Whenever I play one of the Diablo games, I feel a lot of different things. Excitement. Tension. Accomplishment. And sometimes, hunger.
Yeah, hunger. That’s because Diablo III, Diablo Immortal, and Diablo IV are so effortlessly fun that I just lose track of time, and sometimes forget to eat.
But that will never happen again (yeah, right) now that I’ve got Diablo: The Official Cookbook (hardcover, Kindle), which presents “Recipes And Tales From The Inns Of Sanctuary.”
In the following email interview, Rick Barba, the writer of the “Tales” parts of the book, explains how he came to co-write this book with Andy Lunique [The Ultimate Gamer’s Cookbook], as well as which of Andy’s recipes made him the hungriest.
Expectations can be tough, especially when a lot of time has passed. Just ask George Lucas about The Phantom Menace. Or Axl Rose about Chinese Democracy. Or George R.R. Martin — no, don’t bother him.
Or, you could just ask the good people at Blizzard who made Diablo IV (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC), which comes eleven long years after 2012’s Diablo III (and, well, a year after the wrongly convicted Diablo Immortal). Especially since Diablo IV is not a huge jump forward the way Diablo III was over 2000’s Diablo II.
But while Diablo IV may be more of a refinement than a reinvention when it comes to this series’ third-person hack & slash / bow & arrow / magic spell action, it still ends up being as effortlessly addictive as the most recent installment. And Diablo III.
Nearly two years after being released on PCs and Mac, the Diablo III-esque dungeon crawler Victor Vran has finally come to consoles as Victor Vran Overkill Edition (PlayStation 4, Xbox One), which also includes the game’s two major add-ons, an expanded edition that’s also available on PC. But while this adventure game is decidedly Diablo-esque, it manages to distinguish itself by employing some different, and fundamental, mechanics.
With the novel Diablo III: Storm Of Light, writer Nate Kenyon isn’t just delivering another epic set in the world of Blizzard’s fantasy role-playing game, he’s helping set the stage for the game’s next chapter, Reaper Of Souls. Though in talking to him, it’s clear he didn’t just write this novel to get gamers from one plot point to another.
Sixteen months. That’s how long it took Blizzard to do a console version of their hack & slash action game, Diablo III. Which may be small potatoes when you consider it took them twelve years to make this sequel to 2000’s Diablo II in the first place, but still, taking sixteen months to do bring a PC game to consoles — where, it could be argued, it should’ve been all along — that’s a long time to wait.
But now that it’s finally available on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, with a PS4 edition due out next year, it’s hard not to think that if there was any sequel worth waiting sixteen months for, let alone a dozen years, this would be it.
Blizzard have announced the first expansion for Diablo III, which they’re calling Reaper Of Souls (oooh, scary). Along with new places to explore, new people to kill, and new loot to, uh, loot from their dead bodies, the expansion will also add some new gameplay functionality.
The add-on centers around the character Malthael, the fallen Archangel of Wisdom, who disappeared after the events of Diablo II: Lord Of Destruction.
“In Reaper of Souls,” the announcement says, Malthael “returns as the Angel of Death and seizes the Black Soulstone, which contains the essence of the Prime Evil. It now falls to the players to track down Malthael and stop him before he unleashes irreversible havoc on the world. Fortunately, a new hero is ready to join the cause and bring Malthael to justice: The Crusader. Driven by a centuries-long quest to cleanse the corruption blighting their beloved Zakarum faith, Crusaders are warriors of righteousness who have been hardened through relentless, brutal combat with the foul evils plaguing eastern Sanctuary. In addition to wearing immensely heavy armor and wielding a wide range of cruel and punishing weapons, this new playable class in Reaper of Souls uses battle magic to strengthen allies and weaken foes. A natural walking tank, the Crusader adds power and versatility to any party of adventurers.”
In addition, Diablo III: Reaper Of Souls will also let people play as a Crusader, a new class, while the level cap for all classes will be raised to 70, with all classes getting new spells and/or abilities.
It also upgrades the Paragon progression system, adding “even more end-game character advancement and replayability,” as well as two new game modes called “Loot Runs” and “Nephalem Trials.”
Blizzard also release two videos for Diablo III: Reaper Of Souls. The first is a teaser trailer…
…while the second is the opening cinematic.
There was, however, no indication of when this expansion would be released, nor whether it would be included in the console versions of the game, which are due out for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on September 3rd, and the PlayStation 4 sometime next year.
