Diablo III was my first dungeon crawler. I chose to spend my childhood in brightly colored MMOs instead of the grimy dungeons of Diablo I and II. While I was soaring through the skies in City Of Heroes, my friends would talk about their newest armor set or build they’ve been dying to try out. I felt left out, but I was too much of a video game elitist to ever admit it. The game seemed cool, but the massive amount of grinding for good armor or skills just didn’t seem that fun to me.
Jump ahead to this year, when I started dating a huge Diablo fangirl. She had bought Diablo III when it first came out in 2012, losing herself to the world of sorcerers and gore. She’d tell me stories about Targenys the Monk fighting the Skeleton King, the Reaper Of Souls and the big baddie Diablo. The way she told it, the game didn’t seem as boring. Maybe it was the way she sold it or the fact that I wanted a game we could both play. I finally gave in and got Diablo III.
I knew nothing about the franchise before embarking on my quest, but my babe was down to walk me through it. We sat side by side in front of the Xbox One, ready to jump into a co-op experience I would never forget. I picked a Witch Doctor because I read online that he threw frogs and she picked a Monk again. We were called Cumin and Paprika because we spice up any demon gathering (which sounds a lot less cute than I remember it.)
Almost immediately, our gaming styles clashed. I had spent years power leveling characters in games, diving through the early content in an attempt to battle something stronger. She played the exact opposite way: spending hours exploring games, talking to everyone she came across and just enjoying her time. She’s an expert photographer in Zelda: Breath Of The Wild and addicted to side quests in The Witcher 3.
When we started playing, she needed to check every corner of the map, no matter how unlikely there was anything there. I wanted to speed through the dungeon as quickly as possible, beat the boss and find out what a level 70 Witch Doctor can do. Our relationship was tested many times over our first co-op playthrough. We’d each get frustrated and storm off in opposite directions, desperate to fill our own in-game desires. Then, that purple teleport would bring us back together, adding more fuel to the passionate fire. If we weren’t playing co-op and had to stay on the same screen, I’d be afraid to think what might have happened.
After hours of playing, we started to compromise. I would let her go to wherever she wanted and I’d go grab a drink or play something on my phone while she dragged my Cumen around. By Act IV, I was completely engrossed in Diablo. Cumen had transformed from a nobody to a legendary god who summons bone giants, giant toads and spits poison. With Paprika by my side, no foe was too powerful and no difficulty to strong.
I truly feel that Diablo III strengthened our relationship way more than any other game we’ve played together. Learning to compromise isn’t something I’m good at, but Cumen and Paprika helped me move past my need to control a situation. Sometimes it’s best to just go with the flow and see what happens next.
Now that the Necromancer DLC is out, we’ve started a new run. Glean, my Necromancer, and Glisten, her Monk, are ready to take on anything that pops up out of hell.
