no time to admire the view

Apparently everyone wants instant gratification and we need to be on to the next scripted moment, then the next one, and the next... No time to admire anything you see.

The best thing about Gamepass is all the non-AAA games that I wouldn't normally get to play because there is a lot more variety in them.

D4 bad. POE2 good.

I got the 1$ deal again somehow

this is something they do by mechanics, after your gamepass is expired for long enough it starts offering it again, I think it's like 6 months of something. They want you to get it and forget about it or decide to continue the sub

Diablo's story is now entirely detached from its gameplay, the protag can see the villains cutscenes due to a plot device, no more clever writing to explain events after, you get rewards not from an NPC but from the menu from completing world events, and somehow there are localised areas of 100s of enemies just waiting for you to start a fight in a random spot on an open field, theres a GPS showing you the way to the next objective

Diablo 2's story is also detached, it's nothing new lol. I'd say Diablo 3 actually had the most protag focused story besides Diablo 1. In D4, all of the cutscenes at least involve main characters you regularly interact with.

Regardless, no one plays those games for the story. They've always been purely about gear grinding and demon/monster butchering. D4 is probably the most polished in the series, except for maybe D3, which was a very streamlined experience, for better or worse. I like all of the Diablo games, but I still think D2 and D3 are the most fun I've had playing with friends. Fun is always the most important aspect, and D4 was making strong strides to improving that aspect when I last played over the summer. Not sure if that's still the case in the new expansion, but I figure I'll try it out when the xpac is on a deep discount.

devs think Gen Z or whoever their audience is has no time to admire the view.

They are right about that. Most people these days, and especially young people, have zero attention span. They must always be doing something, lest they have a moment to examine their own thoughts. Go check out a big budget movie these days and observe how often the scene cuts. Compare it with something from 20 or even 10 years ago. Attention spans have been shrinking for decades now.

I don't play new games a lot because I don't want a Ubisofted ARPG game where you're just riding an open world rail with grinding sessions in between or a generic AAA shooter with crazy system requirements. Horizon Zero dawn was pleasant play though even though it had the Ubisoft formula because.

Elden Ring was great though and I've heard good things of Black Myth Wukong.

I just want to have fun and experience some new fun game mechanics or with some fun exploration element or with a gripping story. Indie games satisfy my itch very well.

I'll play the next GTA since those are genuinely just a marvel of modern technology with a story and exploration elements.

I'm now always looking for a game that's doesn't require 30h of filler grinding to complete. It's crazy but Magic Archery is free on Steam and I had more fun with it than some AAA games albeit very short.

Anytime I see someone bitching about the writing in Diablo I know they are just looking to be mad.

Diablos writing and story has been garbage and unimportant for 35 years. It's a slot machine.

Diablo hasn't changed since D2. It's just gotten quicker to do hundreds of runs.

Probably a bit harsh in this post, op seems to mean it, but they clearly don't represent the general audience.