gamesandtings

Diablo 4

Certain games are just played during certain moods. Diablo 4 is precisely that; the perfect game to unwind after work. Imagine you fancy a late night gaming snack, you need a game that you can devote no more than a comatose level of brain activity to.

Not gonna lie, I wasn’t expecting much. I played a lot of Diablo 3 and just found it dull throughout my time with the game, the constant feeling like I was chasing that dangling carrot got boring pretty quickly for me. [Just as a side memory, I remember buying Diablo 3 on some random grey market key site on my Blackberry of all things].

Then came the stumbling block of trying to find some that could satisfy that need and luckily Game Pass delivered. For the price of just £1, you too can enjoy the wonderful Xbox library on your PC [for 2 weeks before I forget to cancel].

It’s very fun so far. Working out the best build whilst being surrounded by a mob of undead like a flies on poo, feeling the physical nature of being punched up and then finally levelling up to see what else you can unlock as an ability – it’s the carrot I’m willing to chase [for now]. The fact that people can easily jump in and out the session is THE reason I’m enjoying it too – impulsively jumping in, clearing a dungeon and then jumping back out.

It also helps that it truly looks beautiful, even running at medium settings with some RTX nonsense on in the background, seeing my Rogue’s hair sashaying in the as she jogs along to crossbow a big-up spider is deeply satisfying.

I have a week left before my Game Pass subscription is fully charged – I suspect I mind up buying the game outright.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

We just passed the 10 year anniversary of Mario Kart 8’s release [on the Wii U] and it’s still firmly the greatest multiplayer game ever made.

It’s nearing my 30 year anniversary with Mario Kart as a series and I will be writing about my fond, fond, swearing memories of each game shortly.

It’s truly fantastic, still looks incredible, still incredibly infuriating and yet so rewarding. It has made Schadenfreude into an interactive, colourful experience.

Dota 2

I’m still on this ting – the Crownfall update has gamified the game, guiding you to pick certain heroes in order to progress in the world map.

And I’m enjoying discovering characters that I’ve either never tried or had left in the distant past.

Shadow Fiend is a particular favourite, I have no idea when to ulti but all I need to do is click on heroes and see their life bar dwindle.

Marci is the strongest 1 v 1 character it feels like, a couple of items and she’s chunking people including Ursa.

I’ve been playing since 2011, mostly as a mindless click-a-thon but I’ve never enjoyed this game more than right now. It’s actually an ok game, not a horrendous time-sink where I felt like I was babysitting Russian children.

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK