It's a Darksiders game for sure and a worthy sequel. The combat is fun. The story is not very deep, but there's the cheesy and funny dialogue like in the previous games. The art is on point. It's good to see another side of the story and the world and even though some areas felt somewhat repetitive, the game wasn't boring. Running around beating monsters and looking for items felt natural and wasn't tedious like in some other games. But it's not all good. First, the deal breaker - the combat. The combat is run-run-dodge-counter attack. And if you make mistakes you get punished. Sometimes severely. Even normal (balanced) difficulty can be challenging if this is not your type of combat. And unfortunately the only lower difficulty (story) is too easy. Another issue that I have (and I'm not alone with this one) is with the graphics. The textures in some areas don't load properly and I still haven't found a fix. It can be really disturbing to see a blurred mountain and a super high definition building next to it. And finally, I found the soundtrack a bit lacking. It does sound Darksiders-ish, but compared to the second game there's not much to listen to. That said, even with those issues, I think Darksiders III is good game. Now, is it worth the price? Well, if you want to get your money's worth, then wait for a sale - 20% off or more. However if you love the series and want to support the developer, buy it full price. Get even the Deluxe edition! Because even thought I find that Darksiders III is lacking compared to the previous games, I feel like it's a product of love and I'm happy that it's there. So to me at least it's worth. And I can't wait for the sequel.
Unfortunately I found this out after buying the game, but there are numerous comments on the internet about the mouse control breaking if you're not playing in (allegedly) 1080p resolution. Using a controller improves the overall situation a bit, but is still not ideal. And sadly for a game entirely dependent on its jump mechanic, this is a game breaking issue. There is no way to tweak the controls and the options menu is very limited. Just double checked to make sure I'm not writing nonsense and tired the game again and got stuck inside a wall... twice... (another known game breaking bug). If you can get over the issues however, you'll get yourself an enjoyable game - the idea is great, the soundtrack and art are good too. Get it from a friend, try it, and if it works for you, buy it. Otherwise I cannot recommend Ronin.
The Good: The soundtrack is great! 4.5 stars for the music, without question. The Bad: Only mp3 version is included, no flac. The Ugly: The mp3 bitrate is 256kbps, which honestly is a madness post 2005. I mean, even the Cave Story OST comes in flac. Honestly, for the price (2-3 euro) and considering that there is no better quality available in other stores, it's a fine buy. But the audio quality is still a bit disappointing.
I feel like most of the negative reviews were by people, who only relied on gog/steam recommendations and didn't really know what they're getting into when buying the game. So I thought I'd give my 2 cents. Valdis Story: Abyssal City is not a game where you button-mash your way to the end or a game where you can switch your brain off. It's closer to Devil May Cry and Darksiders 2 - there's a style meter and combos, but also crafting, a skill tree and magic. A lot of info is provided as dialogue or item descriptions and after stage 1 you find a training dummy you can beat up to your heart's content and learn combo attacks. In the beginning you need to take some time to learn the ropes. Because dare to do something stupid or not pay attention and you will get punished! So it's not a walk-in-the-park-game. However if you're willing to learn, you'll be able quickly to do some pretty cool moves like combo locking enemies etc. Sound, music, art and animations are well made. Be sure to watch some gameplay to make sure they suit your taste before buying tho. There's not much to the story. There is a lot of lore however, which you can unlock from side quests. Unlockable lore is different depending on the character you play as. Each of the 4 characters has different strengths, builds and play style and slight changes in dialogue. There is a fair amount of backtracking, but rewards are worth it and either make your character stronger or let you explore different play styles. Controls are tight. I did runs with a keyboard, a noname gamepad and a xbox 360 controller. Had no issues, so I'm baffled that so many people complain about the controls. Tho I guess every setup is different. All in all it's a unique mix of genres and one of the few platformers with good combat and dynamic action - a polished high quality gem. And ultimately fun! Also a lot of player feedback has made it to the patches after release, so shout out to the devs for that.
