Platypus of Truth

 We were caught in a flash flood at the end of July, and found ourselves scrambling to higher ground as the car flooded. We have a new car now. Here is my backlog of images inspired by Diablo 1 and Marvel Comic's Mirada the Shewolf. The crop top and skirt are actual bronze age clothes except that the original skirt was a mini and made of thick ropes. Skull king in a Prydainaean vein. Heavy Metal album cover Amazons! Pace Mike Mignola Storm Giant in a Nordic mood. Proud of this one. Best one quality-wise and a throw-back to a recent reading of The Hound of the Baskervilles.

 The Mother of all Photo Dumps? I beat Diablo I. Never played it before. Missed it in 95 in favor of StarCraft. After that, it was the critically acclaimed action rpg, Titan Quest (an improvement on the Diablo franchise in many ways). Coming back to Diablo in 2026, I can say that it has lost nothing over the years. The experience of playing Diablo is one of ever-growing dread and tip-toe care. If you've done everything right, you will survive that final encounter on your last health potion with your poor little rogue. After that... comes one of the greatest surprise endings in gaming history. Tragic. Looking at other games I'm aware of, the first Diablo is unique. The sequels are power fantasies devoid of the Resident Evil-like dread. Titan Quest is triumphantly optimistic. The Legend of Zelda can only go so dark and remain Nintendo's 2nd "killer app". Diablo feels like a first session of 80s DnD or Advanced Heroquest. It is an indomitable monument at the turn fro...

 

 

  I've been playing the first Diablo game. I missed this when it came out for obvious reasons. I was also busy with Starcraft. My roommate loved Diablo I and II, so I got a lot of exposure in college. After grad school, I played a ton of Titan Quest, so it's been good to visit the arpg font. That said, i missed a great game. Diablo is like playing Hero Quest on a computer. It is by intent like your first game of Dungeons and Dragons back in 4th edition. It's also much more of a horror game than anything that followed. I tense up and hunker down when I play. Every decision has to be carefully planned. There's no bravado in kicking down the door unless you want to die. It's also played alone. Unless you go online, there's no Merrill to lighten the tension of Ander to save the day with an auto-heal. You're on your own. My first play through is with the rogue because I can see her red hair and boots in the all pervasive gloom. Wonderful game.

  Reading The Return of the Shadow and trying to imagine earlier versions of the Black Riders.