Diablo 4 Critique

[@JimmyMcG33]

Hello gamer! After a short rest, I made the English subtitles today. Here is a list of all the music with timestamps since people have been asking about it in the comments. 00:00:18 Harem - Matt Uelman (Diablo 2) 00:02:45 The Merchant Raosta - Yuka Watanabe (Crossed Swords) 00:07:30 Shop - Koji Endo (King's Field) 00:10:14 Wilderness - Matt Uelman (Diablo 2) 00:16:36 Tristram - Matt Uelman (Diablo) 00:22:08 BGM 77 (can't find the name sorry) - Harry Gregson Williams/Norihiko Hibino (Metal Gear Solid 2) 00:27:01 Halls - Matt Uelman (Diablo 2 LoD) 00:30:56 Review - Kenta Nagata (1080 Snowboarding) 00:35:31 Track 5 - ??? (Virtual Casino) (I ripped this myself, idk anything about it) 00:40:17 East Seaside - Koji Endo (King's Field 2) 00:45:59 A World of Madness - Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill 2) 00:56:07 Cave of Fear - Tamsoft Sound Team (Guardian's Crusade) 00:59:18 The Red Naval Port - Syun Nishigaki & Tatsuro Suzuki (19XX The War Against Destiny) 01:02:00 Rogue Encampment - Matt Uelman (Diablo 2) 01:04:35 Daddy's Money - Wh0r3s 01:06:30 Arms Depot - Harry Gregson Williams/Norihiko Hibino (Metal Gear Solid 2) 01:08:55 Hell - Matt Uelman (Diablo) 01:24:39 Some untitled thing - me 01:31:53 Fantasy Land - John Baker (SEGA Channel) 01:34:34 Wormsign - Dune (The Best of Keygen Music) 01:38:45 Brinstar - Kenji Yamamoto (Super Metroid) 01:47:47 26 5 [demo] - Aphex Twin 01:50:42 luke vibert spiral staircase - Aphex Twin 02:02:09 Tristram again 02:11:26 Mist Engine - James Primate (Rain World) In the future I will credit songs while they are playing, the same way I credit videos I use.

[@hiphyro]

thank you + based aphex twin

[@BraveAbandon]

I'd also appreciate a link list of any recommended resources or things referenced, like at 35:00 reverse design of diablo 2

[@arostwocents]

A lot of this video could be heavily edited down. Much is saying the same thing in different ways. I would guess probably 60% shorter would be conservative. This is one of the best channels I've discovered this year but after trying my first long video, it definitely has the solo creator/KZbin problem of using 10 sentences to make what should be one sentence. I don't think I can watch other game review videos after this despite absolutely loving your content style. 😢

[@arostwocents]

That's figuratively - your issue is using 10 sentences to make a point you already used 10 sentences to make 5 times already. 😢

[@arostwocents]

This was great but WAY too long and repetitive. i fell asleep watching it and literally have no idea where i got to as anywhere i go to, hes saying things ive already heard but i know i was somewhere around 70% 😂 so just skipping to the end segment and as im writing this hes making a point i heard hours ago about less affixes. Is this written by AI? The channel has talked about AIs limited memory making it repeat loads so im genuinely interested what input AI had into this script???

[@RobertusAmor13]

Been waiting for this one so I can flippantly type "D4 bad" before actually absorbing anything from the video.

[@julius.caesar.]

D4 bad(haven’t read your comment yet)

[@RobertusAmor13]

Post-viewing Update: D4 Bad.

[@bogbastard4243]

it is in fact bad but we cant all be path of exile

[@Rob-147]

D4 bad

[@mugurel1357]

Actually D4 season 4 update made the game a lot better.

[@potatodadave]

That thumbnail is a work of art, it literally says everything before watching the video

[@r.k.5031]

I felt the urge to clap when I saw it, and I'm barely meming.

[@TheTuttle99]

It's why i clicked the video lmao its such a burn

[@sheepgrass500]

Ikr

[@cybWasHere]

"this game is 80 hours of metastasis every 4 months" is the most violent commentary i've ever heard about any game lmao. Thanks for your work

[@nickjohnson398]

Wait what does he mean here? The phrasing is throwing me off

[@ImortalZeus13]

@@nickjohnson398 Every few months the game will steal 80 hours of your life but will offer you nothing substantial.

[@tumultoustortellini]

KZbin is somehow so broken, that I can't see the questioning guy's comment anymore. This site is falling apart. my answer for him: Basically, metastasis is "meta-progression, but stasis, like homeostasis, you're just holding holding the same position". So when you bring the thought together, he's saying that you're basically punching the clock, and spending 80 hours to maintain progress level everytime they update, which is every four months. He's calling it out on being fake, and wastefully long, etc.

[@Cyromantik]

​@@tumultoustortellini Thank you for your explanation. Goodness it's a rather elegant and grim turn of phrase, isn't it?

[@tumultoustortellini]

@@Cyromantik It is. I Think we should all fear games like this. In a sense, they're making a game that'll make you work to give them money, except you don't get paid, just mediocre entertainment. As if these companies couldn't squeeze us more, they turned games into jobs to do it again lol.

[@ail-r5o1f]

I work in the industry. I've seen design documents for popular mobile games. The way they talk about structuring every bell and whistle to get people addicted and to get addicted people to spend more money is so blunt I was shocked. They talked like super villains basically. Any game that implements anything similar puts me off now.

[@konradohlm3131]

Take a snapshot of it and post it online. Its better to know your enemy than otherwise

[@Spinevoyager]

Would you mind sharing some specific verbiage used? I'm morsely curious.

[@theofilgueiras9583]

I went to college to learn game design Yup you nailed it, the way the teachers talk about how easy it is to earn cash trough mobile gaming and make people addicted to your product is insanely inhuman

[@ail-r5o1f]

@@Spinevoyager @konradohlm3131 For example words like "pervasive" and "aggressive" are used to describe a how a new kind of paid collectible should be designed. It should be a "status symbol" in order to "force monetization higher" and should have a "social aspect" so it can be adopted by more people

[@jeffe2267]

@@konradohlm3131 Just look up the speech "let's go whaling", you don't need to be "in the industry" to have this information.

[@morgan3392]

I think Josh Strife Hayes said this, but I'll reiterate it here: Recent games aren't made with fun first. They're made fun _enough_ to get you to engage with the in-game store.

[@phutureproof]

well it must be true if he said it, who is this man?

[@Toksyuryel]

@@phutureproof how dare they try to give credit to who they think they are quoting instead of simply plagiarizing it

[@TheHalogen131]

@@phutureproof A very good British youtuber with high ethic standards.

[@cl8804]

josh strife gayes kinda gay--agayne

[@MaitreMechant]

and he's specialized in MMO's so he knows a thing or 2 about in game cash shops lol

[@momo4081]

Monetization in games has genuinely ruined the sense of progression and excitement. No longer do i unlock things as i play, i just have to be remjnded that "actually this better item is in the PREMIUM PASS" and that in itself kills any motivation for spending time in a game. Apex legends od example and its reward system is abhorent, so i only play the game to wnjoy the skill expression it presents. Anything like cosmetics is moot and useless. Which is. Abummer. Gone are the days of unlocking cool free skins and colours off of natural progression or challenges. No visual expression is allowed unless you fork a shit ton of money. I do hope we all wake up to how predatory these systems are and express them in a way that inspired change. Awesome video, it made me.think qiite a bit about the state of everything we consume.

