Smack you in the face!

Stealth games are my nemesis due to my total lack of patience.  After finishing up BioShock:  Infinite's DLC "Burial at Sea" which involved some stealthiness I somehow decided that the next game I wanted to re-tackle would be Dishonored.  I'm not sure what part of my brain influenced me to make this decision since I know that I get irritated with games that have a sneaky/stealthy aspect.  I'm going to blame it on being sick.

Dishonored is a game that is completely about sneaking.  I suppose you could just run headlong into foes and get creative in your evasion, but I don't see that as being very successful.  It also seems to me that the game is very actively encouraging you to use stealthy tactics--the "hints" on the loading screen state that sneaking and killing fewer people will result in a happier ending.  To me this seems to be nudging players to opt for the more "peaceful" option.  You do get rewarded for avoiding conflict in Dishonored by bonuses at the end of the mission for not killing anyone or for not setting off any alarms.  I've played through it once but decided that it was time for a replay but am having difficulty being patient.  Crouching in a corner, waiting for some guard to walk by, then waiting to make sure he isn't going to turn around mid-stride.  There's an element of tension as you wait and plan out your moves, but it is decidedly slower than a more traditional shooting type of game.  Maybe that's what's wrong--I don't want a game that forces me to plan and be patient.  I want a game that lets you smack stuff in the face.  Preferably with giant weapons.

The male and female crusader models.  Very cool.

And that's how I ended up playing Diablo III (with Reaper of Souls) rather than continuing hiding in corners in Dishonored.  There's no stealthing or hiding.  There's nothing but good old fashioned slaying.  I bought the Reaper of Souls expansion this summer (meaning the summer of 2014 in teacher years) and had played through much of the new campaign content with some of my favorite classes--namely the monk, wizard, and witch doctor.  I hadn't really touched the shiny, new crusader class so I decided to give it a whirl and it's pretty freakin' awesome.  The crusader seems to be geared toward a more tank-like role with talent options that help reduce the amount of damage taken through blocking with a shield.  If you're playing solo you can talent more for sheer damage capabilities.  Crusaders can wield a two-handed weapon as a one-hander.  This totally satisfies my requirement for giant weapons.  This combined with a shield makes you less squishy than other classes which is good for players like me who enjoy charging into a big group of demons with wild abandon.

My crusader is still in it's early stages, but I am really enjoying this added class.  For some reason I felt like I had better luck than normal with legendary drops (which don't really matter at low-levels but are still exciting--that orange just makes you want to giggle) and have managed to deck out my crusader pretty nicely for some low-level smashing.

I'm going to try my hardest to soldier through Dishonored, but I have found a nice tension release in the form of Diablo III:  Reaper of Souls and the crusader.