Diablo 3

    I hate that the industry caught on to the audio log thing that only System Shock ever did right. It's just become a convenient way for games to just throw in shitty VO around the level, totally ignoring the scripted dude who's going to kick down a door 5 seconds after you start listening to it. It worked well in SS cause it usually reflected a scene in the environment or gave you some hint for a reward of some kind. Fuck sake even Doom 3 did this shit better by having key codes for storage lockers. And the ones in doom were sometimes really banal drivel which made a lot more sense than dramatic dialogue delivered by someone hiding in a vent masturbating to the deaths of everyone around him. I also love when an audio log is playing and at the same time someone in the world is talking to me and I have to now make some fucked up meta choice of which is more important to the story because I care about all of this stuff so much to begin with.

    I agree with just about everything in the videos Dux posted. What I don't agree with is the use of dropped 'journals' throughout the world . Personally, I LOVED those journals . I understand that it's ridiculous that so many important tomes have just been lost, or that the orders from the demon lords would be found on a dead no name demon; but these journals fed my curiosity about the world and the characters, especially during the Kulle arc. In addition, i love the little quips about each type of creature or demon you fight in the game.

    Unfortunately, I have to agree with everything else, especially when the horrifically written enemy dialogue. Honestly, I know it is a common story telling technique for children stories and super heroes to have the bad guys tell you EVERYTHING about there plans; but come on, this is Diablo III... I'd like to think we're beyond being baby sat through the game; rather than having Maghda or w/e her name is tell me that shes abducted Cain and Leah they should have just had her say 'LOL I TOOK IT LOSER!' and let me figure out when I get back to New Tristram that they are under assault / interrogation. It is really unfortunate that they didn't pick out and scrap some of the unimportant and cheesy dialogue.

    The bad aside, I'm off to play more Diablo 3! Oh... wait, they patched it, and now I can't log in properly... ahahahahaha, brilliant.

    What happened with this? This was fucking fantastic. Pisses all over anything Diablo 3 has to offer in relation.

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    I watched the rest of those videos and agreed with them all. I think every time one of the bosses appeared and said something I facepalmed... Everyone getting kidnapped and Azmodan/Diablo giving constant status reports and pro-tips. Act 2 was fairly sensible even though it was predictable.

    Blizzard have a financial interest in making the itemisation screw you over. I know I need 3 pieces of gear on my Monk before I can start act 2 (decent String of Ears, life on hit +500 weapon, helm with vit +dex + poison resist + socket) and these all cost millions.

    I also found the amount of environments pretty lacklustre. The Cathedral being gigantic for no reason was okay because it was filled with some nice interactive objects and monster spawners, but when you're just doing miles of sewer, ruins, ramparts and cellars you get bored pretty fast. I honestly can't remember what Diablo 2 was like in this regard, but I know I dread playing through act 3 again.

    MMmm.... so good... I get what your saying, I wish they had done more side quest type stuff as well. I still enjoyed the journals they had, but the style of that one is particularly nice. It would have been cool if they broke up some of the journal stuff with some legend or story telling books like that one. I think another problem presented there is that this is an entire side quest a mini dungeon / story that you can get involved in if you want to (assuming you even found the tome). Diablo 3 tried a bit of side quest stuff, but it was poor in comparison. I enjoyed what they did try to do though with the mini events, such as the moon clan burial pit in Act 1. But yea, it would have been great to have more like the Countess from D2.

    videos are absolutely spot on with everything. i also agree on the narrative, though in some parts, it really shows that it had such potential to be better. examples:

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    tyreal, fallen angel. brilliantly thought out, poorly executed. diablo, rising this time from a female form, HAS FEMALE ASPECTS (look at the cinematic walk animation, no male would walk like that)

    .

    to me these, among others, were hints that at least one person on the diablo team knew that there was something worth going for in terms of story, but then got shat on by basically whoever the fuck was in charge of the production. i'm getting reminded of that guy who removed dialogue from garfield in some of the garfield strips, which made the comic much more interesting.

    Quote from Taylor

    I also found the amount of environments pretty lacklustre. The Cathedral being gigantic for no reason was okay because it was filled with some nice interactive objects and monster spawners, but when you're just doing miles of sewer, ruins, ramparts and cellars you get bored pretty fast. I honestly can't remember what Diablo 2 was like in this regard, but I know I dread playing through act 3 again.

    i actually came to this thread to post this as an addendum; even though i sort of referred to it before (by saying acts weren't memorable). for me, act 2 and 4 were definitely the most invigorating to play through, because they had strong thematic references. act 1 felt like it was planted there, because TRISTRAM LOL, WE GOTTA REFERENCE THAT and not much else.