[@ohno5559]

Not to be hyperbolic but I've found more and more that having these microtransaction schemes shoved in my face, even though I never use them, just completely kills my ability to enjoy a game. I don't want to continue engaging with something after I see it brazenly try to manipulate me. That does not put me in a good mood, or compel me to see what else they have to offer, even if I know the other stuff is good. And this is all assuming that no gameplay was sacrificed for the sake of monetization, which of course it almost always was.

[@sleepfgc]

My exact feeling

[@calvingarbacik272]

It's like knowing that a piece of art was generated rather than made, the little intentions behind it are corrupted (by microtransactions) or nonexistent

[@arilphoenix]

Agreed. A particularly egregious example I ran into recently was Tales of Arise. A single player JRPG that shoves its DLC store in your face when you camp to restore health. Game itself is fun but that completely killed my desire to keep playing.

[@Gamingpandacat]

this is one of the reasons I just dropped genshin one day, it wasn't just the constatnt pull of the gacha and the limited rng runs I had to do every day, its that all of that stuff was desperately trying to keep me hooked and buying more blattlespases and pulls, without actually giving me anything meaningful to do, all the "events" had the best reward (premium currency) as the first tier of reward, you can just do that and skip the rest, but the gameplay was fun enough that I wanted to play them all, I kept betting bogged down by how my achievements meant nothing once the new characters came out and how my team or builds were not the best possible set ups, I could simply not try and get the best rewards, trying was heavily punished and pushing the game boiled down to not having a big enough stat stick to do the thing fast enough.

[@darkpixel1128]

Microtransactions creates an adversarial relationship between game creator and player. It turns the game creator from gamemaster to car salesmen.

[@QuintusCunctator]

Jimmy, thanks for this video! Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to see it through. Not because of its quality - it's fantastic - but because I find it horribly depressing. You summed it up pretty concisely at the start of the video: the D4 model is a sad proposition for a world growing sadder. It's meant to tickle human weakness in the lowest way, and no amount of "we're passionate about videogames" is going to improve things. Thanks anyway, much appreciated!

[@JimmyMcG33]

I totally get it, it was a struggle to put together. I'm going back to indies after this, probably forever.

[@d0kk542]

@@JimmyMcG33 looking forward to it

[@koveltskiis8391]

@@JimmyMcG33 Understandable, I think there’s a lot of indie games that deserve more coverage and analysis than they get too so it’s a win-win

[@TN-qr4hx]

@@JimmyMcG33 Your Rainworld videos, for a game I've never played and probably will never play, have left me watching every single one of your videos with real enthusiasm. It's also justified exploring more of KZbin's suggested videos since that's how I discovered yours. I don't know if you'll see this. I don't leave many comments, and this is just one hidden in a reply, but the Rainworld videos are not my favorite videos you've made. I'll likely watch anything you take the time to struggle to put together.

[@shibechef]

@@JimmyMcG33 :D

[@azadea9431]

That ending. A two hour and twelve minute wind up to a blow so savage it needs no delivery: the target is already dead. And then you fade in Rain World music at the very end, a wistful memory of something truly and humbly brilliant. Your videos are absolutely amazing! And thank you for the indie recommendations, wishlisted almost all of those.

[@hungryhedgehog4201]

I've been calling these "proxy currencies' scrip, cause that's basically what it is. You can only spend them in their company store and they regulate the exchange rate and how much you get.

[@JimmyMcG33]

I might steal that, really good point.

[@arostwocents]

And you can't trade back for real money. It's basically an even worse crypto. At least you can buy drugs with crypto.

[@Pdidit09]

''The frustrating thing is that some slob can just take a Great Game - make a cheap copy and slap a bunch of psuedo-progression and monetization on top of it , in fact there's one high profile example you might have hear of..'' the most poignant of points which holds a mirror to the revolting visage of D4. Thank you for making such a thought provoking critique of the current state of the AAA games industry as a whole . These games are not made out of passion or to foster a lifelong emotional experience ,but rather to milk nostalgia and the wallets of their fans with predatory macro-transactions under the guise of 'live service'. I'll never forgive ABK for ruining all the heart , soul and legacy of Diablo that Blizzard North/ Condor (Brevik et al) meticulously crafted with passion and devotion for their fans. Support AA/ indie studios that create games with love for the artform and where the sole purpose is not to manipulate your enjoyment on their terms for shareholder metrics and quarterly reports.

[@arostwocents]

Or just play retro. The two Yakuza on the PSP have fan translations now, I'm on the 2nd playing them consecutively and the games are FANTASTIC. Everything modern games are not.

[@Aresojp]

As a massive ARPG addict, for the past 2 decades I've had my eyes peeled for any Diablo adjacent games. There's been far more disappointments than diamonds found, but even when being let down is to be expected, what stands out in D4 is its absolute lack of innovation and originality. Most games had SOMETHING new to offer, even if the idea didn't quite hold up. At least there was a visible effort. D4 (and D3 aside from its RMAH) feels so void of this spark gameplay wise. It's almost as if most creative resources went into monetization schemes and nothing more to spare.

[@bennwalton]

grim dawn whips sack

[@enzoofelba]

It’s like I once described it to a friend of mine: “This game is about as fresh as an opened pack of saltines you find under your car seat, after half a year.”

[@markmaidens5911]

I highly suggest the Champions of Norrath games on PS2 from Snowblind Studios. They are some of the most highly underrated arpgs ever and play a lot like D2 and Dark Alliance games.

[@garrettchandler1948]

I remember in the early 2000s they were making a lot of Diablo clones. I'm a big fan of the dark alliance games.

[@legitplayin6977]

Got any cool recommendations? Apart from Grim dawn and Titan quest cause I play them already

[@thegigachad5038]

26:10 "Homeopathic stat boosts" may be the best and most hilarious term I've heard for these. Almost completely inconsequential, but played up as big, just to give you the feeling it's doing something.

[@dan_hahn]

Love the vid! Only issue is describing Tolkien fantasy as 'pomp'. Some of the crunchiest, most efficient fantasy out there is Tolkien and it's largely through the grapevine and pop-opinion distortion that Tolkien has been characterized as fluffy or pretentious. Case and point--take a gander at the scene at weather top (which the movie does great but, the book has some additional layers to it). The group knows the wraiths are attacking that night and they're all huddled together basically in a foxhole (a small dell at the foot of weather top). Aragorn tells the hobbits an old love story from Numenor myth (interestingly one that's also a tale of his ancestors) to ease their nerves while they prepare collectively for the inevitable. In one scene we have character writing for all four hobbits, for Aragorn, the threat of the wraiths, and world building tied in under a very grim re-imagining of exactly the kind of thing Tolkien himself likely experienced in the trenches of WW1. It's one example but a really good one. Tolkien is an exceptionally efficient writer. It's not that he takes a paragraph to describe a tree--it's that in a paragraph he's told the reader of the trees, the world, the mood, and moved the plot forward all at once. I suspect Tolkien's acquired his rep as an unnecessarily dense writer because so much happens so quickly in his writing to the point where it is difficult to keep up and may be overwhelming. Truly, he is one of the least fluffy writers to have ever taken up the craft. And I don't say all this to stir the pot or cause trouble, it's an unfortunate coloring of Tolkien that I think we all may collectively benefit from having corrected.

[@mavymagdowney9798]

well said!

