Diablo 3 Final Thoughts [SPOILERS]

Lady Dragonfly · Post by **Lady Dragonfly** » Fri May 18, 2012 12:17 pm

So, is this the game we the Diablo fans have been waiting for, like, 12 long years? What the hell?
Not mentioning the servers problem which by itself can drive even a well-mannered lady such as myself nuts, in some aspects the game is a huge disappointment. Is it WoW 3 or Diablo 3?
I don't mind mediocre graphics and the followers stuff is a welcome addition but where are my stats? Gone. What happened to my elaborate skill tree? Gone. Unique sets of armor* and runes? Gone. The crafting system is seriously dumbed down compared to, ahahahah, many D-clones.

So, in a few words, after finishing the game, the good:

1. Diablo himself is back and looks sufficiently red
2. Destructive (not just destructible) environment: you can even kill mobs with it
3. Decent VO and nice sound effects
4. Scattered lore that enhances exploration (too bad the notes are not arranged properly in your journal even if you try to rearrange)
5. Good story (for a Diablo game)
6. Random side quests (aka "events") a la original Diablo
7. Followers (can't be killed)
8. Randomly generated map

The bad:

1. Character customization is practically non-existent; the only difference between your Barbarian and my Barbarian is her gear
2. Monsters (even the mini-bosses) are forgettable, unimaginative and the red outline makes them all look alike and rather crappy
3. Loot is dull and the rare items are not exactly rare (and not exactly awesome), your smith can mass-produce them if you are so inclined
4. The traders offer nothing noteworthy, their stock remains the same and there is no gambling
5. Crafting is boring and you have to play and replay and replay again in order to unlock stuff

So, basically, the addictive formula explore-kill-loot-level up is majorly screwed up: "explore" is OK, "kill" (really easy on normal difficulty) is not as much fun as you'd expect, "loot" is underwhelming (to say the least) and "level up" is a joke.

6/10

Overall, D2 was much more fun, in my opinion.

edit: *to be fair, some sets of armor are unlocked on higher levels/difficulty but if you play with different characters on normal there is none to be found so my point stands.

Dummy · Post by **Dummy** » Sun May 20, 2012 2:36 am

You make some excellent points, but you are also missing something.
No matter how you see it, it still is "just" an hack and slay, and they are a little outdated.
I totally agree on the skilltree-part. There are many different ways you can play a toon though.
As i play a Mage i will give some examples from her.
you can play her as a support/control char with stuff like Slow Time, Illusions and Frostnova, or you can go dmg with stuff like Blizzard + meteor, or Disintegrate and Archon. It always depends on your party setup.
And the boss fights are a real treat in groups, i really liked the Diablo fight on hell, and im already giddy about belial in inferno, which about to hit.

As a resume i would say it highly depends on you and your friends if Diablo III is something for you or not

Lady Dragonfly · Post by **Lady Dragonfly** » Sun May 27, 2012 10:12 am

Thanks for the comment, sorry I did not reply sooner.

Anyway... You are playing multiplayer and I am playing solo. Always solo. I should've mentioned that specifically, my fault. I played Diablo 3 rather extensively, with different characters, on normal and nightmare (and, as a Diablo fan, will eventually play on hell and inferno), got all kinds of achievements, including "The Ancient Device" and "The Land of the Killing Unicorns." Therefore I am not a hater or a snob, obviously. I mourn the lost opportunities and blame Blizzard for butchering the stat/skill tree, among other things.

No matter how you see it, it still is "just" an hack and slay, and they are a little outdated.

Outdated? You mean, the genre?

Hack-n-slash games are very, very popular. Mindless fun but fun nonetheless. Have you played Torchlight? Torchlight 2 is coming out soon, btw. The game is made by the guys who created the original Diablo. Titan Quest is another excellent D-clone.

