Optavia decadent chocolate brownie hack
Red Velvet bar from Lolli and Pops
2023.05.30 22:28 goodandpure Red Velvet bar from Lolli and Pops
Haven’t tried it yet but I’ll see how it is and let you know.
submitted by goodandpure to chocolate [link] [comments]
2023.05.30 20:16 tspree15 Does anyone know what these types of bags are called that hold brownie/cake mix? We need to buy a plastic bag to hold our brownie mix. I can't seem to find these types of bags anywhere. Thanks!
 | submitted by tspree15 to Baking [link] [comments] |
2023.05.30 19:53 Dazzling-Neat-6462 Protein Powder Recommendations
Hi all, I was wondering if you guys had any recommendations for protein powder. I am 19 and I just started to lose weight. I struggle to consistently get in protein because I am not a big fan of poultry and I never eat red meat because I dislike how it tastes. That said, because I have a significant amount of weight to lose, I want to eat a high-protein diet to preserve my muscle and feel less hungry. I was wondering if there were any protein powders or bars that you really like? I've tried orgain vegan vanilla protein powder and I really disliked it, it was too gritty and the taste was not great. I currently drink premier protein shakes which I quite like but I heard people saying that the quality of that protein wasn't great. I also eat Think chocolate brownie bars pretty frequently which I enjoy. I tried the Barbell's protein bars but they taste too artificial and a little gross. I have also had quest protein bars and the Kirkland ones but they tasted super artificial and the texture was really horrible. Please let me know if you have any recommendations. I am looking for something that is high in protein, tastes good and not overly artificial, and something that has a nice texture. I have high cholesterol so I am aiming to keep the saturated fat quite low since that is something I need to limit.
submitted by Dazzling-Neat-6462 to loseit [link] [comments]
2023.05.30 19:47 New_Morning_3955 How do I hack someone’s wallet
There is no denying in the fact that over the last decade Facebook has always managed to stand out as an excellent social media platform. It is one of the most favorite platforms of people at all times. It has become an integral part of all social media enthusiasts, and it is sure that Facebook/instagram will never go unmentioned in any discussion about leading social media platforms existing today and nowadays, people are more interested in knowing the secrets of how to hack a facebook messenger with ease.
Even thinking about hacking someone’s account/Messenger without them realizing excites us. Hacking and reading messages from your friends, relatives or spouse can be quite an interesting thing to do. Well, it’s not that easy, but also not impossible to do.
How to hack an account/Messenger is something we’ve all searched over the internet at least once. But ultimately end up getting disappointed. You need the service of [[email protected]] to be able to hack any social media database remotely without any trace.
You can hire [[email protected]] for facebook hacking, instagram hacking, whatsapp hacking, phone cloning, tinder hacking and many hacking service.
submitted by New_Morning_3955 to newmorning [link] [comments]
Even thinking about hacking someone’s account/Messenger without them realizing excites us. Hacking and reading messages from your friends, relatives or spouse can be quite an interesting thing to do. Well, it’s not that easy, but also not impossible to do.
How to hack an account/Messenger is something we’ve all searched over the internet at least once. But ultimately end up getting disappointed. You need the service of [[email protected]] to be able to hack any social media database remotely without any trace.
You can hire [[email protected]] for facebook hacking, instagram hacking, whatsapp hacking, phone cloning, tinder hacking and many hacking service.
2023.05.30 19:47 New_Morning_3955 How do I track/hack/spy my spouse
There is no denying in the fact that over the last decade Facebook has always managed to stand out as an excellent social media platform. It is one of the most favorite platforms of people at all times. It has become an integral part of all social media enthusiasts, and it is sure that Facebook/instagram will never go unmentioned in any discussion about leading social media platforms existing today and nowadays, people are more interested in knowing the secrets of how to hack a facebook messenger with ease.
Even thinking about hacking someone’s account/Messenger without them realizing excites us. Hacking and reading messages from your friends, relatives or spouse can be quite an interesting thing to do. Well, it’s not that easy, but also not impossible to do.
How to hack an account/Messenger is something we’ve all searched over the internet at least once. But ultimately end up getting disappointed. You need the service of [[email protected]] to be able to hack any social media database remotely without any trace.
You can hire [[email protected]] for facebook hacking, instagram hacking, whatsapp hacking, phone cloning, tinder hacking and many hacking service.
submitted by New_Morning_3955 to newmorning [link] [comments]
Even thinking about hacking someone’s account/Messenger without them realizing excites us. Hacking and reading messages from your friends, relatives or spouse can be quite an interesting thing to do. Well, it’s not that easy, but also not impossible to do.
How to hack an account/Messenger is something we’ve all searched over the internet at least once. But ultimately end up getting disappointed. You need the service of [[email protected]] to be able to hack any social media database remotely without any trace.
You can hire [[email protected]] for facebook hacking, instagram hacking, whatsapp hacking, phone cloning, tinder hacking and many hacking service.
2023.05.30 18:05 dp2sholly Never again - "splurge" day edition
I've been mostly sugar free for two months. I say mostly, because there have been a few occasions where I enjoyed a sweet treat after my initial 10-day detox. But, for the most part, I've been doing great and have been keeping added sugars at no more than 5g a day, and that's mostly from dark chocolate.
Well, yesterday was a holiday here in the US, with lots of picnics, and food, and drink. I gave myself permission to enjoy what I wanted for this one day, it's OK (trying to have balance in my life and not be so militant about a diet).
Well, when I got home in the evening, I felt horrible and somewhat sick. I've never felt that way before from just eating (only had 3 drinks over the entire day, so not from the alcohol). The cakes, brownies, cookies, root beer floats, not to mention the buns/bread (also mostly removed gluten from the diet) etc hit HARD.
I slept like crap and when I woke up, it felt like I was kinda hungover.
I didn't eat half of what I would in the past, with no effects, and I was put out of commission for the night and morning. Mind blown.
No more free for all splurge days ever again, only in moderation going forward.
submitted by dp2sholly to sugarfree [link] [comments]
Well, yesterday was a holiday here in the US, with lots of picnics, and food, and drink. I gave myself permission to enjoy what I wanted for this one day, it's OK (trying to have balance in my life and not be so militant about a diet).
Well, when I got home in the evening, I felt horrible and somewhat sick. I've never felt that way before from just eating (only had 3 drinks over the entire day, so not from the alcohol). The cakes, brownies, cookies, root beer floats, not to mention the buns/bread (also mostly removed gluten from the diet) etc hit HARD.
I slept like crap and when I woke up, it felt like I was kinda hungover.
I didn't eat half of what I would in the past, with no effects, and I was put out of commission for the night and morning. Mind blown.
No more free for all splurge days ever again, only in moderation going forward.
2023.05.30 18:00 SpaceGangrel Diablo IV - Review Thread
Game Information
Game Title: Diablo IVPlatforms:
- PlayStation 5 (Jun 6, 2023)
- PlayStation 4 (Jun 6, 2023)
- PC (Jun 6, 2023)
- Xbox Series X/S (Jun 6, 2023)
- Xbox One (Jun 6, 2023)
- Diablo IV Launch Live Action Trailer
- Diablo IV Story Launch Trailer
- Diablo IV Gameplay Launch Trailer
- Diablo IV In-Game Intro Cinematic
- Diablo IV Official Release Date Trailer
- Diablo IV Official Gameplay Trailer
- Diablo IV Announce Cinematic By Three They Come
Review Aggregator:
OpenCritic - 90 average - 98% recommended - 72 reviews
Critic Reviews
Ars Technica - Aaron Zimmerman - UnscoredEach class has a gimmick-or "specialization"-that unlocks as you progress through the game. The Barbarian, for instance, can lug around a huge arsenal of weapons and gains "expertise" with each as you use them, granting buffs and special effects. The Necromancer can choose between different types of minions or sacrifice them to extract their power. The Rogue has three specialization options, one of which is a WoW-like combo-points system. Every class has its own personality and quirks, and they're all a blast to play.
Diablo IV's dark allure combines ingenious design choices to create an extraordinary Diablo that we couldn't have dreamed possible back in 1997.
Whilst Diablo IV could have done more to advance the genre or perfect its writing and tone across the entire experience, there’s no denying just how impactful this release is, especially for those of us who grew up alongside the series.
Diablo 4 is perfect for both franchise mainstays and newcomers alike. The lore of Sanctuary expands drastically while the game, story and all, is large enough to keep new players busy. The game is built to allow the developers to scale it with ease with battle passes and seasons for a new generation, but it's nowhere close to being empty.
Diablo 4 is an impressive and massive conquest of demons, loot, exploration, and wildly fun mechanics. It's already clear that this game brings tons of new content to the franchise and handles it incredibly well.
Impressive efforts with a few noticeable problems holding them back. Won't astound everyone, but is worth your time and cash.
Diablo 4 is a mighty sequel, but it can feel more like a grand buffet of tasty demon-slaying treats. It offers something for everyone but misses out on that acquired yet curated taste of the older entries. This doesn't take away from Diablo 4 representing the next evolution in the series. It is a stellar sequel – and one that works hard to appeal to every fan of this beloved franchise.
Your favorite Action Role Playing Game is back and bloodier than ever. Diablo 4 improves upon nearly every core gameplay mechanic from Diablo 3 while introducing a few great quality-of-life features that make this journey to Sanctuary the best yet. While some of the quest systems seem dated, the main story is delivered beautifully, breathing new life into the series.
Diablo 4 is a canvas on which developers could, over the next few months, paint a true masterpiece.
Diablo 4 is an excellent game and a fantastic next step for the ARPG genre. Smartly melding Open World and Online elements with traditional dungeon crawling and loot farming, this game will become the favorite time-sink of millions for years to come.
The irresistible gloom is now no longer opposed by hurdles in the form of confusing item and skill management. We enthusiastically throw ourselves against Lilith's hordes and once again sink hour after hour into perfecting our character. Overall, however, there could have been a bit more innovation.
Diablo 4 has taken everything that fans love about the ARPG format and elevated it to new heights. With a fascinating world to explore, a strong cast of characters, and purposeful combat, it sets a new standard for the genre.
The wheel hasn’t been reinvented, and is remains to be seen how the series will adapt to a live service model. Nevertheless, anyone picking up Diablo 4 at launch will find themselves playing a very strong package with plenty of promise.
What are we getting? An excellent game that reeks of a game-as-a-service, with tons of satisfying content. Diablo 4 looks like the best hack’n’slash on the market. The best h’n’s for me, a guy well versed in three previous Diablos, Divine Divinity and a bit of Grim Dawn.
While it remains to be seen how the experience handles the incoming flood of players once the lights are turned on, I think Diablo fans, old and new, are in for a treat.
With Diablo 4, Blizzard has created a genre masterpiece that does almost everything right.
Diablo IV's surprisingly moving and engrossing story encapsulates gameplay systems that have learnt all the right lessons from entries past.
Diablo 4 is extremely generous. A clear evolution of the franchise and a real comeback.
With a compelling new antagonist, a serviceable, character-driven story, and a familiarly satisfying gameplay loop with an incredible amount of depth, Diablo 4 is a worthy entry into the franchise that threatens to burn away many hours of your life.
Diablo 4 is a behemoth of a game, boasting a gothic world that goes beyond the engaging hack-and-slash gameplay loop.
"After sacrificing nearly 100 hours of my life to Diablo 4, I've barely scratched the surface of what it has to offer"
Diablo IV represents a massive shift for the series, moving to a more inclusive and open world that is somehow as inviting for new players as returning veterans. Complexity is mixed with flexibility to create a game that is sure to consume you for hundreds if not thousands of hours. Diablo IV is the game we've been waiting for, and a return to form for the Blizzard team.
The worry remaining is that the balance needs to be struck well in order to maintain Diablo IV as a viable and long-lasting adventure that doesn’t lose its freshness or that the incessant rush to get more powerful gear becomes a chore rather than a thrill. At this juncture, there’s much for players both old and new to dive into, making combat and exploration exciting times, all while pushing the story forward in a new chapter for Sanctuary. The hope is that this will last, and that Blizzard will continue to support the game in all ways. After all, Lilith is coming, and all hail the Mother.
Diablo 4 may not be the huge leap forward some were hoping for, but it still offers an incredible adventure through a dark, compelling world.
Based on the franchise's history, Diablo IV has large boots to fill, but does an admiral job of meeting this longtime fan's expectations.
Diablo 4 is a stunning sequel with near perfect endgame and progression design that makes it absolutely excruciating to put down.
Diablo IV is tremendously addictive, its combat is formidable and the character building is excellent. More MMO than ever in a new path for the saga.
While the fusion of Diablo franchise and the open world sounded rather unfamiliar at first, the game has succeeded in capturing the charm of both. You can't say the game is perfect as of its initial release, Diablo4 still is one of the strongest quarter view action RPGs.
[Diablo 4] looks and feels great to play, it's full of content without being way too overburdened with systems and age-old mechanics, it's accessible but also gets really hard and challenging for action RPG standards, and it's really great with more people in your party, with a good amount of classes to play around with and tailor to your playstyle. A highly-polished loot-filled gateway drug for newbies and veterans alike; not terribly innovative but incredibly fun to get into.
Diablo IV remained stuck in the past while trying to find innovation without generating friction with fans who have played the franchise for over two decades; It feels like the ghost of Diablo Immortal continues to haunt the halls of Blizzard. The game is more of a reinvention of the classic experience, focusing on a games-as-a-service format to ensure another decade of content for Diablo.
Diablo IV has done a good job of delivering an exciting and enjoyable storyline and providing hours of exciting entertainment, whether playing alone or with companions.
Diablo IV has successfully brought everything we wished to be in the 3rd game and has the potential to be the best game in the series.
Do yourself a favor: ditch your reservations and step into Sanctuary as soon as you can. It’s likely going to be literal hell during the launch queues, but you’ll have a beautifully grim and visceral adventure ahead, one where every leveling up sound will feel like music to your ears. Enjoy it to the best of your possibilities because an action-RPG of this caliber may only arrive in another decade or so, and missing out on Diablo 4 would be something that may just reserve you a spot in hell.
It ain’t perfect, but provided they continue the course Diablo IV is currently on, this might be the game that bridges the gap and makes Diablo the most accessible and ultimately the most fun it has ever been to players from any background.
Diablo IV is definitely one of the best games Blizzard has ever made. And possibly the best story they've ever told.
