March 2019 LIVE Magazine

the layout revolves around finding save
points from where you can level up with
in-game currency obtained from killing
enemies. Dying means respawning at the
last save point you reached, losing all of
the currency you’re currently holding,
and having to travel back to the point
where you died to get it back. It’s a rather
questionable inclusion, and I’m not sure
it really benefits an action game much to
encourage a slower paced, more cautious
playstyle after death, but it’s not a major
problem.
there’s a Bayonetta-esque system where
the player is rewarded for dodging at the
last possible moment before an attack
lands. The game’s dodge is both fast and
lacks many invincibility frames, which
puts a heavy emphasis on quick reactions
and timing. It’s not exactly complex, but
dashing quickly in and out of enemy reach
is certainly fun, and bosses are challenging
enough to make the relatively shallow
system feel rewarding. There’s a pure,
almost child-like sense of fun to be had
from darting between enemies, racking up
big combos and avoiding attacks perfectly.
The actual combat of Darksiders III is
relatively simplistic, operating on a two
button system; one button for each of
the two weapons you can have selected
at any given time. It’s not particularly
complicated, but it’s still fun enough, and
there are a variety of interesting weapons
and moves to play around with. Much of
the skill revolves around reacting to enemy
attacks and dodging at the right time;
I do feel that the game missed an
opportunity to add some depth to its
combat by not implementing directional
attacks similar to those you can find in
the Devil May Cry series. Darksiders III
operates with a hard lock-on system,
which would have allowed for the
developers to expand the number of
moves Fury had available relatively easily.