Best Darksiders-like action-adventure games to play next

Start with Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order if you want the closest modern substitute for Darksiders. Choose Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered for gothic, puzzle-led exploration; God of War for cinematic combat and mythic drama; Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition if you have not played the direct sequel; and Darksiders Genesis for two-player co-op or a change to an isometric view.

What makes a game “Darksiders-like”?

Darksiders occupies a specific middle ground between character-action combat and adventure-game problem solving. Its defining loop combines third-person melee fights, traversal abilities, dungeons, environmental puzzles, mythic or dark-fantasy world-building, boss battles and a light progression system for weapons, skills or equipment. A game can resemble Darksiders in one dimension without matching the whole experience: a pure character-action game may have faster combos but no dungeon logic, while an open-world RPG may offer exploration without the deliberate, room-by-room puzzle structure.

#	Preview	Product	Price
1		Darksiders 2 Deathinitive Edition - PlayStation 5	$39.36	Buy on Amazon
2		Darksiders 2 Deathinitive Edition (Xbox One)	$49.99	Buy on Amazon

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The original series is often discussed alongside Devil May Cry, God of War and The Legend of Zelda because it borrows pieces of each tradition. Combat is direct and weapon-focused, but major encounters can also require a puzzle-like method, a particular weapon or a traversal ability. That blend is the standard used for the recommendations below.

Quick comparison

1. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order — the closest modern substitute

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is the safest recommendation when what you really want is a contemporary third-person action-adventure with deliberate melee combat, interconnected environments and abilities that open new routes. Electronic Arts describes it as a narratively driven, single-player action-adventure. It launched on November 14, 2019, and is listed for PC, PlayStation and Xbox; exact editions and current store availability depend on your region.

#1 Best Overall

Darksiders 2 Deathinitive Edition - PlayStation 5

• Darksiders 2 with all DLC included and integrated into the game which offers a total playtime of more than 30 hours
• Play Death: Become the most feared of the legendary Four Horsemen, able to destroy entire worlds and battle forces beyond Heaven and Hell
• Player Choice & Customization: Customize your experience with varied armor sets, weapons, and Skill Trees allowing players to create their own Death
• Replay-ability: Explore a vast open world, complete dozens of side quests and customize your Death with a full leveling system, Skill Trees and endless equipment combinations
• Epic Universe: Unlike anything the player has seen before, delivered in the unique style of Joe Mad

$39.36

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Why its combat feels familiar

The lightsaber is not treated as a button-mashing prop. EA’s product description specifically emphasizes striking, blocking and dodging. Fights therefore have the same readable rhythm that Darksiders players expect: watch an enemy, answer the attack with the correct defensive action, then create a short opening for damage. Force abilities add a second layer, letting combat tools also function as exploration tools.

This is a more measured system than a pure spectacle fighter. You are expected to learn attack patterns and choose when to parry, evade or use a Force power. The result is accessible to players coming from Darksiders while still rewarding timing and observation.

How exploration differs

Instead of one continuous fantasy kingdom, the game sends you across several planets. EA highlights ancient forests, cliffs and jungles among the environments you travel through. New abilities turn previously inaccessible paths into reachable routes, so exploration is built around returning to earlier areas with a broader movement toolkit. The progression is therefore closer to ability-gated adventure design than to a conventional loot-driven open world.

Puzzles are present, but they usually support traversal and environmental manipulation rather than becoming long, self-contained dungeon campaigns. If you want Darksiders’ combination of combat and movement abilities without requiring a new medieval mythology, this is the most balanced match.

Choose it when

• You want modern presentation and a clearly authored single-player campaign.
• Blocking, dodging and learning enemy timing sound more appealing than juggling long combo strings.
• You prefer several distinct environments connected by ability-based backtracking.

Choose another game first if elaborate gothic puzzles are the main reason you play Darksiders, or if you specifically want an open-world RPG with extensive equipment experimentation.

2. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered — the gothic exploration pick

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered is the strongest choice for players who remember Darksiders primarily as a dark, atmospheric adventure rather than as a modern combat showcase. The Legacy of Kain series is classified as dark-fantasy action-adventure and is described as combining action, exploration, puzzle solving and role-playing elements in the gothic land of Nosgoth. Franchise reporting summarized by Crystal Dynamics and Eidos recorded more than 3.5 million copies sold by 2007.

Why the atmosphere matters

Nosgoth supplies the kind of oppressive setting that makes traversal and discovery feel consequential. Architecture, ruined spaces and the series’ gothic tone are not decoration around a combat arena; they define the route you take and the problems you solve. This is the recommendation for someone who wants a world that feels haunted, ancient and structurally strange.

