Just a note, you can choose which stats you get by turning on "Elective mode".
Doesn't matter anymore. I sent the game back and got a refund. Don't wanna think about it again.
"Suffer a vicious person and you will fear vice. Suffer a virtuous one and you will soon loathe virtue itself." Tony Duvert
I do wish there was a way to downvote reviews on this site. Every point made in this review has been rehased before, and the review above, and the comments under it, address these points to where they just seem like whining about things being different. Diablo 1 and 2 still limited the player's "control" over their skills- 1 via randomly generating spellbooks, 2 via having to put your 1 point per level into a skill and following a static tree over the course of 30 levels. At least Diablo 3 gives you more freedom to experiment without having to start over if you change your mind. Risk does not always equal fun, especially when the risk amounts to "Oops I socketed this item wrong I guess I'll have to farm for another one."
The auction house doesn't really fail any more than any other system of item trading would, since plenty of people use it to get needed gear at good prices, and greedy bastards are greedy bastards no matter the location. I find it humorous that it is hypocritical to only support real money exchanges for digital items when a system is set up by the creators of the game with the proper management and liability, and that businesses can't change their minds.
As for the story complaints, I suppose it is really a matter of differing tastes. Still, the reviewer should've played it in the English dub, where the voice acting is great. Also, I'm not sure how much darkness & despair was lost in Diablo 3 compared to the other two, but it probably has more to do with the player characters talking more and sounding more confident, and interacting with the NP Cs beyond a few sound-bytes here and there.
Really, the only intriguing thing in this review is how the author managed to get a refund on a PC game with a used code, or at least how much of a refund. If Diablo 3 lacks the Diablo series' magic, then the creator has a rather bland view on what that magic is. Really, I wonder if the author has ever played Torchlight. The ability to send a follower off to sell loot instead of having to warp back to town each time would probably ruin the game for him/her.
To clarify, when mentioning the "review above", I was mistaken as this review is- at the time of this comment- at the top. I am referring to the review done by Shrikesnest. The review, and its comments, shoot down a good deal of this reviews points. Really, I pity those who have to read newest first.
We had up/downvoting for reviews. It quickly became pointless because any negative review would get horribly downvoted regardless of the legitimacy of it's points (unless it was for something that it's trendy to hate), and positive ones would be upvoted even if they said little more than "I liked this!". It was kind of embarassing to see
Also, commenting on a review bumps it to the top
Stuff bought from the Blizzard store can be refunded as long as it is defective and 30 days (3 in some parts of the world) have passed since purchase. The server failures from the launch day and the following weeks were considered defects for the purpose of this.
The point about the leveling system is the /feeling/ of control, not actual control. Some people like pressing buttons to assign points to something because it makes them feel that they have control over it, over how the character evolves. The runes are nothing but bland bonuses that don't look awesome.
On the subject of risks and opportunity costs, I will point you that Torchlight also has a way of removing gems from socketed items, but it has an opportunity cost, because you have to either destroy the gems to save the item and its sockets or destroy the item to save the gems. See? There is a risk there, the risk of having wasted an item, or gems, and having to part with one to get the other as good as new and be able to try again.
Also, being able to send a pet back to town to get rid of the vendor trash doesn't break the pace of game as much as having to cast a town portal every single time you need to go back to town.
Were YOU able to find anything but legendary items at prohibitive prices in the auction house? And how is making something that was illegal an okay thing to do because you get a cut from it not hypocrisy?
The loss of darkness and despair is mostly because of that, yes. The characters are legitimately good guys who are in it for great justice rather than featureless characters who could be delving into the dungeons for some other reason (Self-interest, the riches), and even after all the horror they are through they never lose hope, and in the end there is a light at the end of the tunnel: Diablo dies forever, the world is finally saved... Lots of sacrifices have been made, but still the end of it has a hint of happiness, a hint of happiness that no other game in the series had, and that this one should have never had. Where is the feeling that you have failed even if you have succeeded, the feeling that evil is always one step ahead of you no matter what, the feeling that Diablo has won even though you have managed to kill him?
"Suffer a vicious person and you will fear vice. Suffer a virtuous one and you will soon loathe virtue itself." Tony Duvert
Why doesn't it matter? this is a review and comment section for everyone, just because you sold the game back doesn't means others have to suffer over some info you failed to give them.
ps. You say you don't want to think about it and then make a 6 paragraph reply less than a week later.
