2nd March
Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we’ve been playing. This week, Bertie slips back into the warm bath that is Diablo 4, Tom P realises why everyone praises Balatro, and Tom O goes back to Halo.
What have you been playing?
Catch up with the older editions of this column in our What We’ve Been Playing archive.
Diablo 4, PS5
My affection for this game keeps growing. I played it over Christmas but dropped it early this year, because of various review commitments, and only the other day went back, and my immediate reaction was of a blissful kind of calm. There’s a breeziness to this game that makes it so easy to get back into, and it doesn’t take long before you remember exactly what your character does again, although I appreciate it takes longer to wrap your head around your equipment build – the real strategy of the game.
It’s like slipping back into a bath after you get out to go to the toilet (you do get out to go to the toilet, don’t you?) – there’s such a warm, comforting sense of submersion in the game. A zone-out flow. Diablo 4 doesn’t demand too much of you – you mash some buttons and enemies with it and romp around the l and. And this looks great and it feels great, with colour and lots of energy. It’s like a pinball game where you never lose the pinball.
And look, I know that’s a criticism often levelled against the game, that it’s too approachable, too forgiving, but I’m starting to see that less as a drawback and more as a strength. I think of Diablo 4 and it feels in my mind like someone waiting there with a hug, not with a confrontation of some kind, and I find that appealing – very appealing – when I’m tired and ready to mentally check out.
I have a feeling I may come back to this game for many years to come.
-Bertie
Balatro, Xbox Series X
I can’t say I wasn’t warned. All last year, everyone was joking about how compulsive this hot new card game was. You may have heard about it. Balatro was – and is – a pretty big deal.
I didn’t bite. I’ve played a lot of deck-builders and card games in general. I’d been through my phase where I thought poker was cool. I was sure I wasn’t missing much. But now it’s got me too. This week’s launch of Balatro on Game Pass finally tipped me over into giving it a go. I mean, I should try it, right? It was huge last year! (And now it has Assassin’s Creed cards!) The universe and all its Jokers were calling to me.
The first evening I played Balatro I was still playing at 3am. I have now gotten to the Boss Blind on the game’s eighth and final ante multiple times, but I have not yet beaten a run yet and know this weekend I have to. So, techniques? After chasing flushes and straights, I’ve been advised to focus on pairs and high cards. Synergies? I’m rizzing my lower-hand scores with Planet Cards and praying to Mercury that’s enough. I’m comboing Ride the Bus and using Splash, obviously, ensuring I get the most out of what I have. But then it’s ante eight and I literally hit The Wall, the dreaded Boss Blind with an extra large total. And then I’m toast and it’s 2.30am again?
Sigh. Maybe tomorrow. I can’t say I wasn’t warned.
-Tom P
Halo: Combat Evolved, Xbox Series X
I got a bit bored of The Stanley Parable, which maybe isn’t the wisest thing to say on a video game website home to readers who probably love The Stanley Parable, but it is what it is. I’m not sorry. Anyway, I was about to boot up Avowed for the first time when I remembered that I told my son that I’d have a think about if he is allowed to play Halo. He’s 11 and to be honest I couldn’t remember how violent the game is, so Avowed had to wait and I stuck on the Master Chief Collection.
First things first, is Halo suitable for an eleven-year-old? Not sure to be honest. The opening level has a significant amount of blood (more in the visually revamped version than the original), but it’s not violent in the same way something like Call of Duty is. I’m on the fence, but leaning towards it being OK as I want him to play Halo.
But, and this is the most surprising part of my little gaming detour, is Halo actually still worth playing? As someone who adored Halo on its release and has played it through countless times (but not for some years), it shocked me that I really don’t like the opening levels, at all. The first is mostly dull corridors and the second a large level that is so sparse by today’s standards that it felt dangerously close to running around an empty Team Deathmatch map. While I remember the opening level, Pillar of Autumn, my memory of Halo, the second level, has been mostly wiped. Strange, as wandering around an open for the first time is what wowed me when I played it on the original Xbox over 20 years ago. Amazing how games have evolved over the years, really. I do hope I start to enjoy this a bit more, though, as I want to hold onto the belief that Halo is a wonderful game.
-Tom O