Diablo 3 reviewed by someone that didn't play Diablo 2 or 1

[peedei]

I played the computer version and was disinterested because of the controls, they just didn't jive with me so I put that down. At that point I couldn't really say anything about the game because there wasn't much to say, I hadn't played it!

Now the console version came out, and I loved the controls. They're fantastic in comparison to the pc version, much more fluid and intuitive, so the actual combat turned out to be fun once given the appropriate platform to play with it. So I'm playing co-op with my wife and we played it for a couple of hours, the difficulty was going up and becoming minutely more challenging and it suddenly felt really, really boring.

It occurred to me that all we were doing was killing stuff with no purpose, the quest was simply to go into the dungeon and run to the end and done. It felt incredibly shallow because:

- there are no puzzles, like at all, nothing
- there is no jumping so no platforming either
- nothing to collect or find
- there were no choices it's all linear

Don't get me wrong, the combat is fun and fluid with a controller, but that's it, there's nothing else to the game. Kill > loot > power up > repeat. The story is a complete shadow to the game and there are no other aspects around to break up the mindless butchering.

Blizzard has a solid foundation to the combat, now where's the rest of the game? The game feels...incomplete and I say that endearingly, but it befuddles me that something this shallow took 10 years to make.

I used to think that the uproar about D3 was simply because it wasn't D2 HD, but there seems to be actual legitimacy to all the bad press D3 got. So after 2 demos, all I can say is, it's good but not great and in all honesty not worth forking over $60.

[ComputerNerd]

If people had picked fault with it as a standalone game, but they criticised it simply because it was not mirroring d2, because it was not doing things the same as d2.

That is how the genre works unfortunately, and going to any of the competition will result in more of the same.
There just is not the range of movement to allow platforming or similar.

Really when it came to mobility and depth we were spoilt by MMO's, but we simply cannot apply the same preferences to another genre and expect them to just be there.

[peedei]

If people had picked fault with it as a standalone game, but they criticised it simply because it was not mirroring d2, because it was not doing things the same as d2.

That is how the genre works unfortunately, and going to any of the competition will result in more of the same.
There just is not the range of movement to allow platforming or similar.

Really when it came to mobility and depth we were spoilt by MMO's, but we simply cannot apply the same preferences to another genre and expect them to just be there.

Jumping creates a whole new platform in a single skill. You can't really excuse a single skill that adds the possibility of a whole genre to a game. Jumping could add secondary skills to the current ones meaning you can have twice as many skills (if wanted) and then have platforming.

You can't excuse puzzles not being in the game at all. It's simply lazy, there is no side dish to D3, it's just combat, even devil may cry and god of war had puzzles and they most certainly had jumping. Just because you have a fixed camera doesn't mean puzzles and jumping is suddenly off limits.

It's simple game design that you can have a break from the main course of the game every now and then with something else do that has different objectives, this is inserted as an intermission to stop repetition becoming to repetitive. Donkey kong country did this by having hidden mini games that you would stumble upon, the mode was no longer running and jumping but instead, accurate timing and then mini games where you're against the clock.

There's no way D3 could take 10 years to just be what it currently is.

[winterfox72]

Diablo 3 would have been a really cool Playstation 1 game. I have played hundreds of FTP, Playstation, Xbox, etc games that were not just better graphics and control wise...But were actually fun. I mean take Grand Theft auto Vice City came out in 2002, Diablo 3 came out in 2012. You would think that in 10 years they would have improved games by a rediculous amount. But I actually think the graphics are just blah, the play is boring and I would rather play GTA.

[BenBos]

"Nothing to collect or find"

LOL.

I guess you didn't make to the end game either where piles of things can be found to craft to get to uberbosses.

Listen dude: Diablo3 is played for 100's of hours.

If you want a platformer: play Mario.

Too many user comments like "I could not put my controllers down for hours on hours" can be found in spades ALL over the internet.

So your "attempt at trolling" is simply not in accordance with how well this version is met by the casual console players who only play ... shooters, driving games and ... well shooters (apart from the yearly sports money grabs)...

1/10 for the "review". Or should I give 10/10 on trolling...