Because R Cat made me think about it again.
"Suffer a vicious person and you will fear vice. Suffer a virtuous one and you will soon loathe virtue itself." Tony Duvert
Every reviewer has the right to give their legitimate reasons for disliking something popular or liking something unpopular. I think Sachiko made good points about things such as, say, the risk/opportunity cost of removing gems from socketed items in Torchlight vs Diablo 3. Anyway, if you like the game, great. People who dislike it have every right to have their opinion.
But the choice of returning to read the replies was yours.
- Every reviewer has the right to give their legitimate reasons for disliking something popular or liking something unpopular. I think Sachiko made good points about things such as, say, the risk/opportunity cost of removing gems from socketed items in Torchlight vs Diablo 3. Anyway, if you like the game, great. People who dislike it have every right to have their opinion.
Making things more convenient for the player is not a valid complaint.
Any complaint that's factually correct is valid. Different people like different things, even things you may have trouble seeing any appeal in
No it's not. If you don't like it, just throw away the gems or the item yourself.
Yes, you could do that to try to retain a feel closer to the earlier games, but the actual feel of doing a Self Imposed Challenge is much different. That is to say, you can always feel that you're holding back. Which is about the opposite of the ideal feeling of games with high-risk mechanics: Using everything you're given to challenge and beat a cruel and unforgiving world
Maybe you should go complain about the existence of difficulty settings then. Game designers do not cater to the hardcore.
First, that's not the same thing at all. Second, plenty of designers do in fact cater to the hardcore. Third, I don't really have much of an opinion on any of this, I'm just trying to explain things
@Hylard But at the core of things this is a review, the purpose of reviews is to express your opinion but inform with it, it's what differentiates it from a rant or a gush. The comment section is to discuss how well or valid those points are, as well as to show different opinions on that, so that in the end someone like me who hasn't play the game and is trying to decide whether to buy it or not could use that information in the desicion. What I'm trying to say is, that's a bit of a Irreleant Thesis.
They don't cater to the hardcore at the cost of everyone else.
marcellX, I suggest you quit using reviews to decide whether or not to buy/watch something. The vast majority of them are unreliable.
Having only despair and the sense that diablo still won gets tiresome. If only bad shit happens why should I care? H Aving the heroes win a genuine victory is a nice touch and ch
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No control for the player. Disappointing.
Before saying anything, I will note that I am a member of the old guard. I have been a Blizzard fan since the release of games like 'Blackthorne', and of course I love the Diablo games. I got my copy of Diablo III from a friend who gave it to me as an early birthday gift.
I will note that the online-only nature of the game is, for me, a minor point. But still... I don't find the fun in this.
The leveling system has completely revoked the feeling of power and control I had when allocating stats and skills. Now the only, minimal point of customization is the runes you unlock when you level up, and gear.
The risks and opportunity costs related to sockets and gems have been completely obviated. They don't matter anymore, because gems can be removed from socketed items and both the gems and the items are intact.
The game itself is too short for my taste. I don't consider myself an awesome player. It took me a lot of restarted games and New Game Pluses to complete Diablo 1 and I had to play for a month's worth of time to complete Diablo 2 and its expansion in normal mode. Then I found myself going through normal mode of Diablo 3 like lightning. In 6 days worth of time, I was done with the entirety of normal mode, and I know that, if I had played with other friends who have the game, I would have been able to reach Inferno mode in around the same time.
I wasn't expecting much from the story. I mean, it is Diablo! You don't play it for the story! But even there it fails to provide. The dark, despair-filled atmosphere of the first two games has been lost, its tropes have been reconstructed when there was no need for it, the characters are chatty and their voice acting is mediocre, specially in the Spanish dub, which I played.
And then there is the auction houses. The less said of them, the better. I know that its intent was to ease item trade between players, but most people use it only to offer legendary items at prohibitive prices. It fails as item trading system, and the idea of having a version that uses real money strikes me as blatant hypocrisy, because in Diablo 2, real money trade was stated by Blizzard to be illegal, but now since Blizzard gets a cut it's suddenly okay.
In short, Diablo III proves that popular =/= good. It's an oversimplified experience that has stripped the series of its magic. Not worth the 60 Euros it costs.