An exciting, modern version of Diablo is in here—I can see parts of it poking through the surface—but I'm starting to lose patience waiting for it to show its face.
Diablo 4 embodies the essence of what makes Diablo so great, taking the best elements of its predecessors and sewing them together to create an ever-changing, ever-evolving chimera that we can't wait to play for years to come.
Diablo IV is, without a doubt, a great success that takes the best of its previous iterations, especially Diablo II, and takes advantage of the potential of an intense open world. With mechanics refined for today, hundreds of hours of gameplay, and the promise of an aggressive post-launch content, this game is the ultimate in the eternal battle between evil and… the other party.
Diablo IV takes the series to new heights, but also spends plenty of time covering familar ground. The compelling rush for loot is as strong as it has ever been, and visually, the game is spectacular. It doesn't exactly feel like a massive leap from Diablo III yet its focus on the series' core strengths ensures that's likely more than enough for long-time fans.
More busywork doesn’t lessen the series-signature lootfest appeal
Diablo IV is an unquestionable win for Blizzard and one of their foundational franchises when it needed it most. An unrelenting commitment to vision, redefined Sanctuary, never-ending player progression, and excellent boss fights are just a few of the reasons Diablo IV isn't held back by uneven pacing and recycled content.
Diablo IV is a game with a deeply involved combat system, a complex and well-established world, and all the hallmarks of my next gaming obsession.
You can see why it's taken Blizzard over six years to get this one out the gate when you look at the end product. Diablo 4 is a natural evolution of the series with its new open-world design and gameplay, enhanced social and multiplayer experience, and a live service that promises to keep players returning to the world of Sanctuary for years to come. These strong foundations and scale of the whole experience, combined with the five unique classes and seemingly limitless customisation options for builds, should keep even the most diehard demon slayers busy for a very long time. With all of this in consideration, Diablo 4 is a must-play if you're a veteran of the series and it's a great starting point for newcomers. We can't wait to jump back in! Now, fingers crossed we just don't have another 'Error 37' at launch.
Diablo 4 is the true successor to the bad old days of action RPGs and oozes quality in its frenetic combat and deep, engaging character development. It tells a complex, gritty narrative set in the darkly beautiful world of Sanctuary. Even better, it provides a solid foundation for years of Diablo content to come.
Diablo IV will usher a new generation of action RPGs into the modern era with its brilliance.
Diablo IV is a beautiful, frictionless grey toybox that puts nothing in the way of you playing it for hours and wondering what you've done with your life.
Diablo IV offers a strong opening impression. It has a rich, detailed story campaign, filled with spectacle and gore. Its combat and game-feel is so satisfying. The classes feel distinct and play quite differently from each other. It feels so good to burst down screens of demons with spells and swords. Will it live up to other competitors in the ARPG space? It’s too soon to tell, but what’s here so far is extremely promising especially for players looking to enjoy an impressive horror story.
So far, the Diablo 4 experience has been nothing short of very good, the story has been very interesting and it finally returns to what distinguished the series in terms of storytelling before the release of the third installment. The game offered a very solid base of content, activities, addictive gameplay, and a variety of character-building ways that any Action RPG should offer. This is knowing that there are some important issues that appeared at the beginning of the experiment as we mentioned in the full review.
Ultimately, Diablo 4 is a must-play experience for any fan of dungeon-crawler ARPGs.
Diablo 4 is a masterpiece. It's the culmination of decades of ARPG refinement and evolution, and it manages to pay homage to the IP's legendary namesake while successfully integrating modern RPG elements.
Blizzard opts for refinement over innovation with Diablo 4, but it's still a devilishly good time.
Diablo IV features a compelling antagonist in Lilith, and while it tries to present more interesting ideas into the series by the way of story, it ends up retreading old ground in more ways than one.
Diablo 4 presents an epic and visually stunning adventure, enveloping players in a cinematic journey through its immersive open-world. While some areas, like repetitive dungeons and class imbalances, leave room for improvement; Blizzard has laid a solid groundwork that sparks excitement for further exploration of the vast realm of Sanctuary.
Diablo IV is a smooth-running action RPG with a beautiful gothic atmosphere and a fascinating open world, aimed even at those who have never touched a chapter of the Blizzard franchise before.
Diablo IV might just go down as one of Blizzard's best games. It delivers exciting and accessible ARPG gameplay, a stunning world and engaging narrative to experience, and so many activities to keep you hooked for hours on end.
Diablo IV brings you a captivating story, a lot of freedom in your class building and a massive world full of monsters to pulverize and dungeons to explore that will keep you playing for lots of hours to come.
An incredible looter experience overall. I cannot overstate just how satisfying it is to play Diablo IV on a moment-to-moment basis, and with so much replay value to be had from its various classes and build possibilities within those classes, Diablo IV feels like a true return to form for the series.
It's a damn good entry to the series as a whole, and will give the vast majority of its players a bloody good time.
Diablo IV is a return to form at a much needed time for Blizzard. It delivers incredibly fun hack and slash action combat, a greatly improved skill system, and a ton of things to do, not to mention the best story told in the franchise yet. It also looks awesome, sounds great, and runs well (except for rare instances of traversal stuttering).
Diablo IV tows several lines masterfully, be it in its mechanical complexity or the moral ambiguity of its plot. Its greatest achievement, however, is being a great Diablo game.
Diablo IV is a must-play for fans of the series and newcomers alike. It invites you to lose yourself in a world of darkness and embark on a thrilling journey filled with relentless battles, captivating storytelling, and a hauntingly beautiful audio-visual symphony. Just ignore the extraneous limb reaching for your wallet.
Diablo IV boasts a new look, with its new open-world and online format, but at its heart, it’s very much a classic Diablo experience. A little old-school still, sure, but the core combat is still as fun and addictive as ever, and there’s RPG mechanics for days to sink your teeth into. What’s not to love?
Diablo IV is a triumph. It fulfills its promise, combining the aesthetics and feeling of Diablo II with the fantastic gameplay of III. It is dark and gory, featuring a meaty campaign and endgame that should delight fans of the series for hundreds if not thousands of hours.
Diablo 4 is a massive game dropping in a year chock FULL of massive games. 2023 has already seen Nintendo’s behemoth drop by way of Tears of the Kingdom which has been dominating charts and peoples’ times. Now Diablo 4 is going to come bursting in and demanding that same type of time commitment with a sprawling game world to explore on foot or horseback. Between dungeons, world events, side quests and even the main quests players will never be too far from something interesting to inspect or kill in Sanctuary. Diablo 4 feels like a wonderful homecoming, with its darker tone and sublime cutscenes which Blizzard has always been wonderful at; the whole game just feels like a love letter to us fans who have waited so long to return to Hell and defeat its denizens once more.
2023.05.30 17:56 DankDaiquirisLLC S’mores Brownies but make them Edibles!
 | These are truly my TOP SELLERS! Graham Cracker crust , brownie , marshmallows and chocolate chips ❤️ check out our website! We ship all over the United States! www.dankdaiquirisllc.com! Follow us on IG @dankdaiquirisllc submitted by DankDaiquirisLLC to EdiblesPorn [link] [comments] |
2023.05.30 17:34 GoldenFlowerPrincess The best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made!
 | Just wanted to share my recipe for these cookies I made. They’re seriously incredible. Gooey in the center slightly crisp on the outside. The combination of brown butter with the brown sugar makes a slightly caramel flavor but overall it makes a very decadent and moist cookie. Flaky sea salt on the top rounds it out and in my opinion is a must with these! I hope you give it a try! submitted by GoldenFlowerPrincess to Baking [link] [comments] *sorry if there are formatting issues Recipe- 2 sticks butter (browned) stir into paste while cooling 3 bars of Baker’s chocolate roughly chopped (around 12oz) I used two bars of German and one semi-sweet 284g all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 297g brown sugar 50g white sugar 1 egg 1 tablespoon vanilla 2 tablespoons water Flaky sea salt for topping Mix flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl and whisk until there are no lumps you could also use a sifter. Add brown butter and sugar in large bowl and mix until fluffy. Next add the egg, water and vanilla and mix till combined. Add the flour in batches to the buttesugar. Be carful to not over mix. Once the batter is streaked with a small amount of flour add the chopped chocolate till combined. Cover bowl and refrigerate for a few hours or over night. Once you’re ready to bake, line your cookie sheet with parchment and scoop your dough to your desired size. I used a 1/4 cup measurement. The cookies will spread so if making a larger size cookie only bake 3-4 at a time to prevent sticking together. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden brown. The cookies will look under baked but trust me once you allow them to cool off and set the cookies will be a perfect consistency! If you want a more rounded bakery style cookie shape them with a round cookie cutter or a cup. Top with flaky sea salt and enjoy! Makes 15 cookies. |
2023.05.30 16:48 F0REM4N Diablo IV - Review Megathread
 | submitted by F0REM4N to XboxSeriesX [link] [comments] To serve is to sacrifice! Game Title: Diablo IV
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment Review Aggregator: OpenCritic - 89 average - 100% recommended - 49 reviews Critic ReviewsArs Technica - Aaron Zimmerman - UnscoredEach class has a gimmick-or "specialization"-that unlocks as you progress through the game. The Barbarian, for instance, can lug around a huge arsenal of weapons and gains "expertise" with each as you use them, granting buffs and special effects. The Necromancer can choose between different types of minions or sacrifice them to extract their power. The Rogue has three specialization options, one of which is a WoW-like combo-points system. Every class has its own personality and quirks, and they're all a blast to play.CGMagazine - Brendan Frye - 10 / 10 Diablo IV's dark allure combines ingenious design choices to create an extraordinary Diablo that we couldn't have dreamed possible back in 1997.Checkpoint Gaming - Elliot Attard - Unscored Whilst Diablo IV could have done more to advance the genre or perfect its writing and tone across the entire experience, there’s no denying just how impactful this release is, especially for those of us who grew up alongside the series.ComicBook.com - Adam Barnhardt - 4.5 / 5 Diablo 4 is perfect for both franchise mainstays and newcomers alike. The lore of Sanctuary expands drastically while the game, story and all, is large enough to keep new players busy. The game is built to allow the developers to scale it with ease with battle passes and seasons for a new generation, but it's nowhere close to being empty.Console Creatures - David Pietrangelo - Recommended Diablo 4 is an impressive and massive conquest of demons, loot, exploration, and wildly fun mechanics. It's already clear that this game brings tons of new content to the franchise and handles it incredibly well.Dexerto - Sam Smith - 5 / 5 Diablo 4 is a mighty sequel, but it can feel more like a grand buffet of tasty demon-slaying treats. It offers something for everyone but misses out on that acquired yet curated taste of the older entries. This doesn't take away from Diablo 4 representing the next evolution in the series. It is a stellar sequel – and one that works hard to appeal to every fan of this beloved franchise.Everyeye.it - Antonello Gaeta - Italian - 8.5 / 10 Diablo 4 is a canvas on which developers could, over the next few months, paint a true masterpiece.Fextralife - Fexelea - 9.3 / 10 Diablo 4 is an excellent game and a fantastic next step for the ARPG genre. Smartly melding Open World and Online elements with traditional dungeon crawling and loot farming, this game will become the favorite time-sink of millions for years to come.GGRecon - Joshua Boyles - 4.5 / 5 Diablo 4 has taken everything that fans love about the ARPG format and elevated it to new heights. With a fascinating world to explore, a strong cast of characters, and purposeful combat, it sets a new standard for the genre.GamePro - Kevin Itzinger - German - 94 / 100 With Diablo 4, Blizzard has created a genre masterpiece that does almost everything right.GameSpot - Alessandro Barbosa - 8 / 10 Diablo IV's surprisingly moving and engrossing story encapsulates gameplay systems that have learnt all the right lessons from entries past.Gameblog - French - 8 / 10 Diablo 4 is extremely generous. A clear evolution of the franchise and a real comeback.Gamer Guides - Nathan Garvin - 8.5 / 10 With a compelling new antagonist, a serviceable, character-driven story, and a familiarly satisfying gameplay loop with an incredible amount of depth, Diablo 4 is a worthy entry into the franchise that threatens to burn away many hours of your life.GamesHub - Emily Spindler - 4 / 5 Diablo 4 is a behemoth of a game, boasting a gothic world that goes beyond the engaging hack-and-slash gameplay loop.GamesRadar+ - Josh West - 5 / 5 "After sacrificing nearly 100 hours of my life to Diablo 4, I've barely scratched the surface of what it has to offer"GamingTrend - Cassie Peterson, Ron Burke - 100 / 100 Diablo IV represents a massive shift for the series, moving to a more inclusive and open world that is somehow as inviting for new players as returning veterans. Complexity is mixed with flexibility to create a game that is sure to consume you for hundreds if not thousands of hours. Diablo IV is the game we've been waiting for, and a return to form for the Blizzard team.Geek Culture - Jake Su - 8.6 / 10 The worry remaining is that the balance needs to be struck well in order to maintain Diablo IV as a viable and long-lasting adventure that doesn’t lose its freshness or that the incessant rush to get more powerful gear becomes a chore rather than a thrill. At this juncture, there’s much for players both old and new to dive into, making combat and exploration exciting times, all while pushing the story forward in a new chapter for Sanctuary. The hope is that this will last, and that Blizzard will continue to support the game in all ways. After all, Lilith is coming, and all hail the Mother.Hardcore Gamer - Chris Shive - 4.5 / 5 Based on the franchise's history, Diablo IV has large boots to fill, but does an admiral job of meeting this longtime fan's expectations.IGN - Travis Northup - 9 / 10 Diablo 4 is a stunning sequel with near perfect endgame and progression design that makes it absolutely excruciating to put down.INVEN - Jaihoon Jeong - Korean - 9 / 10 While the fusion of Diablo franchise and the open world sounded rather unfamiliar at first, the game has succeeded in capturing the charm of both. You can't say the game is perfect as of its initial release, Diablo4 still is one of the strongest quarter view action RPGs.Kakuchopurei - Jonathan Leo - 90 / 100 [Diablo 4] looks and feels great to play, it's full of content without being way too overburdened with systems and age-old mechanics, it's accessible but also gets really hard and challenging for action RPG standards, and it's really great with more people in your