[@Sycosquirl18]

I'm reading LOTR (for the second time) at the moment. It's easy for my eyes to glaze over a bit as I read one of the paragraphs depicting natural features, and my attention wanders until I reach the next bit of dialogue or a plot advancement. I don't think I'm the only one who suffers from this. I imagine it's symptomatic of so much of our other media being overstimulating. It takes focus to read those parts of LOTR. I find that when I check myself and reread those passages, I am rewarded. It's as you said - those paragraphs are not fluff, but quite the opposite - they're dense with meaning and they will create vivid impressions in your mind of what is happening in the story if you allow them to. But it can be a struggle to read it. It doesn't help that many of the names he uses for geographical features are not in our vocabularies anymore. It's a great opportunity to learn a huge variety of terms for describing the natural world in more precise detail.

[@drumcanjones]

I mean, I don't know about "least fluffy writers ever" - he's no Vonnegut - But I do agree people have an uncharitable opinion of his writing likely coloured by more recent fantasy writers who shall go unnamed, who can spend an entire chapter describing something as meaningless and inconsequential as a plate of food. He's not writing for economy, but everything he does write has a purpose. I think most people nowadays are just really, really bad at reading because there are so many other forms of entertainment available.

[@kaingates]

Blud, Tolkien spent 4 pages describing the view of Rivendell. Spent two paragraphs describing the spider legs and repeated the Ents physique 35 times in one chapter. The guy was an amazing writer but he was by no definition an "efficient" writer. Or what drove the plot forward when Aragorn explained his family tree to Legolas AND THEN REPEATED THE SAME STORY to Elrond AND Denethor? Yeah he writes action sequences dense but I would 100% agree with anyone describing Tolkiens writing as 'pomp'. Another example, what moved the plot forward when he described the Frodos foster family who was insulted and demanded more food and drink because of Bilbos joke? Frodo was already getting wine and Bilbo was hiding in his hut with the ring but he spent half a page describing the family (and this aunt?) and never mentioned them again.

[@jaednhowlar2359]

@@kaingates Tolkien apologists make a lot of shit up in their head to defend their God.

[@Psd2940]

Thank you sincerely for not adding those final two words to the end of the script

[@JimmyMcG33]

sometimes i think of a joke like that and it makes me cackle like a villain in a cartoon

[@gamemaniac2013]

I'm complerely lost on what the joke here could be. Wait it "Diablo 4", or a gotcha like "Your Mom"?

[@ACEYGAMES]

@@JimmyMcG33 we knew what you meant, you knew what you meant but just stopping and ending the video without another word said actually made me chortle. It was such a ballsy way to say it.

[@NB-kc2cr]

I'm betting he meant "Diablo Immortal"? Diablo 4 isn't exactly a cheap copy.

[@mossy3565]

>3:40 'In character email from Hoyo-verse' That's hilarious on so many levels... It's also incredibly sad

[@CheesyGabite]

they do the same thing for star rail 💀💀

[@JimmyMcG33]

bro they won't stop, i have more of their roster in my spam folder than in the game

[@wigglerlesbian]

they send in game mail, make posts on all social media and send you an e-mail if it's a character's birthday

[@CheesyGabite]

@JimmyMcG33 As I was watching the vid, I literally got an in character email For a character’s rerun 💀

[@BlackStoneDiamond]

@@JimmyMcG33 Then make a filter to trash mails like that. There's a lot of options in gmail; it's not that hard

[@dgkway]

Honestly? Dunking on the game this hard for two hours despite your thumbnail saying it all is savage Respect👍

[@jesperjohansson6959]

That "exploiting people at their lowest" point is so true, I've rarely been in a happy state of mind when I've spent money on game cosmetics. The most monetarily successful live service games make you feel empty inside while simultaneously making you not want to stop playing, aka League of Legends.

[@painsorrow3062]

You are gradually filling in the gap that matthewmatosis left behind when he retired from making videos for me personally. Seriously one of the most forward thinking 'video essaysists' on this platform with unique insight on every topic you cover. This stuff may be ugly, but the way you structure this creates a fascinating analytic text.

[@ssswords]

8:39 "All systems like these exist to exploit people at their lowest, who are either bad with money or in such a bleak mood that they think a videogame cosmetic will make them feel better." I've had a couple depressive cycles in my life (like COVID, a really bad breakup, and a workplace re-structure that axed most of my social structure overnight) and one of the staple stages of these cycles is re-installing Destiny 2, buying the current season pass, buying a few Eververse items with silver, reaching the max level in the season, slowly realize what's really happening, and ending it all by deleting all of my weapons, armor, and items, and then uninstalling.

[@domisPL_01]

Introspection is rare ability. Is useful to make sure you dont repeat mistakes from the past. You have this ability :)

[@ssswords]

@@domisPL_01 Thank you! What a nice message.

[@virvewirllos]

Something I really enjoy about your videos is how you sprinkle in some humor and sincerity without breaking the flow. I find not many creators can walk the line for me between presenting a serious critique with bordeline esterile delivery or without resorting to the same 4 jarring jokes.

[@EggBastion]

that little set up for a compliment about the tutorials being as good as those typically found in the triple AAA space... and the payoff is just an expert bonk to the head delivered without the slightest deviation or distraction oh to live in a world where so much of what plagues us could be as easily dispatched and moved on from

[@kaybeeh3717]

toasts and pop-ups aside, it's amazing how deflated all the tense story beats are every time i get reminded of stan's name.

[@Bones_Ex]

I've been playing a lot of indie games and rediscovered my joy for gaming. Manor Lords, Shogun Showdown, Halls of Torment, Redout 2, Slipstream, Slay the Spire. So many great indie games are out there and it's rekindled my passion for this hobby.

[@eon6274]

I'm looking for some more good indies as well. Some good ones I can recommend are Soulstone Survivors, Army of Ruin, Death Must Die, Halls of Tormet which you already listed, and Inkbound

[@arostwocents]

Millions of great retro games too. Both PSP Yakuza have translations now. I've only finished the first but it's a 9/10 and the second is great so far

[@raycestg3447]

This video helped me put into words why video games just turn me off very often and I realized it's modern games never leaving room for you to take extended breaks. I've played D2 since LoD released, on and off, and it always feels like the game welcomes me back by just being in the state I left it; no matter how long the breaks I take are. All this seasonal content, the battle passes, MTX and so on are just carnival barkers that never shut up and instills in you the feeling you cannot leave at any time and come back later to keep enjoying the experience.

[@introvertedrobot3681]

You just put into words what ive disliked about Diablo 3 past the main story.

[@drakep.5857]

Just want to say, I know it's strange, but your subscriptions are awesome for allowing me to find alot of other intelligent youtubers like Jimmy Mcgee. Thanks. And I fully agree. What's engaging about a game that tries to make you come back constantly? Nothing at all. No art has ever functioned in that way and it's so nakedly exploitative barren capitalist manipulation

[@kurdtcoben]

Thank you for going into such detail about how predatory those RLM shop systems truly are. People all too often just handwaive it away with arguments like "Don't like it, don't buy it" or "It's only cosmetics, bro!" but never seem to acknowledge how they pray on vulnerable people like addicts, depressed individuals, young children and other individuals with low self control or impulsive habits! I've had many a heated argument about exactly that point with Dragon's Dogma 2's MTX with a large majority of people simply refusing to admit that it IS a problem, even if you don't need to buy them to "enjoy" the game, meanwhile completely neglecting the aforementioned predatory issues and the fact that you are buying bandaid fixes to problems the developers created. Edit: Damn, you even managed to figure out that the inclusion of open world multiplayer was most definitely motivated to be a presentation of store cosmetics to potential buyers! Respect, didn't think you'd mention that.

