Redwolf's Journal (continued)

 Looking back at my 2023 remarks on Diablo IV, I was moderately positive. The game's good enough to play and the story was compelling enough for me to voice thoughts about events and characters within, focusing on the central prophecy and how characters interpreted it differently. Now, I see some trailers for the second DLC, and I feel very different. I wonder how much of that may be a matter of me and my own perspective versus the game/story itself? Seeing Lilith making a reappearance is incredibly deflating. Arguably, that was inevitable. Blizzard doesn't want to sideline their major characters and in the setting most major powers are defeatable only in a temporary sense. But usually defeating a big-bad puts them out of action for more than a single expansion, so that feels ludicrously brief. I'd also say the flip-flop between getting Mephisto's assistance in fighting Lilith in the base game to vice versa feels uninspired. Really, the overall feeling I get of seeing t...

 Organizing thoughts on a video game somehow feels more healthy than dwelling on other matters of late, so... I've been playing Crimson Desert for a bit. It's good, but certainly not the next revolutionary game some people were making it out to be. Many people have said it's a "jack of all trades" game, which is fairly accurate. There are a ton of systems - crafting, refining, socketing, fishing, gathering, cooking, reputation, theft, recruiting, dispatch missions... and many more. The combat is competent and may have potential to be a little better than that, but it hasn't clicked with me to that point and it definitely doesn't feel as solid and deliberate as something like Elden Ring. The map is expansive, with a pretty good variety of enemies and biomes. I have found some enjoyment in just exploring. So there is a lot in the game and some of it has notable depth. It does lack in some areas, though. I feel bad for Kliff's voice actor, who went on rec...