Image source: Blizzard Entertainment
I just downloaded Diablo IV and watched the opening cutscene and…damn. The return of Lilith, Diablo’s niece, birthed through a veil of human sacrifice amid slowly floating blood petals, was heart-stopping; I could feel the hairs on my neck lift as she slowly became flesh. She's here, and she's ready to battle for dominion over Sanctuary. And that means, it’s time for our heroes to return to Sanctuary to battle demons, beasties, and all manner of bloody nasties.
I have very fond memories of playing Diablo II with my husband. I usually played some type of sorcerer, using my staff to whirl powerful energies from afar. He would usually play a berserker or other type of warrior character, flinging himself without fear into the middle of battles.
It was a cooperative game, so together we’d explore the demon-drenched world of Sanctuary. Given our differing play styles (I wanted to explore every nook and cranny of the world, breaking open every wooden crate and picking up every single piece of gold and loot; he wanted to melee his way quickly through the main story line), we often spent evenings defeating demons and fighting over which way to go next.
We waited a very long time to play Diablo III, and in the interim got addicted to the crack that is World of Warcraft. When it finally did come out in 2012, we waited and didn’t play until well after the real money auction house fiasco had died down. We waited until the Reaper of Souls patch came out in 2014 to play. Much darker in tone than Warcraft, with a nighttime blood-soaked aesthetic, we were instantly brought back down the blood-strewn memory lane of this RPG hack-and-slash loot festival.
And now, nearly 10 years later, Diablo IV has come out. I’ve started playing as a necromancer, raising up armies of glow-in-the-dark skeletons from the bodies of my slain enemies, hacking my way through Sanctuary yet again. It’s just the beginning of the game for me, so of course, I’m exploring every part of each map, making sure that I haven’t missed any hollow tree stump or traveler’s pack in my looting frenzy. I’m playing the game solo, but I’m also hoping to play many evening sessions with my husband -- the family that slays demons together stays together.
Share any memories you have of playing Diablo in the comments below.
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