[@arostwocents]

This could only exist under economic fascism, where the dominant feeling people have toward others can be summed up as "I'm alright Jack" - in a society and under a system where people care about others, the current state of gaming is one of thousands of things that couldn't exist.

[@Jasmine69420]

My mum tried to choke me to death while she was having a psychosis once but to this day I legitimately feel more betrayed by diablo 3.

[@J.DanielsThe3rd]

What made your dad hit it

[@Tetragramz]

@@J.DanielsThe3rd cottage cheese wagon

[@Andytlp]

@@Tetragramz i dont get it. Is it rancid vagina. Also a lot of crazy learn how to hide their bat shit behavior until youre locked in. The stereotypical crazy person you see from a mile away is not the types that your dad or mom would hit no matter how down bad they were.

[@Andytlp]

Holy sht how much did that mess you up haha 🙃

[@cl8804]

CHOKE IST FREI

[@punishedbung4902]

There are three wolves inside D4. The first is an auteur, making a grim dark masterpiece. The second wolf is trying to find a way to turn that work into a universal studios theme park with egregious over monetization. The third wolf just blew in from stupid town.

[@notalpharius2562]

and the third wolf is Bobby Kotick in his furry suit

[@tumultoustortellini]

​@@notalpharius2562Nah, that's the second. The third is whoever designed the inventory and weapon dmg alteration systems

[@ImortalZeus13]

It's honestly even worse than this. Its more like Wolf 2 hired a whole team of other Wolf 2s to delegate a dozen teams of Wolf 1s to produce a product that *feels* like Wolf 1's baby, while actually being masterminded form the start to be Wolf 2's cash cow.

[@wumi2419]

In context of me being an avid PoE player that did not play Diablo much (for a variety of reasons), it's interesting to see which PoE mechanics are inherited from D2 and how they changed over time. An example would be atlas bases, where specific items could only drop from specific maps, which then became specific regions (while they were a thing) and now there's no more map lock, with focus changing to league mechanics having unique to that mechanic rewards. Crafting is also becoming less random over time, despite some of the best crafting ways still being "lock 1 affix" (essences, fracturing orb).

[@JimmyMcG33]

I only played through PoE once (to the extent you can finish PoE lol), that's really interesting!

[@LiquidOrcana]

2:10:00 I hate how much I started pointing at the screen when you mentioned the idea of “grinding enemies until they become stronger” as a storytelling tool because Secrets of Grindia does *exactly* that, I don’t want to spoil how, but I would highly recommend checking it out; they just fully released about a month ago after long Early Access lifetime and it could absolutely use the attention.

[@zezzame]

I don't play Diablo 4, but to me, it was shocking to hear that there was such little viable build variety between classes. If they want you to play a new character every season, I would *think* that each class should have enough variation within itself to warrant coming back excitedly each season to, effectively, play the same class a new way. "Oh man that build is so cool I will have to try that next season as a way to experience it from lvl 1 to max!" But if leveling is the same, if the class boils down to having minimal viable builds, and if no other class is interesting to me... Why would I come back? It makes no sense to their business model, I have no reason to come back if it's going to feel the same every run, outside swapping classes, if there is no power spike, each run is going to be the same as last season. It seems the kind of thing you do once, finish, leave and wait for an update before returning because unless they change something to the class, there is no reason to do it all again.

[@ABuffWizard]

2 hours of Jimmy AND on the topic of Diablo? What’d we do to deserve such a treat

[@sullyschwartz2365]

Armor used to look cool asf with lore behind them; With what they did often being tied to the lore. Now, anything with an ounce of effort put into it is usually reserved for the store.

[@arostwocents]

Once stores are standard, why would a company that can get away with a store offer anything cool for free? (Given they consider anything included in the £70 cost of the game as being given for free, the £70 only buying you a store client with the minimum extra to not be sued) The most depressing thing is that and more than anything should have stopped anyone engaging with the current gen.

[@joeblowe3180]

7:52 this just made me look up how weak the Canadian dollar is. wow is it weak. Congrats CA

[@doozledorf7036]

Kinda fitting

[@PontifX]

Its rediculous how much depth you have in getting what is actually happening. Fkn love the videos.

[@Pbairsoftman]

Jimmy, you’re a master at this. Your gambling video was so superb I thought it couldn’t be topped, but here you come with a sequel that deconstructs the entire AAA industry. Thank you so much

[@VikingRobotNinja]

"this feels like old money" was a perfect description

[@meiyagii]

My god. A new Jimmy McGee video. My birthday isn't for another week, but it feels like it is today. Thank you for more excellent content as always!

[@picahudsoniaunflocked5426]

Happy Soon Birthday! Have a good one!

[@arcmage7000]

"A drip feed of dopamine for it's own sake" is a phenomenal phrase. imo lots of software products (social media, AAA liveservice games, ai girlfriend apps, whatever) are converging upon that optimum. An obscene limit point of consumption; an eternal present, a comfortable waking dream. People are eager to be transported, they can be drawn in without full awareness, without regard for the time it will exact from them. It's an addictive mechanism we can understand, but the full consequences of it's rapid global deployment will take a long time to come to terms with.

[@arcmage7000]

Also thanks for the indie recs at the end! Psycho Patrol R was already on my list, but i didn't know about my work is not yet done, looks cool

[@drakep.5857]

​@@arcmage7000it's an awesome thing to receive. The most important thing we can do now in modern times is to hang on to each other. I recommend that you look through commenters here and find youtubers they're subscribed to, which are also often just as good, intelligent and verbose as Jimmy Mcgee, but aren't recommended on KZbin anymore because our algorithms are becoming far too good at directing us towards circular content farms and hate speech instead of actual art. You might discover alot of new games you haven't heard of through it, because I know I have

[@ChanceTheCheetah]

Off topic, but at the end, when the music credits show up at the end (btw thank you for attributing the music, not nearly enough people do that), the patterns that they pop in and the way it's in time to the beat is super satisfying

[@Giguv05]

He did the same in his "AI revolution is rotten" video and this was the moment my rating for it went from 10 to 11 out of ten

[@SeventhSolar]

I'm going to assume this will be the most insightful review of D4 to ever be created. I don't think I would've gotten this much out of just playing the game myself.

[@Fullchristainname]

2:07:43 I am going to violently disagree with this statement. People in game development are being laid off for two reasons; AI, and a reduction in demand for games now that the pandemic is over. It’s the industry trying to extract more work from its workforce for less pay, combined with the end of a temporary spike in demand for video games they knew was coming. Games are cheaper and easier than ever to make, as well as more in demand at all levels of polish/effort- the indie market proves that. Don’t let the AAA industry fool you into thinking they have to go to live service models- they’d simply prefer to because they make money on them hand over fist. If modders can update Skyrim modern graphics, for free, on their off time, AAA studios can produce games without relying on gambling to fund them. Lining your corporate executives pockets is not a necessary cost of game development.

