Technologies

Diablo 4 Takes Bleakness to a New Level, Which Is Just Fine With Me

Commentary: Be ready to be disturbed.

The Diablo franchise has had some incredible highs and more than a few lows.

Games like Diablo II: Resurrected received huge hype when first announced but failed to win over fans when released. Diablo Immortal received ridicule from day one that didn’t stop after its release. Diablo 4, however, is another entry into the series with a lot of buzz, and the developer team has a grasp of the pressure on it as well as the legacy it has to live up to when it comes out June 6.

Having spent eight to 10 hours playing Diablo 4 on the Xbox Series X in December, I can confirm the short amount of time I spent with the game was downright disturbing — in a good way. Fans of the game can check out the game for themselves starting Friday with the Diablo 4 beta.

Pre-order Diablo 4

$70 at Target

The game’s «Return to Darkness» tagline is more than a marketing ploy. It heralds a return to the bleak, dark world of Diablo that’s been ensnaring gamers since the original’s debut in 1997. In those days having a game with a boss named Diablo was disturbing enough. In current times, the envelope has to be pushed a bit more.

«When you look at what pop culture is like in the industry, you have Game of Thrones, Walking Dead and Sons of Anarchy,» said Rod Fergusson, general manager for Diablo. «These are very dark topics and dark themes that are mainstream. We felt like this was an opportunity to kind of embrace Diablo’s roots and bring it to the forefront and make it mainstream as well.»

Leading this darker tone is the main antagonist, Lilith. She’s the daughter of Mephisto, one of the Great Evils, and is called the Mother of Sanctuary, the world in which the Diablo series takes place. Unlike previous games where there was a slow buildup to the big boss behind all the evil in the world, Blizzard put Lilith upfront from the very first cutscene.

When it launches later in June, Diablo 4 will have five classes available to play: Barbarian, Rogue, Sorceress, Necromancer and Druid. Since the Necromancer wasn’t available, I went with the Barbarian to get a feel of the melee combat and how dynamic it is. It’s also one of the classes I’ve played the most in the series.

The playable build starts off at Fractured Peaks with my hero’s horse being killed leaving him in a cave by himself for the night. From the caves came the first stop, Nevesk, a very small town where things aren’t what they seem. Lilith already had an impact on the few people here, and her true power comes from having people indulge their dark side. This was the first interaction my character had with other NPCs, and it was pretty clear how the developers wanted to give the hero more of a part within the story by having their own dialogue and playing a part in the cutscenes.

It’s in the town of Nevesk where Lilith’s effect on the people of Sanctuary is shown. There’s far more to her than just being evil, which sets her as an interesting antagonist when compared with the other Great Evils from previous Diablo titles. While her ultimate plan isn’t apparent early on, Lilith’s presence is immediately felt and was done deliberately so by the development team.

lilith from diablo 4 — Lilith in all of her glory.

Blizzard Entertainment

«By having you unravel her story about what’s happening, her impact on the world, you get to hear her motivations,» said game director Joe Shely. «You get to understand what she’s trying to do and you get to get more connected to her and maybe there’s even a little bit of ambiguity there where you’re like: watch Star Wars and go like maybe Vader was right. I think that notion of having more face time with the big bad means that it’s a much more satisfying resolve as you play through the story, as you go through it.»

Diablo 4 doesn’t stray from the hack-and-slash action the series is known for, but movement feels more fluid and active thanks to the evade move. First introduced in Diablo 3, the evade button feels more integrated into the sequel. Certain enemies telegraph attacks, allowing the player to dart away in response. The developers say as the players level up, other options to evade, such as being able to pull off multiple dodges at a time, can be unlocked.

a column of fire shoots from the sorceress engulfing a monster — The sorceress blasts beautiful fire onto a monster.

Blizzard Entertainment

The skill tree in Diablo 4 has also evolved. As someone who played all the Diablo games, that took a bit of getting used to. The options available grant players freedom to customize for specific playstyles, but won’t leave newbies feeling confused. As a Barbarian, I could focus on dual-wielding weapons for quicker attacks that deal more bleed damage or go with a two-handed slashing weapon in order to perform a spinning attack that lets me carve through huge groups of enemies. The tree looked like a buffet of attacks, but there was a logic to it all as it was in previous Diablo games.

