning, even more evident if you are familiar with the franchise.
The result is a story that, although it fits quite well with respect to the events experienced by War and Death in the past chapters, is rather inconclusive from the point of view of the macro plot of the saga. It would have been right, in our opinion, to give the work a bit more breath, but it seems that to see in the round the consequences of the final of the first Darksiders we will have to wait a little longer
Between gameplay and style
Even from the point of view of gameplay Darksiders 3 does not look that much like its predecessors. The first and second chapters in fact drew close to mechanics very similar to those seen in the various chapters of Zelda of the past, with some unique twist that gave flavor to the playful dough. Darksiders 3 cuts ties with this vision and proposes a much smaller but more intricate game world.
The map of Darksiders 3 in fact is somewhat reminiscent of those seen in the games of FromSoftware, and is characterized by a circular level design. By this definition we mean the kind of maps that interconnect with each other via a series of shortcuts and secret passages, and which ultimately create a truly enjoyable game world to explore.
More than good too combat system, significantly more precise and technical than in the past. In addition to the different weapons that Furia can use to kill the hordes of enemies that parry in front of it, our Nephilm will be able to count on four different forms (Fire, Strength, Lightning, Stasis), which allow you to reach previously inaccessible places and which also have effects on battles, if used in a more or less creative way.
In addition to this, Fury can enter a special mode, turning into a real demon. Very well done also i boss, excellently made in their mechanics, even if they offer very traditional fights that will surely unleash a strong feeling of deja vu. Fury, however, is almost always snappy pad in hand, which allows you to put the player’s ability at the center, in pure Darksiders style.
A weak technical sector
We have arrived at the sore point of the Darksiders 3 review on Nintendo Switch: The technical sector. The problems that this third chapter of the saga of the Knights of the Apocalypse on the console of the Kyoto house are unfortunately many and also quite serious. One of the few positives is the factor portability, which will allow us to bring Fury virtually always with us, and the fact that this edition includes the two DLCs The Crucible e Keepers of the Void, which make the game a 360 degree experience.
Net of these welcome details, however, the technical sector of the game arrives with defects that greatly cripple the entire play economy of the game. In fact, Darksiders 3 did not already shine with its own light in this respect and porting to a less powerful console did not help it.
The biggest limit is that of framerate, which is nothing short of variable during exploration and prone to downward peaks when we find ourselves in particularly excited combat situations. It goes without saying that this feature directly affects our performance in battle, as it is really difficult to understand where the shots are coming from as the game goes from 20 to 7 FPS in a matter of seconds.
Even the graphic sector it is no exception and has really heavy compromises to allow the game to run on the Nintendo Switch, with low definition textures that sometimes do not even load. In short, the situation is completely unacceptable on a technical level, to the point that it is difficult to play for prolonged sessions.