[@Kirobsi]

I quite like the ending to this video. I'm surprised at just how many games you showed there too - I've always known myself not to keep up with games that much, but I knew of 0 of those and if I had to compile a list of my own I'd struggle to come up with 3 releases I'm looking forward to, no matter how obscure. Perhaps I should check some of those out sometime, although the itch palestine bundle (and the inspiration to make a game after playing ZeroRanger) will keep me occupied for a while. Also, I'd recommend showing song names on-screen when they play. Listing them all is good, but it's quite difficult for somebody to find something they're looking for if they have to manually count how many tracks played, or try to find a song they're familiar with to use as a reference point. There may well be a reason you refrain from doing this, but seeing as how you show other sources on-screen it seems like it'd be totally fine to me o,o

[@JimmyMcG33]

Thanks! I mostly use Twitter to follow developers these days (when I'm not yelling at zi0nists) so I find a lot of interesting games that way. That Palestine bundle has lots of great stuff. Yeah I'm going to do on-screen music credits from now on, I thought they might clutter up the video but the credits are completely useless the way they are now lol

[@squmulonimbus]

@@JimmyMcG33 Not completely useless; having any credit at all is miles above most videos and much appreciated. But yeah synchronized is better

[@floo6825]

The video was amazing and it opened my eyes. Was watching it while leveling in the season 4 of diablo 4 and you actually made me stop running on the treadmill for a second to think about my decision.

[@BurkaMurka]

So far you've helped with 5 sleeps and I'm only 40 mins in. Thanks!

[@schmidth]

I honestly can't tell if this is a compliment or insult lmao

[@BurkaMurka]

@@schmidth compliment

[@tayl1r]

You know, I never really thought about how Diablo 2 has no "end-game." Sure, you have to go through it three times, but the final boss is the final challenge. No endless dungeons full of endless demons of endless difficulty dropping endless level loot. I would grind multiplayer Baal raids for better gear (and run a Pindleskin Bot if we're being honest) but the game never asked me to do that. Despite my history with Diablo I never played Diablo 4. I will no longer buy a full priced game with microtransactions. What Blizzard used to charge us for Lord of Destruction or The Frozen Throne is now just a month of pantoloon cosmetics. A lot of mobile games try to hook you in with something cool. But 3 days into it you find you're basically running the same management game with a lot of monetisation inputs, while the game itself is auto-play - either literally or figuratively. It sounds like Diablo 4 just strings you along for a bit longer.

[@awsomebot1]

3:40 "relegated" yet theyre obnoxiously huge with some of them being the biggest games ever. it's impossible to escape, it's a cultural phenomenon. a tragedy this is what gaming came to.

[@franz83]

The codex rework highlights a broader issue with D4. As you said, skills alone don't carry a build. You need a bunch of synergistic Aspects to make a build work, and there's no chance generic affixes will be powerful enough to make you swap a synergistic piece out for a "0.2% more damage on fridays" type of thing. Addiction over fun means they need you to complete your build relatively early, otherwise the progression grinds down into frustration, and once you have most Aspects the only thing you're looking for is higher % (they removed D3 item sets just in name, you're effectively collecting sets of Aspects). Since there's no system to improve Aspects, it's all RNG, when you drop a perfect Aspect now you're likely going to be frustrated: use it and you'll inevitably drop an item with better affixes, wait for the perfect item and feel you're running a lame build. The new system will steer players towards collecting different sets of perfect Aspects and trying different builds once the current one gets boring, pushing the grind to peripheral stuff like slowly improving affixes % and leveling glyphs, which on their own have a small enough impact you won't feel the build is gimped. To me it's not enough to overcome the feeling of the D4 game being a Rupe Golberg-esque decoration around the PURCHASE button. It took me years to realise addiction isn't the same as fun, and the feeling of having been exploited isn't pleasant and doesn't go away.

[@Andytlp]

Its too grindy. Played older arpgs that had more variety in viable builds for hardest modes and end game. Literally dozens. Sure theyre not all absolute identical peak dps but theyre close enough that you wont care. Besides if one b uild makes everything that touches you die its only fair that it has 10-20% less dps than actively spamming keys until you get early onset arthritis.

[@franz83]

@@Andytlp it feels grindy because with its current mechanics it has to give you a mostly complete build (all skills + most aspects/uniques, for sure all the core stuff) by level ~50. Past that it's a game of chicken for when you'll pop those high roll aspects while you improve the "0.2% more damage on frozen pescatarians" affixes. Even universally acclaimed ARPGs like PoE degenerate into builds that can clear screens worth of chaff until they get one shot by a random booger lost in the visual clusterfuck, but those have great pacing. There are always multiple stepstones (for PoE it could be an extra gem link, accumulating enough mana to activate an extra aura, reaching an important node in the tree...) you're working towards while you accumulate those (individually) pointless and boring 0.2% increments, until the very very lategame where only true Hardcore Gamers™ run challenges to prove they can. Diablo 4 gives you the complete experience by level 50, and gives constant reworks and free respecs to keep you going, to let YOU gimp YOUR character by restarting on a different build just to keep the game interesting, under the illusion that the new, stronger build will be more fun.

[@Gustavozxd13]

it's very disappointing to see games like these come out all the time. The worst part is that people who complain about this are more often than not the same kind of people who defend games like nikke, genshin or fate grand order. Even fortnite has its defenders who say the monetization is "actually quite decent", yeah, decent if you ignore the fact that it and all other games with mtx nowadays will sell currency for 5 dollars, and sell items that cost 4 dollars worth of currency. I don't want to act like those "videogames suck now" kind of guys, because I know better. But when I see people I respect defend these games with terrible practices, I feel like an alien.

[@Turvy-]

Will my sleep be destroyed tonight? Maybe. Thanks for the upload Jimbo, can't wait to watch.

[@whamtheman]

I've never cared about Diablo, but you're a good nerd with good nerd talk, so it's interesting to listen to. Keep being a good nerd!

[@hrnekbezucha]

Diablo is one of the games i never really got into. I played the demo of 1, and then i got full version of 2, and had a good time with them. The demo was nicely paced, good snacky, self-contained experience. 2 was more of everything, loved the increases variety in every regard, making the moment to moment gameplay more interesting. But once i completed grasslands and went on to desert in Mario fashion, i though "oh, this is gonna be more of the same until the end, isn't it." And that was it for me. Played through the first area with every class, and had a good time. And quitting after that was over. I never appreciated this kind of mind numbing gameplay loop for extended periods of time. Good for an afternoon but then i gotta go do something else. So thanks for your thoughts on it. I'd never play a game for this many hours if i didn't have fun. Makes me miss out on a lot, i think. But that's okay

[@davidburnett5049]

By not going and doing something else, you miss out too. There is always an opportunity cost and your decision was probably the better option.

[@Andytlp]

If you had that disposition as a kid/teen then good for you. Because that's adult gamers mindset. Seen and played everything. If the game is 1 hour loop of same sht over and over like d4 is, just quit it. To be fair arpgs are like this and there are better ones than diablo 3 or 4. d2 is hard to critique because everything copied it. d4 gameplay is mind numbing. You have 2 or 3 buttons to press and either you instantly die or you face tank the enemies. On higher world tiers i assume there are buffed aura enemies that make you fall back sometimes or focus them but thats it. There is nothing to enjoy here after a few hours. Im literally dying waiting for Sui generis to come out. Theres a demo of sorts called exanima. Combat is unforgiving but never dull because its never the same. You can choose your own fighting style. How much you flail or nail the moves like a pro. The devs are taking their sweet time. wish they werent perfectionists.