party, with a good amount of classes to play around with and tailor to your playstyle. A highly-polished loot-filled gateway drug for newbies and veterans alike; not terribly innovative but incredibly fun to get into.Merlin'in Kazanı - Samet Basri Taşlı - Turkish - 90 / 100 Diablo IV has successfully brought everything we wished to be in the 3rd game and has the potential to be the best game in the series.Multiplayer First - Vitor Braz - 9.5 / 10 Do yourself a favor: ditch your reservations and step into Sanctuary as soon as you can. It’s likely going to be literal hell during the launch queues, but you’ll have a beautifully grim and visceral adventure ahead, one where every leveling up sound will feel like music to your ears. Enjoy it to the best of your possibilities because an action-RPG of this caliber may only arrive in another decade or so, and missing out on Diablo 4 would be something that may just reserve you a spot in hell.Niche Gamer - Jonathan White - 9 / 10 It ain’t perfect, but provided they continue the course Diablo IV is currently on, this might be the game that bridges the gap and makes Diablo the most accessible and ultimately the most fun it has ever been to players from any background.Oyungezer Online - Can Arabacı - Turkish - 9.5 / 10 Diablo IV is definitely one of the best games Blizzard has ever made. And possibly the best story they've ever told.PCGamesN - Lauren Bergin - 10 / 10 Diablo 4 embodies the essence of what makes Diablo so great, taking the best elements of its predecessors and sewing them together to create an ever-changing, ever-evolving chimera that we can't wait to play for years to come.PSX Brasil - Paulo Roberto Montanaro - Portuguese - 85 / 100 Diablo IV is, without a doubt, a great success that takes the best of its previous iterations, especially Diablo II, and takes advantage of the potential of an intense open world. With mechanics refined for today, hundreds of hours of gameplay, and the promise of an aggressive post-launch content, this game is the ultimate in the eternal battle between evil and… the other party.PlayStation Universe - Neil Bolt - 8 / 10 Diablo IV takes the series to new heights, but also spends plenty of time covering familar ground. The compelling rush for loot is as strong as it has ever been, and visually, the game is spectacular. It doesn't exactly feel like a massive leap from Diablo III yet its focus on the series' core strengths ensures that's likely more than enough for long-time fans.Polygon - Alexis Ong - Unscored More busywork doesn’t lessen the series-signature lootfest appealPress Start - Harry Kalogirou - 9 / 10 Diablo IV is an unquestionable win for Blizzard and one of their foundational franchises when it needed it most. An unrelenting commitment to vision, redefined Sanctuary, never-ending player progression, and excellent boss fights are just a few of the reasons Diablo IV isn't held back by uneven pacing and recycled content.Prima Games - Daphne Fama - 9 / 10 Diablo IV is a game with a deeply involved combat system, a complex and well-established world, and all the hallmarks of my next gaming obsession.Push Square - Khayl Adam - 9 / 10 Diablo 4 is the true successor to the bad old days of action RPGs and oozes quality in its frenetic combat and deep, engaging character development. It tells a complex, gritty narrative set in the darkly beautiful world of Sanctuary. Even better, it provides a solid foundation for years of Diablo content to come.Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Alice Bell - Unscored Diablo IV is a beautiful, frictionless grey toybox that puts nothing in the way of you playing it for hours and wondering what you've done with your life.SIFTER - Adam Christou - Worth your time Diablo IV offers a strong opening impression. It has a rich, detailed story campaign, filled with spectacle and gore. Its combat and game-feel is so satisfying. The classes feel distinct and play quite differently from each other. It feels so good to burst down screens of demons with spells and swords. Will it live up to other competitors in the ARPG space? It’s too soon to tell, but what’s here so far is extremely promising especially for players looking to enjoy an impressive horror story.Saudi Gamer - Arabic - 8 / 10 So far, the Diablo 4 experience has been nothing short of very good, the story has been very interesting and it finally returns to what distinguished the series in terms of storytelling before the release of the third installment. The game offered a very solid base of content, activities, addictive gameplay, and a variety of character-building ways that any Action RPG should offer. This is knowing that there are some important issues that appeared at the beginning of the experiment as we mentioned in the full review.Screen Rant - Carrie Lambertsen - 4.5 / 5 Ultimately, Diablo 4 is a must-play experience for any fan of dungeon-crawler ARPGs.Seasoned Gaming - Ainsley Bowden - 9.5 / 10 Diablo 4 is a masterpiece. It's the culmination of decades of ARPG refinement and evolution, and it manages to pay homage to the IP's legendary namesake while successfully integrating modern RPG elements.Shacknews - Josh Broadwell - 8 / 10 Blizzard opts for refinement over innovation with Diablo 4, but it's still a devilishly good time.Siliconera - Kazuma Hashimoto - 8 / 10 Diablo IV features a compelling antagonist in Lilith, and while it tries to present more interesting ideas into the series by the way of story, it ends up retreading old ground in more ways than one.Sirus Gaming - Kimberly Mae Go - 9 / 10 Diablo 4 presents an epic and visually stunning adventure, enveloping players in a cinematic journey through its immersive open-world. While some areas, like repetitive dungeons and class imbalances, leave room for improvement; Blizzard has laid a solid groundwork that sparks excitement for further exploration of the vast realm of Sanctuary.TechRaptor - Austin Suther - 9.5 / 10 Diablo IV might just go down as one of Blizzard's best games. It delivers exciting and accessible ARPG gameplay, a stunning world and engaging narrative to experience, and so many activities to keep you hooked for hours on end.TrueGaming - Arabic - 9 / 10 Diablo IV brings you a captivating story, a lot of freedom in your class building and a massive world full of monsters to pulverize and dungeons to explore that will keep you playing for lots of hours to come.Twinfinite - Zhiqing Wan - 4.5 / 5 An incredible looter experience overall. I cannot overstate just how satisfying it is to play Diablo IV on a moment-to-moment basis, and with so much replay value to be had from its various classes and build possibilities within those classes, Diablo IV feels like a true return to form for the series.VG247 - Connor Makar - 4 / 5 It's a damn good entry to the series as a whole, and will give the vast majority of its players a bloody good time.Wccftech - Alessio Palumbo - 8.5 / 10 Diablo IV is a return to form at a much needed time for Blizzard. It delivers incredibly fun hack and slash action combat, a greatly improved skill system, and a ton of things to do, not to mention the best story told in the franchise yet. It also looks awesome, sounds great, and runs well (except for rare instances of traversal stuttering).We Got This Covered - David Morgan - 4.5 / 5 Diablo IV tows several lines masterfully, be it in its mechanical complexity or the moral ambiguity of its plot. Its greatest achievement, however, is being a great Diablo game.WellPlayed - Ash Wayling - 8.5 / 10 Diablo IV is a must-play for fans of the series and newcomers alike. It invites you to lose yourself in a world of darkness and embark on a thrilling journey filled with relentless battles, captivating storytelling, and a hauntingly beautiful audio-visual symphony. Just ignore the extraneous limb reaching for your wallet.Xbox Achievements - Dan Webb - 85% Diablo IV boasts a new look, with its new open-world and online format, but at its heart, it’s very much a classic Diablo experience. A little old-school still, sure, but the core combat is still as fun and addictive as ever, and there’s RPG mechanics for days to sink your teeth into. What’s not to love?XboxEra - Jesse Norris - 9.5 / 10 Diablo IV is a triumph. It fulfills its promise, combining the aesthetics and feeling of Diablo II with the fantastic gameplay of III. It is dark and gory, featuring a meaty campaign and endgame that should delight fans of the series for hundreds if not thousands of hours. |
2023.05.30 16:26 aussie_bob Vegemite Brownies, this takes the cake.
 | submitted by aussie_bob to Asked_Australia [link] [comments] |
2023.05.30 15:18 Guilty_Chemistry9337 Hide Behind the Cypress Tree (Part 1)
(owing to the reddit character limit, I'm posting this in two parts, but it's one contiguous story)
There are instincts that you develop when you’re a parent. If you don’t have any children it might be a little hard to understand. If you have a toddler, for example, and they’re in the other room and silent for more than a few seconds, there’s a good chance they’re up to no good. I take that back, most of the time they’re doing nothing, but you still have to check. You feel a compulsion to check. I don’t think it’s a learned skill, I think it’s an actual instinct.
Paleolithic parents who didn’t check on their toddlers every few minutes, just to double check that they weren’t being stalked by smilodons were unlikely to have grandchildren and pass on their genes. You just feel you need to check, like getting goosebumps, a compulsion. I suppose it’s the same reason little kids are always demanding you look at them and what they’re doing.
I think that instinct starts to atrophy as your kids grow. They start learning to do things for themselves, and before you know it, they’re after their own privacy, not your attention. I don’t think it ever goes away though. I expect, decades from now, my own grown kids will visit and bring my grandkids with them. And the second I hear a baby crying in the earliest morning hours, I’ll be alert and ready for anything, sure as any old soldier who hears his name whispered in the dark of night.
I felt that alarm just the other day. First time in years. My boy came home from riding bikes with a couple of his friends. I’m pretty sure they worked out a scam where they asked each of their parents for a different new console for Christmas, and now they spend their weekends traveling between the three houses so they can play on all of them.
We all live in a nice neighborhood. A newer development than the one I grew up in, same town though. It’s the kind of place where kids are always playing in the streets, and the cars all routinely do under 20. My wife and I make sure the kids have helmets and pads, and we’re fine with the boy going out biking with his friends, as long as they stay in the neighborhood.
You know, a lot of people in my generation take some weird sort of pride in how irresponsible we used to be when we were young. I never wore a helmet. Rode to places, without telling any adults, that we never should have ridden to. Me and my friends would make impromptu jumps off of makeshift ramps and try to do stupid tricks, based loosely on stunts we’d seen on TV. Other people my age seem to wax nostalgic for that stuff and pretend it makes them somehow better people. I don’t get it. Sometimes I look back and shudder. We were lucky we escaped with only occasional bruises and road burns. It could have gone so much worse.
My son and his buddies came bustling in the front door at about 2 PM on a Saturday. They did the usual thing of raiding the kitchen for juice and his mother’s brownies, and I took that as my cue to abandon the television in the living room for my office. I was hardly noticing the chaos, by this point, it was becoming a regular weekend occurrence. But as I was just leaving, I caught something in the chatter. My boy said something about, “... that guy who was following us.”
He hadn’t said it any louder or more clearly than anything else they’d been talking about, all that stuff I’d been filtering out. Yet some deeper core process in my brain stem heard it, interpreted it, then hit the red alert button. My blood ran cold and every hair on my skin stood at attention.
I turned around and asked “Somebody followed you? What are you talking about?” I wasn’t consciously aware of how strict and stern my voice came out, yet when the jovial smiles dropped off of their faces it was apparent that it had been so.
“Huh?” my son said, his voice high-pitched and talking fast, like when he thinks he’s in trouble and needs to explain. “We thought we saw somebody following us. There wasn’t though. We didn’t really see anybody and we’d just spooked ourselves.”
“What did he look like?” I asked.
“Nothing? We really didn’t see anybody! Honest! I just saw something out of the corner of my eye! But there wasn’t really nobody there!”
“Yeah!,” said one of his buds. “Peripheral! Peripheral vision! I thought maybe I saw something too, but when I looked I didn’t see anything. I don’t have my glasses with me, but when I really looked I got a good look and there was nothing.”
The three boys had that semi-smiling but still concerned look that this was only a bizarre misunderstanding, but they were still being very sincere. “Were they in a car?”
“No, Dad, you don’t get it,” my boy continued, “They were small. We thought it was a kid.”
“Yeah,” said the third boy. “We thought maybe it was Tony Taylor’s stupid kid sister shadowing us. Getting close to throwing water balloons. Just cause she did that before.”
“If you didn’t get a good look how did you know it was a kid?”
“Because it was small!” my kid explained, though that wasn’t helping much. “What I mean is, at first I thought it was behind a little bush. It was way too small a bush to hide a grown-up. That’s why we thought it was probably Tony’s sister.”
“But you didn’t actually see Tony’s sister?” I asked.
“Nah,” said one of his buds. “And now that I think about it, that bush was probably too small for his sister too. It would have been silly. Like when a cartoon character hides behind a tiny object.”
“That’s why we think it was just in our heads,” explained the other boy, “That and the pole.”
“Yeah,” my son said. “The park on 14th and Taylor?” That was just a little community park, a single city block. Had a playground, lawn, a few trees, and some benches. “Anyway, we were riding past that, took a right on Taylor. And we were talking about how weird it would be if somebody really were following us. That’s when Brian thought he saw something. Behind a telephone pole.”
“I didn’t get a good look at it either,” the friend, Brian, “explained. Just thought I did. Know how you get up late at night to use the bathroom or whatever and you look down the hallway and you see a jacket or an office chair or something and because your eyes haven’t adjusted you think you see a ghost or burglar or something? Anyway, I thought I saw something out of the corner of my eye, but when I turned there wasn’t anything there.”
“Yeah, it was just like sometimes that happens, except this time it happened twice on the same bike ride, is all,” the other friend explained.
“And you’re sure there was nothing there?”
“Sure we’re sure,” my boy said. “We know because that time we checked. We each rode our bikes around the pole and there was nothing. Honest!”
“Hmmm,” I said. The whole thing seemed reasonable and nothing to be concerned about, you’d think.. The boys seemed to relax at my supposed acceptance. “Alright, sounds good. Hey, just let me know before you leave the house again, alright?” They all rushed to seem agreeable as I left the room, then quickly resumed their snacking and preceded to play their games.
I kept my ear out, just in case. My boy, at least this time, dutifully told me his friends were about to leave. He wasn’t very happy with me when I said they wouldn’t be riding home on their bikes, I was going to drive them home. The other boys didn’t complain, but I suppose it wasn’t their place, so my boy did the advocating for them, which I promptly ignored. I hate doing that, ignoring my kid’s talkback. My dad was the same way. It didn’t help that I struggled to get both of their bikes in the trunk, and it was a pain to get them back out again. My boy sulked in the front seat on the short ride back home. Arms folded on chest, eyes staring straight ahead, that lip thing they do. He seemed embarrassed for having what he thought was an over-protective parent. I suppose he was angry at me as well for acting, as far as he knew, irrationally. Maybe he thought he was being punished for some infraction he didn’t understand.