As expected in a Diablo game, there are plenty of dungeons to clear in Diablo 4. but the game’s new open world adds a layer of complexity to the proceedings. I was surprised when I came across a cliff and there was an option to «climb down» leading to another part of the map.

While there isn’t an extensive, vast open world like Elden Ring or The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, it was interesting to have a broader land to explore. Previous Diablo games had procedurally generated maps that were big, yet limited. While Fractured Peak was still restricted, it didn’t feel like I was bound to a map. There are horses available to purchase but only after you complete a quest that is available later on.

a hero cross a ravine via rope — Sanctuary got a little bigger in Diablo 4.

Blizzard Entertainment

In the time I played the build, I found myself compelled by Diablo 4’s story as well as how it played, which isn’t what I felt in Diablo 3 where it was the gameplay that kept me coming back but the storyline was quickly forgotten. Combine that with an open world and I was even more enticed to explore while also seeing how I can build my Barbarian. It’s that combination of story and gameplay that makes what I played of Diablo 4 so interesting and should be the same for fans when it comes out.

Diablo 4 will release on the PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S for $70 in June.

Technologies

A Humanoid Robot Visits the White House to Push AI for Teaching Kids

First lady Melania Trump shares the spotlight with a Figure 03 robot to promote the use of artificial intelligence in education.

An unexpected guest escorted Melania Trump at the Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition Summit on Wednesday: a walking, talking Figure 03 humanoid robot.

During the event, the first lady pitched a future where AI-powered humanoid robots — presented as an idealized educator named «Plato» — provide students with personalized and instant access to human knowledge, including philosophy and art.

The Figure 03 robot is made by Silicon Valley-based robotics company Figure AI, which introduced its third-generation humanoid robot in October last year. The Figure 03 robot costs around $25,000, according to Forbes.

Figure 03 was designed for people to use in their homes, with demo videos showing it folding laundry, lifting eggs from a carton, using a washing machine and delivering drinks to its owners lounging by the pool. It was also shown in corporate use cases as a receptionist and a package deliverer. Using a proprietary AI engine called Helix, it can autonomously perform these tasks and respond to your voice commands.

At the White House, the humanoid robot walked slowly down the red carpet to deliver opening remarks for the tech summit.

«I’m grateful to be part of this historic movement to empower children with technology and education,» the Figure 03 robot said. It then said «welcome» in various languages.

The first lady later said that AI-powered humanoid robots could be placed in children’s homes as an aid to their education to «boost analytic skills and problem solving and adapt in real time to a student’s pace, prior knowledge and even emotional state.»

Promoting AI in education

The two-day summit is hosting leaders from 45 nations and 28 technology organizations, and is intended to «empower children through education and technology,» according to a White House statement. Guests included representatives from tech giants such as Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft and the AI data analytics company Palantir.

The summit is part of the first lady’s Be Best: Fostering the Future initiative, which aims to help children learn using advanced technology. It was introduced in 2018 as an awareness campaign aimed at combating cyberbullying and helping children affected by the opioid crisis.

US Education Secretary Linda McMahon spoke about AI being one of the Department of Education’s main priorities on the first day of the summit.

«If we’re able to scale these resources effectively by investing in AI infrastructure and training, we can offer expert instructions across countless fields, to hire volumes of people at a fraction of the cost,» McMahon said Tuesday at a roundtable meeting.

According to McMahon, the Department of Education has already dedicated millions of dollars in grants to support the use of AI in schools.

The event follows criticism of the Trump administration’s 2025 executive order to dismantle the Department of Education. While the Department of Education hasn’t been officially abolished, it has undergone significant policy changes, funding cuts and workforce reductions.

The introduction of a humanoid robot at the summit sparked significant backlash among many who are wary of the technology’s role in the classroom. Critics took to social media to voice concerns that these machines could eventually replace teachers, stripping the education system of essential human connection, and leading to increased layoffs and cost-cutting.

