Darksiders III is out in less than a week, and publisher THQ Nordic is taking a rather unorthodox approach to building up player interest in the action-adventure game. If you’re having trouble falling asleep, you can now watch the game’s protagonist Fury sooth you with her own ASMR series.
Partnering with video creator and body paint artist Ruby True, the Darksiders III ASMR — Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response — series shows Fury using some of her special abilities, including fire conjuring. In full makeup and costume, Fury holds enormous flames in her hands and swings them from side to side — they crackle and hiss as they go through the air.
Typically, ASMR videos are designed to relax the viewer, but this one is rather unsettling, particularly because you can’t see Fury’s pupils. At one point, Fury sticks one of the torches in her mouth, and if that is relaxing to you, then you are in the video’s very small target demographic.
Five videos will be released in all, intended to “help gamers de-stress this holiday season.” They might be stressed from playing Darksiders III, which ditches the multi-enemy combat of its predecessor for more one-on-one battles designed to reward strategy and caution. In the latest game, Fury must hunt down the Seven Deadly Sins, personified as vicious monsters, in order to assist the other three Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The previous game starred Death, while the original Darksiders had players control War.
It’s a wonder Darksiders III is even releasing, as original developer Vigil Games shut its doors with the closure of parent company THQ. Nordic later bought the rights to the series along with the THQ name, and it partnered with Gunfire Games on the sequel. The developer was founded by ex-Vigil employees, so they know a thing or two about the apocalypse.
Darksiders III releases for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on November 27. The game will be available in several different editions, including the massive Apocalypse Edition. For $400, the package includes the game, a steelbook, a wall scroll, the official soundtrack, an art book, an amulet, extra DLC, and four figures, each measuring at least 10 inches tall.