Well, it only got worse when we got home. I told him he wasn’t allowed to go out alone on his bike anymore. I’d only had to do that once before, when he was grounded, and back then he’d known exactly what he’d done wrong and he had it coming. Now? Well, he was confused, furious, maybe betrayed, probably a little brokenhearted? I can’t blame him. He tramped upstairs to his room to await the return of his mother, who was certain to give a sympathetic ear. I can’t imagine how upset he’ll be if he checks the garage tomorrow and finds I’ve removed his tires, just in case.
I wish I could explain it to him. I don’t even know how.
Where should I even begin? The town?
When I was about my son’s age I had just seen that movie, The Goonies. It had just come out in theaters. I really liked that movie, felt a strong connection. A lot of people do, can’t blame them, sort of a timeless classic. Except I wasn’t really into pirate’s treasure or the Fratellis, what really made me connect was a simple single shot, still in the first act. It’s right after they cross the threshold, and leave the house on their adventure. It was a shot of the boys, from above, maybe a crane shot or a helicopter shot, as they’re riding their bikes down a narrow forested lane, great big evergreen trees densely growing on the side of the road, they’re all wearing raincoats and the road is still wet from recent rain.
That was my childhood. I’ve spent my whole life in the Pacific Northwest. People talk to outsiders about the rain, and they might picture a lot of rainfall, but it’s not the volume, it’s the duration. We don’t get so much rain, it just drizzles slowly, on and on, for maybe eight or nine months out of the year. It doesn’t matter where I am, inside a house, traveling far abroad, anywhere I am I can close my eyes and still smell the air on a chilly afternoon, playing outdoors with my friends.
It’s not petrichor, that sudden intense smell you get when it first starts to rain after a long dry spell. No, this was almost the opposite, a clean smell, almost the opposite of a scent, since the rain seemed to scrub the air clean. The strongest scent and I mean that in the loosest sense possible, must have been the evergreen needles. Not pine needles, those were too strong, and there weren’t that many pines anyway. Douglas fir and red cedar predominated, again the root ‘domination’ seems hyperbole. Yet those scents were there, ephemeral as it is. Also, there was a sort of pleasant dirtiness to the smell, at least when you rode bikes. It wasn’t dirt, or mud, or dust. Dust couldn’t have existed except perhaps for a few fleeting weeks in August. I think, looking back, it was the mud puddles. All the potholes in all the asphalt suburban roads would fill up after rain with water the color of chocolate milk. We’d swerve our BMX bikes, or the knock-off brands, all the way across the street just to splash through those puddles and test our “suspensions.,” meaning our ankles and knees. The smell was always stronger after that. It had an earthiness to it. Perhaps it was petrichor’s lesser-known watery cousin.
There were other sensations too, permanently seared into my brain like grill marks. A constant chilliness that was easy to ignore, until you started working up a good heart rate on your bike, then you noticed your lungs were so cold it felt like burning. The sound of your tires on the wet pavement, particularly when careening downhill at high speed. For some reason, people in the mid-80s used to like to decorate their front porches with cheap, polyester windsocks. They were often vividly colored, usually rainbow, like prototype pride flags. When an occasional wind stirred up enough to gust, the windsocks would flap, and owning to the water-soaked polyester, make a wet slapping sound. It was loud, it was distinct, but you learned to ignore it as part of the background, along with the cawing of crows and distant passing cars.
That was my perception of Farmingham as a kid. The town itself? Just a typical Pacific Northwest town. That might not mean much for younger people or modern visitors, but there was a time when such towns were all the same. They were logging towns. It was the greatest resource of the area from the late 19th century, right up until about the 80s, when the whole thing collapsed. Portland, Seattle, they had a few things going on beyond just the timber industry, but all the hundreds of little towns and small cities revolved around logging, and my town was no exception.
I remember going to the museum. It had free admission, and it was a popular field trip destination for the local school system. It used to be the City Hall, a weird Queen Anne-style construction. Imagine a big Victorian house, but blown up to absurd proportions, and with all sorts of superfluous decorations. Made out of local timber, of course. They had a hall for art, I can’t even remember why, now. Maybe they were local artists. I only remember paintings of sailboats and topless women, which was a rare sight for a kid at the time. There was a hall filled with 19th-century household artifacts. Chamber pots and weird children's toys.
Then there was the logging section, which was the bulk of the museum. It’s strange how different things seemed to be in the early days of the logging industry, despite being only about a hundred years old, from my perspective in the 1980s. If you look back a hundred years from today, in the 1920s, you had automobiles, airplanes, electrical appliances, jazz music, radio programs, flappers, it doesn’t feel that far removed, does it? No TV, no internet, but it wouldn’t be that strange. 1880s? Different world.
Imagine red cedars, so big you could have a full logging crew, arms stretched out, just barely manage to encircle one for a photographer. Felling a single tree was the work of days. Men could rest and eat their lunches in the shelter of a cut made into a trunk, and not worry for safety or room. They had to cut their own little platforms into the trees many feet off the ground, just so the trunk was a little bit thinner, and thus hours of labor saved. They used those long, flexible two-man saws. And double-bit axes. They worked in the gloom of the shade with old gas lanterns. Once cut down from massive logs thirty feet in diameter, they’d float the logs downhill in sluices, like primitive wooden make-shift water slides. Or they’d haul them down to the nearest river, the logs pulled by donkeys on corduroy roads. They’d lay large amounts of grease on the roads, so the logs would slide easily. You could still smell the grease on the old tools on display in the museum. The bigger towns had streets where the loggers would slide the logs down greased skids all the way down to the sea, where they’d float in big logjams until the mills were ready for processing. They’d call such roads “skid-rows.” Because of all the activity, they’d end up being the worst parts of town. Local citizens wouldn’t want to live there, due to all the stink and noise. They’d be on the other side of the brothels and the opium dens. It would be the sort of place where the destitute and the insane would find themselves when they’d finally lost anything. To this day, “skidrow” remains a euphemism for the part of a city where the homeless encamp.
That was the lore I’d learned as a child. That was my “ancestry” I was supposed to respect and admire, which I did, wholeheartedly. There were things they left out, though. Things that you might have suspected, from a naive perspective, would be perfect for kids, all the folklore that came with the logging industry. The ghost stories, and the tall tales. I would have eaten that up. They do talk about that kind of thing in places far removed from the Pacific Northwest. But I had never heard about any of it. Things like the Hidebehind. No, that I’d have to discover for myself.
There were four of us on those bike adventures. Myself. Ralph, my best friend. A tough guy, the bad boy, the most worldly of us, which is a strange thing to say about an eight-year-old kid. India, an archetypal ‘80s tomboy. She was the coolest person I knew at the time. Looking back, I wonder what her home life was like. I think I remember problematic warning signs that I couldn’t have recognized when I was so young, but now raise flags. Then there was Ben. A goofy kid, a wild mop of hair, coke bottle glasses, type 1 diabetic which seemed to make him both a bit pampered by his mother, who was in charge of all his insulin, diet, and schedule, and conversely a real risk taker when she wasn’t around.
When we first saw it…
No, wait. This was the problem with starting the story. Where does it all begin? I’ll need to talk about my Grandfather as well. I’ve had two different perspectives on my Grandfather, on the man that he was. The first was the healthy able-bodied grandparent I’d known as a young child. Then there was the man, as I learned about him after he had passed.
There was a middle period, from when I was 6 to when I was 16, when I hardly understood him at all, as he was hit with a double whammy of both Parkinson’s and Alzheimer's. His decline into an invalid was both steep and long drawn out. That part didn’t reflect who he was as a person.
What did I know of him when I was little? Well I knew he and my grandmother had a nice big house and some farmland, out in the broad flat valley north of Farmingham. Dairy country. It had been settled by Dutch immigrants back in the homesteading days. His family had been among the first pioneers in the county too. It didn’t register to me then that his surname was Norwegian, not Dutch. I knew he had served in the Navy in World War II, which I was immensely proud of for reasons I didn’t know why. I knew he had a job as a butcher in a nearby rural supermarket. He was a bit of a farmer too, more as a hobby and a side gig. He had a few cattle, but mostly grew and harvested hay to sell to the local dairies. I knew he had turned his garage into a machine shop, and could fix damn near anything. From the flat tires on my bicycle to the old flat-bed truck he’d haul hay with, to an old 1950s riding lawnmower he somehow managed to keep in working order. I knew he could draw a really cool cartoon cowboy, I knew he loved to watch football, and I knew the whiskers on his chin were very pokey, and they’d tickle you when he kissed you on the cheek, and that when you tried to rub the sensation away he’d laugh and laugh and laugh.
Then there were the parts of his life that I’d learn much later. Mostly from odd passing comments from relatives, or things I’d find in the public records. Like how he’d been a better grandfather than a father. Or how his life as I knew it had been a second, better life. He’d been born among the Norwegian settler community, way up in the deep, dark, forest-shrouded hills that rimmed the valley. He’d been a logger in his youth. Technologically he was only a generation or two from the ones I’d learned about in the museum. They’d replaced donkeys with diesel engines and corduroy roads with narrow gauge rail. It was still the same job, though. Dirty, dangerous, dark. Way back into those woods, living in little logging camps, civilization was always a several-day hike out. It became a vulgar sort of profession, filled with violent men, reprobates, and thieves. When my grandfather’s father was murdered on his front porch by a lunatic claiming he’d been wronged somehow, my grandfather hiked out of there, got into town, and joined the Navy. He vowed never to go back. The things he’d seen out in those woods were no good. He’d kept that existence away from me. Anyways…
Tommy Barker was the first of us to go missing. I say ‘us’ as if I knew him personally. I didn’t. He went to Farmingham Middle School, other side of town, and several grades above us. From our perspective, he may as well have been an adult living overseas.
Yet it felt like we got to know him. His face was everywhere, on TV, all over telephone poles. Everybody was talking about him. After he didn’t return from a friend’s house, everybody just sort of assumed, or maybe hoped, that he’d just gotten lost, or was trapped somewhere. They searched all the parks. Backyards, junkyards, refrigerators, trunks. Old-fashioned refrigerators, back before suction seals, had a simple handle with a latch that opened when you pulled on it. It wasn’t a problem when the fridges were in use and filled with food. But by the 80s old broke-down refrigerators started filling up backyards and junkyards, and they became deathtraps for kids playing hide-and-seek. The only opened from the outside. I remember thinking Tommy Barker was a little old to have likely been playing hide-and-seek, but people checked everywhere anyway. They never found him.
That was about the first time we saw the Hidebehind. Ben said he thought he saw somebody following us, looked like, maybe, a kid. We’d just slowly huffed our way up a moderately steep hill, Farmingham is full of them, and when we paused for a breather at the top, Ben said he saw it down the hill, closer to the base. Yet when we turned to look there was nothing there. Ben said he’d just seen it duck behind a car. That wasn’t the sort of behavior of a random kid minding his own business. Yet the slope afforded us a view under the car’s carriage, and except for the four tires, there were no signs of any feet hiding behind the body. At first, we thought he was pulling our leg. When he insisted he wasn’t, we started to tease him a little. He must have been seeing things, on account of his poor vision and thick glasses. The fact that those glasses afforded him vision as good as or better than any of us wasn’t something we considered.
The next person to disappear was Amy Brooks. Fifth-grader. Next elementary school over. I remember it feeling like when you’re traveling down the freeway, and there’s a big thunderstorm way down the road, but it keeps getting closer, and closer. I don’t remember what she looked like. Her face wasn’t plastered everywhere like Tommy’s had been. She was mentioned on the regional news, out of Seattle, her and Tommy together. Two missing kids from the same town in a short amount of time. The implication was as obvious as it was depraved. They didn’t think the kids were getting lost anymore. They didn’t do very much searching of backyards. The narratives changed too. Teachers started talking a lot about stranger danger. Local TV channels started recycling old After School Specials and public service announcements about the subject.
I’m not sure who saw it next. I think it was Ben again. We took him seriously this time though. I think. The one I’m sure I remember was soon after, and that time it was India who first saw it. It’s still crystal clear in my memory, almost forty years later, because that was the time I first saw it too. We were riding through a four-way stop, an Idaho Stop before they called it that, when India slammed to a stop, locking up her coaster brakes and leaving a long black streak of rubber on a dry patch of pavement. We stopped quickly after and asked what the problem was. We could tell by her face she’d seen it. She was still looking at it.
“I see it,” she whispered, unnecessarily. We all followed her gaze. We were looking, I don’t know, ten seconds? Twenty? We believed everything she said, we just couldn’t see it.
“Where?” Ralph asked.
“Four blocks down,” she whispered. “On the left. See the red car? Kinda rusty?” There was indeed a big old Lincoln Continental, looking pretty ratty and worn. I focused on that, still seeing nothing. “Past that, just to its right. See the street light pole? It’s just behind that.”
We also saw the pole she was talking about. Metal. Aluminum, I’d have guessed. It had different color patches, like metallic flakeboard. Like it’d had been melted together out of scrap.
I could see that clearly even from that distance. I saw nothing behind it. I could see plenty of other things in the background, cars, houses, bushes, front lawns, beauty bark landscape.. There was no indication of anything behind that pole.
And then it moved. It had been right there where she said it had been, yet it had somehow perfectly blended into the landscape, a trick of perspective. We didn’t see it at all until it moved, and almost as fast it had disappeared behind that light pole. We only got a hint. Brown in color, about our height in size.
We screamed. Short little startled screams, the involuntary sort that just burst out of you. Then we turned and started to pedal like mad, thoroughly spooked. We made it to the intersection of the next block when it was Ralph who screeched to a halt and shouted, “Wait!”
We slowed down and stopped, perhaps not as eagerly as we’d done when India yelled. Ralph was looking back over his shoulder, looking at that metal pole. “Did anybody see it move again?’ he asked. We all shook our heads in the negative. Ralph didn’t notice, but of course, he didn’t really need an answer, of course we hadn’t been watching.
“If it didn’t move, then it’s still there!” Ralph explained the obvious. It took a second to sink in, despite the obvious. “C’mon!” he shouted, and to our surprise, before we could react, he turned and took off, straight down the road, straight to where that thing had been lurking.
We were incredulous, but something about his order made us all follow hot on his heels. He was a sort of natural leader. I thought it was total foolishness, but I wasn’t going to let him go alone. I think I got out, “Are you crazy?!”
