Darksiders 2 continues the story after War was imprisoned. Now you play as his brother Death who attempts to free the human race and undo the damage done by the Apocalypse. Explore huge maps and traverse complex jumping/platform puzzles. Gain loot from hacking and slashing all kinds of demons and bosses on earth. Level up Death and interact with demi-god-ish NCPs who will point you in the direction of the enemy or angels who will try an stop you.



Follow my step-by-step guide on installing, configuring and optimizing Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition in Linux with PlayOnLinux and DXVK.

Note: This guide applies to the GOG version of Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition. Other versions may require additional steps.

Tips & Specs:

To learn more about PlayOnLinux and Wine configuration, see the online manual: PlayOnLinux Explained

Mint 18.3 64-bit
PlayOnLinux: 4.2.12
Wine: 3.14 Staging (64-bit)
DXVK: 0.72

Wine Installation

Click Tools
Select "Manage Wine Versions"


Look for the Wine Version: 3.15
Select it
Click the arrow pointing to the right


Click Next

Downloading Wine


Extracting

Downloading Gecko


Installed


Install the 64-bit version as well
Click "Wine versions (amd64) Tab
Select 3.15
Repeat steps

Wine 3.15 32-bit and 64-bit are installed and you can close this window

PlayOnLinux Setup

Launch PlayOnLinux
Click Install


Click "Install a non-listed program"


Select "Install a program in a new virtual drive"
Click Next


Name the virtual drive: darksiders2
Click Next


Check all three options:

• Use another version of Wine
• Configure Wine
• Install some libraries

Click Next


Select Wine 3.15
Click Next


Note: We will download Wine 3.14 staging in a later step

Select "64 bits windows installation"
Click Next


Wine Configuration

Applications Tab
windows version: Windows 7
Click Apply


Libraries Tab
Enter the following libraries:

• d3d10
• d3d10_1
• d3d10core
• d3d11
• dxgi
• xaudio2_7

Click Edit on each one and select "native (Windows)
Click Apply


Graphics Tab
Check "Automatically capture the mouse in full-screen windows"
Click OK


PlayOnLinux Packages (DLLs, Libraries, components)

Check the following:

• POL_Install_corefonts
• POL_Install_d3dcompiler_43
• POL_Install_d3dx9
• POL_Install_d3dx10
• POL_Install_d3dx11
• POL_Install_vcrun2008
• POL_Install_vcrun2010
• POL_Install_vcrun2012

Click Next


Note: All packages should automatically download and install

Click Browse

Select "setup_darksiders2_deathinitive_2.0.1.3.exe"
Click Open


Click Next again...

Click OK


Click Options
Uncheck "Create desktop icon"
Check "Yes, I have read and accept EULA"
Click Install


Click OK on all errors


Click Exit


PlayOnLinux Shortcut

Select "Darksiders2.exe"
Click Next


Name the shortcut: Darksiders II
Click Next


Select "I don't want to make another shortcut"
Click Next


Go to: https://lutris.net/files/runners/
Download wine-staging-3.14-x86_64.tar.gz
Save to your Desktop


Extract to the PlayOnLinux linux-amd64 folder
full path:

Code:

/home/username/.PlayOnLinux/wine/linux-amd64

Click Extract


DXVK Libraries

Go to: https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk/releases
Download version 0.72
Save to your Desktop


Open the dxbk-0.72/x64 folder
Copy all the files


Paste into the Darksiders II Dethainitive Edition Folder
Full Path:

Code:

/home/username/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/darksiders2/drive_c/Program Files (x86)/GOG Games/Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition/

Here is the Full DXVK Guide in PlayOnLinux

PlayOnLinux Configure

Select "Darksiders II"
Click Configure


General Tab
Click the down-arrow to select Wine 3.14 staging


Display Tab
Video memory size: Enter the amount of memory your video card/chip uses


Close Configure

Launch Darksiders II

Select Darksiders II
Click Run


Note: Click debug to see errors and bugs

Optimization

Click Options


Click Video icon
Adjust:

• Vertical Sync
• Gamma
• Video Resolution
• Fullscreen
• Ambient Occlusion
• Shadow Quality
• Anti-Aliasing = Off

Note: Turn off Anti-Aliasing to reduce graphical artifacts

Conclusion:
Darksiders II runs much better with DXVK implemented. There are still some graphical flickering in the sky, but its not a "game breaker". I was able to play on my GeForce GTX 1060 with great frame rates and no other noticable issues. Previously when I played Darksiders a few years ago, I played through the entire game with a few annoying graphical bugs. But those are now gone and it runs beautifully.

Gameplay Video:



Screenshots: