Garshasp might be rough in the edges, but it's solid in the inside.
As an stylish action game, Garshasp boosts a deep combat system involving different weapons, properly timed quick and hard attacks, counters, cancels and finishers. While hit boxes seem out of place too often, the diversity of enemies and the different tactics they require, coupled with the variety of combos and moves, make for a satisfying combat experience, which really is what it's all about in a title belonging to this genre.
No two different enemies feel the same. Each performs different attacks and require different strategies and finishers to defeat them. Some might be executed with a quick finisher at any moment (which is performed with the action button), while others will need softening up a little before being able to be finished off. Some will be finishable only after they are close to death, while others will leave an opening for a finisher right after a hard attack has connected. Some enemies can be quick finished while knocked down, while others can't. Some can be attacked right after getting up after being knocked down, while others will have invulnerability frames and will perform an attack on getting up. Some will favor strong attacks over light ones, while others will require well timed countering.
The game system offers many combos, often mixing up hard and light attacks, and not all of them are documented. But the combat system is deep beyond that. It has a solid blocking system (which by the way seems to be overpowered since it blocks everything but some bosses area of effect attacks), and yet to be fully effective the parry must take place right before impact. If timed properly, our hero Garshasp will have a chance to perform a counterattack which renders him invulnerable for the entire duration of the counter move. This feels great at first, but later on counters can be somewhat exploited.
Another advanced technique, seen in the most skill demanding titles from the genre such as Devil May Cry, is cancelling moves. Some moves, but not all, can be cancelled either by jumping (which can in turn be cancelled, though this is even harder) or by a timely block. Knowing how to cancel attacks to speed up offence really helps at the latter stages of the game, especially with the mace, which is slow but heavy hitting. While cancelling isn't as complex or deep as in DMC, where it is a must for advanced free style air combos, it still comes in really handy.
Interspersed with all the combat are some light puzzles and platforming sequences. These diversions really spice things up and help keeping a surprisingly solid pace throughout the game. Some take advantage of the gorgeous game environments and excellent art design. Be advised, though: camera and controls can get in the way of some of the most demanding platforming sequences. Namely, I had a lot of trouble at the swamp rafters, which is really a shame since concept and setting for that particular sequence are top notch.
The game offers little in the way of narrative, only some narrator's voice and some cinematics, which are solid too. I didn't miss more background or story, however.
First playthrough took me about 5 hours on normal difficulty. I am currently on my second normal playthrough to find out all combos and secrets, then I'll give it a go on hard (I actually enjoyed combat that much).
Music is pretty good and helps setting the tone of the game. The game looks great (though rock textures like those at the beginning look bland) and performs very smoothly at 1920x1080 in windowed mode, on a 9450 processor with a Radeon 5750 graphics card. Be warned, though: after playing for a while (especially after frequent reloading from checkpoints) the game was prone to crash due to what seems to me some memory leaks. Some parts also suffered from some weird glitches, but nothing too serious or gamebreaking.
A refreshing touch of quality this title has that I've missed in AAA titles such as Darksiders itself, is that Garshasp properly detects controllers like Logitech Rumblepad 2 from the get go, no button mapping or emulators required.
Overall, if it wasn't for the awkward hitboxes and the occasional camera issues you wouldn't believe this was an indie title at all. For its budget price, if you enjoyed DMC or Darksiders I'd say give it a go.