The wind was blowing hard past our faces as we raced as fast as we could, it made it hard to hear. Ralph shouted his response. “If it’s hiding that means its afraid!” That seemed reasonable, if not totally accurate. Lions hide from their prey before they attack. Then again, they don’t wait around when the whole herd charges. Really, the pole was coming up so fast there wasn’t a whole lot of time to argue. “Just blast past and look!” Ralph added. “We’re too fast! It won’t catch us.”
Sure, I thought to myself. Except maybe Ben, who always lagged behind the rest of us in a race. The lion would get Ben if any of us.
We rushed past that pole and all turned our heads to look. “See!” Ralph shouted in triumph. There was simply nothing there. A metal streetlight pole and nothing more. We stopped pedaling yet still sped on. “Hang on,” Ralph said, and at the next intersection he took a fast looping curve that threatened to crash us all, but we managed and curved behind him. We all came to the pole again where we stopped to see up close that there was nothing there, despite what we had seen moments before.
“Maybe it bilocated,” Ben offered. We groaned. We were all thinking it, but I think we were dismissive because it wasn’t as cool a word as ‘teleport.”
“Maybe it just moved when we weren’t looking,” I offered. That hadn’t been long, but that didn’t mean anything if it moved fast. The four of us slowly looked up from the base of the pole to our immediate surroundings. There were bushes. A car in a carport covered by a tarpaulin. The carport itself. Garbage cans. Stumps. Of course the ever-present trees. Whatever it was it could have been hiding behind anything. Maybe it was. We looked. Maybe it would make itself seen. None of us wanted that. “OK, let’s get going,” Ralph said, and we did so.
I got home feeling pretty shaken that afternoon. I felt safe at home. Except for the front room, which had a big bay window looking out onto the street, and the people who lived across it. There were plenty of garbage cans and telephone poles and stumps that a small, fast thing might hide behind. No, I felt more comfortable in my bedroom. There was a window, but a great thick conical cypress tree grew right in front of it, reaching way up over the roof of the house. If anything, it offered ME a place to hide, and peer out onto the street to either side of the tree. It was protective, as good as any heavy blanket.
submitted by Guilty_Chemistry9337 to Odd_directions [link] [comments]
There are instincts that you develop when you’re a parent. If you don’t have any children it might be a little hard to understand. If you have a toddler, for example, and they’re in the other room and silent for more than a few seconds, there’s a good chance they’re up to no good. I take that back, most of the time they’re doing nothing, but you still have to check. You feel a compulsion to check. I don’t think it’s a learned skill, I think it’s an actual instinct.
Paleolithic parents who didn’t check on their toddlers every few minutes, just to double check that they weren’t being stalked by smilodons were unlikely to have grandchildren and pass on their genes. You just feel you need to check, like getting goosebumps, a compulsion. I suppose it’s the same reason little kids are always demanding you look at them and what they’re doing.
I think that instinct starts to atrophy as your kids grow. They start learning to do things for themselves, and before you know it, they’re after their own privacy, not your attention. I don’t think it ever goes away though. I expect, decades from now, my own grown kids will visit and bring my grandkids with them. And the second I hear a baby crying in the earliest morning hours, I’ll be alert and ready for anything, sure as any old soldier who hears his name whispered in the dark of night.
I felt that alarm just the other day. First time in years. My boy came home from riding bikes with a couple of his friends. I’m pretty sure they worked out a scam where they asked each of their parents for a different new console for Christmas, and now they spend their weekends traveling between the three houses so they can play on all of them.
We all live in a nice neighborhood. A newer development than the one I grew up in, same town though. It’s the kind of place where kids are always playing in the streets, and the cars all routinely do under 20. My wife and I make sure the kids have helmets and pads, and we’re fine with the boy going out biking with his friends, as long as they stay in the neighborhood.
You know, a lot of people in my generation take some weird sort of pride in how irresponsible we used to be when we were young. I never wore a helmet. Rode to places, without telling any adults, that we never should have ridden to. Me and my friends would make impromptu jumps off of makeshift ramps and try to do stupid tricks, based loosely on stunts we’d seen on TV. Other people my age seem to wax nostalgic for that stuff and pretend it makes them somehow better people. I don’t get it. Sometimes I look back and shudder. We were lucky we escaped with only occasional bruises and road burns. It could have gone so much worse.
My son and his buddies came bustling in the front door at about 2 PM on a Saturday. They did the usual thing of raiding the kitchen for juice and his mother’s brownies, and I took that as my cue to abandon the television in the living room for my office. I was hardly noticing the chaos, by this point, it was becoming a regular weekend occurrence. But as I was just leaving, I caught something in the chatter. My boy said something about, “... that guy who was following us.”
He hadn’t said it any louder or more clearly than anything else they’d been talking about, all that stuff I’d been filtering out. Yet some deeper core process in my brain stem heard it, interpreted it, then hit the red alert button. My blood ran cold and every hair on my skin stood at attention.
I turned around and asked “Somebody followed you? What are you talking about?” I wasn’t consciously aware of how strict and stern my voice came out, yet when the jovial smiles dropped off of their faces it was apparent that it had been so.
“Huh?” my son said, his voice high-pitched and talking fast, like when he thinks he’s in trouble and needs to explain. “We thought we saw somebody following us. There wasn’t though. We didn’t really see anybody and we’d just spooked ourselves.”
“What did he look like?” I asked.
“Nothing? We really didn’t see anybody! Honest! I just saw something out of the corner of my eye! But there wasn’t really nobody there!”
“Yeah!,” said one of his buds. “Peripheral! Peripheral vision! I thought maybe I saw something too, but when I looked I didn’t see anything. I don’t have my glasses with me, but when I really looked I got a good look and there was nothing.”
The three boys had that semi-smiling but still concerned look that this was only a bizarre misunderstanding, but they were still being very sincere. “Were they in a car?”
“No, Dad, you don’t get it,” my boy continued, “They were small. We thought it was a kid.”
“Yeah,” said the third boy. “We thought maybe it was Tony Taylor’s stupid kid sister shadowing us. Getting close to throwing water balloons. Just cause she did that before.”
“If you didn’t get a good look how did you know it was a kid?”
“Because it was small!” my kid explained, though that wasn’t helping much. “What I mean is, at first I thought it was behind a little bush. It was way too small a bush to hide a grown-up. That’s why we thought it was probably Tony’s sister.”
“But you didn’t actually see Tony’s sister?” I asked.
“Nah,” said one of his buds. “And now that I think about it, that bush was probably too small for his sister too. It would have been silly. Like when a cartoon character hides behind a tiny object.”
“That’s why we think it was just in our heads,” explained the other boy, “That and the pole.”
“Yeah,” my son said. “The park on 14th and Taylor?” That was just a little community park, a single city block. Had a playground, lawn, a few trees, and some benches. “Anyway, we were riding past that, took a right on Taylor. And we were talking about how weird it would be if somebody really were following us. That’s when Brian thought he saw something. Behind a telephone pole.”
“I didn’t get a good look at it either,” the friend, Brian, “explained. Just thought I did. Know how you get up late at night to use the bathroom or whatever and you look down the hallway and you see a jacket or an office chair or something and because your eyes haven’t adjusted you think you see a ghost or burglar or something? Anyway, I thought I saw something out of the corner of my eye, but when I turned there wasn’t anything there.”
“Yeah, it was just like sometimes that happens, except this time it happened twice on the same bike ride, is all,” the other friend explained.
“And you’re sure there was nothing there?”
“Sure we’re sure,” my boy said. “We know because that time we checked. We each rode our bikes around the pole and there was nothing. Honest!”
“Hmmm,” I said. The whole thing seemed reasonable and nothing to be concerned about, you’d think.. The boys seemed to relax at my supposed acceptance. “Alright, sounds good. Hey, just let me know before you leave the house again, alright?” They all rushed to seem agreeable as I left the room, then quickly resumed their snacking and preceded to play their games.
I kept my ear out, just in case. My boy, at least this time, dutifully told me his friends were about to leave. He wasn’t very happy with me when I said they wouldn’t be riding home on their bikes, I was going to drive them home. The other boys didn’t complain, but I suppose it wasn’t their place, so my boy did the advocating for them, which I promptly ignored. I hate doing that, ignoring my kid’s talkback. My dad was the same way. It didn’t help that I struggled to get both of their bikes in the trunk, and it was a pain to get them back out again. My boy sulked in the front seat on the short ride back home. Arms folded on chest, eyes staring straight ahead, that lip thing they do. He seemed embarrassed for having what he thought was an over-protective parent. I suppose he was angry at me as well for acting, as far as he knew, irrationally. Maybe he thought he was being punished for some infraction he didn’t understand.
Well, it only got worse when we got home. I told him he wasn’t allowed to go out alone on his bike anymore. I’d only had to do that once before, when he was grounded, and back then he’d known exactly what he’d done wrong and he had it coming. Now? Well, he was confused, furious, maybe betrayed, probably a little brokenhearted? I can’t blame him. He tramped upstairs to his room to await the return of his mother, who was certain to give a sympathetic ear. I can’t imagine how upset he’ll be if he checks the garage tomorrow and finds I’ve removed his tires, just in case.
I wish I could explain it to him. I don’t even know how.
Where should I even begin? The town?
When I was about my son’s age I had just seen that movie, The Goonies. It had just come out in theaters. I really liked that movie, felt a strong connection. A lot of people do, can’t blame them, sort of a timeless classic. Except I wasn’t really into pirate’s treasure or the Fratellis, what really made me connect was a simple single shot, still in the first act. It’s right after they cross the threshold, and leave the house on their adventure. It was a shot of the boys, from above, maybe a crane shot or a helicopter shot, as they’re riding their bikes down a narrow forested lane, great big evergreen trees densely growing on the side of the road, they’re all wearing raincoats and the road is still wet from recent rain.
That was my childhood. I’ve spent my whole life in the Pacific Northwest. People talk to outsiders about the rain, and they might picture a lot of rainfall, but it’s not the volume, it’s the duration. We don’t get so much rain, it just drizzles slowly, on and on, for maybe eight or nine months out of the year. It doesn’t matter where I am, inside a house, traveling far abroad, anywhere I am I can close my eyes and still smell the air on a chilly afternoon, playing outdoors with my friends.
It’s not petrichor, that sudden intense smell you get when it first starts to rain after a long dry spell. No, this was almost the opposite, a clean smell, almost the opposite of a scent, since the rain seemed to scrub the air clean. The strongest scent and I mean that in the loosest sense possible, must have been the evergreen needles. Not pine needles, those were too strong, and there weren’t that many pines anyway. Douglas fir and red cedar predominated, again the root ‘domination’ seems hyperbole. Yet those scents were there, ephemeral as it is. Also, there was a sort of pleasant dirtiness to the smell, at least when you rode bikes. It wasn’t dirt, or mud, or dust. Dust couldn’t have existed except perhaps for a few fleeting weeks in August. I think, looking back, it was the mud puddles. All the potholes in all the asphalt suburban roads would fill up after rain with water the color of chocolate milk. We’d swerve our BMX bikes, or the knock-off brands, all the way across the street just to splash through those puddles and test our “suspensions.,” meaning our ankles and knees. The smell was always stronger after that. It had an earthiness to it. Perhaps it was petrichor’s lesser-known watery cousin.
There were other sensations too, permanently seared into my brain like grill marks. A constant chilliness that was easy to ignore, until you started working up a good heart rate on your bike, then you noticed your lungs were so cold it felt like burning. The sound of your tires on the wet pavement, particularly when careening downhill at high speed. For some reason, people in the mid-80s used to like to decorate their front porches with cheap, polyester windsocks. They were often vividly colored, usually rainbow, like prototype pride flags. When an occasional wind stirred up enough to gust, the windsocks would flap, and owning to the water-soaked polyester, make a wet slapping sound. It was loud, it was distinct, but you learned to ignore it as part of the background, along with the cawing of crows and distant passing cars.
That was my perception of Farmingham as a kid. The town itself? Just a typical Pacific Northwest town. That might not mean much for younger people or modern visitors, but there was a time when such towns were all the same. They were logging towns. It was the greatest resource of the area from the late 19th century, right up until about the 80s, when the whole thing collapsed. Portland, Seattle, they had a few things going on beyond just the timber industry, but all the hundreds of little towns and small cities revolved around logging, and my town was no exception.
I remember going to the museum. It had free admission, and it was a popular field trip destination for the local school system. It used to be the City Hall, a weird Queen Anne-style construction. Imagine a big Victorian house, but blown up to absurd proportions, and with all sorts of superfluous decorations. Made out of local timber, of course. They had a hall for art, I can’t even remember why, now. Maybe they were local artists. I only remember paintings of sailboats and topless women, which was a rare sight for a kid at the time. There was a hall filled with 19th-century household artifacts. Chamber pots and weird children's toys.
Then there was the logging section, which was the bulk of the museum. It’s strange how different things seemed to be in the early days of the logging industry, despite being only about a hundred years old, from my perspective in the 1980s. If you look back a hundred years from today, in the 1920s, you had automobiles, airplanes, electrical appliances, jazz music, radio programs, flappers, it doesn’t feel that far removed, does it? No TV, no internet, but it wouldn’t be that strange. 1880s? Different world.
Imagine red cedars, so big you could have a full logging crew, arms stretched out, just barely manage to encircle one for a photographer. Felling a single tree was the work of days. Men could rest and eat their lunches in the shelter of a cut made into a trunk, and not worry for safety or room. They had to cut their own little platforms into the trees many feet off the ground, just so the trunk was a little bit thinner, and thus hours of labor saved. They used those long, flexible two-man saws. And double-bit axes. They worked in the gloom of the shade with old gas lanterns. Once cut down from massive logs thirty feet in diameter, they’d float the logs downhill in sluices, like primitive wooden make-shift water slides. Or they’d haul them down to the nearest river, the logs pulled by donkeys on corduroy roads. They’d lay large amounts of grease on the roads, so the logs would slide easily. You could still smell the grease on the old tools on display in the museum. The bigger towns had streets where the loggers would slide the logs down greased skids all the way down to the sea, where they’d float in big logjams until the mills were ready for processing. They’d call such roads “skid-rows.” Because of all the activity, they’d end up being the worst parts of town. Local citizens wouldn’t want to live there, due to all the stink and noise. They’d be on the other side of the brothels and the opium dens. It would be the sort of place where the destitute and the insane would find themselves when they’d finally lost anything. To this day, “skidrow” remains a euphemism for the part of a city where the homeless encamp.
