Another week has come and gone. Early development on the game is moving at a steady pace - some groundwork has been laid for the themes and I continue to work through what I want the POV to be. I’ve been running some trial-and-error scenarios and situations in which to place the player, and overall I’ve got a few solid outlines for some levels. I’ve peppered in some details, too. I think these levels will end up being very brief tutorials mainly to situate the player in the harsh and absurd world without bogging down the plot, which will take a bit to get to. Mostly, it’s about making them feel comfortable in the voice and making it funny and enjoyable enough so that they keep playing once the plot gets its wheels moving. I’m enjoying these levels and surprised by how, every time I sit down to work, they get bigger and deeper. The surprise of development never ceases to amaze.
Those have been my early mornings, with coffee and the cat.
I’m thinking of some other things, too. I’ve been reading All-Star Superman again, taking a break from my usual fare to remember why I like these funny books in the first place. It’s a good read, one of the best. I’m very bummed that DC has put all their books on hold for two months because I’ve really been enjoying Josh Williamson’s Superman.
I’ve been making my way through East of Eden, as well as a very fun and continually engaging fantasy novel on my kindle called The Priory of the Orange Tree. I’m drawn to the scope of the former, the way it encapsulates entire families and generations within its pages. What could easily be a few pages in a single chapter about someone’s journey to a land purchase is instead a novella in and of itself. With the latter, I’m amazed at how easily I fell into the details and machinations of the world after a mere 75 pages. Names, countries, languages, they’re all thrown at me with ease. I feel at home in its strange world, and am really enjoying 75% of it. There’s one storyline that isn’t quite grabbing me.
Elsewhere, my time and thoughts are consumed by Blizzard’s Diablo IV. I’m now one week into the game, and was loving it until Saturday evening. My only experience with the franchise comes from watching a friend play the third one on his brother’s laptop in high school. My only experience with the ARPG genre comes from Divinity. I needed a new game since I decided to take a TOTK break before approaching its endgame, and it seemed like a good fit.
And it is! Or was? I started off with a sorcerer, marveling at the incredible sound design and atmosphere. I’m amazed that a game that keeps its player at such a distance can make me feel like such a part of its world. It helps that it commits to its very specific and dour tone, where I never once have a reminder that I could be anywhere else. Some games tend to fall back on humor at times, or give you a quest from another genre to get you talking about it or to make headlines, but not this one. It commits. And I think it’s that commitment that has drawn me in so much - I can feel like this is the entirety of one thing, not a disparate sum of parts. It’s refreshing to play something so enveloping.
And it’s fun! I crafted a build with a guide online and some singular tailoring, I’m enjoying the side quests (even if not all of them stand out), and I’m shocked that the story is as engrossing as it is. I’m still reeling from the opening cutscene. It feels like a D&D campaign without the forced-hijinks that the dice so often force upon the campaign. I particularly liked one questline where I helped a priestess perform an exorcism, only to follow the demon down the rabbit hole for a few hours to a very startling conclusion. I’ll spare the spoilers.
I can tell I’ve got a long way to go - I’m still breaking down every item, I’m not thinking about aspects, and there’s another season coming out soon. I’m not even near the end game. At level 44, I’m still in act three (of six!).
So what happened Saturday night?
I teamed up with two clanmates - one level 53, one a few above me. We crushed some dungeons, advanced in my main quest, and tried our hand at some world events. There were no deaths, there we no close calls, and there was even one boss fight where not a single player took damage.
Is this on us, or the game? Is the world-tier-two difficulty not enough? I think maybe there should be one harder. Or maybe I’m not intended to play the campaign with friends? Maybe we made a mistake by studying and tailoring our builds so finely? It was fun, yes. We were firing on all cylinders. I was on crowd control, they were on DPS, and we laughed non-stop. But we didn’t go quiet. We didn’t tense up. We didn’t feel fear. And I was bummed! I had a blast, but I missed the challenge. I hope it comes back.
So maybe I’ll go solo, or maybe the end game will offer something different. I’m excited to check it out.
Alas, another week goes. The work will continue. I hope to have a stronger sense of what my tutorial levels are by this time next week.