On one Huffington Post Instagram post featuring the robot, commenters expressed deep skepticism, with one user sarcastically noting, «Nice, getting rid of educators in favor of a robot,» while another flatly rejected the concept, stating, «No, I don’t want to imagine a world with emotionless robots educating our children.»

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Technologies

Nintendo’s $20 Switch 2 Upgrade for Super Mario Wonder Is Worth It for the Extras

Commentary: Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s Bellabel Park DLC is here this week, but it’s more about lots of chaotic multiplayer minigames than new courses.

I want a new Super Mario Bros. Switch 2 game as much as anyone, but almost a year into the console’s first year, it hasn’t happened yet. Mario Kart? Mario Tennis? Mario Party? Yes. New Yoshi game? That’s happening soon, too. And now, we have the next closest thing: The wonderful 2023 Super Mario Bros. Wonder has a Switch 2 downloadable-content pack for $20 that’s, well, sort of a new Mario game, just a week before the Super Mario Galaxy movie arrives in theaters.

I’ve been playing it for the past week, and it’s worth the upgrade if you like multiplayer Mario. If not, well, you might consider it anyway.

The awkwardly named «Super Mario Bros. Wonder — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park» is an add-on to Wonder, but it’s really just focused on building out a whole bunch of multiplayer party modes. The new course variants and minigame challenges, while welcome, require online multiplayer or local multiplayer play to work. For most of this new Switch 2 update, you can’t play offline on your own.

The multiplayer games cover dozens of challenges and themes — some turning everyone into bouncy balls, others making everyone rush to collect the most coins. You can throw up to four players locally on the Switch 2 at home or up to 12 players online at once, and it gets busy fast. I can see screaming breaking out with kids.

I played an hour or so of multiplayer sessions, and it was fun. But I haven’t gotten to play with lots of others online yet other than that. Still, it does feel sort of like Mario Party Super Mario Style, as opposed to Super Mario Bros. game extensions.

The DLC does have some extras you can still enjoy on your own. Seven new miniboss stages have been added into the game, featuring all of the Koopalings to take on. They’re the extended universe of Mario enemies, and each of the levels has the miniboss use a strange new power to melt the world in clever ways.

A new Toad Brigade Training Camp mode also offers up dozens of little challenge stages to beat, all remixes of existing Wonder levels. Some involve surviving without touching enemies or coins; some you have to defeat all enemies or collect all coins before time runs out. They’re addictive and hard, and I’m glad for them existing.

Nintendo also tried to add some fun extras: Bellabel park has lots of flowers you can collect by watering plants with «Bellabel water» you collect by completing tasks. And you can decorate parts of the park. It’s sort of neither here nor there for me, though, because I come to Mario platformer games to play fun levels, not decorate gardens. Pokemon Pokopia is the place for that.

Rosalina and a Luma Star are extra characters you can play with, but Rosalina doesn’t do anything truly new and the Luma Star is a co-op option. There’s also a weird Flower power-up now that turns you into a walking flowerpot, throwing flowers upward to attack enemies or hit blocks. It was OK. It’s not my favorite new extra.

Maybe that’s what feels missing here: Wonder threw all sorts of wildcards out into the game, from new enemies to strange Wonder Seeds that transformed levels. Bellabel Park feels more like a multiplayer-focused remix than a bunch of new single-player whimsy.

I like the multiplayer games on tap more than I liked the Switch 2 add-on for Mario Party Jamboree. They’re probably worth it if you’re a Switch 2 owner with a big family or lots of friends who want to play.

And even though I appreciate the resolution boost to the graphics, the Switch 2 graphics upgrade is hard to spot since the game’s «older» graphics have a retro look that still looked great before the upgrade (to me, at least).

What I really want, of course, is a truly new Mario game. Who doesn’t? That’s not on the table yet. But maybe, just maybe, Wonder’s Switch 2 pack is a little appetizer before that news eventually comes. But as revamped Switch 2 game editions go, Wonder’s extras are the best yet and turn this game into a truly multiplayer-rich bunch of fun.

Technologies

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