That was the lore I’d learned as a child. That was my “ancestry” I was supposed to respect and admire, which I did, wholeheartedly. There were things they left out, though. Things that you might have suspected, from a naive perspective, would be perfect for kids, all the folklore that came with the logging industry. The ghost stories, and the tall tales. I would have eaten that up. They do talk about that kind of thing in places far removed from the Pacific Northwest. But I had never heard about any of it. Things like the Hidebehind. No, that I’d have to discover for myself.
There were four of us on those bike adventures. Myself. Ralph, my best friend. A tough guy, the bad boy, the most worldly of us, which is a strange thing to say about an eight-year-old kid. India, an archetypal ‘80s tomboy. She was the coolest person I knew at the time. Looking back, I wonder what her home life was like. I think I remember problematic warning signs that I couldn’t have recognized when I was so young, but now raise flags. Then there was Ben. A goofy kid, a wild mop of hair, coke bottle glasses, type 1 diabetic which seemed to make him both a bit pampered by his mother, who was in charge of all his insulin, diet, and schedule, and conversely a real risk taker when she wasn’t around.
When we first saw it…
No, wait. This was the problem with starting the story. Where does it all begin? I’ll need to talk about my Grandfather as well. I’ve had two different perspectives on my Grandfather, on the man that he was. The first was the healthy able-bodied grandparent I’d known as a young child. Then there was the man, as I learned about him after he had passed.
There was a middle period, from when I was 6 to when I was 16, when I hardly understood him at all, as he was hit with a double whammy of both Parkinson’s and Alzheimer's. His decline into an invalid was both steep and long drawn out. That part didn’t reflect who he was as a person.
What did I know of him when I was little? Well I knew he and my grandmother had a nice big house and some farmland, out in the broad flat valley north of Farmingham. Dairy country. It had been settled by Dutch immigrants back in the homesteading days. His family had been among the first pioneers in the county too. It didn’t register to me then that his surname was Norwegian, not Dutch. I knew he had served in the Navy in World War II, which I was immensely proud of for reasons I didn’t know why. I knew he had a job as a butcher in a nearby rural supermarket. He was a bit of a farmer too, more as a hobby and a side gig. He had a few cattle, but mostly grew and harvested hay to sell to the local dairies. I knew he had turned his garage into a machine shop, and could fix damn near anything. From the flat tires on my bicycle to the old flat-bed truck he’d haul hay with, to an old 1950s riding lawnmower he somehow managed to keep in working order. I knew he could draw a really cool cartoon cowboy, I knew he loved to watch football, and I knew the whiskers on his chin were very pokey, and they’d tickle you when he kissed you on the cheek, and that when you tried to rub the sensation away he’d laugh and laugh and laugh.
Then there were the parts of his life that I’d learn much later. Mostly from odd passing comments from relatives, or things I’d find in the public records. Like how he’d been a better grandfather than a father. Or how his life as I knew it had been a second, better life. He’d been born among the Norwegian settler community, way up in the deep, dark, forest-shrouded hills that rimmed the valley. He’d been a logger in his youth. Technologically he was only a generation or two from the ones I’d learned about in the museum. They’d replaced donkeys with diesel engines and corduroy roads with narrow gauge rail. It was still the same job, though. Dirty, dangerous, dark. Way back into those woods, living in little logging camps, civilization was always a several-day hike out. It became a vulgar sort of profession, filled with violent men, reprobates, and thieves. When my grandfather’s father was murdered on his front porch by a lunatic claiming he’d been wronged somehow, my grandfather hiked out of there, got into town, and joined the Navy. He vowed never to go back. The things he’d seen out in those woods were no good. He’d kept that existence away from me. Anyways…
Tommy Barker was the first of us to go missing. I say ‘us’ as if I knew him personally. I didn’t. He went to Farmingham Middle School, other side of town, and several grades above us. From our perspective, he may as well have been an adult living overseas.
Yet it felt like we got to know him. His face was everywhere, on TV, all over telephone poles. Everybody was talking about him. After he didn’t return from a friend’s house, everybody just sort of assumed, or maybe hoped, that he’d just gotten lost, or was trapped somewhere. They searched all the parks. Backyards, junkyards, refrigerators, trunks. Old-fashioned refrigerators, back before suction seals, had a simple handle with a latch that opened when you pulled on it. It wasn’t a problem when the fridges were in use and filled with food. But by the 80s old broke-down refrigerators started filling up backyards and junkyards, and they became deathtraps for kids playing hide-and-seek. The only opened from the outside. I remember thinking Tommy Barker was a little old to have likely been playing hide-and-seek, but people checked everywhere anyway. They never found him.
That was about the first time we saw the Hidebehind. Ben said he thought he saw somebody following us, looked like, maybe, a kid. We’d just slowly huffed our way up a moderately steep hill, Farmingham is full of them, and when we paused for a breather at the top, Ben said he saw it down the hill, closer to the base. Yet when we turned to look there was nothing there. Ben said he’d just seen it duck behind a car. That wasn’t the sort of behavior of a random kid minding his own business. Yet the slope afforded us a view under the car’s carriage, and except for the four tires, there were no signs of any feet hiding behind the body. At first, we thought he was pulling our leg. When he insisted he wasn’t, we started to tease him a little. He must have been seeing things, on account of his poor vision and thick glasses. The fact that those glasses afforded him vision as good as or better than any of us wasn’t something we considered.
The next person to disappear was Amy Brooks. Fifth-grader. Next elementary school over. I remember it feeling like when you’re traveling down the freeway, and there’s a big thunderstorm way down the road, but it keeps getting closer, and closer. I don’t remember what she looked like. Her face wasn’t plastered everywhere like Tommy’s had been. She was mentioned on the regional news, out of Seattle, her and Tommy together. Two missing kids from the same town in a short amount of time. The implication was as obvious as it was depraved. They didn’t think the kids were getting lost anymore. They didn’t do very much searching of backyards. The narratives changed too. Teachers started talking a lot about stranger danger. Local TV channels started recycling old After School Specials and public service announcements about the subject.
I’m not sure who saw it next. I think it was Ben again. We took him seriously this time though. I think. The one I’m sure I remember was soon after, and that time it was India who first saw it. It’s still crystal clear in my memory, almost forty years later, because that was the time I first saw it too. We were riding through a four-way stop, an Idaho Stop before they called it that, when India slammed to a stop, locking up her coaster brakes and leaving a long black streak of rubber on a dry patch of pavement. We stopped quickly after and asked what the problem was. We could tell by her face she’d seen it. She was still looking at it.
“I see it,” she whispered, unnecessarily. We all followed her gaze. We were looking, I don’t know, ten seconds? Twenty? We believed everything she said, we just couldn’t see it.
“Where?” Ralph asked.
“Four blocks down,” she whispered. “On the left. See the red car? Kinda rusty?” There was indeed a big old Lincoln Continental, looking pretty ratty and worn. I focused on that, still seeing nothing. “Past that, just to its right. See the street light pole? It’s just behind that.”
We also saw the pole she was talking about. Metal. Aluminum, I’d have guessed. It had different color patches, like metallic flakeboard. Like it’d had been melted together out of scrap.
I could see that clearly even from that distance. I saw nothing behind it. I could see plenty of other things in the background, cars, houses, bushes, front lawns, beauty bark landscape.. There was no indication of anything behind that pole.
And then it moved. It had been right there where she said it had been, yet it had somehow perfectly blended into the landscape, a trick of perspective. We didn’t see it at all until it moved, and almost as fast it had disappeared behind that light pole. We only got a hint. Brown in color, about our height in size.
We screamed. Short little startled screams, the involuntary sort that just burst out of you. Then we turned and started to pedal like mad, thoroughly spooked. We made it to the intersection of the next block when it was Ralph who screeched to a halt and shouted, “Wait!”
We slowed down and stopped, perhaps not as eagerly as we’d done when India yelled. Ralph was looking back over his shoulder, looking at that metal pole. “Did anybody see it move again?’ he asked. We all shook our heads in the negative. Ralph didn’t notice, but of course, he didn’t really need an answer, of course we hadn’t been watching.
“If it didn’t move, then it’s still there!” Ralph explained the obvious. It took a second to sink in, despite the obvious. “C’mon!” he shouted, and to our surprise, before we could react, he turned and took off, straight down the road, straight to where that thing had been lurking.
We were incredulous, but something about his order made us all follow hot on his heels. He was a sort of natural leader. I thought it was total foolishness, but I wasn’t going to let him go alone. I think I got out, “Are you crazy?!”
The wind was blowing hard past our faces as we raced as fast as we could, it made it hard to hear. Ralph shouted his response. “If it’s hiding that means its afraid!” That seemed reasonable, if not totally accurate. Lions hide from their prey before they attack. Then again, they don’t wait around when the whole herd charges. Really, the pole was coming up so fast there wasn’t a whole lot of time to argue. “Just blast past and look!” Ralph added. “We’re too fast! It won’t catch us.”
Sure, I thought to myself. Except maybe Ben, who always lagged behind the rest of us in a race. The lion would get Ben if any of us.
We rushed past that pole and all turned our heads to look. “See!” Ralph shouted in triumph. There was simply nothing there. A metal streetlight pole and nothing more. We stopped pedaling yet still sped on. “Hang on,” Ralph said, and at the next intersection he took a fast looping curve that threatened to crash us all, but we managed and curved behind him. We all came to the pole again where we stopped to see up close that there was nothing there, despite what we had seen moments before.
“Maybe it bilocated,” Ben offered. We groaned. We were all thinking it, but I think we were dismissive because it wasn’t as cool a word as ‘teleport.”
“Maybe it just moved when we weren’t looking,” I offered. That hadn’t been long, but that didn’t mean anything if it moved fast. The four of us slowly looked up from the base of the pole to our immediate surroundings. There were bushes. A car in a carport covered by a tarpaulin. The carport itself. Garbage cans. Stumps. Of course the ever-present trees. Whatever it was it could have been hiding behind anything. Maybe it was. We looked. Maybe it would make itself seen. None of us wanted that. “OK, let’s get going,” Ralph said, and we did so.
I got home feeling pretty shaken that afternoon. I felt safe at home. Except for the front room, which had a big bay window looking out onto the street, and the people who lived across it. There were plenty of garbage cans and telephone poles and stumps that a small, fast thing might hide behind. No, I felt more comfortable in my bedroom. There was a window, but a great thick conical cypress tree grew right in front of it, reaching way up over the roof of the house. If anything, it offered ME a place to hide, and peer out onto the street to either side of the tree. It was protective, as good as any heavy blanket.
2023.05.30 15:03 Thunderclaww Diablo IV Review Megathread
These should be spoiler-free reviews (those go live on June 2nd), but there's no guarantee that every review will be spoiler free. This thread will aim to capture as many reviews as possible. Please feel free to leave comments with any reviews and I will attempt to add them as quickly as I can!
Platforms:
Review Aggregator:
OpenCritic - 90 average - 98% recommended - 72 reviews
Dexerto - Sam Smith - 5 / 5
GameSpew - Richard Seagrave - 10 / 10
GamesRadar+ - Josh West - 5 / 5
GamingTrend - Cassie Peterson, Ron Burke - 100 / 100
PCGamesN - Lauren Bergin - 10 / 10
VGC - Jordan Middler - 5 / 5
VideoGamer - Ford James - 10 / 10
Windows Central - Jez Corden - 5 / 5
Multiplayer First - Vitor Braz - 9.5 / 10
Oyungezer Online - Can Arabacı - Turkish - 9.5 / 10
Rectify Gaming - Rebecca Ellis - 9.5 / 10
Seasoned Gaming - Ainsley Bowden - 9.5 / 10
TechRaptor - Austin Suther - 9.5 / 10
XboxEra - Jesse Norris - 9.5 / 10
ZTGD - Terrence Johnson - 9.5 / 10
COGconnected - Mark Steighner - 94 / 100
GamePro - Kevin Itzinger - German - 94 / 100
Fextralife - Fexelea - 9.3 / 10
Marooners' Rock - Andrew Peggs - 9.2 / 10
ComicBook.com - Adam Barnhardt - 4.5 / 5
Forbes - Paul Tassi - 9 / 10
GGRecon - Joshua Boyles - 4.5 / 5
GRYOnline.pl - Hubert Sosnowski - Polish - 9 / 10
Game Rant - Shane Robert Moyer - 4.5 / 5
God is a Geek - Mick Fraser - 9 / 10
Hardcore Gamer - Chris Shive - 4.5 / 5
Hobby Consolas - David Rodriguez - Spanish - 90 / 100
IGN - Travis Northup - 9 / 10
IGN Spain - Álex Pareja - Spanish - 9 / 10
INVEN - Jaihoon Jeong - Korean - 9 / 10
Kakuchopurei - Jonathan Leo - 90 / 100
Merlin'in Kazanı - Samet Basri Taşlı - Turkish - 90 / 100
Niche Gamer - Jonathan White - 9 / 10
Press Start - Harry Kalogirou - 9 / 10
Prima Games - Daphne Fama - 9 / 10
Pure Xbox - Liam Doolan - 9 / 10
Push Square - Khayl Adam - 9 / 10
Screen Rant - Carrie Lambertsen - 4.5 / 5
Sirus Gaming - Kimberly Mae Go - 9 / 10
TrueGaming - Arabic - 9 / 10
Twinfinite - Zhiqing Wan - 4.5 / 5
We Got This Covered - David Morgan - 4.5 / 5
GAMES.CH - Steffen Haubner - German - 89%
Geek Culture - Jake Su - 8.6 / 10
DualShockers - Emma Ward - 8.5 / 10
Everyeye.it - Antonello Gaeta - Italian - 8.5 / 10
Gamer Guides - Nathan Garvin - 8.5 / 10
PSX Brasil - Paulo Roberto Montanaro - Portuguese - 85 / 100
Wccftech - Alessio Palumbo - 8.5 / 10
WellPlayed - Ash Wayling - 8.5 / 10
Xbox Achievements - Dan Webb - 85%
Destructoid - Timothy Monbleau - 8 / 10
Digital Trends - Gabriel Moss - 4 / 5
GameSpot - Alessandro Barbosa - 8 / 10
Gameblog - French - 8 / 10
GamesHub - Emily Spindler - 4 / 5
PlayStation Universe - Neil Bolt - 8 / 10
Saudi Gamer - Arabic - 8 / 10
Shacknews - Josh Broadwell - 8 / 10
Siliconera - Kazuma Hashimoto - 8 / 10
VG247 - Connor Makar - 4 / 5
LevelUp - Luis Sánchez - Spanish - 7 / 10
Ars Technica - Aaron Zimmerman - Unscored
Checkpoint Gaming - Elliot Attard - Unscored
Console Creatures - David Pietrangelo - Recommended
Game Informer - Marcus Stewart - Unscored
PC Gamer - Tyler Colp - Unscored
Polygon - Alexis Ong - Unscored
Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Alice Bell - Unscored
SIFTER - Adam Christou - Worth your time
Others from comments (may be duplicate)
submitted by Thunderclaww to Diablo [link] [comments]
Game Information
Game Title: Diablo IVPlatforms:
- PlayStation 5 (Jun 6, 2023)
- PlayStation 4 (Jun 6, 2023)
- PC (Jun 6, 2023)
- Xbox Series X/S (Jun 6, 2023)
- Xbox One (Jun 6, 2023)
- Diablo IV Launch Live Action Trailer
- Diablo IV Story Launch Trailer
- Diablo IV Gameplay Launch Trailer
- Diablo IV In-Game Intro Cinematic
- Diablo IV Official Release Date Trailer
- Diablo IV Official Gameplay Trailer
- Diablo IV Announce Cinematic By Three They Come
Review Aggregator:
OpenCritic - 90 average - 98% recommended - 72 reviews
Critic Reviews
CGMagazine - Brendan Frye - 10 / 10Diablo IV's dark allure combines ingenious design choices to create an extraordinary Diablo that we couldn't have dreamed possible back in 1997.
