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A d3 review by a d2 vet.
As someone who has been dreaming of Diablo 3 since it was first announced, lurking the website daily i feel as if the game does not retain its original image or feel the series used to have. I am not going to attempt to bash the game or create a hate thread, im going to state general facts of the game and the series.
1. Graphics (not this again)
Diablo 2, one of the most popular levels in the game by its general design and wow factor
http://0.tqn.com/d/compactiongames/1/0/X/2/diablo210.jpg
Diablo 3, new updated graphics engine, the same used to create world of warcraft, and starcraft II is reused here. Now blizzard did this in its previous games as sc2 and d2 used the same graphics engines which there is nothing wrong with but the feel of these games has changed drastically.
http://ninjalite.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/diablo-3-screenshot6.jpg
D3, has a lighter tone than the original 2 games, that much is obvious but what is hidden is how that changes the gameplay. Graphics dont make a game, but in d2 the darkness of a cave or prison and being surrounded by monsters from hell who also looked dark and scary changed the vibe.
2. Gameplay
Gameplay essentially remains at the core of what D2 was, and i feel like they have done a good job in keeping this with the series.
3. Level design
D3 does a horrible job at this from what we have seen so far. Most of the levels look like they were copied and pasted and renamed. You see this in the cathedral, also in D2 you would spend a good amount of time trying to find the right way to go and it made you feel accomplished when you get out of that damned place. In D3 i didnt see much of this it felt like the levels were just meant to be ran through.
4. PvP
The best part of D2 was the fact you would just sit in town and duel, we didnt need capture the flag or 3 on 3s (although they did happen), D3 has lost this and turned it more into a tournament style of fighting than what it used to be, and while it wont be out when the game is released blizzard isnt know for changing a design like this.
5. Monster design
Blizzard north was amazing with the bosses they designed, they scared us, and made us fear Diablo. I didnt ever expect i would run into a fluffy marshmellow man like you will in D3.
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2008/06/3thousand-pounder-summoned_530x298.jpg
6. DRM/Offline play
D2 had 2 different online game modes and a single player mode D3 has 1 single player mode and 1 multiplayer mode.
Open B.net anyone?
Open B.net was horrible for anyone that ever played it, filled with hackers and hacked items that were always insanely over powered and stupidly named but it was fun and kept some playing, doubt well see this in diablo 3.
7. (OPINION) Blizzard has changed.
http://www.grindinggear.com/?page=staff
scroll to the bottom of this page, looks a little like the original blizzard team doesnt it?
Blizzard is not what it used to be. The games they produce now are geared towards a different audience, the belief that the "WoW formula" worked once and it must end eventually. Games like path of exile are giving us vets what we wanted and blizzard refuses. We asked for a Diablo themed ARPG and instead we get this instead. The same can be said about starcraft 2, we wanted a SC2 and what we got was starcraft, cartoon graphics, shitty balance issues (the original had them but not nearly as bad as sc2), and a horrible battle.net Diablo 3 will be a continuation of this. Diablo isnt a sequel, its world of warcraft with a top down view, 6 skills, and graphics that look like hell. PoE may not be the greatest graphics but they are far from outdated, the gameplay is better, feels better, and whats we true diablo fans wanted.
The real Diablo fans will not buy Diablo 3, the rest of you who are saw the add on the world of warcraft forums and will but it because its pretty.
Comments
I think a more accurate statement would be "blizzard Haters will not buy D3. Because they have built up years and years of Blizzard hate and could not reconcile the contradiction"
Shadow's Hand Guild
Open recruitment for
The Secret World - Dragons
Planetside 2 - Terran Republic
Tera - Dragonfall Server
http://www.shadowshand.com
Yeah this pretty much. I'm a "real" Diablo fan, and have been since Diablo 1. I like Diablo 3.
I was thinking the opposite actually. Blizzard fans will buy D3 even though the game is lacking simply because it's Blizzard. Diablo fans are more likely to stick with games made by the actual developers of Diablo and Diablo 2 whom are no longer with Blizzard.
if both of you are real fans you would see what im talking about, if you dont you never played diablo.
I'm nit a "blizzard fan" one way or the other. I played wow for a long time but I am not a fan of the game by any means.
I never liked Starcraft and was always Luke warm towards warcraft (RTS). Only really liked Warcraft 2. Diablo, however, is the only blizzard game I would conside myself a fan of.
