Why Diablo 3 is my most played game this console generation?

I discovered something interesting this week that made me think about my gaming hobby in a new way. We have all had the conversation on what we consider to be our favourite game. I have been throwing Persona 5 around a lot lately as it is technically fantastic and critically acclaimed. I also adore the Dark souls series more than I can put into words. Everything about the world design just speaks to me on a personal level. Other honourable mentions this generation go to the Witcher 3, Final fantasy 15 and Bloodborne which are all fondly thought of.

Imagine my surprise then, when I realised that my most played game this generation is Actually Diablo 3: reaper of souls edition. This is a game that i purchased at launch for PC then again on PS3, having multiple play through's on each version....... So how have I racked up nearly 6 days of play time on a game that I have already finished multiple times? Diablo 3 is quite light on story with only 5 acts to get through so its obviously not the single player component that has taken my time. I have also prided my self on never entering a public game online as I don't want some vastly overpowered unknown guy to raise my Paragon level from 125 to over 4000 in under a minute and break my game. In fact my total time online playing with friends is probably under 10 hours. So what is it then? after a lot of thought I think I finally have the answer.

Blizzard entertainment are fairly unique as developers. They are one of the biggest in the industry but unlike companies like Electronics arts they don't have yearly editions of their franchises. In fact, Overwatch was Blizzards first new IP in years. What separates them from other developers is their continued support for their existing games. World of Warcraft has been updated now for around 15 years, Starcraft and Overwatch are some of the most competitive E-sports in the world and Diablo 3 has just released a new Necromancer character 5 years after the original release of the game. The fact that makes this even more impressive is that Diablo 3 is not an MMO. There is no monthly subscription fee. You can pick up a digital complete version of the game right now and have access to all the content for a single payment. The only comparable game I can think of is Destiny and even that is now moving on to a sequel. So why is Diablo 3 still going strong?

At the time of writing, season 11 of Diablo 3 has just started. In order to take part in a season you have to forgo your legendary hero with all of their gear and perks and start completely fresh. You are then given a checklist of goals to complete before the season ends with rewards for each chapter of this journey you complete. Once the season ends, your new character is moved into your pool of existing characters along with any unique rewards. This gives people a reason to go back to a game they have exhausted and feel like they are gaining power again. This is a stroke of genius. Can you imagine if Bethesda introduced a seasonal mode into Skyrim where you had to start fresh but have to reach certain goals in 20 days in order to gain a seasonal armour set? It's great to have a new reason to revisit something you love with a purpose again. This is something Blizzard supplies for free.

Of course, all this counts for nothing if you game is not fun in the first place. Blizzard once again gives you many options for how you want to play. We now have 7 character classes ( Which can be male or female ). They all have their own skill trees which can be changed on the fly to alter your play style. You can play through the campaign or jump straight into adventure mode which is where the main meat of the game lies. From here you can take on random bounty missions from any of the games 5 acts at will. You can jump into randomly generated rift dungeons with ever increasing difficulty. Or you could search for any of the games myriad of secrets. All this is hope of getting better loot to increase your difficulty and repeat it all over again. I think it is this loop that is cathartic. It allows you allow you to zone out for an hour and still accomplish something. You don't have to pay attention to a story arc or hope you are randomly put into a good team in matchmaking. You just log in, Slay some monsters and log out slightly more powerful. It is this never ending power creep that I find so appealing .

If you haven't dived into Diablo 3 yet, then I strongly recommend you give it a go. It provides you with a package of features that could last you well into the next generation of gaming and gives you something you can always jump back into when you have a lull in new releases that interest you.

Which games have you spent more time on than you expected? Are you taking part in Season 11 of Diablo 3?

Let me know in the comments below