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    the fucking coven sound like a bunch of dipshits running around not really doing anything; there is no narrative that really explains what else they do or where they come from other than just being thrown into the whole CULTS ARE BAD deal. ok so some of them are vessels that turn into demons, fair do, but the rest really have nothing going for them.

    act 3 feels out of place because you're going from one type of desert to the next. the environment is still barren, but this time you're stuck in a fort that apparently is the size of a fucking major present day city, counting all the areas you're getting into. the barren land worked for act 5 in diablo 2 because there was a narrative progression about it. you were constantly going in and out of a huge fucking mountain, which allowed both for foothills as the main areas, and caves that CONTRASTED said foothills. still, act 5 was probably the worst act in terms of art and narrative direction. i was actually going through my head here while thinking about this, and i kept coming back to the reasoning behind act 3 was

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    asmodan needing to be a warlord over some epic army, and the only place in the game world they could realistically carry this out, would be somewhere as open and barren as where the barbarians lived (having looked at the map)

    . but then i thought, this guy is a lord from hell. narratively, he is strong and influential as fuck. so why the fuck does he push his minions over a vast barren, cold, crate-like wasteland just to get to a fucking fort at the end of it? wouldn't his troops be in better shape if he deployed them closer, or failing that, created CAMPS closer to the fort? in the cinematic for act 5 in d2, baal goes straight up to whatever town there is and gives no fucks about killing some elder trying to protect it, yet in d3 asmodan choses to sit on his venerable fat ass and lets his half-assed legion do his work for him. and this guy is supposed to be a master tactician and strategist? scoot over genghis khan, you got nothing on this guy.

    anyway, even when they went through with this direction, they could have made it more influenced by him.

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    the inside of the mountain or cave or whatever the hell you're inside at the end of the act for the most part is just generic CAVE, with a little bit of demonic influence in parts. with how far his troops have spread, and arguably by that his influence as well, how haven't the outskirts of the cave turned into something along the lines of act 4 in d2?

    i mean, that would be a change of scenery that would actually mean something narratively; namely, that asmodan isn't just a lard ass sitting inside a cave waiting for his minions to do his dirty work, like the dr. robotnik of the diablo universe, but that his power corrupts the world around him.

    with this sort of direction going on, and a lot more focus on asmodan's INFLUENCE, act 3 would definitely feel a lot less tedious than it does. but, honestly, what d3 needed as an interim act would be something along the lines of act 3 in d2. why: GREEN scenery. urban planners don't put fucking parks everywhere because they don't make a difference, but because PEOPLE FUCKING LOVE parks and trees and all that shit. act 3 in d2 was a respite from the desert that was act 2 (and even though i seriously LOVE desert themes, they do need to be contrasted properly), both in terms of environment, but also in terms of how the act progressed. lut gholein was a friendly city that was overcome with problems, whereas the "city" in act 3 is whoever the fuck escaped down to the docks before the main, major city fell to corruption. and i mean, this is in no way the best narrative or environment ever, but what it produces from how the parts are pieced together (by the player, mind you, not by the game) is an involving experience. and even when you're on your 60th playthrough of the game, and the narrative feels much less involving, the contrast of the environment and the experience STILL STANDS.

    you know, i kind of expected that blizzard would screw diablo 3 over, because i knew blizzard and blizzard north were studios with very different ways of handling direction. what surprised me though, was how much they didn't cater to the original playerbase of diablo 1 and 2. however you look at it, this game wasn't made with those people in mind as the major demographic group - it was made to serve as an introduction to the diablo universe for fans of blizzard that came after world of warcraft. everything is set up so that a world of warcraft player would have an easy time adapting, without thinking too much about skill or whatever. or, actually, without thinking too much at all. i'm gonna go back to saying that the best people employed at blizzard are their business strategists and marketers, because they sure as hell know how to make a great product for their demographics. but then, as seen here once again, a great product doesn't necessarily mean a great game.

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    act 3 feels out of place because you're going from one type of desert to the next.

    Yea, I know what you mean. I noticed that instead of switching the up the setting properly they tried to thread a bit of the jungle feel into Act 2; the Oasis. Which unfortunately does not make up much of the act at all. Perhaps they could have made the 'hidden camp' inside a jungle or oasis on the edge of the city, and used the jungles a lot more; then they might not have created this horrible desert to desert feeling. I think the problem is that while they did break up the locals a fair bit with going into caves, the oasis, aqueducts ect., they assumed that this would prevent the player from feeling as though they went from one barren land to another (which is so bland t.t).