So nice try on that one but you're incorrect also. Better luck next time.
Shadow's Hand Guild
Open recruitment for
The Secret World - Dragons
Planetside 2 - Terran Republic
Tera - Dragonfall Server
http://www.shadowshand.com
Wrong.
Shadow's Hand Guild
Open recruitment for
The Secret World - Dragons
Planetside 2 - Terran Republic
Tera - Dragonfall Server
http://www.shadowshand.com
And I'm not a blizzard hater but D3 to me just doesn't live up to the diablo name. So I'm not sure what the nice try is for because we both just made an inaccurate generalization apparently.
So better luck next time to you my friend
1. You handpicked a scene, and claimed that was the entire art direction of the game... we haven't even seen what act 3 or 4 hold. Act 2 is a desert, or wasteland, of some sort. I remember seeing bodies torn limb from limb hanging from a wall with blood pouring down the wall and all over the floor. Definitely not the same art style as WoW by any means.
2. I would say they slightly improved the gameplay. No more single spell spamming. I used all 5 of my spells as a witch doctor, and used them all often. As a sorceress in D2, all i did was spam frostbolt for the most part.
3. Maybe you just got lucky with your levels, but some times I would go down a hall and end up nowhere near the exit, forced to backtrack. The roads do make it fairly obvious when not in a dungeon, but did you really enjoy wandering around the map for 30 minutes? It never felt to me like I accomplished something when I found my way to the next section of the map in the overworld.
4. Really wish PVP was in at release. Not a fan of the Capture the flag or whatever, but 3v3 and 2v2 is fun in my opinion. Not like you can't still 1v1 duel when you want. (once it's released, obviously)
5. Again, hard to say with just the tutorial act's monsters... I never really thought the rakanishu dudes or the banshee chicks were that scary. I'd say the butcher was probably a good "scary" looking creature. But you don't face him till 3 or 4 quests in IIRC. I would imagine as more and more of hell begins spilling into Sanctuary in D3, we will see more and more horrifying demons.
6. DRM sucks, plain and simple. But, I've got an always on connection at home... so it's not like this will prevent me from picking up and playing whenever I'd like. And the way you can jump in and out of friends games is great, so I don't see why you would play single player, other than when you don't have a connection... which is almost never.
7. Overall, it feels like you're arguing basically that the game isn't diablo 2 with an upgraded graphics engine, new story, and new classes and skills. How long would you really find that game fun? There's plenty of Diablo-like games out there. Diablo 3 is an action rpg, done very well, with a lot of polish. I think you'll find yourself playing through it within a month of it's release if you are truly able to stop yourself from buying it for that long.
Sidenote: PoE is a great game in it's own right, one of my favorite ARPGs alongside Torchlight, Titan Quest, and of course Diablo. There's no reason you couldn't play both games.
So the purpose of that review was to promote PoE? I've never seen that before. Ever.
Look, pal, I hate d3 as much as the next guy, but this shameless promotion of PoE is getting out of hand.
This is a sequence of characters intended to produce some profound mental effect, but it has failed.
I agree that D3 is much more geared towards casuals - and POE much more geared towards HC players
But I myself have not time i had once, so D3 casual pace suits me ...
My only problem is creaping suspicion about RMAH and its effects on game
They are both single player games.. I only have a few hours a night to play and neither game is hard to get into. The issue isn't the casualness of it. It's the 'braindead' factor that the third title in Diablo employs compared to a more complex progression system in POE. It really doesn't matter whether you are a casual gamer or not. I certainly am and I actually enjoy POE better.
RMAH will not affect any gameplay. There was plenty of third party programs to acquire gear, levels, gold from in D2. Just because it wasn't a button you could click in the game doesn't mean that it wasn't there. I have no interest in using the RMAH system, nor am I forced to. This doesn't affect my wanting to play D3.
Dang. I guess I'm not a real Diablo fan because I'm definitely buying it and I think the beta was incredibly fun.
Difference is in the skill system.
While in POE you have to think hard and plan your character ahead. In D3 you can switch setup on the fly.
This means that in D3 you only level one Barbarian , and not 3 - 4 with different setups.
