Diablo IV, for me. I love the Diablo series and just a bit ago, I sank 2 hours down to get my necromancer character up and set in Diablo II Resurrection. I have Diablo III and its expansion too, but they’re online only and I almost can’t be bothered to go through that. I’ve beaten it a long time ago.
And I really do want to get Diablo IV, but they’ve made that online-only as well. Like, I know I’m always online and everything but I do like to have that fallback where if I am without internet or I can’t afford internet for a time, I can play or watch things to bide the time over. I can’t do that with online-only games because it’s like being gated away from something you bought.
So everytime I look at Diablo IV, I just get a little depressed at times. Blizzard should do what D2R did, have an online character and have an offline character.
Most anything PvP.
I just can’t do anything with games that don’t allow me to pause (or go idle) as I just have constant interruptions.
It doesn’t help that many PvP games also have sweaty tryhard metas that put you on a different level if you’re not reading up on forums or discussions.
I’ll straight up admit that I can’t compete in most pvp titles; and I don’t want to be a loot goblin for the high school kids who are going to 360 no-scope headshot me from across the map and then tea bag my corpse.
Rdr2. I’m not making a damn account just to play the game offline.
I would create ten different accounts to play a game that’s the quality of rdr2.
Diablo III and IV don’t have a monopoly on the genre. There’s Titan Quest, Grim Dawn, and the Borderlands games, all playable offline, even in multiplayer. They’re not exactly Diablo, but you’ll hardly get closer than Grim Dawn, and there’s no reason you need to be married to the Diablo IP anyway. That kind of brand stickiness is how you get taken advantage of.
Personally, when something like that doesn’t respect my values, I’m not even finding myself tempted by them these days. Oh, it’s always online? It’s dead to me. There’s a deluge of other stuff to play, including games that are similar but respect my values.
I’ve played a lot of ARPGs and every one of them has their different flavors. But, I’m a type that wants a specific flavor and trying other flavors just makes me feel like it’s not good enough. It’s kind of like it’s a discount version of that flavor I like. I’m playing a game that’s inspired by the game that defined the genre. Just to expand a little, I am not trying to say that the games mentioned are terrible. I’ve touched upon Grim Dawn and Titan a few times.
But a lot of the time, my mood and feeling always darts for Diablo.
I feel that, Im a huge diablo fan but 4 was incredibly disappointing. FWIW i think path of exile gets the closest to the formula, I’ve also had a lot of fun with early access in poe2
I’m in a similar boat. I don’t know if you’ve heard the news, but it looks like some of the old D2 devs are now working on Darkhaven. It’s not out yet, but there’s hope!
What did you think of Torchlight? I’m a bit surprised it didn’t make your list.
…well, then again, I haven’t played anything you listed, so I can’t compare.
I’m a very recent fan of loot games, and I only briefly tried Torchlight 1 as more of an academic exercise to see how the genre evolved over time. There was some special sauce that I observed starting around Borderlands 3 or Pre-Sequel (that I suspect originated in Diablo 3) around class design that was still absent from Torchlight. Other than that, I didn’t form much of an opinion on it.
I’d love to play games like Fortnight, PUBG, and League of Legends (I know, don’t judge me), but they don’t work on Linux, so they’re just a no-go for me. I used to play GTA V Online, but they added kernel anticheat to that too, and now I don’t play that anymore.
I have Windows, but I’m not booting into another partition just to play a game. I use it for compiling my software for Windows users, and that’s already too much of a pain in the ass. I cannot stand Windows. It’s a bloated mess, and I don’t understand how anyone gets any actual work done on it. Just navigating it feels like a chore.
I can’t even play Apex anymore because EA decided Linux players cheat, and therefore, must be categorically banned from playing. All they did was turn off that switch for Proton/WINE support.
The real reason is because they can’t spy on people who use Linux too easily, like they can with Windows used.
didn’t know they added kernel anticheat to gta online, thought they just disallowed linux players. i had 5k hours on it, didn’t really play anything else for almost 10 years. dropped it entirely that day because it’s not worth using a worse OS, and turns out single player is more fun anyway with mods. will also pirate gta 6 and play it without windblows, suck my shrimp rockstar.
Clair obscur.
It looks so good, and the music is great, and story is apparently fantastic, but I just can not get the hang of the counter/block mechanic in combats, and without it the battles are pretty much impossible.
I ended up using the auto-parry/block mod, but it means you’re practically invulnerable, you only need to do the jump and radiant attack counters
https://www.nexusmods.com/clairobscurexpedition33/mods/478
There’s also a mod to increase the block/parry “period”
https://www.nexusmods.com/clairobscurexpedition33/mods/28
I still hope there will be a mod to have the dodge/parry based on your stats (agility/luck), to feel like it’s a RPG and not a souls-like game
I came to depend less on the visual cues which are often deceptive and more on the audio ones or counting in my head for dodges/parries. Also invest heavily (basically all your points) into defense/vitality which makes Dodge/Parry misses much more forgiving.
Eventually, even if you only do a smattering of side quests/areas, you’ll get powerful enough to basically ignore the timing mechanics altogether.
Also set it on story mode + auto QTEs. I did that on my first playthrough and had absolutely no regrets. The mechanics of the game are definitely secondary to the experience of the story.
Clair Obscur for me too, but because of the AI art controversy. I can’t stand AI, even if temporary, even if just store banners, I just can’t trust the company from then on not to sneak it into other areas.
I was looking for something to play this morning, and I fired up D4. I finished the story with a Druid, and hadn’t really been back. So I rolled a new Wizard, wondered around aimlessly for a few hours and quit. It just doesn’t have the pull that D2 had for me.
You’re not missing much.
Outer Wilds.
I very much want to play this game. It’s everything I want from a detective puzzle game, but actually playing it gives me motion sickness.