Dungeon crawler says "Hi".

Infracted: Please do not call other users trolls

[Deleted]

Whilst D3 is a shadow of D2 you've hit the nail on the head. That *is* what Diablo is.

But you're allowed to not enjoy it. You're not meant to enjoy every game you come across.

Personally the PS3 version appears to be doing to me what the PC version did, and on the PC version I played 6-7 chars to Inferno with a little bit of end game stuff on top.

[winterfox72]

I logged onto D3 on tues while WOW was down for maint. It was the first time in months I had played it. I figured I would give it the benefit of doubt and try it again. I literally couldnt play for more than 15 mins without logging out. It seems that there are only 2 kind of ppl that. People that played the earlier Diablo games and love it for nostalgia reasons and the rest of us that hate it.

[ripponesan]

Well OP.

While your suggestions are nice and i even could see them working, this is not what diablo is about.
Diablo 1 and Diablo 2 were nothing else.

Diablo is like you describe:
kill->loot->sell/craft->kill more powerful stuff->repeat

And it has always been like that. Well yeah if i remeber it right in D2 there were some secret doors to be found for some extra chests, but thats it.
Diablo is exactly the game for dudes or ladies that enjoy "kill->loot->sell/craft->kill more powerful stuff->repeat"

And they can enjoy this completeley since there are no riddles or other stuff that makes them defocus. If you need more, then you need another game or have to wait until blizzard decides to add such stuff.

[BergErr]

Jumping creates a whole new platform in a single skill. You can't really excuse a single skill that adds the possibility of a whole genre to a game. Jumping could add secondary skills to the current ones meaning you can have twice as many skills (if wanted) and then have platforming.

You can't excuse puzzles not being in the game at all. It's simply lazy, there is no side dish to D3, it's just combat, even devil may cry and god of war had puzzles and they most certainly had jumping. Just because you have a fixed camera doesn't mean puzzles and jumping is suddenly off limits.

It's simple game design that you can have a break from the main course of the game every now and then with something else do that has different objectives, this is inserted as an intermission to stop repetition becoming to repetitive. Donkey kong country did this by having hidden mini games that you would stumble upon, the mode was no longer running and jumping but instead, accurate timing and then mini games where you're against the clock.

There's no way D3 could take 10 years to just be what it currently is.

Not sure if serious or just trolling.

This isn't some SP/Platform game, its an MP hack&slash where the goal purely is to gear your char and get stronger.
The console version is just a joke (control wise), idk how u can see it as better then PC in that aspect(or did you only clear normal, where its just 1hit and u dont have to think or care about movement/skill placement?).

Just because it were 10years~ between D2 LoD and D3 doesn't mean they spent 10years on it.
Im not surprised if they made it in 2years.

[Coldkil]

Jumping creates a whole new platform in a single skill. -snip-

There's no way D3 could take 10 years to just be what it currently is.

Not sure if troll or serious.

Anyway, D3 is an ARPG. There are no puzzles, no platform, only farming. That's pretty much the genre of the game. It's pretty obvious you didn't play the previous chapters, otherwise you would have known it.

What you are asking for is a completely different game. I suppose you have just thrown your money out of the window.

EDIT: previous poster beat me.

[BenBos]

Not sure if serious or just trolling.

This isn't some SP/Platform game, its an MP hack&slash where the goal purely is to gear your char and get stronger.
The console version is just a joke (control wise), idk how u can see it as better then PC in that aspect(or did you only clear normal, where its just 1hit and u dont have to think or care about movement/skill placement?).

Just because it were 10years~ between D2 LoD and D3 doesn't mean they spent 10years on it.
Im not surprised if they made it in 2years.

It is trollin alright, since he uses typical hate troll arguments: "10 years to make this" is NOT coming from a Diablo noob.

I guess he is frustrated by the great user reactions on sites like amazon, ign, eurogamer.

