Review of Darwin's Game

I'm quite the fan of death game genre's. Mock me as you will. "They're edgy, just wish fulfillment, and usually don't have depth." Well, whatever. I enjoy the genre regardless. And clearly, the survival game genre isn't exactly something that hasn't been done to death already in anime, manga, LN, etc. Ever since Mirai Nikki popularized it (or if you really wanna dig deep, battle royale), the death game genre has been around to stay. But amongst the gauntlet of the numerous amounts of death game titles out there, few have ever stood out. To me, of the numerous media I have consumed, only 6have stood to actually be anything good. Danganronpa(The game series), Battle Royale, Gantz, Mirai Nikki, Fate Zero, and Alice in Borderland(manga).
So, is this show any different than the numerous other media that try to attempt the death game genre? Well, not really, but it certainly is one of the most well executed orthodox death game shows. Almost all death game genre's don't get very far because of one of these reasons: too much death that it becomes kind of annoying, plot holes in the story, terrible pacing, cliches, bad characterization, etc etc. I could go on, but this seems like a basic list.
Well, Darwin's Game certainly has some of these mistakes, but for the most part, performs well enough to give me a pass. Another thing that you look for in a death game genre is also the key moments: the pilot episodes. How good is the actual beginning? How does the MC transition from an "everyday" school life to a "brutal death game? What are the MC's motivations to keep on surviving? What's the circumstances surrounding his "first kill?" What kind of personality is he? And well, again, for the basic plot that Darwin's game provides, it's executed almost perfectly. I'd say that his transition into the game is one of the best. It may be vanilla, but the fighting, dialogue, and chain of events that we are walked through is well paced, well thought out, and animated well.
I wish this show kept this consistency throughout the story, but well, it doesn't. Pacing is nonexistent. While having a character go through the crazy transition from "everyday life" to "death game" every 10 minutes is terrible, so is just having the characters get involved in a "death game" over and over and over again. The plot progresses at a lightning fast pace, yet it isn't blown out of proportion that it doesn't make sense, but the pacing definitely needs some work.
Characters in the show, for the most part, is pretty good. You don't just have "good guys and friends of MC," and "bad guys MC kills." Rather, you have a wider variety of neutral, evil, and good spectrum that you don't usually get to see in other death games. Plus, the characters that end up being in the MC's party are quite well made. Basic as they may be, they function their purpose, and are fun to watch. They aren't just baggage picked up on the side of the road, or just "wow, you're strong, let me join you please," like many companions end up being in this type of show. However, let's not get into the romance, Everything relating to the romance of the show is extremely subpar, and I wouldn't even quantify it as "romance." Yikes.
Lastly, the thing that Darwin's Game loves to do is their liberal use of cliche's. The MC's "first kill" is a clear cliche ( I won't say which, it's a spoiler), his romance is quite cliche, and of course, his plot armor is pretty thick. Characters that are convenient for him are thrown at him, and of course, he gets OP powers and whatnot. Well, what do you expect? At least characters don't seem to be sparing him, or that completely implausible situations become true because the MC needs to survive.
So overall? Darwin's game is not bad. It's not in the "good" category, and certainly won't be on my top list. If you like the genre, you certainly will find Darwin's Game to be fine/good. If you don't, this show certainly won't revolutionize your views on the genre. It's your good old, cup of Joe. Executed fine, but doesn't fire on all cylinders. Despite it's shortcomings, it's not bad.