[@porkers7792]

I get "why" Diablo 4's UX/UI is like a mobile game. I just don't understand "why". Like, isn't having a super gritty realistic cutscene juxtaposed with battle passes and rewards and BUY NOW just the ultimate failure in thematics? Like the cutscene is what I expect for buying the game, only for them to pull the rug out from under me. It feels cheap.

[@innocentsmith6091]

Level scaling is a fundamentally anti-RPG mechanic.

[@Sice64]

a good day when jimmy uploads

[@iyxon]

Well, this video finally got me to uninstall Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, so thanks lol I had already seen your other videos on the machine-zone and gaming and those were really influential intellectually for me, but knowing it cognitively wasn't enough. Hearing you say at the end of the video, that at the end of your experience with D4 you just felt weird and tired and sad really resonated with me emotionally. These games... these types of games... just made me feel tired and sad. No more!

[@eigenvector0015]

Your videos are criminally underrated. You deserve more exposure.

[@flufficornss]

what makes me upset the most about d4 is that i truly get the feeling the devs the people actually making the game wanted more with the gameplay and story but higher ups forced them to make it as monetizable as possible because i feel like there were choices they wanted to make but couldnt

[@Zindeyyy]

Got recommended this video, really glad I did. After sinking so many hours into it, Diablo IV was the first video game to ever have me stop in the middle of playing and go “why am I doing this, what is the point?”. As someone whose favorite art medium has been video games, pretty much my entire life, it was honestly a gutwrenching realization. I didn’t even touch the game after Season of Blood. It seemingly opened Pandora’s box for me. Nearly every triple-a game I have played since then has reignited that feeling in me and deterred me from those kinds of games, pretty much altogether. Really sad time in gaming at the moment. Triple-a games used to be an event, the industry’s finest culminating efforts into an ambitious, refined, and exciting project. Now it’s in many people’s best interest to avoid them entirely.

[@thebuddhasmiles]

Me when I played elden ring

[@Zindeyyy]

@@thebuddhasmiles Definitely didn’t get that feeling with Elden Ring. Are you saying you didn’t like the game, or was it that the scale of it was too daunting to make you want to continue?

[@redspah]

@@Zindeyyy Not the original commenter, but I agree that Elden Ring wasn't free of this specific issue, though nowhere near the extent of other AAA games. The vast majority of minor dungeons / caves / catacombs struck me as "content" in the most derogatory sense while playing. They're there to give you one (1) Spirit Ash you're never gonna use, maybe a few crafting materials, and that's it. And don't even get me started on the Evergaols and 10 copies of the same one dragon with different flavors. With so much side stuff feeling superfluous, it worsens the feeling of the entire open world since you have the main attractions in Legacy Dungeons, a few side areas you go to because their rewards are relevant to your build / you need the gloveworts, and then... a lot of nothing in between. Very good looking nothing, the environment design is really good in Elden Ring, but still nothing. The DLC was better about this in many aspects (fewer side areas but most of them felt much better, a much more interconnected world that was a blast to explore) but still isn't free of having NPC """boss""" fights for what feels like no reason (especially since they could've just as well been invaders) and many of its open world areas having a single attraction worth checking out and exactly nothing else.

[@picahudsoniaunflocked5426]

1:12:15 I like the thing people say about biblical angels: "there's a reason they always open with "Do not be afraid!"".

[@vinnheim]

I think one of the most damning indictments of D4 is that it actively tries to persuade you from playing the campaign. I like to make multiple characters to test out some abilities before committing to a character, and the game started asking if I wanted to skip the campaign even though I hadn't even finished act 1. The campaign is the best part of the game by far and they don't want you to engage with it at all, so they can push you straight to the treadmill. I personally believe every season should have at least 1 campaign playthrough, but whether or not you agree with that, a new player who hasn't even finished act 1 should NEVER be prompted to skip the campaign.

[@fluffykitten077]

The fun thing in D2 loot progression is that at first you clamor for Giolds, then Set items and Uniques. Then it loops back around and you hunt for Greys with the correct amount of sockets.

[@detroitmetrodolphinskull]

When you referred to the landscape of casino games/mobile game seasons a 'New Pork City' I gasped out loud. Excellent reference and intelligent take. And now I wanna go replay the mother series.

[@areallypleasantperson8719]

i like jimmy because every video reminds me what a fun game actually is as to not be tricked into being hopelessly addicted to the skin box.

[@DallinBackstrom]

the best thing about the enshitification of everything is the feature-length docu-essays

[@monsieursp00ky44]

love the editing and jokes in this ending with a sobering yet ultimately optimistic message

[@hickumu]

I'm in a somewhat similar brainspace to you, but microtransactions and gambling addictions and the mechanics behind them drive me on to try and understand them with a morbid fascination *because* I'm extremely susceptible to them. Autistic, suffering from ADHD, I'm the exact kind of mentally ill that these techniques are laser targeted to prey on. And even when I work to understand them on every level, I have sometimes still found myself succumbing to them. Anyway, I'm glad to see someone push back against these practices from the "other" side of that, so to speak - someone who recognizes that they're evil not just because they're personally affected by them, but because they are just plain evil, no two ways about it. Great video, very cathartic to watch.

[@JimmyMcG33]

Thanks! When people defend practices like this, it's a quiet way of saying that it's OK to hurt people if they are susceptible to being hurt.

[@Lorendrawn]

These aren't games, they're activities. You just engage with them, never play Contrast that with, sat, ultrakill where your movement and snap decision making can result in a surge of dopamine or a painful, humiliating failure. Contrast d4 with slay the spire, where putting thought and planning ends in either satisfaction or deep frustration. With d4 all you do is push button like a rat in a test environment

[@Redthedemon227]

It's a testament to how poor standards have gotten that D4's writing is seen as anything above serviceable.

[@FloatJohnFire]

thank you for always putting subtitles in your videos

[@reid4625]

7:40 Oblivion was clearly ahead of its time

[@JimmyMcG33]

Learning that the horse armour DLC sold really well flipped some kind of switch in my brain. Maybe they put it in Diablo 4 to celebrate the Microsoft acquisition.

[@pyoo05]

'it was like eating candy until you get sick and continuing to eat candy.' really was D4 for me in a nutshell this critique has been so clear and surgical, thanks for making it. Its frustrating because D4 is so well polished, and managed the shed much of the stench of Chris Metzen that D3 had, but live serviceness of it just seeps through constantly and makes you feel awful for playing it.

[@Boamere]

I've never played a diablo game before but my friends have, this was a very interesting critique. I love watching videos on things I only slightly care about

[@pabloarias9734]

Still dont understand how this lad isnt hitting hundreds of thousands to millions of views on every upload, I get nobody gives a shit about tripple A microtransaction fest but imo this should be like an hbomber guy situation where vastly more people watch the video than actively play the game its discussing. The editing is on point, the pacing is great, the jokes are pretty rapid fire, and the writing is particularly good for a youtube video essay. You also credit people in the video directly like when you mentioned the reviews by article or writer. Thats something that most video essayists have been pretty shit about. Youre also explicitly anti capitalist which is great because so many of the critiques of games with these monetization systems fall flat because they cant comprehend critiquing the incentive structures that force creativity out of the games industry

[@Lazum5]

hell yeah man a long time in the making congrats

[@Tongonto]

Diablo 2 was one of, if not literally the first game I ever played. For a large percentage of my time on this planet it was a large percentage of my total playtime. If you had asked my younger self if he wanted to play 'Diablo 4' when it came out, you would have been met with unbounded excitement And I was a little excited seeing some of the early trailers, but honestly I can't see myself ever buying it. It's not even a like internal struggle, I just genuinely don't even feel like it :/ It's sad to see it become this, but I'm just happy other people are effectively picking up the slack. PoE2 looking like it's gonna be what D4 shoulda been

[@mysterioso2006]

the combo of your sardonic commentary and the meme editing style killed me every time xD subscribed!