Same here. I get nauseous playing most first person games so I miss out on a lot. The only thing that sometimes helps is if the game lets you slow down the camera movement.
I’ve heard supposedly that sitting back further away from the monitor helps with motion sickness, so if you have some sort of TV screen that you could hook up the game to, that might work?
same here. i can play it 30 mins max and then i get very nauseated. and you can’t really get anything done in that time.
Silksong.
Love the game, but playing a few times a week isn’t enough investment for me to build up the necessary skill to complete it. Got to a point now where I literally spend the entire gaming session refreshing my fingers from last week, and decided to take a break until I can commit enough time to it. Maybe if I lose my kids or legs or go to prison or something.
Silksong was great, but it really has an issue with approachability.
Most of the quality of life upgrades come after challenges that prove you don’t need them. I didn’t really feel at home with what the game was asking of me until I fought the cogwork dancers. I totally understand why people bounce off the game when they encounter Last Judge.
Silksong is designed for those who are good at Hollow Knight, I think.
I really wish I could sit down and engage with the heavier stuff in my collection, but it comes to me with much difficulty.
Currently, as we speak, I’m playing SETI—kind of a slow-burn research builder where alien life gets discovered. It’s a lot of brain load though.
However, I know that I’m in a precarious spot. With the brain damage I’ve already sustained, if I’m not pushing my brain as hard as I can, it’ll start falling apart.
Don’t have strokes, kids.
I wish I could understand Stellaris.
I’ve had no strokes yet. My granddad had 4 in his 30, I still can’t explain Stellaris
I did just win against the intro AI in SETI, but it was a challenge. I’m gonna have to internalize more of how this works.
Stellaris might be easier to grasp if you start with an earthbound Paradox game first like Victoria 3 or EU V. Not that they’re simple, but being a familiar map definitely helps.
That being said, I’m not going to pretend that I fully understand any of those games lol
Heard all the good things about Disco Elysium and found it on sale for the Steam Deck… Could not stand playing a character with traumatic brain injury. I thought I did something wrong generating the character, no, fanbase assures me that’s the way it’s supposed to be… Refunded it in less than an hour.
I could get info that game either. It looks amazing. I’m sure the experience is great, but it never really grabbed me.
I want to check out Black Myth: Wukong. But I ain’t paying for something with Denuvu and I can’t pirate something with denuvu either.
I checked my library catalog and they just got that one of you have a recent console
Deadlock. As a parent and full time worker I don’t have time to commit to a new live service multiplayer. It would be amazing to be a teenager or student again and just grind that game as nolife.
Wow is kinda similar. Housing update seems like fun thing that they finally added but no way I have time to play wow.
Deadlock is no joke, the best game i have ever played. But i never played a maba before, so that part was completely new. Someone said that Deadlock might be the hardest game to learn, and they might be right. Deadlock is the only game that has ever made me nervous when i start playing. I’m glad i got into the game early, but even if you don’t want to learn, i think it’s worth downloading and walk around in the cursed apple or play some bot matches. The design and the feel of the game is one of a kind and it plays so smooth.
I played it when it was in closed beta. And as a fan of Overwatch and previous LoL player, Deadlock was super fun to play. But combination of high mechanical requirement and knowledge requirement it is hard to enjoy the game as casual peopler. Thank god now there is light version of Deadlock as Overwatch Stadium.
I went back to OW stadium because of deadlock, but i was sick of it pretty soon. It’s just not it for me. I think you can enjoy deadlock without being a good mechanical player, depending on the hero. The rough part is other people. Because of the moba part of it, people tend to get super angry. I never get angry because of video games, but even i can feel it. I’m not angry at other players, but it is frustrating to be in a team that is really bad, while the other team is really good. It happens a lot lately, and i never cared while i was learning, because it didn’t really matter. Now that i’m better at the game, or pretty good even, you just have players in your or the other team that just started playing and you usually just don’t win those. People get mad and it’s a whole thing.
Minecraft. I love building things, and I especially love the idea of building things you can walk through in first person. I also loved the little of it I did play. Sadly, it makes me incredibly nauseous and gives me a headache after about half an hour of playing.
Have you messed with the settings? Turning off view bobbing might be the trick!
Did you have view bobbing in 2012? That’s probably about the last time I tried playing.
I figured it were just the 2D/3D environments. Wolfenstein 3D and Doom make me nauseous as well.
Multiplayer games. I tried Counter Strike a few times, but I just can’t bring myself to like the tempo. I want to play in my pace.
Split fiction. It looks solid and my friend and I need more games to play together that isn’t competitive pvp, but we both vote with our dollar and refuse to give EA any more money.
I’m actually torn on this philosophy.
On one hand, yea you’re not giving EA money, which is a win. But on another, when you don’t buy a game like Split Fiction, they make less money on that product. Money is the only thing EA cares about, and they track how much a product makes. So, if a game like Split Fiction doesn’t make as much money, they probably would be less inclined to make it in the future. Then we get stuck with shit like Fifa/Apex, since you know people are going to spend money on that regardless.
So in the end I still buy stuff like It Takes Two, because I support that work. That game was amazing. However, I tend to buy them on sale.
There’s definitely an argument to be made for either your or my way. I feel if a lot more gamers were willing to vote with their dollar and be conscious about the ethics of the games/studios I might be more inclined to agree with you as it would have an actual impact. I realize I’m in the minority though based on how well FIFA does with each new version and so I know I’m not actually moving the dial at all. I decided for me I’ll keep the clear conscience and go play one of the other amazing games out there.
I did send an email through a contact page to hazelight too to let them know EA specifically cost them a customer. Doubt that information made it anywhere, but at least I try.
Just get it from an alternative source and play it locally. That’s more fun anyway and far too few games still have split screen coop.
