Darksiders III |OT| Fury's Road

Vincent Alexander · Dec 19, 2018

Welp, I just beat it. I had all sorts of things I was thinking of posting as I played this game, but that ending....just deflated the fuck out of my enthusiasm.

I guess them saying this game wouldn't just be another prequel was bullshit. Holy fuck, I can't believe we still haven't caught up with ending of Darksiders 1

Also, the Council are seriously just a bunch of rocks? Ending of this game was their chance to make them intimidating and something special. They just sit and spit lava balls. That was a bummer

deejay · Dec 19, 2018

Vincent Alexander said:
I guess them saying this game wouldn't just be another prequel was bullshit. Holy fuck, I can't believe we still haven't caught up with ending of Darksiders 1

Also, the Council are seriously just a bunch of rocks? Ending of this game was their chance to make them intimidating and something special. They just sit and spit lava balls. That was a bummer

Why would they change something that's been there in the previous games? It would make no sense.

SweetJohnnyCage · Dec 19, 2018

Vincent Alexander said:
The Scar is single-handedly making me dislike this game...

What was it about The Scar you didn't like? Going by the posts in this thread, I'm in the minority of liking it.

Tizoc · Dec 19, 2018

The Scar wasn't that bad IMO. Oh sure a few enemies are annoyingly strong, but you ought to have enough shards to help you deal with them.

Mejilan · Dec 19, 2018

We know very little of the Charred Council, but know that they hold enough power to browbeat the kingdoms of heaven and hell into a pact, and empower four Nephilim enough such that they're able to annihilate the rest of their race.

I'd put their uh... theatrics at the end of Darksiders III down to a combination of the game's low budget and as a performance more for Fury's benefit, in an attorney to keep a measure of control over her. The Charred Council is all about maintaining control.

Manu · Dec 19, 2018

Yeah, they're not physically there either, considering the Lord of Hollows used to be part of the Council. I'm not even sure how you'd go about finding and destroying them.

Vincent Alexander · Dec 19, 2018

Manu said:
Yeah, they're not physically there either, considering the Lord of Hollows used to be part of the Council. I'm not even sure how you'd go about finding and destroying them.

Yeah. I kept expecting we'd finally see them, but

Envy made the comment that when she was done, she'd leave them in pebbles.

I take that to mean they are literally what we see, which is especially confusing considering the Lord of Hollows, as you said.

SweetJohnnyCage said:
What was it about The Scar you didn't like? Going by the posts in this thread, I'm in the minority of liking it.

The Tornado. That. Freaking. Tornado. Now that it is over, and I've calmed down from it murdering me over-and-over again, I've realized 80% of it was issues with my skill and tactics. The design of the place itself was cool, and I did enjoy it. It felt extremely long though, so anything that frustrated me did it that much more because of The Scar's length.

Mejilan said:
We know very little of the Charred Council, but know that they hold enough power to browbeat the kingdoms of heaven and hell into a pact, and empower four Nephilim enough such that they're able to annihilate the rest of their race.

I'd put their uh... theatrics at the end of Darksiders III down to a combination of the game's low budget and as a performance more for Fury's benefit, in an attorney to keep a measure of control over her. The Charred Council is all about maintaining control.

You're probably right.

I've taken a breather after beating this, and yeah. This game was good. Much better than 2. I wish folks in this game didn't pull the "Girl, you don't even know," dialogue so often. That can only be mysterious and intriguing so many times before it starts coming off lazy. Fury was a good character, and I liked that she eventually showed some emotional range. I only wish her journey felt a bit more...like a journey? She grows, but I'm not sure if it felt great. I chalk that up to the bad dialogue.

I might be putting way too much weight into one line, but my favorite line was Fury telling Lust that she shouldn't have made her brothers kneel. Like...that was what broke the illusion for her. One could see it as Fury knowing her brother's would never kneel. I took it more like, "That's not what I want. I want recognized, but I want to be equal. I don't want them to kneel." Am I thinking about that line way too much? It was a great character moment for me.

Mejilan · Dec 19, 2018

YOU SHOULD NEVER HAVE MADE THEM KNEEL!
My favorite story moment by far. Though her waking up after Pride was excellent too. And the whole Jones thing then and during the ending cinematic. Nice revelation, if you'll forgive the pun.

There's no reason to believe that Envy understands the nature of the Charred Council better than we do. So I don't put much stock in her lines to them at the end. I'm pretty sure the Charred Council were toying with her until Fury caught up. Hell, it's heavily implied that the Council released the Sins themselves.

