Diablo 1 & 2 were the first video games I ever owned (along with Starcraft.) They were my introduction to the world of clicking and murdering demons. My husband got me Diablo III for my birthday this year, knowing that I wanted to review it for Blind Lady Versus. It wasn’t so much a livetweet, because with games like this it can be hard to pause and then look back and go “Aw, crap, I’m still surrounded.”

So I wanted to wait until I finished the game to review it, like I do with all the others, but in this case without a livetweet.

My birthday was in October, and a week ago I decided it was time to write the review.

The Good:

Once I figured out how to stack my powers, it became a lot easier to kill things, and I didn’t have to focus so much on clicking on the right enemy so much as hitting a specific button and watching them explode. Spatial powers – I Like them! Also, while minimaps are usually a challenge for me, this one worked pretty well for me! It helped me not get lost in the dungeons. I had some pretty great dungeon crawling.

The Bad:

I kept losing my character. She was too small, and amidst the hordes of demons in section 3 I pretty much kept dying because I couldn’t SEE where I need to send my character next, and that was especially true when it came to the issue of trying to find the gorram health globes which enemies dropped. At least the money picked itself up for me so I didn’t have to go bumbling around for it.

Anyway, the game wasn’t too terribly hard for me until….

The Ugly & Lack of Contrast-y:

GUESS WHO CAN’T FINISH THE GAME?

You see, the final boss (along with a couple other bosses) have the ability to turn the floor into a sucking vortex of pain and woe and misery. And that makes it impossible for me to distingush say, the enemy, from the floor. Or for that matter, the floor from the vortex, because there is NO BLOODY CONTRAST. Look, I don’t expect every video game to cater to my whim of contrast, but at least if you’re going to create this kind of weapon, CONTRAST WOULD BE NICE FOR EVERYBODY.

The issue with contrast is the major one for me throughout the game, while I can find entrances to places (because they glow), and while I can find waypoints, there were many places where my little band of adventurers, or the enemies, blended into the major background. While I recognize that this is a dark game, and one that requires a certain level of atmosphere to create, I also suggest building in better options for  optimal contrast settings, or making sure that your attacks don’t actually look like the floor.

I’m ok with the fact that I’m probably never going to finish Diablo III, because Azmodan can suck it as far as I’m concerned. I have better things to blow up in my work hours. Like the patriarchy.

Blind Lady Versus is a regular series on Feminist Sonar – if you would like to donate a game to be played, please use the contact form and we’ll be happy to let you know how!