I use the only definition that matters the oxford dictionary so if you dont use that then you are always going to be wrong in terms of definitions.
You could say the story is non existant in any game if you dont care about it, the combat is PoE is still better than what is available in D2 since its an old game it just has the most basic combat system.
D2 is just a more basic version of D3 in terms of gameplay and content.