Thoughts on Diablo 3

So, I wrote most of this awhile back, but I never posted it because I wanted to beat all the modes first.

As an avid Diablo 2 fan, I was put off by the idea of weapons damage = spell damage, no skill tree choices, and limited spell slots. You get a good amount of spell slots, although I wish I could use more of my abilities. In Diablo 2, my Necromancer used almost 15 spells all at once, and I felt powerful. My Witch Doctor feels more limited, but I do like playing him anyway.

There are weird/stupid changes to the Diablo format, such as the removal of runewords and the reduction of gems. The new crafting system has better functionality and results, but something about combining elements in the Horodric Cube felt more fun.

I feel like there’s less loot, too, and the loot that you get has less variations in magical abilities. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s just how it feels when I play it. The loot I get in the game just never really amounts to much better than what I already have.

I don’t like the removal of skill trees and stat upgrade choices. One of the most fun parts of D2 was making hard choices on where to place points on the tree, and I loved it when my skeleton army would increase because I would pump up the level of that skill (and boost it with wands and stuff with magical skill upgrades). I miss creating a character in that way. This new game doesn’t feel like character creation; it feels like building a cloned character that will end up being exactly the same as every other Witch Doctor, played the same exact way.

I don’t like the multiplayer system. Instead of creating a room function like D2, they do a “Jump right in” button that misses the point of why D2 was so great. In D2, you could create a game with a specific purpose. In D3, all games are either duel or mission mode. No drop games. No trading rooms. No hide-and-seek mode. All the fun user-created playstyles are impossible with the way this multiplayer is set up. 

I’ve been playing Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag

And I’m loving it very much.

I played the very first Assassin’s Creed on PS3, and I enjoyed it well enough. I did, however, get bored at a certain point, and I found the missions to become the same thing over and over.

Lately, however, I’ve been needing some pirate in my life, and so I made the purchase of Black Flag on that whim. Let me tell you, the game never gets boring. Ever. 

overloaded

This is some of the most varied gameplay I’ve ever experienced in a single game. Every time I began to feel like I was hitting that “peak” moment where I’ve experienced everything, they threw something new at me. Other than the basic Assassin’s Creed stuff, you can hunt whales/sharks, dive into sunken ships, go hunting for jaguars/monkeys/wild pigs, purchase art for your home, craft health upgrades/clothing/gun hostlers, capture rival ships, build a fleet and send them around the world to trade, capture naval fortresses, have bar fights, sail around with pirates singing sailing songs you can collect, explore smuggler’s dens, pet cats, feed chickens, rescue pirates and add them to your crew, use blowdarts to put guards to sleep, and upgrade your hideout cove by purchasing shops, brothels, and guest houses...

I honestly couldn't imagine a better pirate game, and just when I think I've seen everything, they throw out new gameplay that I wasn't expecting, like finding Mayan ruins, obtaining Templar keys, or hacking computers. And, of course, there’s also multiplayer on top of all of that. I’m overwhelmed by how great this game is. It’s LOADED with content, and I give it my full recommendation for anyone who wants an amazing collect-a-thon to play in a pirate setting. 

The gripes I had

 ...were very, very few. One was that there’s no way to run without accidentally clinging onto stuff you didn’t mean to. Another is that, when standing on a “sync” tower with the hawk circling around, they decided to use the same button for descending that they do for syncing, so I inevitably sync several times in a row if I want to climb down without jumping into a haystack.

The last thing I think is a shame is the lack of ship battles in multiplayer. The best part of the game, for me, was battling ships on the seas. I really wish that they had made naval combat the focus of the online multiplayer, rather than the hide-and-seek gameplay that is. The multiplayer can be fun, but I probably wouldn’t play it as much if I didn’t want the platinum trophy. If it were ship battles, you’d bet I’d be playing it all the time.

That’s all! Buy Black Flag! It’s amazing!

My idea for a Wreck-It Ralph sequel: Wreck-It Ralph Junior!

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Sort of how Wreck-It Ralph is a play on Donkey Kong, its sequel will be a play on Donkey Kong Junior.

PLOT: A new arcade cabinet has been collected by the old man and plugged in to the surge protector. He’s very excited because it’s a very rare addition! Wreck-It Ralph Junior! This new game starts out with a visual of Felix and the townsfolk celebrating on the building and Wreck-It Ralph is locked into a cage. Then we see a montage of Felix’s carpentry business taking off and he becoming mega rich and twisted by his inflated ego. He becomes the evil version of Felix, known as Felix-Ferocious (or possibly a new character called Cage-It Carl or something, as long as it’s just a clone of Felix with an evil look on his face), and the player plays as W.I.R. Junior trying to save his father.

Hit the jump for more!