The Darksiders Journal: Day 18

Read journal #1 HERE first.

Although this is day 18 of my Darksiders journal, it’s really more like day 2 or 3.  But it’s been 18 days since my first journal entry, so here’s to consistency.  I haven’t finished the game yet – not even close – but that’s because I just recently put down Bayonetta to really dive into Darksiders.  I like Darksiders more and more each time I play it, and I feel like I’m really into the meat of the game currently.  The game has seemed to really expand, the world becoming gigantic and, dare I say, epic.

I’ve killed the first boss, Tiamet, and taken his heart back to Samael, who gave me a new upgrade and sent me on a mission to bring him the heart of…the second boss.  You see, four demons guard the Black Tower where I’m ultimately end up, but before I can get there, I need to kill those four demons.  Fortunately, it’s a little bit easier to get around thanks to my new “Demon Wormhole” ability, which is pretty much a warping system.  It was when I had started this mission that Darksiders really began to feel like an enormous game.

On my way to kill the second demon, Griever, I found myself traversing across vast areas of land, water, and sewer systems.  The scope of Darksiders is indeed enormous and continues to remind me of Ocarina of Time (which is not a bad thing).  In fact, the more I play Darksiders, the more I see aspects borrowed from other games.  Whereas a derivative game is usually not worth playing, Darksiders borrows features from a number of games.  In a sense, it borrows what other games have done “right,” either stylistically or in the gameplay itself, and the result is a good one.  Like I mentioned, the entire structure of the game is similar to Ocarina; the chests full of souls are right out of God of War, the wrath meter can be traced to Devil May Cry, and even the “quick kill” technique is nearly identical to Ninja Gaiden 2’s “obliteration technique.”

Anyway, my trek to find Griever involved a hell of a lot more puzzles than did the trip to find Tiamat.  The puzzles start out easy enough (and border on annoying), but some of the later ones actually involve a bit of planning or trial and error.  One particular puzzle took me a few times, and completing it was somewhat fulfilling.  It’s not often that puzzles are anything more than a nuisance in an action game, but the ones in Darksiders can be challenging.  Fortunately, there’s plenty of fighting to help provide a balance.  Speaking of fighting, the common enemies at this point in the game can’t be beaten by simply mashing buttons.  And when there’s a lot of enemies, I find myself dodging around to create space, rushing in for a few hits, and then repeating the process.  Essentially, I fight like a coward.

While exploring Griever’s level – an enormous system of sewers that lead to a railway station of some sort – I found the Tremor Gauntlet.  It’s not real effective as a weapon, but when charged, it can destroy barriers that I couldn’t get past earlier in the game.  In true Zelda form, I had to use the Tremor Gauntlet to defeat Griever.  Samael gave me a Chronomancer for my efforts, a device that can slow down time.  Unfortunately, I’ve only been able to use it for puzzles.  I also picked up a gun at some point, but it doesn’t do too much against anything save for aerial enemies.  I still haven’t gotten my horse.

I’m currently going after the third boss, Stygian, who is apparently a giant worm.  The level is a giant desert patrolled by other giant worms, and I’m stuck solving puzzles to slow down time and rush past the worms before they can eat me.  It’s actually harder than it sounds, and so that’s where I am right now.

I definitely enjoyed playing Darksiders early on, but I feel like the game really opened up after I defeated the first boss.  I’m excited to keep playing.