Typical Blizzard trash talker. And it shows all over his post. I bet he is one if the 20 "users" that created an account on metacritic to push 0/10. A pity 10 times more people gave it the best mark - like real buyers of the game -

[Reclaimer]

I used to think that the uproar about D3 was simply because it wasn't D2 HD, but there seems to be actual legitimacy to all the bad press D3 got. So after 2 demos, all I can say is, it's good but not great and in all honesty not worth forking over $60.

No, There's is no Legitimacy at all for the mass amounts of hate D3 gets. You hit it right on the nail the 1st time. People wanted a remake not a new game. If you think D3 is bad then I challenge you. Please play Diablo 2 all the way to the end. So that you can realize how much better Diablo 3 it is compared to it.

"When someone walks into a restaurant, What's is the chances of them liking everything on the menu?" Maybe Diablo just isn't for you? That does not mean its a bad game. Maybe just for you. If we all looked at games the way you did. Everything would be a waste of time. Saying there's no point to playing D3 is like saying there's no point in life because everyone is going to die at the end anyways so.

If Diablo was as shit as everyone claims. They would just make an offline mode, Kill MP and stop updating. With the coming of Reaper of souls and all the patch work they are putting into the game. I would say the game is very much alive. Haters gonna hate.

[Deleted]

The console version is just a joke (control wise)
.

Its not that bad. Its just different. And the roll function is mint!!

[Deleted]

- nothing to collect or find

This bit made me smile

I have found 2 legendaries so far and my eyes sparkled with joy!!

[Sting]

Why did you buy a dungeon crawler game when you don't like farming dungeons? The fault isn't the product, it's the customer in this case.

[Sighted]

No, There's is no Legitimacy at all for the mass amounts of hate D3 gets.

I beg to differ for the following reasons;

- D3 encourages Pay-to-Win with the inclusion of a RM AH
- In-game drop-rates are horrendously low and when something does drop that is rare, it is often not worth using due to poorly thought out game mechanics (ie weapon dps)
- Items classed as "Rare" are not really because of the sheer quantity of them that drop
- Limited options in Skill tree's
- Cliche' storyline
- The games Randomized Maps were a false sales pitch imo. Adding one or two of only a few random events onto an existing map does not meet the definition of a "Randomized Map" in my book.

Those are the main points that come to mind.

In short though, I loved D1 and D2 but was let down by D3. I don't know if it's because I've outgrown the genre or because I feel that nothing really new/innovative has been added to it.

It will be interesting to see how Blizzard implement "Loot 2.0" and the additional content in the expansion.

Time will tell...

[fishface]

The baldurs gate series for ps2 had jumping and platform elements and they were great for their time. I've got to agree with OP. Jumping and a bit of platforming would have given Diablo 3 that extra edge.

[Ebonheart]

I played the computer version and was disinterested because of the controls, they just didn't jive with me so I put that down. At that point I couldn't really say anything about the game because there wasn't much to say, I hadn't played it!

Now the console version came out, and I loved the controls. They're fantastic in comparison to the pc version, much more fluid and intuitive, so the actual combat turned out to be fun once given the appropriate platform to play with it. So I'm playing co-op with my wife and we played it for a couple of hours, the difficulty was going up and becoming minutely more challenging and it suddenly felt really, really boring.

It occurred to me that all we were doing was killing stuff with no purpose, the quest was simply to go into the dungeon and run to the end and done. It felt incredibly shallow because:

- there are no puzzles, like at all, nothing
- there is no jumping so no platforming either
- nothing to collect or find
- there were no choices it's all linear

Don't get me wrong, the combat is fun and fluid with a controller, but that's it, there's nothing else to the game. Kill > loot > power up > repeat. The story is a complete shadow to the game and there are no other aspects around to break up the mindless butchering.

Blizzard has a solid foundation to the combat, now where's the rest of the game? The game feels...incomplete and I say that endearingly, but it befuddles me that something this shallow took 10 years to make.

I used to think that the uproar about D3 was simply because it wasn't D2 HD, but there seems to be actual legitimacy to all the bad press D3 got. So after 2 demos, all I can say is, it's good but not great and in all honesty not worth forking over $60.

My only problem right now is that the game isn't worth its price. On consoles when comparing D3 to something similar like God of War, GoW simply pulls ahead and is like 100000 times better and much more complete than D3.