Diablo 4 is a mighty sequel, but it can feel more like a grand buffet of tasty demon-slaying treats. It offers something for everyone but misses out on that acquired yet curated taste of the older entries. This doesn't take away from Diablo 4 representing the next evolution in the series. It is a stellar sequel – and one that works hard to appeal to every fan of this beloved franchise.
We had high expectations for Diablo 4, and we’re so happy to say that Blizzard has smashed them. This is a title that takes Diablo 3’s meaningful quality-of-life improvements and expands upon them with aplomb, while also bringing back the much-loved look and feel of Diablo 2. All the while, it’s not too focused on the past, taking the series into open world territory and making it more story-led than ever before. And what a story it tells: we never expected to be so invested. But more importantly, we can’t wait to start a new character and jump once again into the endgame. Diablo 4 is devilishly good – the best Diablo game yet, in fact – and it only stands to get better.
"After sacrificing nearly 100 hours of my life to Diablo 4, I've barely scratched the surface of what it has to offer"
Diablo IV represents a massive shift for the series, moving to a more inclusive and open world that is somehow as inviting for new players as returning veterans. Complexity is mixed with flexibility to create a game that is sure to consume you for hundreds if not thousands of hours. Diablo IV is the game we've been waiting for, and a return to form for the Blizzard team.
Diablo 4 embodies the essence of what makes Diablo so great, taking the best elements of its predecessors and sewing them together to create an ever-changing, ever-evolving chimera that we can't wait to play for years to come.
Diablo 4's always-online requirement is a shame, and a few of the classes are somewhat slow to kick into high gear, but we're only able to muster minor complaints for what is easily a game-of-the-year frontrunner, and Blizzard’s best game since Diablo 3.
Diablo 4 feels like the apex of the series, bringing together everything great about the previous entries. It isn't without its minor flaws, and the success of the endgame content is still up in the air, but for once Diablo has a gripping story, phenomenal graphics, and a gameplay loop that doesn't innovate too much but is certainly better than its predecessor.
Simply put, Diablo 4 may be Blizzard's best-ever game, and that's a really tough legacy to live up to. Immaculate storytelling meets stunning art, polished, bug-free gameplay, atop endlessly customizable combat with the promise of dozens, maybe hundreds of hours of content — Diablo 4 might be Blizzard's most important, pivotal game since World of Warcraft. Do yourself a favor and go in completely blind. Even if you're not a typical fan of isometric action RPGs, I'm confident that you won't be disappointed.
Do yourself a favor: ditch your reservations and step into Sanctuary as soon as you can. It’s likely going to be literal hell during the launch queues, but you’ll have a beautifully grim and visceral adventure ahead, one where every leveling up sound will feel like music to your ears. Enjoy it to the best of your possibilities because an action-RPG of this caliber may only arrive in another decade or so, and missing out on Diablo 4 would be something that may just reserve you a spot in hell.
Diablo IV is definitely one of the best games Blizzard has ever made. And possibly the best story they've ever told.
Diablo IV will usher a new generation of action RPGs into the modern era with its brilliance.
Diablo 4 is a masterpiece. It's the culmination of decades of ARPG refinement and evolution, and it manages to pay homage to the IP's legendary namesake while successfully integrating modern RPG elements.
Diablo IV might just go down as one of Blizzard's best games. It delivers exciting and accessible ARPG gameplay, a stunning world and engaging narrative to experience, and so many activities to keep you hooked for hours on end.
Diablo IV is a triumph. It fulfills its promise, combining the aesthetics and feeling of Diablo II with the fantastic gameplay of III. It is dark and gory, featuring a meaty campaign and endgame that should delight fans of the series for hundreds if not thousands of hours.
Diablo 4 is a massive game dropping in a year chock FULL of massive games. 2023 has already seen Nintendo’s behemoth drop by way of Tears of the Kingdom which has been dominating charts and peoples’ times. Now Diablo 4 is going to come bursting in and demanding that same type of time commitment with a sprawling game world to explore on foot or horseback. Between dungeons, world events, side quests and even the main quests players will never be too far from something interesting to inspect or kill in Sanctuary. Diablo 4 feels like a wonderful homecoming, with its darker tone and sublime cutscenes which Blizzard has always been wonderful at; the whole game just feels like a love letter to us fans who have waited so long to return to Hell and defeat its denizens once more.
Diablo IV is the true successor to the second game, returning the franchise to its dark, gothic roots with a wild, operatic narrative and bold characters. Gameplay is as addictive as ever, and the sprawling campaign is only the start of a massive amount of content to experience. While Blizzard keeps nudging Diablo’s design towards MMORPG-style multiplayer and co-op, there’s no lack of fun for solo players, even if some bosses are better with friends. With off-the-charts production values and compelling characters and combat, Diablo IV is just about as good as the genre can get.
With Diablo 4, Blizzard has created a genre masterpiece that does almost everything right.
Diablo 4 is an excellent game and a fantastic next step for the ARPG genre. Smartly melding Open World and Online elements with traditional dungeon crawling and loot farming, this game will become the favorite time-sink of millions for years to come.
Diablo IV has done a good job of delivering an exciting and enjoyable storyline and providing hours of exciting entertainment, whether playing alone or with companions.
Diablo 4 is perfect for both franchise mainstays and newcomers alike. The lore of Sanctuary expands drastically while the game, story and all, is large enough to keep new players busy. The game is built to allow the developers to scale it with ease with battle passes and seasons for a new generation, but it's nowhere close to being empty.
Though in theory, an “endgame” playthrough of Diablo 4 is probably 100-200 hours across a larger span of classes, I feel like I can judge what I’ve seen. My impressions are overwhelmingly positive based on what I’ve experienced so far, from the map to the gameplay to the new systems to even the story, which I was not expecting. Blizzard really seems like they’ve nailed this, and I’m going to say the only way this will be poorly received at launch is if technical issues kill people’s ability to play. But once it gets rolling? Yes, I think you’re going to like Diablo 4.
Diablo 4 has taken everything that fans love about the ARPG format and elevated it to new heights. With a fascinating world to explore, a strong cast of characters, and purposeful combat, it sets a new standard for the genre.
The wheel hasn’t been reinvented, and is remains to be seen how the series will adapt to a live service model. Nevertheless, anyone picking up Diablo 4 at launch will find themselves playing a very strong package with plenty of promise.
What are we getting? An excellent game that reeks of a game-as-a-service, with tons of satisfying content. Diablo 4 looks like the best hack’n’slash on the market. The best h’n’s for me, a guy well versed in three previous Diablos, Divine Divinity and a bit of Grim Dawn.
Blizzard has taken twenty years of game design lessons and put all of them into Diablo 4. The variety of things to do in the game and the plethora of build choices feel like they come from a company that has experienced the highest highs and lowest lows in game development and taken some of those hard-learned lessons to heart. There is a lot of love built into every aspect of Diablo 4, and users will find it in every system and corner of Sanctuary. With the first simultaneous release on PC and consoles in the series' history, Diablo players are finally getting back into the fight between Heaven and Hell, and they will more than likely still be fighting for many years to come.
Diablo 4 may not be the huge leap forward some were hoping for, but it still offers an incredible adventure through a dark, compelling world.
Based on the franchise's history, Diablo IV has large boots to fill, but does an admiral job of meeting this longtime fan's expectations.
Diablo 4 is the triumphant return of the saga. The game manages to bring back the dark style of Diablo II while boasting a good narrative, gameplay as addictive as ever and some interesting novelties. It only remains to be seen how Blizzard will keep the game, but we can say that the time-eater has returned in style.
Diablo 4 is a stunning sequel with near perfect endgame and progression design that makes it absolutely excruciating to put down.
Diablo IV is tremendously addictive, its combat is formidable and the character building is excellent. More MMO than ever in a new path for the saga.
While the fusion of Diablo franchise and the open world sounded rather unfamiliar at first, the game has succeeded in capturing the charm of both. You can't say the game is perfect as of its initial release, Diablo4 still is one of the strongest quarter view action RPGs.
[Diablo 4] looks and feels great to play, it's full of content without being way too overburdened with systems and age-old mechanics, it's accessible but also gets really hard and challenging for action RPG standards, and it's really great with more people in your party, with a good amount of classes to play around with and tailor to your playstyle. A highly-polished loot-filled gateway drug for newbies and veterans alike; not terribly innovative but incredibly fun to get into.
Diablo IV has successfully brought everything we wished to be in the 3rd game and has the potential to be the best game in the series.
It ain’t perfect, but provided they continue the course Diablo IV is currently on, this might be the game that bridges the gap and makes Diablo the most accessible and ultimately the most fun it has ever been to players from any background.
Diablo IV is an unquestionable win for Blizzard and one of their foundational franchises when it needed it most. An unrelenting commitment to vision, redefined Sanctuary, never-ending player progression, and excellent boss fights are just a few of the reasons Diablo IV isn't held back by uneven pacing and recycled content.
Diablo IV is a game with a deeply involved combat system, a complex and well-established world, and all the hallmarks of my next gaming obsession.
You can see why it's taken Blizzard over six years to get this one out the gate when you look at the end product. Diablo 4 is a natural evolution of the series with its new open-world design and gameplay, enhanced social and multiplayer experience, and a live service that promises to keep players returning to the world of Sanctuary for years to come. These strong foundations and scale of the whole experience, combined with the five unique classes and seemingly limitless customisation options for builds, should keep even the most diehard demon slayers busy for a very long time. With all of this in consideration, Diablo 4 is a must-play if you're a veteran of the series and it's a great starting point for newcomers. We can't wait to jump back in! Now, fingers crossed we just don't have another 'Error 37' at launch.
Diablo 4 is the true successor to the bad old days of action RPGs and oozes quality in its frenetic combat and deep, engaging character development. It tells a complex, gritty narrative set in the darkly beautiful world of Sanctuary. Even better, it provides a solid foundation for years of Diablo content to come.
Ultimately, Diablo 4 is a must-play experience for any fan of dungeon-crawler ARPGs.
Diablo 4 presents an epic and visually stunning adventure, enveloping players in a cinematic journey through its immersive open-world. While some areas, like repetitive dungeons and class imbalances, leave room for improvement; Blizzard has laid a solid groundwork that sparks excitement for further exploration of the vast realm of Sanctuary.
Diablo IV brings you a captivating story, a lot of freedom in your class building and a massive world full of monsters to pulverize and dungeons to explore that will keep you playing for lots of hours to come.
An incredible looter experience overall. I cannot overstate just how satisfying it is to play Diablo IV on a moment-to-moment basis, and with so much replay value to be had from its various classes and build possibilities within those classes, Diablo IV feels like a true return to form for the series.
Diablo IV tows several lines masterfully, be it in its mechanical complexity or the moral ambiguity of its plot. Its greatest achievement, however, is being a great Diablo game.
The irresistible gloom is now no longer opposed by hurdles in the form of confusing item and skill management. We enthusiastically throw ourselves against Lilith's hordes and once again sink hour after hour into perfecting our character. Overall, however, there could have been a bit more innovation.
The worry remaining is that the balance needs to be struck well in order to maintain Diablo IV as a viable and long-lasting adventure that doesn’t lose its freshness or that the incessant rush to get more powerful gear becomes a chore rather than a thrill. At this juncture, there’s much for players both old and new to dive into, making combat and exploration exciting times, all while pushing the story forward in a new chapter for Sanctuary. The hope is that this will last, and that Blizzard will continue to support the game in all ways. After all, Lilith is coming, and all hail the Mother.
Your favorite Action Role Playing Game is back and bloodier than ever. Diablo 4 improves upon nearly every core gameplay mechanic from Diablo 3 while introducing a few great quality-of-life features that make this journey to Sanctuary the best yet. While some of the quest systems seem dated, the main story is delivered beautifully, breathing new life into the series.
Diablo 4 is a canvas on which developers could, over the next few months, paint a true masterpiece.
With a compelling new antagonist, a serviceable, character-driven story, and a familiarly satisfying gameplay loop with an incredible amount of depth, Diablo 4 is a worthy entry into the franchise that threatens to burn away many hours of your life.
Diablo IV is, without a doubt, a great success that takes the best of its previous iterations, especially Diablo II, and takes advantage of the potential of an intense open world. With mechanics refined for today, hundreds of hours of gameplay, and the promise of an aggressive post-launch content, this game is the ultimate in the eternal battle between evil and… the other party.
Diablo IV is a return to form at a much needed time for Blizzard. It delivers incredibly fun hack and slash action combat, a greatly improved skill system, and a ton of things to do, not to mention the best story told in the franchise yet. It also looks awesome, sounds great, and runs well (except for rare instances of traversal stuttering).
