Diablo IV

Current goal: Finish the campaign
Play it on: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Windows
Buy it from: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop | Target

I never really stopped playing Diablo IV, but I’m really going to be diving back in this weekend as I try to finally wrap the game up ahead of season 1 dropping on July 20. I spent a couple dozen hours on the first two chapters but really need to get down to business and try to cruise through the rest of the story, even if that means dropping things down to World Tier 1. I’m sure Lilith would approve.

I love and hate Diablo IV, which is not an uncommon reaction and also part of why I didn’t finish it back in June. I love the feel of the world and the moment-to-moment loop of managing cooldowns to hack and slash my way through dungeons. But I hate the oppressive feeling of being on a treadmill that’s exacerbated by enemies scaling to your level, and the fact that loot cycles so quickly you never really get to lean into a coherent build for very long earlier on. It’s an incredibly old-school action-RPG in many ways, for better and for worse. But after a few weeks away to finish Final Fantasy XVI, I’ve been missing it, which is a nice problem to have with Diablo. — Ethan Gach