[@talon6274]

holy cow a new matthewmatosis video

[@Kirobsi]

matthewmatosis

[@drakep.5857]

It's like matthewmatosis, except without any bad unskilled gamer opnions

[@Kirobsi]

@@drakep.5857 matthewmatosis

[@nickoliekeyov746]

I can’t watch this right now but I found your channel recently and watched all your videos, I appreciate your unique insights and I’ve been wondering when I’d see your next one! Looking forward to watching this!

[@lukusridley]

Great video. Something I wonder if you ran into but is a great underlining of your thesis; if you play the campaign of d4 the way I played the campaign of d2 - slowly, exploring every nook and cranny, taking your time - you will hit level 50 before the end of act 2. I did this on release. And then guess what happens? Those scaling monsters? They stop scaling. You unlock the paragon system... but you can't get the glyphs that drop. Monsters are locked at level 50. How do you carry on with the systems intact? You speedrun the main story. I, rather like you, was surprised by just how good d4's grasp of the tone and vibe was. I was really enjoying it. And then I was reminded that even on my first playthrough this wasn't built for people who were actually interested in playing the game; it was for people who wanted a greased slide into the open maw of "the endgame", as they push buttons in identikit dungeons until ennui sets in. And that made me truly sad.

[@JimmyMcG33]

Yes, I heard of several people hitting level 50 very early. I believe I did as well, and I (wrongly) kind of assumed the campaign was under-levelled to hide how slow the combat was. But yeah, WT1 and 2 stop scaling at level 50 to force you up to 3.

[@koveltskiis8391]

I appreciate your expression again, every one of your videos makes me feel a little bit more like finding some way to put my voice out there artistically

[@ponivi]

huh, what a good way to sum up how i feel about diablo 4. i always felt iffy about it but i never got to experience past a point cuz i was a gamepass player who ran out of it

[@monosophy691]

Most of the design of Path of Exile is in service of player retention and habit forming through providing inconsistent rewards for repetitive actions. They say this openly. PoE's microtransactions are way less bad than d4's, although they've already long since run into the issue of style-breaking due to seasonal content; most towns have people that are balls of lights with giant judge guys giving thumbs down behind them and goblin bands playing a 4 second music loop. I believe that some of their balancing decisions are done out of a fear that people can find ways to play the game that are less dependent on inconsistent rewards; they will frequently shift power out of the passive tree, only to return it there whenever people get sufficiently upset. This seems to happen every four to six leagues, but I could be totally wrong. All of these things are like, comparing a splinter to a decapitation, though. Grinding Gear Games produces legitimately fun league mechanics pretty regularly, and even if their balancing choices frequently destroy hundreds of niche builds to mildly impact high end builds, they provide a pretty wide space for player expression. There is still a video game when you play Path of Exile.

[@superbro6413]

I'm gonna consider this Pay to Win Ep 2.5 as the waiting room continues lol Thanks for the video, your work here is is appreciated Thoughts: 1) It's been an interesting experience observing the Modern Day Gamer's Triple A Video Game™transform itself into a vehicle to over-monetize and bleed you of time like a mosquito In relation to your developing thesis in Pay to Win, of how gambling machines manipulate folks, and how one could see that essence weave its way into games-- it is quite sobering to see this "casino-fication" in real time without too much fuss from the general audiences 2) Speaking of the greater industry at large, the thoughts your video brings out are poignant to current happenings, as layoffs numbers in the industry continue to rise, while games continue to make money and executives continue to make money, as they panic over stock dips, as they are unable to compete with a pandemic boom If I could specifically talk about Xbox for a second (since they do own Activision Blizzard now), Brad Hilderbrand recently posted a breakdown of the hot water situation Xbox is now finding itself in --The tldr here is that their standing is basically untenable At this point, I would not be surprised if we see another western video game industry crash before the end of the decade Considering the direction that all this nickle-and-diming of our time and money will ultimately move towards, one could say it would be a deserved fate if anything 3) All the more reason to support your local neighborhood indie developer If I could make a recommendation to you, feel free to check out a game (on Steam) called *Raw Metal*. It is pretty tough, but skill curve is satisfying to learn. It has a demo too And that's my comment Cheers

[@KennyFoord]

Great video, one of my fav subs on YT. Not sure if you've ventured into Warcraft 3 custom games much? but I'd love an essay on the deep world of custom games in wc3.

[@JimmyMcG33]

I haven't but that's a good idea!

[@yarghhargh9345]

There were some wild af custom maps, i remember playing Bleach versuses One Piece in the school computer room

[@twentiestheporter3561]

only a few minutes in and so impressed by your writing/research/presentation. You’ve got a solid amount of subs but are still underrated imo.

[@twentiestheporter3561]

subbed btw

[@HappyPineTree]

Been playing Rain World because of your recommendations of it and really been enjoying it. Very hard, but worthwhile. Currently up at The Wall. Excited to watch this, and thank you for what you do. Edit: Great video as always. And in the eternal (conflict?) words of Hugh Neutron, "What's poppin Jimbo?"

[@MaidLeila90]

Surprise 2 hour video from Mr. McGee and I am HERE FOR IT!

[@Cebollaverde]

The game really starts out seeming like it’s going somewhere and something cool is gonna happen, and then when you’ve invested too much time you realize it’s just getting to be more of a slog with each level

[@r.c.christian4633]

God I'm so glad that you're not pushing that "they fixed it!" narrative that so many crappy games try to push after the colossal and well-earned success that No Mans Sky had, looking very angrily at Bethesdas direction... and saw it at Ubisoft obviously as well, but they're well... Ubisoft...

[@gravity00x]

no mans sky is still not a game. its an empty sandbox with nothing to do. 8 rehashed plannets and 10 rehashed animals that get demonically combined in all possible ways.

[@damarziman]

Your videos are really a cut above, looking forward to this.

[@Overcrox]

So much of what you said about the level scaling and talent system reminds me so much about why I dropped off World of Warcraft. In the old days, the leveling was challenging enough and the stats of upgrades that were either beyond your expected range (like getting a good quest reward at the lowest available level), replacing an obsolete piece of gear, or just getting your hands on a blue/purple item while leveling would produce a palpable power spike, and having to work to afford ability level-ups or new abilities made them feel similarly satisfying. In modern WoW, leveling is so smoothed-over, everything is placed directly in front of you, and every time I've tried it again just to see if it's gotten better, I can feel my brain turning to mush under the frictionlessness. Raid content looks like a fantasy-themed game of virtual Dance Dance Revolution with way too many colorful graphics. The prettier it gets, the more bland it feels.