Diablo IV is a must-play for fans of the series and newcomers alike. It invites you to lose yourself in a world of darkness and embark on a thrilling journey filled with relentless battles, captivating storytelling, and a hauntingly beautiful audio-visual symphony. Just ignore the extraneous limb reaching for your wallet.
Diablo IV boasts a new look, with its new open-world and online format, but at its heart, it’s very much a classic Diablo experience. A little old-school still, sure, but the core combat is still as fun and addictive as ever, and there’s RPG mechanics for days to sink your teeth into. What’s not to love?
Impressive efforts with a few noticeable problems holding them back. Won't astound everyone, but is worth your time and cash.
Diablo 4's wealth of loot and meaningful customization systems make up for most of its frustrating MMO concessions.
Diablo IV's surprisingly moving and engrossing story encapsulates gameplay systems that have learnt all the right lessons from entries past.
Diablo 4 is extremely generous. A clear evolution of the franchise and a real comeback.
Diablo 4 is a behemoth of a game, boasting a gothic world that goes beyond the engaging hack-and-slash gameplay loop.
Diablo IV takes the series to new heights, but also spends plenty of time covering familar ground. The compelling rush for loot is as strong as it has ever been, and visually, the game is spectacular. It doesn't exactly feel like a massive leap from Diablo III yet its focus on the series' core strengths ensures that's likely more than enough for long-time fans.
So far, the Diablo 4 experience has been nothing short of very good, the story has been very interesting and it finally returns to what distinguished the series in terms of storytelling before the release of the third installment. The game offered a very solid base of content, activities, addictive gameplay, and a variety of character-building ways that any Action RPG should offer. This is knowing that there are some important issues that appeared at the beginning of the experiment as we mentioned in the full review.
Blizzard opts for refinement over innovation with Diablo 4, but it's still a devilishly good time.
Diablo IV features a compelling antagonist in Lilith, and while it tries to present more interesting ideas into the series by the way of story, it ends up retreading old ground in more ways than one.
It's a damn good entry to the series as a whole, and will give the vast majority of its players a bloody good time.
Diablo IV remained stuck in the past while trying to find innovation without generating friction with fans who have played the franchise for over two decades; It feels like the ghost of Diablo Immortal continues to haunt the halls of Blizzard. The game is more of a reinvention of the classic experience, focusing on a games-as-a-service format to ensure another decade of content for Diablo.
Each class has a gimmick-or "specialization"-that unlocks as you progress through the game. The Barbarian, for instance, can lug around a huge arsenal of weapons and gains "expertise" with each as you use them, granting buffs and special effects. The Necromancer can choose between different types of minions or sacrifice them to extract their power. The Rogue has three specialization options, one of which is a WoW-like combo-points system. Every class has its own personality and quirks, and they're all a blast to play.
Whilst Diablo IV could have done more to advance the genre or perfect its writing and tone across the entire experience, there’s no denying just how impactful this release is, especially for those of us who grew up alongside the series.
Diablo 4 is an impressive and massive conquest of demons, loot, exploration, and wildly fun mechanics. It's already clear that this game brings tons of new content to the franchise and handles it incredibly well.
While it remains to be seen how the experience handles the incoming flood of players once the lights are turned on, I think Diablo fans, old and new, are in for a treat.
An exciting, modern version of Diablo is in here—I can see parts of it poking through the surface—but I'm starting to lose patience waiting for it to show its face.
More busywork doesn’t lessen the series-signature lootfest appeal
Diablo IV is a beautiful, frictionless grey toybox that puts nothing in the way of you playing it for hours and wondering what you've done with your life.
Diablo IV offers a strong opening impression. It has a rich, detailed story campaign, filled with spectacle and gore. Its combat and game-feel is so satisfying. The classes feel distinct and play quite differently from each other. It feels so good to burst down screens of demons with spells and swords. Will it live up to other competitors in the ARPG space? It’s too soon to tell, but what’s here so far is extremely promising especially for players looking to enjoy an impressive horror story.
Gaming Review Sites
- GameRant: 4.5/5 https://gamerant.com/diablo-4-review/
- WindowsCentral: 5/5 https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/diablo-4-review
- WGTC: https://wegotthiscovered.com/reviews/review-diablo-iv-is-a-complex-and-beautiful-hell/
- Video Games Chronicle: 5/5 https://www.videogameschronicle.com/review/diablo-4/
- TechRadar: 5/5 https://www.techradar.com/reviews/diablo-4-review
- Destructoid: 8/10 https://www.destructoid.com/reviews/review-diablo-4/
YouTube Reviews
- DM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4Wajt6hcGY
- Fextralife https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs4SDn7HP_8
- Dbrunski https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW2Ur3bDeKo
- Force https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ay_3bp29ds
- IGN https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZTeEGhqh-k
- EuroGamer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNO-M-yCcRU
- Slaydra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZWtUEauGHc
- Press Start Australia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7iDTOyrECQ
- Khraze: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9vVncU-iVE
- Datmodz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PNsyFql5I4
- Gamespot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_S9rnIUQ3I
- Seasoned Gaming: https://youtu.be/Mz0cxdx2a_Y
- Rhykker: https://youtu.be/WJM3y-4tDhQ
Non-English Reviews
- Gamestar (German) https://www.gamestar.de/artikel/diablo-4-test-review-wertung,3394628.html GamePro from Germany gave 94/100:
- GamePro (German) https://www.gamepro.de/artikel/diablo-4-test-review,3394866,wertung.html
- Jeuxvideo.com (French) 17/20: https://www.jeuxvideo.com/test/1755365/diablo-4-le-meilleur-de-tous-les-episodes-de-la-saga.htm
2023.05.30 14:16 CreamyDelight688007 Decadent Chocolate Cupcakes with Blueberry Whipped Cream - A Flavor Explosion! 🍫🧁
https://reddit.com/link/13voov3/video/wztr8ktkny2b1/player
Prepare to have your taste buds dancing with delight! In this short video, we demonstrate the art of decorating chocolate cupcakes with a tantalizing blueberry whipped cream. The combination of rich chocolate and tangy blueberries creates a flavor explosion that you won't be able to resist. Watch and get inspired to create your own mouthwatering desserts! #ChocolateCupcakes #BlueberryWhippedCream #BakingInspiration
submitted by CreamyDelight688007 to CreamyDelight688007 [link] [comments]
Prepare to have your taste buds dancing with delight! In this short video, we demonstrate the art of decorating chocolate cupcakes with a tantalizing blueberry whipped cream. The combination of rich chocolate and tangy blueberries creates a flavor explosion that you won't be able to resist. Watch and get inspired to create your own mouthwatering desserts! #ChocolateCupcakes #BlueberryWhippedCream #BakingInspiration
2023.05.30 14:08 New_Morning_3955 How do I hack my husband phone and view his socials
There is no denying in the fact that over the last decade Facebook has always managed to stand out as an excellent social media platform. It is one of the most favorite platforms of people at all times. It has become an integral part of all social media enthusiasts, and it is sure that Facebook/instagram will never go unmentioned in any discussion about leading social media platforms existing today and nowadays, people are more interested in knowing the secrets of how to hack a facebook messenger with ease.
Even thinking about hacking someone’s account/Messenger without them realizing excites us. Hacking and reading messages from your friends, relatives or spouse can be quite an interesting thing to do. Well, it’s not that easy, but also not impossible to do.
How to hack an account/Messenger is something we’ve all searched over the internet at least once. But ultimately end up getting disappointed. You need the service of [[email protected]] to be able to hack any social media database remotely without any trace.
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submitted by New_Morning_3955 to newmorning [link] [comments]
Even thinking about hacking someone’s account/Messenger without them realizing excites us. Hacking and reading messages from your friends, relatives or spouse can be quite an interesting thing to do. Well, it’s not that easy, but also not impossible to do.
How to hack an account/Messenger is something we’ve all searched over the internet at least once. But ultimately end up getting disappointed. You need the service of [[email protected]] to be able to hack any social media database remotely without any trace.
You can hire [[email protected]] for facebook hacking, instagram hacking, whatsapp hacking, phone cloning, tinder hacking and many hacking service.
2023.05.30 12:16 cakesbath cake shop Bristol -DiDiCakesBath
Bristol is full of delicious bakeries, but if you're in the market for the perfect cake, look no further than a cake shop Bristol. With a wide variety of options, you're sure to find the perfect cake for any occasion. Whether you're in the mood for a classic chocolate cake a fruit-filled sponge cake, or a decadent red velvet cake, these bakeries have got you covered. Many cake shops also offer customized cakes, allowing you to truly personalize your sweet treat. These shops often use fresh, local ingredients to create delectable desserts that look as good as they taste.
submitted by cakesbath to u/cakesbath [link] [comments]
2023.05.30 11:50 NewYork-CityAdvisor 🍦 Discover NYC's Finest Ice Cream Parlors: best ice cream nyc🌟
 | Newyorkcityadvisor.com submitted by NewYork-CityAdvisor to u/NewYork-CityAdvisor [link] [comments] New York City is renowned for its diverse and delicious ice cream scene. Here are some of the best ice cream shops in NYC:
Follow for more: Explore New York City |
2023.05.30 11:45 milkypolarbear Are these worth getting?
 | Fairly new to crumbl. Are any of these worth trying/getting? Especially the pumpkin roll because it's the most convenient to get for it's location and days submitted by milkypolarbear to CrumblCookies [link] [comments] |
2023.05.30 10:52 HYSapientia_Mira Decadant Air Fryer Kinder Bueno Chocolate Tres Leches Cake Recipe HYSapientia Air Fryer Oven Recipes
submitted by HYSapientia_Mira to HYSapientia_Fans [link] [comments]2023.05.30 08:14 SeanAntonyFitness Reviewing every protein bar ever - Fulfil Chocolate brownie edition
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2023.05.30 07:58 lovewithdonut The Six Best Donut Shops in Australia
 | Donuts, with their overwhelming flavors and great surfaces, have turned into a darling treat around the world. In Australia, the Best Donuts in Perth scene has prospered, offering a large number of special and delicious choices for donut lovers. From exemplary top choices to inventive manifestations, the nation is home to some genuinely noteworthy donut shops. In this article, we will set out on a sweet excursion and investigate the six best donut shops in Australia, where you can enjoy grand treats that will leave you hankering for more. Prepare to fulfill your sweet tooth and find these magnificent objections! submitted by lovewithdonut to u/lovewithdonut [link] [comments] Donut Time:Beginning our rundown with a genuine donut symbol, Donut Time has acquired a faction continuing in Australia. With various areas the nation over, this famous donut shop offers a broad scope of innovatively made Donuts. From their mark "Love at First Chomp" with Nutella filling and chocolate frosting to the liberal "OG" finished off with salted caramel and popcorn, every donut is a masterpiece. Donut Time's commitment to flavor, quality, and outwardly dazzling manifestations has made it a must-visit objective for donut sweethearts.Shortstop Espresso and Donuts:Consolidating specially prepared espresso with high quality Donuts, Shortstop Espresso and Donuts has procured a merited standing as one of Australia's top donut shops. With areas in Melbourne and Sydney, this foundation centers on delivering remarkable Donuts utilizing the best fixings. Their reach incorporates both work of art and extraordinary flavors, like the heavenly "Maple Pecan and Earthy colored Spread" and the captivating "Duke Dim and Rose." The ideal matching of their masterfully fermented espresso with their tasty Donuts makes Shortstop a safe house for food and espresso epicureans the same.Bistro Morgan:Which began as a secondary school project has now bloomed into one of Australia's dearest donut objections. Bistro Morgan, established by a youthful business visionary, Morgan Hipworth, has caught the hearts and taste buds of donut fans. With its lead store in Melbourne, Bistro Morgan offers an amazing exhibit of flavors, including the notorious "Ferrero Uncover" loaded up with Nutella and finished off with squashed Ferrero Rocher. The Donuts at Bistro Morgan grandstand the inventiveness and enthusiasm of its young pioneer, making each visit a noteworthy encounter. https://preview.redd.it/unj1w613sw2b1.jpg?width=612&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4d4ce4b52a1afdad7376c9c165f7253fa07c9903 Surly Donuts:Settled in the core of Sydney, Crotchety Donuts has acquired a dependable following for its handmade, little group Donuts. With an accentuation on quality and flavor, this shop offers various awesome manifestations. From the work of art "Vanilla Frosted" to the gutsier "Matcha Pack Kat," Irritable Donuts follows through on both taste and style. The group behind Grouchy Donuts invests heavily in their commitment to utilizing premium fixings and customary procedures, bringing about Donuts that are out and out flawlessness.Donut Shack:For those in Brisbane looking for donut rapture, Donut Shack is the spot to be. This family-possessed and worked shop carries a bit of sentimentality to their contributions, suggestive of dated donut shops. The menu includes a variety of delectable flavors, including the consistently famous "Unique Frosted" and the liberal "Caramel Brownie." The Donuts at Donut Shack are carefully assembled with affection, and their obligation to quality and validness radiates through in each chomp.Donut Papi:Donut Papi, situated in Redfern, Sydney, is known for its one of a kind and creative way to deal with Donuts. Joining Japanese and Filipino flavors, this shop makes a combination of societies in each luscious treat. From their top rated "Matcha White Chocolate" donut to the tempting "Ube Coconut," Donut Papi offers a different scope of flavors that will ship your taste buds to especially intriguing objections. The Donuts are produced using scratch day to day, guaranteeing newness and quality with each chomp. Donut Papi's obligation to involving credible fixings and their energy for pushing the limits of flavor make it a champion objective for donut fans.End: Australia's donut scene is a lively and prospering scene, offering a wide exhibit of tempting treats to fulfill even the most insightful sweet tooth. From the notorious manifestations of Donut Time to the high quality pleasures of Shortstop Espresso and Donuts, every one of the six best donut shops in Australia offers a one of a kind and significant experience. Whether you're looking for exemplary flavors, imaginative mixes, or a combination of social impacts, these foundations take care of you. In this way, leave on a sweet experience and enjoy the heavenly manifestations of these donut shops. Whether you're a neighborhood or a guest, these objections make certain to have you with an enduring effect and a desire for a greater amount of Australia's best Donuts. Read More: Make Donuts without Yeast |