I do think, however, that the Lord of Hollows' talisman truly rattled them. Envy, even with the power of the other Sins, sure as shit didn't, IMO.

Sub Boss · Dec 19, 2018

Fury should have let envy deal with the council before fighting her

Vincent Alexander · Dec 19, 2018

Mejilan said:
YOU SHOULD NEVER HAVE MADE THEM KNEEL!
My favorite story moment by far. Though her waking up after Pride was excellent too. And the whole Jones thing then and during the ending cinematic. Nice revelation, if you'll forgive the pun.

There's no reason to believe that Envy understands the nature of the Charred Council better than we do. So I don't put much stock in her lines to them at the end. I'm pretty sure the Charred Council were toying with her until Fury caught up. Hell, it's heavily implied that the Council released the Sins themselves.

I do think, however, that the Lord of Hollows' talisman truly rattled them. Envy, even with the power of the other Sins, sure as shit didn't, IMO.

So what was your take on that line? Was she pissed because deep down she doesn't want her brothers to kneel, but see her as an equal (since everyone in the game calls her the dumbest, or the lowest of the Horsemen). Or was she simply pissed that she'd been nearly caught in a trap, and them kneeling gave it away because they'd never kneel before her?

Mejilan · Dec 19, 2018

Vincent Alexander said:
So what was your take on that line? Was she pissed because deep down she doesn't want her brothers to kneel, but see her as an equal (since everyone in the game calls her the dumbest, or the lowest of the Horsemen). Or was she simply pissed that she'd been nearly caught in a trap, and them kneeling gave it away because they'd never kneel before her?

My take is that Pride overplayed his hand and that's what caused the illusion to break in Fury's eyes. She was pissed over the deception and insulted to see her brothers made to kneel. They serve the Council, not each other. She wanted to lead them. She didn't want servants.

BTW, so happy they got War's voice actor back. Shame they couldn't get Death's.

Mejilan · Dec 19, 2018

Sub Boss said:
Fury should have let envy deal with the council before fighting her

The Council could have destroyed Envy in a blink. They would have extended the theatrics until Fury felt compelled to act. Which, I think, was the whole point of that farce. In the grand scheme of things, the Sins are nothing. They don't wield the power of angels or demons, and even those kingdoms ultimately bowed to the Council's laws. I forget which, but one of the Sins even questions what the point is of their continued existence without humans to influence. The Sins were pawns.

Tetra-Grammaton-Cleric · Dec 19, 2018

I got a digital code for a reasonable price so I booted this up on my X earlier today and yeah...this game doesn't make a good first impression.

The combat is solid but feels incredibly shallow.

Does it get better?

The visuals are passable and the framerate seems solid but given the overall graphical package, this should be running at 60fps on the X.

The platforming is clunky as hell; embarrassingly so.

I've died three times fighting that first boss because the platforming requiring you to reach her is utter shit and when you take too long, she unleashes some bullshit attack that saps half your health bar.

Admittedly, I've just started so I'm not ready to declare this a waste of money but I'm already frustrated with what I've played thus far.

I hope it gets better fast.

Meccs · Dec 20, 2018

Yeah I agree that the platforming doesn't feel great in the beginning, but you'll get a upward dash later on. The double jump just feels clunky as hell.

Vincent Alexander · Dec 20, 2018

Meccs said:
Yeah I agree that the platforming doesn't feel great in the beginning, but you'll get a upward dash later on. The double jump just feels clunky as hell.

Yeah. This game made me realize how important the tiny details are, because the traversal kept bugging me, and it took me a while to put my finger on it. I realized before my fight with Lust what it was, and I tested thoroughly throughout various areas. There are TONS of boxes, crates, cliffs that you should be able to get over with a double-jump. However, a double-jump on these doesn't you high enough to clear them, and it is absolutely infuriating how close the jump is to clearing. As far as the model looks, it looks like Fury does clear it. Because she doesn't, she grabs onto the ledge after a double-jump, and yanks herself up. This slows traversal down to an irritating crawl when you have numerous obstacles to make it over or up, and each one you're having to jump, double jump, climb up. Or you have to use the Flame jump to clear. What it should be is sprint, jump-double-jump, land while maintaining sprint, jump, double-jump, rinse and repeat.

Doukou · Dec 20, 2018

Seems the new update hit consoles.

Mejilan · Dec 20, 2018

Patch notes? I'm done with the game (platinum), but am curious.