Less time = more casual
As for RMAH
I am afraid that any good item will be placed on RMAH and not gold AH
Basically making gold AH pointless
I dont get it... If D3 is cartoony what is Tourchlight then? Does cartoony meen "not 100% realistic".. dont get it.
I personaly dont see how RMAH is gonna affect your game at all.. If you dont like, dont use it!
Its simpel.
I for one will not be using the RMAH for one good reason. It makes the game pointless. All Diablo is about is killing monsters and finding loot. If i bought the best loot, whats the point in playing?
I love the fact that its there though, because if it wasnt we would see the same annoying spam from itemselling websites as in D2.. and that my friends was about the most irretating thing EVER!
https://www.ticketsolutions.com/blogs/intentional-foul/images/keyboardsmash.gif
While calling other people suckers is perfectly ok according to your standards.
Simple History 101 my friend.There's this game coming out in a few years time, I don't know it's name, i don't know anything about it, but it's gonna suck big time! (Just fitting in the with the cool kids)
As for Diablo, i've not played in over a decade, so i'm looking forward to this latest chapter. Will it suck or not I won't know until the posty pops it through my door and i've beaten hell.
But if i get that glorious hack N slash feel that the originals gave with a few friends, then it'll be money well spent and i'm sure millions, yes millions, will be happy too.
D3 will b a fun game, and it will do fine.
however, i also have to agree w the OP. Blizzard isn't the same company it used to be. I used to get engaged by their games, they felt interesting, challenging, accessible, and fun. Now it seems as though every game is geared almost entirely towards accessibility. They still know how to make a game look pretty, but they're losing what variety they used to have (which wasn't a whole lot to begin with).
I know when I played the original diablo, It felt dark, it felt threatening. I know my first time playing I was freaked out by the butcher. I didn't know what he was, but I knew he could kill me if I wasn't careful. I don't feel any of that from D3. From what I played I'm looking for some star, and just so happen to be fighting pretty looking zombies. Not once did I feel threatened by the enemies, and that's not a good thing imho.
I'm sure people will still like it, but they've definitely lost that dark-gothic feel that they used to bring to these games. If you watch some of the character videos in path of exile, it shows a world much more closely resembling the original diablo / d2. It's dark, the mobs are threatening, and there is this looming sense of evil / darkness closing down around you. I didn't get any of that from D3. Not saying one game will be better than the other, but personally I don't think D3 is a step forward for the franchize. To me it looks engineered towards the greatest common audience, instead of towards the best gameplay for a gothic action rpg. It's make a lot of money, I'm sure about that, but that doesn't matter to me. I'd prefer a game that feels like what it's supposed to be.
I am a real Diablo fan, starting from the first game and a Diablo 2 Vet (still play it to this day occasionally). I disagree with most of your points, I was lucky enough to be in the D3 Beta and I liked what I saw.
Oh and I will be buying it!
3. Level design
D3 does a horrible job at this from what we have seen so far. Most of the levels look like they were copied and pasted and renamed. You see this in the cathedral, also in D2 you would spend a good amount of time trying to find the right way to go and it made you feel accomplished when you get out of that damned place. In D3 i didnt see much of this it felt like the levels were just meant to be ran through.
Wait... what? Are you sure you played D2 cause I could of swore a lot of that was "Copy and Pasted" and they were all pretty much just 'ran' through... or if you played D2, 'teleported' through by a sorc.
I agree with the OP. Spot on! But I think the game will be fun enough to buy and play anyway.
I guess this game will not last as long as D2 did. And its not intended for old D2 veterans that want a new game like D2. Its target audience is gamers in general and specially action gamers.
i agree
d3 sucks
Yep, I can list the layout from the Act 2 Tombs/Crypts/Dungeons pretty much from memory. To be honest, most action rpg's with a randomized dungeon feature have this "problem". I don't mind it much though. Diablo 3 tries to keep it somewhat fresh by changing some of the events per game. Something that was featured in Diablo 1 (The Butcher quest and The Skeleton King quest), but was missing in Diablo 2.
The OP mentioned PvP. He thought it was awesome in Diablo 2. It didn't belong to my "best moments" in Diablo 2. I can't see how splitting up PvP from the rest of the game is making it Diablo 3 worse. In my opinion PvP didn't belong in Diablo, so people looking to harass others need to seek another game
Removing PvP, streamlining Co-Op gameplay and giving players personal loot sold Diablo 3 for me.