Tag: Looter

Borderlands 3

Cover image of the episode in crimson red with a centered logo in white and the episode title below.
Between Players
Between Players
Borderlands 3
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Episode 018

Summary

The Borderlands series is near and dear to my heart. And my brother Rob and I took some time to dig into the parts of the game that we found awesome and what wasn’t so great. We played Borderlands 2 for countless hours and between all the expansions we were ready to be on the latest chapter of the Vault hunters.

A little more than a year ago we waited for Borderlands 3 to open up for purchase outside of the Epic store, which in general as a PC casual, wasn’t the worst thing and we don’t have anything against multiple launchers, but we are pretty embedded as Steam users.

On this episode of the podcast, we discussed the Story, Audio, Graphics, and Gameplay mechanics that we enjoyed during our 35~hour play-through of the main campaign. On the whole we enjoyed the gameplay and the possibilities that this title opens up for the Borderlands universe. No longer tied to Sanctuary we are free to explore a vast universe of vaults and monsters as a Flak and Amara.

Overall we recommend picking up the title, and are looking forward to playing through the expansions this fall.

Let us know if you are enjoying the show via electronic mail or on twitter @betweenplayers

And thank you for listening!

Listen to the show on:

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Special Thanks

Guest – Rob Meyer

Illustration – Evan McIntyre

Loot, Die, Repeat

Cover image of the episode in crimson red with a centered logo in white and the episode title below.
Between Players
Between Players
Loot, Die, Repeat
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Episode 016

Summary

If our hobbies carried a title that was analogous to a job, ours would probably be something like, “Inventory Manager.” Mari Kondo would find our compulsion to hoard digital items found in games like Diablo, or Torchlight to be, “of great concern.”

Danh and I take a dive into the deeply addicting grind of loot collection. We share a common thread and propensity for these sorts of unending cycles in game mechanics.

As in the last episode, Diablo plays a sort of central role in the formation of our interests in grinding levels, material, and items in this Groundhog Day flavored digital experience. We have carved in literally 100’s of hours honing our goals, yet never quite gaining perfection. And maybe that is what brings us such enjoyment.

Attaining mastery is a lofty goal with Torchlight, Destiny, the Division, Borderlands, and so on. They are designed to hold our attention and yet at the same time allow us to feel the assent towards tangible success. We are getting there but, there are miles to go before we rest.

Did we miss something about the compulsion to find, collect, and keep loot? Are you bored of the grind? Let us know if you are enjoying the show via electronic mail or on twitter @betweenplayers

Thank you for listening to the show.

Listen to the show on:

Spotify
iTunes Podcasts
Google Play Podcasts

Special Thanks

Guest – Danh Hoang

Illustration – Evan McIntyre

Diablo Loot Lord of Darkness

Cover image of the episode in crimson red with a centered logo in white and the episode title below.
Between Players
Between Players
Diablo Loot Lord of Darkness
/

Episode 015

Summary

In 1996, a small team of developers, who would later become Blizzard, created something dark, difficult, and addicting.

Diablo feels like something more than just a game about fighting in a dungeon as one of three archetypical character classes. It’s an action RPG, but it established something new. Players love loot and they will do anything for new loot.

Thus giving birth to a sub-genre, and a gameplay mechanic definition akin to metroid-vania. The Looter.

As of this writing, Looter Shooters are the progeny of Diablo with the greatest amount of universal appeal. Borderlands, Destiny, and the Division, all owe their success to the systems of play that Diablo created.

When I describe the mechanic you can see other examples in adventure or RPG games, where quality levels of loot are dropped seemingly at random, or at least when the right combination of conditions are true. Many games share this basic concept. Witcher 3, Fallout, Shadow Warrior 2, and the Assassin’s Creed Origins ( and newer ), series also use this mechanic.

It isn’t really the core gameplay loop of these titles. Or at the very least it’s an unobtrusive complimentary piece, that fuels more exploration rather than an urging the players to farm items.

In this episode my brother Robert and I give an oral history of our experience playing through the three Diablo titles, and chat about what was so engaging and interesting about them. We answer questions for ourselves about what elements in the combat, skill trees, and atmospheric elements we found to be the stand outs in the series.

Come along with us back to Tristram and beyond as we revel in our fandom of the endless loot-palooza that is Diablo.

Did we miss something about the Lord of Darkness that you want us to clarify? Let us know if you are enjoying the show via electronic mail or on twitter @betweenplayers

Thank you for listening to the show.

Listen to the show on:

Spotify
iTunes Podcasts
Google Play Podcasts

Special Thanks

Guest – Rob Meyer

Illustration – Evan McIntyre