D3 definitely is more polished than any other game competing with it in its genre but polish alone doesn't make the game $60. It just has a very grindy feel to it. It maybe me cause I have not played any of the previous Diablo games, but there really isn't much to it. The story line is really meh! There isn't anything special going on. The action scenes, special attacks are boring, and there isn't anything that catches your attention like it so often happens in GoW.

GoW is a perfect example of a perfect hack and slash game. The game is built on a strong storyline with amazing action scenes with engaging combat mechanics.

- - - Updated - - -

Not sure if troll or serious.

Anyway, D3 is an ARPG. There are no puzzles, no platform, only farming. That's pretty much the genre of the game. It's pretty obvious you didn't play the previous chapters, otherwise you would have known it.

What you are asking for is a completely different game. I suppose you have just thrown your money out of the window.

EDIT: previous poster beat me.

God of War is pretty much an ARPG and those guys do it a thousand times better.

- - - Updated - - -

If people had picked fault with it as a standalone game, but they criticised it simply because it was not mirroring d2, because it was not doing things the same as d2.

That is how the genre works unfortunately, and going to any of the competition will result in more of the same.
There just is not the range of movement to allow platforming or similar.

Really when it came to mobility and depth we were spoilt by MMO's, but we simply cannot apply the same preferences to another genre and expect them to just be there.

Infact the game would fail massively as a stand alone game. The hype and massive sales numbers was purely cause of the previous games. Everyone was expecting D3 to better D1 and D2.

So your reasoning really doesn't make any sense.

[Dhrizzle]

God of War is pretty much an ARPG and those guys do it a thousand times better.

God of War is a 3rd-person action-adventure game and a spectacle-fighter. D3 is an isometric action-RPG. Whilst there are superficial similarities (killing tonnes of dudes) the two genres scratch very different itches. I can't say one is better than the other because I love action-adventure games but I usually enjoy playing through them once, maybe one-and-a-half times; whereas Diablo games I tend to get into the grind of levelling and experimenting with several different characters.

Infact the game would fail massively as a stand alone game. The hype and massive sales numbers was purely cause of the previous games. Everyone was expecting D3 to better D1 and D2.

So your reasoning really doesn't make any sense.

Personally I find D3 is a lot better than D1 and D2 (although I never played D1 that much, mostly I remember having a whole field of weapons and gold due to there being no stash); the way the skill system encourages experimentation is a huge step forward.

[Beazy]

I played the computer version and was disinterested because of the controls, they just didn't jive with me so I put that down. At that point I couldn't really say anything about the game because there wasn't much to say, I hadn't played it!

Now the console version came out, and I loved the controls. They're fantastic in comparison to the pc version, much more fluid and intuitive, so the actual combat turned out to be fun once given the appropriate platform to play with it. So I'm playing co-op with my wife and we played it for a couple of hours, the difficulty was going up and becoming minutely more challenging and it suddenly felt really, really boring.

It occurred to me that all we were doing was killing stuff with no purpose, the quest was simply to go into the dungeon and run to the end and done. It felt incredibly shallow because:

- there are no puzzles, like at all, nothing
- there is no jumping so no platforming either
- nothing to collect or find
- there were no choices it's all linear

Don't get me wrong, the combat is fun and fluid with a controller, but that's it, there's nothing else to the game. Kill > loot > power up > repeat. The story is a complete shadow to the game and there are no other aspects around to break up the mindless butchering.

Blizzard has a solid foundation to the combat, now where's the rest of the game? The game feels...incomplete and I say that endearingly, but it befuddles me that something this shallow took 10 years to make.

I used to think that the uproar about D3 was simply because it wasn't D2 HD, but there seems to be actual legitimacy to all the bad press D3 got. So after 2 demos, all I can say is, it's good but not great and in all honesty not worth forking over $60.

I dont think ARPGs are your thing. It seems like you were looking for a "rich" RPG experience, thats usually not what you get when you play ARPGS. I know a lot of people like you who say "Da Fuqs the point of this game!?!?!?!". 99% of the time, those people are looking for something other than a gear farm grind.