DrScruffleton · Dec 20, 2018

Tetra-Grammaton-Cleric said:
I got a digital code for a reasonable price so I booted this up on my X earlier today and yeah...this game doesn't make a good first impression.

The combat is solid but feels incredibly shallow.

Does it get better?

The visuals are passable and the framerate seems solid but given the overall graphical package, this should be running at 60fps on the X.

The platforming is clunky as hell; embarrassingly so.

I've died three times fighting that first boss because the platforming requiring you to reach her is utter shit and when you take too long, she unleashes some bullshit attack that saps half your health bar.

Admittedly, I've just started so I'm not ready to declare this a waste of money but I'm already frustrated with what I've played thus far.

I hope it gets better fast.

No offense intended, but that first fight is not supposed to be difficult at all. If you are struggling with that, there is much worse to come for you later on in the game. I really don't remember anything being annoying in that fight. It was only just basic jumping and swinging from what I remember. And it gives you enough time to try twice.

Vincent Alexander · Dec 20, 2018

Mejilan said:
Patch notes? I'm done with the game (platinum), but am curious.

PATCH NOTES

Improvements:

Added new option for Combat. Upon loading a save or starting a new game, players will be prompted to choose between "Default" and "Classic" combat. "Classic" mode should feel more like previous Darksiders titles allowing Fury to dodge interrupt her attacks as well use items instantly. "Default" mode is the original combat mode for Darksiders III. The option can be changed at any point in gameplay options while playing. This has no other effects on difficulty or achievements.

Improved ledge grab detection on Fury so she can more consistently grab ledges.

Additional optimizations to help stuttering while streaming.

Added "Health Lurcher" item to Vulgrim that allows player to purchase refills for Nephilim's Respite .

Added "Echo Mark" item to Vulgrim that allows player to refund their spent attribute points.

Added a few new checkpoints.

Raised the level cap to 200. Also, rebalanced leveling curve post level 80 as well as stat rewards..

Fixes:

Fixes for random crashes

General performance improvements.

Fix for Force Coral where it wouldn't break correctly. This will also fix previous saves with this issue.

Fix for some checkpoints that weren't registering.

Cycling difficulty options while in game will not affect actual difficulty unless it is changed.

Fix for Abraxis Health bar showing up but he is missing.

Balance Changes:

Fury will no longer take damage while performing an Arcane Counters.

Havoc Form does more Damage.

Increased Havoc Generation on Obscurus Enhancement.

Increased Health and Damage amounts on Fortifier Enhancement.

Increased Health Regeneration on Leviathan Enhancement.

Increased Lurcher Reward from destroying breakables on Leviathan Enhancement.

Increased Chance to Spawn Wrath when killing an Enemy on Rage Enhancement.

Those two first Balance Changes are huge. Too bad I just beat it, because it really annoyed me that she took damage while doing an Arcane Counter. Havoc Form was also pathetically weak. I only ever used it to heal when in a dire situation.

Mejilan · Dec 20, 2018

Thank you for posting that.
I checked their website but they're showing patch notes from early December.
Shame I already finished the game, lots of that sounds great!

daedalius · Dec 20, 2018

Well I just got the game for Xmas, and those changes sound really great! Glad I held off a bit before picking it up after some of the initial performance reviews.

The video of the different hollows/weapons got me pretty hype. Been replaying DS2 deathinitive edition of late, one of my favorite games.

Meccs · Dec 21, 2018

Improved ledge grab detection on Fury so she can more consistently grab ledges.

Thank God. That drove me nuts. Patch hasn't hit Origin though.

LuckyLinus · Dec 21, 2018

Getting ready for my third playthrough after that patch, still need to kill a few more enemies in Havoc form for the Platinum.

I have mixed feelings about the Classic mode but I hope it gets more people to pick up the game.

dmr87 · Dec 21, 2018

I've completed the game but the patch notes seems solid, I'll check it out later.

DarkPrince · Dec 22, 2018

Enjoying the game a lot more after this last patch, switch to Classic and can immediately feel a difference, instant item use is perfect as well. Really great patch.

DarkFlame92 · Dec 22, 2018

DarkPrince said:
Enjoying the game a lot more after this last patch, switch to Classic and can immediately feel a difference, instant item use is perfect as well. Really great patch.

Doesnt that make the game easier? Previously id go with balanced difficulty,now ill go with classic mode ans challenging i think

Tizoc · Dec 23, 2018

Some ye olde flashy Darksiders 2 gifs from 2012

Odesu · Dec 23, 2018

Fury will no longer take damage while performing an Arcane Counters

It's utterly crazy this wasnt in the main game. Like, this should just be part of the fundamentals. Id say they needed 3 months more time but it seems more like they just werent aware how frustrating and contradictory every part of their game Design was.