    Thought!*** I just realized it would be really cool to have an editor for Diablo 3. I would really enjoy that...

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    and this guy is supposed to be a master tactician and strategist? scoot over genghis khan, you got nothing on this guy.

    Yea, no kidding. I found that to be a huge MISSED OPPORTUNITY. I think that the idea of the strong tactician demon lord (Asmodan) should have been an awesome fun time for the developers and players; this part could have been key to an interesting change in game mechanics, and fighting strategy. I mean if he's so smart... why does he just send demons the exact same way every other demon lord ever did in Diablo. Hell, random demons do the same thing on their own. Asmodan presented the opportunity to field demons who would fight in an organized fashion. For example: what if he had a type of demon general that caused demons to focus fire units, or attack maybe two particular targets, and have spell casters heal their allies a bit as well. Instead of allowing the player to simply kill the healers perhaps additional demons would be tasked with protecting the healers via teleportation to evade the player while the rest of the demons continue to focus fire. But if the demon general is killed the demons revert to there basic behaviors. It would at least cause the players to use some strategy in return, a little more elaborate than kill the shaman. Even that just feels like the tip of the ice berg, although a lot of the problems with Asmodan are also story related... what with the hiding and waiting to fight alone?

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    what surprised me though, was how much they didn't cater to the original playerbase of diablo 1 and 2.

    Sad really. I understand that they're running a business, but they make so much money already, and they would have done really well even if they catered more to Diablo fans than they did. I don't like that despite the fact that I play every other Blizzard game WoW players are who they give priority to; no respect for their other fans .

    I don’t want to be overtly negative. I still think this game does a lot of things right and I stand that being able to shuffle skills around without remaking a character is a good thing

    I also don’t really get how this is World of Warcraft dressed up like Diablo when it fundamentally plays like Diablo 2 and, on Hell, is actually a more difficult game even if that is all relative and Inferno is cheap as chips.

    Finished it on Normal difficulty, only to realize that you actually only unlock the new difficulty with the character you played through with. Was hoping I could start a new character on the harder difficulty

    Anyway, way too easy, especially Act I, but from Act II and onward I really enjoyed it, looks absolutely fantastic. Gonna start a new character and play exclusively in co-op, probably a Hardcore character if I can convince others to do it

    Quote from Taylor

    I don’t want to be overtly negative. I still think this game does a lot of things right and I stand that being able to shuffle skills around without remaking a character is a good thingI also don’t really get how this is World of Warcraft dressed up like Diablo when it fundamentally plays like Diablo 2 and, on Hell, is actually a more difficult game even if that is all relative and Inferno is cheap as chips.

    I would not say D3 is World of Warcraft dressed up like Diablo; I agree it plays like Diablo. What I complain about is simply that it has been dumbed down to cater to the average WoW player and has completely left the traditional D2 player to starve for what once was (a more involved character system ect. as has been stated by Dux's video posts and so on). It is still a good game, I just think it could have been something amazing rather than the highly anticipated sequel to something amazing.

    Quote from Marvin.Star

    I would not say D3 is World of Warcraft dressed up like Diablo; I agree it plays like Diablo. What I complain about is simply that it has been dumbed down to cater to the average WoW player and has completely left the traditional D2 player to starve for what once was (a more involved character system ect. as has been stated by Dux's video posts and so on). It is still a good game, I just think it could have been something amazing rather than the highly anticipated sequel to something amazing.

    Being the first Diablo game I played, I find it a lot of fun but to simplistic. Even wow has more complex depth. After shelling out 60 bucks, I got a shallow character system and a broken online game; I expected better from Blizzard. :/ But at least its fun right

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    I generally love zero punctuation reviews but this one is just plain retarded

    I find him entertaining, but I don't watch his reviews to help decide what I think about a game. His taste doesn't exactly line up with mine on many things.

    i always find it funny when people mention him for humorous value. pretty much every game i've played that he has reviewed i agree with; why? because he consistently points out logical flaws in those games.

    also lol @ skjalg, still defending his blizzard

    disclaimer: no offense to blizzard employees, though i'm sure if you guys were in charge, you'd do a better job at designing the systems in this game. i have no quarrel with the departments in this matter, i only have a quarrel with the designers/producers/directors

    I remember his DMC4 review was 99% cutscenes and 1% "the combat is fun." All the points he made were valid, but the impression you got by him selectively only talking about the bad stuff was rather different.

    Again the EU servers are down. I'm sick of this shit. This is the fifth time in 2 weeks. It's the last time I buy a Blizzard online only game. Fuck you Blizzard! Seriously, FUCK YOU!

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