Puzzles share the spotlight with combat

Where Fallen Order uses abilities mainly to unlock movement options, Soul Reaver is a more puzzle-forward experience. The action-adventure classification itself places puzzle solving beside combat and exploration. Expect progression to come from understanding spaces, manipulating the environment and recognizing how the world’s rules fit together, not only from increasing damage numbers.

That emphasis makes it a particularly good follow-up for players who enjoyed Darksiders bosses that demanded a specific method or weapon. It also means the remastered package is less suitable if your priority is the smoothest modern combat system or a large-scale role-playing build.

Choose it when

• Gothic world-building and a dark-fantasy mood are more important than spectacle.
• You want puzzles to occupy as much attention as fighting.
• You enjoy exploring spaces whose layout and rules must be learned rather than simply cleared.

Because the supplied information does not establish a single current platform list or regional store status for the remaster, check the listing available in your country before buying.

3. God of War — cinematic combat and mythic scale

God of War is the right choice when the part of Darksiders you want to preserve is heavy, satisfying combat wrapped in a large mythological story. GamesRadar’s 2026 action guide treats God of War as a leading action recommendation and highlights its fluid combat. The game is a better match for players who value weight, presentation and character drama than for those seeking traditional dungeon puzzles in every region.

Where it overlaps with Darksiders

Both series make the player feel physically powerful. Attacks have impact, enemy encounters are staged as set pieces and the surrounding mythology is treated as a central part of the adventure rather than as incidental lore. The combat is designed to flow from one target to the next while still asking you to read enemy behavior and manage positioning.

Where it departs

The emphasis is cinematic. Story beats, character relationships and dramatic reveals shape the pace more strongly than the dungeon-by-dungeon structure associated with Darksiders. Exploration remains meaningful, but it generally serves the larger journey rather than functioning as a pure sequence of lock-and-key puzzles. If you enter expecting a one-to-one substitute for Darksiders’ dungeon design, the difference will be obvious.

Choose it when

• You want fluid, weighty combat presented with blockbuster production values.
• Mythological storytelling and character drama matter as much as mechanics.
• You are comfortable with exploration that is less puzzle-dense than Darksiders or Soul Reaver.

Pick Fallen Order instead if traversal abilities and interconnected environmental routes are your priority; pick Soul Reaver if you want the darkest and most puzzle-led atmosphere.

4. Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition — the direct next step

If you have not played the sequel, Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition should be your first stop before looking for a substitute. THQ Nordic lists all downloadable content, more than 30 hours of playtime, open-world exploration, dozens of side quests, leveling, skill trees, equipment combinations and acrobatic traversal. The publisher also documents a retail release for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on January 28, 2025.

Why it expands the formula

The sequel keeps the series’ action-adventure identity while broadening its role-playing layer. You are not limited to one fixed weapon plan: skills, equipment and weapon combinations let you shape how Death fights. Leveling and skill trees provide a clear sense of growth, while side quests give the open regions reasons to be revisited instead of making every detour feel optional busywork.

Rank #2

Darksiders 2 Deathinitive Edition (Xbox One)

• Play Death: Become the most feared of the legendary Four Horsemen, able to destroy entire worlds and battle forces beyond Heaven and Hell
• Heaven/Hell: Explore startling gameworld environments reminiscent of heaven and hell
• Player Choice & Customization: Customize your experience with varied armor sets, weapons, and skill trees allowing players to create their own Death
• Replay-ability: Explore a vast open world, complete dozens of side quests and customize your Death with a full leveling system, skill trees and endless equipment combinations
• Traversal: Death is a nimble and agile character capable of incredible acrobatic feats allowing the player to explore the world like never before

$49.99

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Traversal is equally important. Acrobatic movement turns the environment into part of the combat-and-exploration loop, allowing routes that are more vertical and involved than a straightforward corridor. That makes this the strongest option for readers who want the broadest exploration model in the list.

How to approach the content

The advertised playtime is more than 30 hours, but that figure is a publisher-stated amount rather than a guarantee for every play style. A player who follows only the critical route will spend less time than someone who completes side quests, experiments with equipment and searches each open region. Treat the additional content as a way to deepen the build system, not as a requirement to finish the story.

Choose it when

• You want the most direct continuation of Darksiders’ combat, traversal and lore.
• Open-world regions, side quests and equipment combinations sound better than a tightly linear campaign.
• You enjoy experimenting with skill trees and weapon setups.

It is not the best first recommendation only when you have already completed it or when you specifically need co-op; the documented mode here is single-player.

5. Darksiders Genesis — the co-op and isometric route

Darksiders Genesis is an action-adventure prequel that changes the camera and the rhythm of play. THQ Nordic describes guns, swords, switchable War and Strife characters, item and ability progression and two-player cooperative play. Its isometric viewpoint means it should be treated as a side route for anyone who considers the original third-person camera essential.

