All right, I have clogged 25 hours into the bloody thing, so I think I can finally make it official: That game is fantastic. It really, really is. It's very different from the first game, and in what it does, first game is still much better. It's not as good hack'n'slash, it's not as balanced and it's not as varied (arguably. But it just doesn't throw as many stuff in your face every hour or so as the first game did.) However, the second game just took a different path, and for that, I currently prefer it to the first game; it gives you a pretty damn big, open world to explore, it introduced RPG mechanics (which are kinda unnecessary methinks, but ... They don't get in the way either), it gives you great story (and Death is a great protagonist - he just seemed like a whimp when compared to War in the beginning, but he grew on me and now I quite simply prefer that arrogant, sarcastic twat), and - for me most importantly - the world it offers for you to explore is simply amazing. Darksiders 2 is definitely one of the most beautiful games I have played in a long, long time, and its world is genuinely interesting and fun to explore.

Basically, aside from discussion, the point of this thread is to lure more people to this game. For how fantastic it is, it just doesn't seem nearly as popular as the original, which is a shame. Also, thank you, SimonG, for he is the evil corporate lawyer who has gifted it to me.

See? That's exactly what I'm talking about, anything Darksiders 2 related is ignored! I call conspiracy!

Cool, I got it in the amazon sale and look forward to playing it. I need to play the original first though, I guess.

Weird that the game got kind of ignored at awards time.

I picked it up during the Steam Christmas sale, but haven't yet had a chance to get around to playing it. I'll now have to make a greater effort to find some time for it.

I'm currently playing through the first game, and while it's not bad, I've hardly been using any spells because I usually take more damage trying to use one in combat than it helps. Does Darksiders 2 have a better system for that?

I didn't bother with the second one because, for someone who's played Zelda, the first one was nothing inherently special. It was pretty much Zelda with a new setting. I do get where that would be appealing to people that don't generally, or never, own Nintendo consoles, though. So it was a good game, but nothing that made me want to run out and pick up the sequel.

It's good to know there's a few people who can find enjoyment with consoles as much as they do for PC (I was raised on Nintendo and Sega after all)

I played the first and I got fairly far, I've very nearly beaten the game now. However, I agree, it misses much of the charm and magic that Nintendo put forth to their own efforts, not to mention that if you happen to leave the game and come back, you're left with little idea of what to do, little sense of direction, and you're given places to explore that are made more difficult than they needed to be.

I completed it last month. A very enjoyable game. Actually I prefer Death over War. Also the Ice King fight was real fun.

Zelda? Seriously?
The gameplay of Darksiders has very little to do with Zelda imo, it's much more combat-heavy, with lots of combos, a lot more enemies and such. It also lacks puzzles, minigames and plenty of other things that were in Zelda.

Frankly, Darksiders is much closer to a more open-world God of War or Devil May Cry than Zelda.
And finally, not buying a game because it's shares some similarities to another one is a lousy reason. If we only bought original games that weren't inspired by another, we'd only buy maybe 1 or 2 games a year, and I'm being generous.

As for Darksiders 2, it's closer to an open-world action RPG like Divinity 2. Personally I liked it better than the first, mostly because I much prefer agile characters who can dodge.

Pretty much every single review said the original was a darker Zelda.

Maybe, but then they're wrong. I've played several Zelda (including Ocarina of Time which is what most people are talking about today when they just say Zelda), and I've played some of Darksiders, and they're very, very different gameplay-wise.

Haven't played it yet - though i got stuck in the first about a month and a half ago due to the "platformy! elements - I'm sure with perseverance I can do them, but I've alwaysfound myself enraged with such things.
Though - you have ignited my spark of need to play the first again and beat that platforming bit down!
DOWN! DOWN! DOWN!

Well I haven't played it yet but I would guess most people would trust 100 reviewers over you. If it isn't like Zelda as much though that might make me happy. One of the reasons I haven't got around to it yet is fearing it being just another Zelda.

There are superficial similarities to Zelda, like the fairly cartoony graphics, a disembodied "helper" that is more annoying than helpful (although in Darksiders it's on purpose and it makes sense storywise), the fact you need to collect 4 of a specific item to get more lives, there are several weapons and items you need to collect in the story, etc...

OTOH, unless you spent 90% of your time in Zelda fighting hordes of enemies with a combo system, the gameplay is much closer to God of War than Ocarina of Time.