Nymie_the_Pooh · Post by **Nymie_the_Pooh** » Sun May 27, 2012 11:27 am

I have to agree with much of what you have said on your points. I agree to some extent on customization. It is less than that of many games, but it isn't completely obliterated. The fact that people aren't particularly worried about getting a specific rune or power when leveling is evidence that all of the options are valid ones. I would have liked a bit more customization, but no matter what choices I make they feel different and none of them useless or overpowered. While I can only think of one ARPG off the top of my head with what feels like less customization in builds. None of the options I have tried as of yet feel like they had to be taken over another option or that the option was worthless in comparison of another.

My end score would be a bit higher than yours, but that is my opinion. Probably a high seven or even an eight. The eight really depends on where they take things in the future so I would say seven for now, but I expect things to get reworked and tweaked over the next few years which is why I reserve the eight. Then again, number scores tend to be highly subjective. I know people whom their four is the same as another person's seven and they enjoy whatever was being scored by the same amount.

The main reason I go with the slightly higher score however is because for me Diablo III nails one important aspect. Perhaps it is the most important aspect for any game in the genre. That aspect is pacing.

Leading up to the release of Diablo III I have been replaying Torchlight and Titan Quest both with and without mods. I have also played other ARPGs in the past and a little bit of Diablo II recently, but these are the two I've been playing the most lately.

They both are better than Diablo III in areas, but without mods factored in Diablo III had the best pacing for me out of the three. Titan Quest takes it when modded which helps reinforce the point in my mind that Diablo III not being able to utilize mods is a real shame.

Diablo III had such high expectations. I think the biggest problem with it is that it didn't come close to meeting those expectations. I never expected it to meet them as the expectations were what I would consider impossibilities, but I was hoping it would be a bit closer. What is there is solid and good, but not great... yet. Blizzard is not done and they are close to hitting greatness again. Now it's a matter of seeing where they take Diablo III.

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Sun May 27, 2012 3:46 pm

The whole "no customisation" bothers me less than I expected. Barring some very specific builds, all DII stats were divided by "Minimum for equipment, including Ankh & Anni, rest in VIT." Granted, this does not cover ALL builds, but at least a large part. If given a choice, I'd still prefer self-allotment, though.
The free selectable skills are actually a boon, in my eyes. You're experimenting a lot more, and the skills work together very nicely. Getting a new skill or rune every level keeps the game fresh.

On the whole, I feel that DIII is a solid game, but not the brilliant game for the ARPG genre that SCII was for the RTS genre, for example.

friendlyarm · Post by **friendlyarm** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 6:25 am

I found the game to be quite disappointing. There's just too much Rayman and too little Diablo for me. What I so much liked in the first two games was the atmosphere. The dark scenery in Diablo I, combined with gotchic text and simple but ominous music in the background had me focused on the task of killing the evil lurking below the church. I can't take Diablo III seriously with the cartoony graphics, it's only killing the incoming hordes of monsters without the objective.

The voice acting can be very bland. For 60$ per game, I would expect a lot more from Blizzard.

Also what's with those achievements? I feel they're out of place in Diablo, they only serve to disrupt the flow of the game, for me that is. What - a powerful Aoe spell killed dozens of creeps in one blow? No kidding.

Spoilers, highlight to read

Spoiler

Don't you by the way feel sorry for Cain? Sh!t happens not once, but three times!! And then he dies. :laugh: And all he wanted was a cottage with an ocean view :laugh: a comet coming crashing down through his window? Really? :laugh:

callten061 · Post by **callten061** » Tue Jul 31, 2012 4:27 am

thanks!!!

Nyro · Post by **Nyro** » Tue Jul 31, 2012 8:15 am

A forgotten mention was how buggy the RMAH was(don't know how it is now) BUT when i was playing i lost 60 bucks on the RMAH and was told by blizzard in the exact words that "Using the system in it's current state is a use at your own risk decision".

That aside...OVERALL it is a decent game but was very disappointing for such a long wait.