Children of Morta

      My entire life has been consumed with two games over the past few weeks. Children of Morta and, oddly enough, Minecraft. But we're gonna talk about the former right now. 
      I remember going to my Uncle's house when I was 8 and getting to experience Diablo II for the first time. It was surreal. I'd played an alarming amount of Diablo I at that time, of course mainly utilizing the Sorcerer because I'm unable to not use magic in any game that offers me the option. To those of you that choose warriors and rogues in cooperative games? I salute you. Truly. You allow me to be the mess that I am in those games, and I thank you. I don't know how you get pleasure out of that kind of vanilla experience, but I appreciate you.
      Playing Diablo II immediately felt like the exact game I had always wanted. The expansive-yet-not-overwhelming skill tree, the loot that felt both plentiful and meaningful, the dark atmosphere and, of course, one of my first video game crushes, Charsi. Not only did it feel like the game I wanted in that moment, it continued to feel like that. I played Diablo II for the next... 15 or so years? On and off, but still moreso than any other game (topped now only by Rimworld) and without ever boring me. 
      Children of Morta feels very different, but the feeling it gives me is incredibly similar. I knew the game was special when I watched its trailer what feels like 40 years ago. And I bookmarked it, put it on my watchlist, and kept checking up on it until it finally came out. And here we are!
      ​You start the game out with John, and I have to say as much as I hate warrior builds, I don't actually hate being him at all. 

      Look at my beautiful flower-power shield boy and the giant pretty leaf rock next to him. Perfect selfie spot. 
      I mostly don't hate being him due to the thorns ability he has, which, I'd say driving people away with an off-putting aura is a mood, but it's more like a lifestyle. Besides, I'm a sucker for any kind of thorns ability in a game (I once accidentally glitched out a level 1 paladin in Diablo II and had an infinite thorns ability that would kill everything that came within a few feet of me, much like Timmy Turner's mom. Very few people know she was the inspiration for the paladins in Diablo II. But now you're one of those few. You're welcome!)
​A lot of what I do with him involves holding my shield up and waiting for everything to die, and honestly? I'm at peace with that. 
      The lore in the game is also really doing it for me right now. The broken up bits of story that you get after dying in a cave almost makes me want to lose which is fantastic because that, surprisingly enough, is usually my least favorite part of a video game.  ​Weird, I know.