What changes in the format

The fixed overhead perspective makes combat spaces easier to read as arenas and places more emphasis on positioning. Switching between War and Strife lets you select the character whose weapon set suits the immediate problem: a sword-focused approach for close pressure or guns for ranged control. That is a structural change, not merely a visual one.

Progression still follows the Darksiders pattern of earning items and abilities that expand what your characters can do. The difference is that the game is designed to support two players, so decisions about character choice, spacing and ability use can be shared rather than handled by one person.

Choose it when

• You want a documented two-player cooperative Darksiders experience.
• You are happy to trade the over-the-shoulder camera for an isometric view.
• You want to alternate between a sword user and a gun user as situations change.

Choose Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition if open-world traversal and solo RPG progression matter more than co-op. Choose Fallen Order if you want a modern third-person camera rather than an overhead one.

Which game is best for your priorities?

How the combat systems compare

Deliberate defense: Jedi

Fallen Order centers on the readable triangle of striking, blocking and dodging. Force abilities supplement the lightsaber and can influence both fights and exploration. The result rewards patience and timing over constant attacks.

Build variety: Darksiders II

Darksiders II gives the most explicit customization. Skill trees, leveling and equipment combinations let two players approach the same class of encounter differently. The trade-off is that the RPG layer asks you to spend more time managing upgrades than the more focused systems in Jedi or God of War.

Weight and spectacle: God of War

God of War is for players who want every strike to support a dramatic, cinematic encounter. It is the least puzzle-dependent option among the five, but it compensates with presentation and fluid action.

Flexible perspective: Genesis

Genesis changes combat by letting you switch between War and Strife and by placing the action in an isometric frame. This supports cooperative positioning but will not feel identical to a third-person Darksiders game.

Action in service of exploration: Soul Reaver

The Legacy of Kain recommendation treats combat as one component of a broader adventure. The series’ identity comes from how action, exploration and puzzles fit together in Nosgoth, making it the best choice when solving the space is as satisfying as defeating its guardians.

Exploration, dungeons and boss design

For classic Darksiders-style dungeon logic, begin with Soul Reaver or return to Darksiders II. Those are the safest choices when you want environmental problems to share billing with combat. Fallen Order is more traversal- and ability-gated: new powers open routes through forests, cliffs, jungles and other planetary environments, but its puzzles generally serve movement. God of War favors cinematic momentum and mythic storytelling, so its exploration should be understood as support for the larger journey. Genesis offers adventure progression and co-op navigation from an isometric viewpoint rather than reproducing the original dungeon format.

Boss expectations should follow the same distinction. Darksiders encounters can require a specific weapon or a puzzle-like method. Soul Reaver is the closest match for that mindset. Jedi asks you to learn attack patterns and use defensive timing. God of War frames major fights as dramatic set pieces. Darksiders II adds build decisions, while Genesis lets two players coordinate War and Strife.

Platform and purchase checks

1. Confirm your platform. EA lists Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order for PC, PlayStation and Xbox. THQ Nordic documents the January 28, 2025 retail release of Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
2. Check the exact edition. For Darksiders II, the Deathinitive Edition is the package identified as including all downloadable content. Do not assume a different listing contains the same content.
3. Verify regional availability. Store catalogs, remaster listings and physical stock can vary by country. This is especially important for Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered, whose current platform availability is not established in the supplied material.
4. Decide whether co-op is essential. Darksiders Genesis is the only game in this set explicitly documented as two-player cooperative. The other recommendations should be approached as solo experiences.
5. Match the camera to your preference. If an over-the-shoulder third-person view is non-negotiable, start with Fallen Order, God of War or Darksiders II. Genesis is intentionally isometric.

A practical decision path

1. Have you played Darksiders II? If not, play Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition first; it is the direct continuation and adds the broadest RPG-style progression in this group.
2. Need a modern third-person substitute? Select Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order for its lightsaber combat, Force-assisted exploration and planet-based environments.
3. Want puzzles and gothic mood above all else? Select Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered.
4. Want spectacle and mythological drama? Select God of War.
5. Need to play with another person? Select Darksiders Genesis, accepting its isometric camera and different encounter structure.

Bottom line

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is the best all-purpose answer to “What should I play after Darksiders?” because it preserves third-person melee, defensive timing, ability-based traversal and authored adventure design in a modern package. Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition is the better answer if the sequel is still on your backlog. For puzzle-heavy gothic exploration, choose Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered; for cinematic myth, choose God of War; and for co-op, choose Darksiders Genesis.

Quick Recap

Bestseller No. 1

Darksiders 2 Deathinitive Edition - PlayStation 5

$39.36

Bestseller No. 2

Darksiders 2 Deathinitive Edition (Xbox One)

Heaven/Hell: Explore startling gameworld environments reminiscent of heaven and hell

$49.99

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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