[@bionetik]

Diablo 4 makes all the improvements I wished for when I was a little kid playing Diablo 2. I still continued playing D2 because it was all I had, but it frustrated me with some mechanics, design decisions and the communication of mechanics and goals. Now that I'm an adult I appreciate D2 not just for the nostalgia, but because I can see the considerations that went into its creation and how the design allows me freedom while playing (and also because I simply know enough now to enjoy it). D4 on the other hand is clearer, more polished, more clearly communicates its mechanics and general objectives and makes it harder to skill yourself into a corner, where you practically can't progress anymore. I think if you look at it from the angle of a more casual or perhaps even not-so-good player, Diablo 4 is probably well designed to keep casual interest over a long period of time and still give a satisfying gameplay loop for an evening every week or so. To give another example of this: I recently played Path of Exile and while I enjoy the game (I'd even go so far and say I enjoy it greatly once I'm in the flow state) it's very daunting and after not playing for some time I grow hesitant to boot it up, because I have to spend some time remembering everything going on, I have around 40 skill gems for example, at this point I need a Guide to keep track of good synergy options between them. I have 3 main spells for damage and 3 for support plus an aura and I frequently forget to use half of them if I'm not already an hour into playing and fully immersed and warmed up. I want to make it clear that I abhor the business practices that are woven into D4 (which is the reason I would never buy it) and I think especially story wise there's room for improvement (even though the individual set pieces and characters are great), but the game part of the game is, in my opinion, intentionally designed in a good way. It's just not a way that appeals to capital G Gamers, but to a casual audience of newbies, older people, people who are just looking for an escape after a stressful work week and children. And the predatory business practices are sprinkled on top, to get the most revenue out of whales with too little self awareness. The existence of these battle passes and shops of course upsets a puritan Gamer, but most people aren't those and most likely don't even care. Phew long comment over, I liked your video btw :) I think you should use text pop ups less frequently, because they distort the flow, especially because you show them for such a short amount of time that you never have enough time to pause quickly enough causing skips back. And I think you would benefit from being more considerate in choosing your background footage, I noticed you are reusing clips and stuff like the graphs you showed are so much more interesting than contextless hordeslaying, shifting through menus or walking around the town, but that's probably due to the sheer length.

[@Bejitabro]

Lmao

[@bionetik]

@@Bejitabro What did I say that's so funny?

[@Turvy-]

ill comment on the text aspect as well. it may be a me issue, and I fully plan on rewatching the video with more attention, but the way i watched this video the first time was with my headphones on while i was playing earthbound and mostly listening to it. i really like the editing of these videos, but non-narrated text forces my attention back to the video when i hear the music grow louder and narration cease. if this is intentional, frankly, i love it, which is why I fully intend on rewatching with more attention given, because the amount of effort and though put into this is so evident, it would be a disservice to not fully engage with it. my experience is there though, if you want the video to be more podcastified, then reduce the text comments or narrate them, if theyre meant to keep visual attention on the video, then they worked for me, because the text is important and usually succinct and to the point. i hope i didnt disrespect the video by paying less than full attention, i will be getting adhd medication like this week lol.

[@Gamingpandacat]

another feature length movie from executive producer writer Jimmy McGee, what a time to be alive

[@StevenKetchum]

I was not expecting this. Love your work and appreciate the effort you put into these essays. Finally got around to sending you a bit of coffee cash.

[@lostsanityreturned]

Nice to see someone not saying "diablo 1 was only good because it inspired diablo 2 and there is nothing that wasn't improved" I enjoyed my diablo 2 remaster playthrough last year, but boy howdy did I prefer my subsequent diablo 1 replay afterwards... even with flaws. The tone, progression, restrictions and even roguelike presentations of tomes and staves made the whole experience feel... fresh. And also, the quests and lore books, there were more than I remembered.

[@DoestheDogDiet-hq9mt]

Great video! Tldr: Your Slot Machine analysis saved me from getting sucked into a mobile gacha game, and your mix of praise and criticism of Diablo 4 reminds me of my experience with FF7 Rebirth, another would-be great game buried in addiction-inducing content. I subscribed from your AI video, but I have been slowing working my way through your others. The ones that stuck with me most were your videos on gambling/skinner boxes/slot mechanics etc. Obviously that comes up here, as I'm sure it does in others I have yet to view, but that video saved me in one particular instance... Because I am addicted to FF7 Compilation content and I hate myself, I downloaded and started to play FF7 Ever Crisis. I knew it was Gacha coming in, but I just wanted to play 1 chapter (The First Soldier, which contexualizes a character in Rebirth that shows up without any context or explanation), but it turned out I had to play through a couple other chapters. Fine, I thought, 3 hours at this instead of 1. I can withstand it, I thought. WRONG. In my first minute (after over 1 hour of downloading content... and the game has been sitting unused on phone for 2 years. Why they couldn't have downloaded it on there before that evening I dunno), I was absolutely ASSAULTED with colorful swooshes and other manipulative highlights/etc. for a loot box of items I didn't even want to receive. There was seriously like ten items - each with a full scale skinner box assault on my senses. I was so disgusted, that I had to delete the game and 1 star it immediately. I would not have recognized it without your video. Every manipulation you outlined with the slot machines was present here. Thank you so much for that. I have to come back to FF7 Rebirth here, because so much of your love/hate pro/con dynamic that you describe with Diablo 4 applies to my (and many others') experiences with Rebirth. Deservedly controversial story changes aside, there is so much of the world, story and characters that are so lovingly crafted, but those things are so weighed down by hundreds of hours of content. Rebirth is essentially a giant minigame compilation with an Ubisoft open world and a really good 80 hour sidequest called "main scenario" that is hidden under hundreds of hours of deliberately-addictive content. I wanted to just play through the story, and not worry about completion and trophies, but my brain would not, and will not, allow me. I didn't even like Remake, and was going to play through this one out of cynical obligation to the brand and my own nostalgia. My love for the original game has been so brazenly exploited that I preordered game for which I did not enjoy the demo (Rebirth), bought useless DLC, got suckered into downloading a mobile gacha game (Ever Crisis), and even got suckered into playing through a terrible PSP rail RPG that is far more addictive than it is ever fun or rewarding (Crisis Core Reunion). Rebirth is very good at constantly enforcing FOMO, even if everything is available in perpetuity in New Game+. The sound design is like a constantly running barrage of pachinko machines. Game and activity length are padded out with artificial and unbalanced difficulty, and the accesibility is so terrible that it might as well be nonexistent. Endgame content is redundant and punishing, because it gives you rewards that are only useful on the thing you just beat. Rebirth is the least accessible RPG I've ever played, and it is a remake of the most accessible RPG I've ever played. And still, parts of the game surpass the original, and there is still so much to love there. It's just buried under a game so poisoned by arbirtrary content and filler. Forgive my Rebirth rant, and my bad punctuation and syntax. English is only my first language 😀. Thank you for all that you do and keep up the great work!

[@Nameykins]

Seeing ATMA in a video caught me off guard. Takes me back to endless solo offline play that I used to do.

[@Thehintercast]

One of the best video game documentaries I’ve seen and you really strike the nail on the head. Inadequate developers is not the problem, development designed around monetary gain and addiction is the problem.

[@jchampagne2]

1:01:30 It's QOL because inventory management is SEVERELY curtailed by Blizzard's inability to give players additional stash space to store POTENTIALLY useful items. The system pre-S4 required you to wade through a sea of items to sift out an even marginal upgrade as you approach higher levels, but they don't give you anywhere to put them. I'm no Blizzard stan by any stretch of the imagination, but this was actually a huge W for them in Season 4 in my opinion. It was an elegant solution to at least the side of having to keep every halfway decent Aspect roll with the prospect of potentially slamming it into a rare item with desirable affixes.