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

Spotify Launches ‘About the Song’ Beta to Reveal Stories Behind the Music

The stories are told on swipeable cards as you listen to the song.

Did you know Chappell Roan drew inspiration for her hit song Pink Pony Club from The Pink Cadillac, the name of a hot-pink strip club in her Missouri hometown? Or that Fountains of Wayne’s song Stacy’s Mom was inspired by a confessed crush a friend had on the late co-founder Adam Schlesinger’s grandmother?

If you’re a fan of knowing juicy little tidbits about popular songs, you might find more trivia in About the Song, a new feature from streaming giant Spotify that’s kind of like the old VH1 show Pop-Up Video.

About the Song is available in the US, UK, New Zealand and Australia, initially for Spotify Premium members only. It’s only on certain songs, but it will likely keep rolling out to more music. Music facts are sourced from a variety of websites and summarized by AI, and appear below the song’s lyrics when you’re playing a particular song.

«Music fans know the feeling: A song stops you in your tracks, and you immediately want to know more. What inspired it, and what’s the meaning behind it? We believe that understanding the craft and context behind a song can deepen your connection to the music you love,» Spotify wrote in a blog post.

While this version of the feature is new, it’s not the first time Spotify has featured fun facts about the music it plays. The streaming giant partnered with Genius a decade ago for Behind the Lyrics, which included themed playlists with factoids and trivia about each song. Spotify kept this up for a few years before canceling due to multiple controversies, including Paramore’s Hayley Williams blasting Genius for using inaccurate and outdated information.

Spotify soon started testing its Storyline feature, which featured fun facts about songs in a limited capacity for some users, but was never released as a central feature.

About the Song is the latest in a long string of announcements from Spotify, including a Page Match feature that lets you seamlessly switch to an audiobook from a physical book, and an AI tool that creates playlists for you. Spotify also recently announced that it’ll start selling physical books.

How to use About the Song

If you’re a Spotify Premium user, the feature should be available the next time you listen to music on the app.

Start listening to any supported song.
Scroll down past the lyrics preview box to the About the Song box.
Swipe left and right to see more facts about the song.

I tried this with a few tracks, and was pleased to learn that it doesn’t just work for the most recent hits. Spotify’s card for Metallica’s 1986 song Master of Puppets notes the song’s surge in popularity after its cameo in a 2022 episode of Stranger Things. The second card discusses the band’s album art for Master of Puppets and how it was conceptualized.

To see how far support for the feature really went, I looked up a few tracks from off the beaten path, like NoFX’s The Decline and Ice Nine Kills’ Thank God It’s Friday. Spotify supported every track I personally checked.

There does appear to be a limit to the depth of the fun facts, which makes sense since not every song has a complicated story. For those songs, Spotify defaults to trivia about the album that features the music or an AI summary of the lyrics and what they might mean.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Feb. 7, #502

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Feb. 7, No. 502.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition features a fun batch of categories. The purple one requires you to find hidden words inside some of the grid words, but they’re not too obscure. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Golden Gate.

Green group hint: It’s «Shotime!»

Blue group hint: Same first name.

Purple group hint: Tweak a team name.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Bay Area teams.

Green group: Associated with Shohei Ohtani.

Blue group: Coaching Mikes.

Purple group: MLB teams, with the last letter changed.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is Bay Area teams. The four answers are 49ers, Giants, Sharks and Valkyries.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is associated with Shohei Ohtani. The four answers are Decoy, Dodgers, Japan and two-way.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is coaching Mikes. The four answers are Macdonald, McCarthy, Tomlin and Vrabel.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is MLB teams, with the last letter changed. The four answers are Angelo (Angels), Cuba (Cubs), redo (Reds) and twine (Twins).

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, Feb. 7

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 7

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s Saturday, so it’s a long one, and a few of the clues are tricky. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.