If you’re anything like me, you’re disappointed with the current state ofThe Legend of Zeldafranchise.Games likeBreath of the WildandTears of the Kingdomare perfectly fine: their exploration and sandbox mechanics are excellent, worthy of every accolade they received. But, at the end of the day, they don’t feel like classicZelda. Something’s missing, be it the lack of intricately-themed dungeons, unlockable gadgets, and well-paced secrets - or maybe it’s all that and more.
The fact of the matter is thatZeldaas we know it has fallen out of favor, and it may be a while before it comes back. If you want that classicZeldafeel, you have to look elsewhere, and, although many games come close, it’s rare to find a title that really scratches the itch. However, I think I’ve finally come across one of the bestZelda-like games on the market today, and, although it has its own identity and certainly doesn’t look like it on the cover, it’s the perfect way to satisfy that classicZeldacraving without having to replayMajora’s Maskfor the hundredth time.
Darksiders 4 Is The Perfect Game For Zelda Fans
The Next Darksiders Game Was Just Revealed
Gunfire Games has officially revealed the upcomingDarksiders 4, the next game in its hack-and-slash action RPG series. This is the first mainline game in the series sinceDarksiders 3in 2018, which was followed in 2019 by theprequel spinoffDarksiders Genesis.
Although we’ve yet to see a release date, gameplay footage, or much more than an image of the Four Horsemen as shown above, it’s a pretty exciting development for fans of the series, who have apparently beenkeeping it a secret from classicZeldadiehards.
Zelda’s DNA Has Always Defined Darksiders
How Darksiders Was Influenced By Zelda
Although you wouldn’t know it to look at aDarksidersgame,they’re deeply influenced by theZeldafranchise. That influence mostly manifests itself through gameplay, in whichDarksidersborrows several elements from the classic Nintendo series.
ModernZeldapuzzles are open-ended, and encourage player creativity. That’s all well and good, but it differs significantly from classicZeldapuzzles, which were much more straightforward and curated. It’s been said that everyclassicZeldapuzzle is a fancy lock that requires a fancy key- sometimes, they’re not even all that fancy. There’s just one way around each obstacle, and you have to synthesize the clues the game provides as you attempt to find it.
That kind of progression system isn’t quite as freeing, butit is really satisfying. As you play through a classicZeldagame, your arsenal of abilities is constantly expanding. Each time you unlock a new tool, you can access new secrets, and discover new ways to defeat familiar enemies. You genuinely feel Link getting more powerful as the game goes on, a satisfaction that open-ended sandbox puzzles can’t replicate.
Darksidersoperates along very similar lines, although never more so than in the first game: each dungeon is intricately themed, and requires you to discover new items, solve a series of puzzles, and finally, fight a big, themed boss who, when you beat them, tacks on a new section to your health bar.
You’ll leave each dungeon with a new key item, which you can then use to unlock previously inaccessible areas of the open world, solve new puzzles, and earn new rewards. In this way,Darksidersperfectly mirrors the classicZeldamode of progress, and is satisfying in the exact same way.
It’s the perfect thing to scratch the classicZeldaitchifyou findBOTWandTOTKlacking. And, with a new game coming soon, it’s the perfect time to get into the series.
Darksiders 4 Should Still Feel Unique
Darksiders Has Its Own Identity
Now, I want to be abundantly clear about one thing:DarksidersisnotaZeldaclone, not exactly. It has its own identity, much of which manifests through its setting: with a post-apocalyptic world and the literal Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as its playable characters,Darksidersis a lot, well, darker and edgier thanZelda, even at its bleakest point.
AndDarksidershas always put a lot more emphasis on combat thanZelda. It began life as a hack-and-slash series, and, in that way, has always had a lot in common withGod of War. It’s not exactly the puzzle-like combat of classic 3DZelda, but it’s good in its own way.
The series has evolved a bit over the years, too,bringing it a little further from classicZelda:Darksiders 2was decidedly more of an action RPG, andDarksiders 3went down the Soulslike path, introducing a much more deliberate combat system, and much more challenging bosses.
But I’d arguethat helps make the series evenmoreappealing. A lot ofZeldaclones fail because they try too hard to be like the real thing, then inevitably disappoint when they’re different.
ButDarksidershas always gone in its own direction. It’s taken inspiration fromZelda, sure, butit’s never tried to beZelda. As a result, it feels familiar, but not derivative.
And besides, I suspect (or at least hope) thatDarksiders 4will be a bit of a return to basics. Almost every action game series has gone Soulslike in the past decade or so, but I suspect that trend is starting to wind down.
Darksiders 3got caught up in that trend, but its changes weren’t popular- fan response eventually prompted the addition of a “classic” combat mode that brought it a little closer to the hack-and-slash format of the first two games.
So really,Darksiders 4is uniquely poised here. By returning to the series' classic hack-and-slash combat without sacrificing itsZelda-like dungeons and progression systems, it can appeal to those who are sick of the Soulslike trend and those who are sick of sandboxZeldaall at once.
Of course, this is just my prediction - I could be totally wrong. But I have high hopes forDarksiders 4. SandboxZeldahas proven to be very profitable for Nintendo, which means it’s likely to be the franchise’s future - at least for the foreseeable future. Until such a day as it returns to its roots, I’ll embraceDarksidersas the perfectLegend of Zeldasuccessor, if not a direct clone.