Tetra-Grammaton-Cleric · Dec 23, 2018

matrixman92 said:
No offense intended, but that first fight is not supposed to be difficult at all. If you are struggling with that, there is much worse to come for you later on in the game. I really don't remember anything being annoying in that fight. It was only just basic jumping and swinging from what I remember. And it gives you enough time to try twice.

No offense taken, I just found the game play clunky.

I got past that section and played quite a bit more and I'd say the general scores and consensus on this game are spot on.

It's not bad but it's nothing special either; mediocre visuals, mundane combat, middling pacing.

I've played worse to be certain but overall I'm unlikely to finish it.

Phil's Empty Chair · Dec 23, 2018

Hows the performance on Xbox (X)? Bought it at launch and while I enjoyed it, played till you get your first power. I put it aside wanting to finsih RDR2 first.

Jaded Alyx · Dec 23, 2018

Tetra-Grammaton-Cleric said:
I got a digital code for a reasonable price so I booted this up on my X earlier today and yeah...this game doesn't make a good first impression.

The combat is solid but feels incredibly shallow.

Does it get better?

The visuals are passable and the framerate seems solid but given the overall graphical package, this should be running at 60fps on the X.

The platforming is clunky as hell; embarrassingly so.

I've died three times fighting that first boss because the platforming requiring you to reach her is utter shit and when you take too long, she unleashes some bullshit attack that saps half your health bar.

Admittedly, I've just started so I'm not ready to declare this a waste of money but I'm already frustrated with what I've played thus far.

I hope it gets better fast.

Yep, got this for "free" on Origin Access Premier. I agree with everything you say. I had the same experience with the boss. Doesn't help that I just finished Spider-Man. Fury moves like a garbage truck in comparison.

I honestly doubt I'll touch it again. It may well get better but I simply have (seemingly) better games to play.

EDIT: I didn't like the camera either.

drewfonse · Dec 23, 2018

Is Unfocused Leviathan still worth getting? I'm a few hours into my second play through, and I'm wondering whether to purchase it. I didn't even know it existed during my first run. The patch reduced the health gain from 30 to 18 per minute.

drewfonse · Dec 24, 2018

A_R_N_O_S said:
Hows the performance on Xbox (X)? Bought it at launch and while I enjoyed it, played till you get your first power. I put it aside wanting to finsih RDR2 first.

I'm on my second run, and it seems like performance has improved since launch on the 1X. There are these weird one or two second hitches sometimes when you enter new areas, but overall the game plays pretty smoothly. And I think it looks beautiful on the 1X. I came back to it after playing a few other good looking games, and I was kind of taken aback at how pretty a lot of the areas were. Not everyone feels that way, obviously.

Draconis · Dec 25, 2018

Just beat the game.

The ending was everything I never knew I wanted and more. Really appreciate the fact that Gunfire Games poured a ton of effort into the ending and it shows.

Thanks go to the Team from me for not doing what Darksiders II did. I absolutely hated the ending in that game and it was a huge disservice to the ending from Darksiders 1.

Game is a solid 7-8 range for me. A lot of the problems have been resolved with the latest patch but I still feel more improvements could be potentially made.

On Fury, I absolutely loved her as a character, and applaud Gunfire Games for her portrayal and how they handled her development in the story and it's elements.

Game was fun and enjoyable. Well worth every penny I spent. The ending was just the fantastic icing on the whole game.

Valdega · Dec 25, 2018

Tetra-Grammaton-Cleric said:
The combat is solid but feels incredibly shallow.

Does it get better?

Yes. You gain new combat abilities as you unlock secondary weapons and they start introducing enemies that require more specific counters.

As for platforming, I didn't think it was too bad. At launch, there were some issues with ledge grabs and swing triggers but I think those have since been fixed. I'm not sure how you died during the tutorial boss fight. I beat it on my first try on the highest difficulty at launch with mouse and keyboard (though MKB might actually be better for this game because you don't have to rely on camera lock).

Mejilan · Dec 25, 2018

I played on the hardest difficulty from the get-go on PS4, and had no significant issues with platforming and such.
Worth noting that I didn't start playing until the 1.03 patch (and they're up to what, 1.05 now?) which fixed a LOOOOT of the launch issues that caused this game to get somewhat crucified by critics. Locking on to anything but the bosses was fairly worthless though.

The lock-on camera was just too low to the ground to be useful against regular mobs. May or may not have been fixed since. Bit of a shame, because I do like to play my Souls-likes while locked on, but I got over that pretty quick. Locking on to certain bosses or larger enemies does come in handy occasionally, though. Just not on the regular mobs, IMO.

daedalius · Dec 27, 2018

Well I am definitely over the souls inspiration in this game, give me back my Ds1/DS2 checkpoint mechanics and combat.

daedalius · Dec 27, 2018

oops double post

Meccs · Dec 28, 2018

Oh man I died somewhere after the 3rd or 4th boss and I can not find my way back. How do you navigate in this game? Do you just follow the skull on the navigation bar thingy? There are sometimes a few dots too, what are those?

Mejilan · Dec 28, 2018

The skulls on the "compass" represent nearby Sins available for you to fight. Dots, IIRC, represent Sins that you have access to, but are far away from your current position. There are no maps or navigation tools. You just explore and learn your way around, eventually unlocking shortcuts and whatnot that help link up the various areas of the interconnected world.

Edit - Pretty sure the cluster of souls that you drop when you die doesn't show up on the compass. Good news, though? That cluster will pretty much be there forever, even if you die again. I once bumped into a cluster of souls I left behind like 5 or 6 hours ago because it wasn't worth the return trip. lol

daedalius · Dec 29, 2018

After some more playtime, I really love everything about the game except the check pointing mechanics (dark souls bonfires), and clearly what are the roots of the game being more fast paced like ds1&ds2 but they are trying to force it to be more slow and measured like dark souls. Thank god for classic mode, I could never take it if they didn't put that in.

Also, hoooooollllyyyy shit that ending

Meccs · Dec 30, 2018

Mejilan said:
The skulls on the "compass" represent nearby Sins available for you to fight. Dots, IIRC, represent Sins that you have access to, but are far away from your current position. There are no maps or navigation tools. You just explore and learn your way around, eventually unlocking shortcuts and whatnot that help link up the various areas of the interconnected world.

Yeah I just followed the skull and I am in a new area now. It also seems more like a real navigation instead of a general direction. It will guide your through the world pretty well.

Mejilan · Dec 30, 2018

Meccs said:
Yeah I just followed the skull and I am in a new area now. It also seems more like a real navigation instead of a general direction. It will guide your through the world pretty well.

That's good to know. I basically played the game like another Dark Souls and totally ignored the compass. Had a total blast.

Meccs · Dec 31, 2018

Mejilan said:
That's good to know. I basically played the game like another Dark Souls and totally ignored the compass. Had a total blast.

I did too until I couldn't find my way out and got frustrated.

Mejilan · Dec 31, 2018

Was it in the sewers after you got captured by the harvester?
Because IIRC, you kind of only get one shot at looting that location until you can open it up for real much later in the game.

SweetJohnnyCage · Jan 2, 2019

Mejilan said:
Was it in the sewers after you got captured by the harvester?
Because IIRC, you kind of only get one shot at looting that location until you can open it up for real much later in the game.

It's related to the sewers, but not exactly inside of any sewer. After you reach the Cistern area, you'll go through a crawlspace, then another, which is where you'll first see The Harvester skitter past you. The next crawlspace you go through after that will drop you into the room where it captures you.

mescalineeyes · Jan 2, 2019

picked up the game on a whim today and oh my god it's so good. The first half hour or so is kinda lame but then it's sublime. A few rough edges here and there but I'm having a blast.

Mejilan · Jan 2, 2019

Yup. Game is pretty low budget; but they pulled it off. It's easily my favorite Darksiders from a purely gameplay standpoint.
It's a better Dark Souls-a-like than the first was a God of War-meets-Zelda clone and the second a God of War-meets-Diablo-meets-Prince of Persia clone.
IMO.

daedalius · Jan 2, 2019

Mejilan said:
Yup. Game is pretty low budget; but they pulled it off. It's easily my favorite Darksiders from a purely gameplay standpoint.
It's a better Dark Souls-a-like than the first was a God of War-meets-Zelda clone and the second a God of War-meets-Diablo-meets-Prince of Persia clone.
IMO.

I think I like 2 and 1 better myself, but 3 wasn't bad. I do disagree with some of their design decisions though.

Chitown B · Jan 3, 2019

loved 1, 2 grew on me. waiting for a sale on 3

Darksiders III |OT| Fury's Road

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