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 On 09/09/2014 at 05:26 PM by BrokenH See More From This User » |
Diablo III Impressions
Not far in Diablo III. I choose to be a demon-hunter and I just got done slaying the spider-queen. I really like the Tim Burton-ish level designs in the first areas. The twisted leafless trees, dying brown grass, and gaping deep holes in the earth definitely add a menacing atmosphere to the proceedings. Caves and ancient ruins are done with gusto as well!
That out of the way, I’m a little disappointed. Not so disappointed I regret my purchase but disappointed to the point it makes me wonder if I’ve simply outgrown action-rpgs.
First of all the story “is” rather good with decent voice performances. Not anything that will blow your mind but you will still find yourself caring about Leah and Deckard Cain. Yet I feel as if it is all a bit of a missed opportunity. I mean Diablo III could have had some fucking twisted hell-raiser/Berserk shit in it. Flayed skins hung up by chains, succubi having orgies in pools of blood, people getting their entrails removed and eaten while they’re still alive…..I mean this “is” a game about a demonic invasion. Unlike Diablo 1 and Diablo II, there’s just not as much of a sense of dread this time around.
"Diablo III scary?! It's a fairy tale for scrubs!"
And the bosses? They’re so meh. Seriously, I get “Giant skeleton King” “Maleficent’s less famous witch sister” and “Spider Queen”?! How many variants of those have we seen in other games already? Can’t I get a tentacle rape demon, pin headed pain lord cenobyte, or some sort of weird abomination that’s both disgusting and beautiful simultaneously? So far it seems like all the creativity for “dark fantasy monsters” went into Dark-souls.
"Move those arms and dance...dance I say! Dance like it's disco inferno night!" ~Demon of the dance
Don’t get me wrong. The game is fun to play! It’s easy to break stuff down and make better stuff. The new “dodge roll” is a nice quick maneuver that helps against enemies hurling projectiles, and it’s viscerally satisfying to kill everything in your path. All the same, Diablo III has a sense of stifled creativity. It should be bolder, uglier, “more adult” and darker than it actually is.
"This demon has fallen...and can't get up! Hang on,bro! The ambulance is on its' way! Don't fade out on me!"
So far to me it is a solid 7.5. Good game but it’s aesthetics are a bit bland and progression is very linear both in how your character develops and how the story progresses. Honestly, you would get just as many jollies out of playing Torchlight II and TLII also gives you more freedom in how you build up your adventurer. If the team from Torchlight II and the team of Path Of Exile ever combined forces to create “the ultimate action rpg” Blizzard would be in a heap of trouble.
Keep in mind, the best of D III is probably yet to come! I’m hoping it actually gets better.
Oh,and here is my art of Silent-Bill,stoner/shaman merchant guy!
i was a bit disappointed with D3 when I first tried it out. I put around 10 hours in and decided that the isometric playstyle just wasn't for me.
That said, I have heard from a ton of people that it's a game that's meant to be played and then replayed to the death of it. I should've given it more of a fair chance before I decided it wasn't my cuppa tea...but then again, I know what I like.
That Demon Hunter female is sexy as hell.
I might grow to like it more,Dan. I just wish it had been "love at first play" like the original Diablo had been for me. However, I warmed up to Diablo II despite having issues with it at first so maybe there's hope for Diablo III!
Oh god! That Berserk manga made me uncomfortable. It has some really gross moments. Wish I could unsee!
The Berserk anime is much less offensive...though uh,still very dark. I like the overall concept behind Berserk but in the manga "rape" was more common than actual battles and actual story progression. At least it seemed that way to me. 
But when it steered away from demon rape orgies it was surprisingly good! Sort of like a medieval Fist Of The Northstar!
The violence was pretty gross too. I'm glad it was in black & white.
That's the only downside of the anime....violence in full gory color. lol.
Don't get me wrong. I love me some horror games and movies, but some anime goes way beyond the outer limts. Maybe it's a cultural thing? And that wich doctor drawing kind of looks like Pyramid head, in other words really cool! 
Silent Bill is sort of a satirical tribute to Pyramid-head. Even the name gives it away. 
My bad! Woke up derpy this morn'n.
Well on my end I could have written "satirical tribute to PH" into the blog itself. I'll at least take partial blame. lol.
that's a manga I actually want to read, to see if I can pick up all the stuff that got put into Dark souls.
Berserk is good but it really gets over the top crazy,Dan. Lotsa demons raping women and such. The epic battles and sheer orginality of some of the demon designs might make it worth your while though.
Any Diablo 3 characters you think I'd like?
There's a buffed Barbarain class and the female version looks believable,Cary. By that I mean sha has actual muscle on her. Overall though I think Torchlight II might be more your style. It has a more lighthearted vibe overall and I actually like the graphic style. You also have more customization with your characters in TL2. (At least it seems that way right now) D3 is still a good game though. Hopefully by the time I get around to further impressions I'll see more of what it has to offer.
Cool, thanks. I sent you a PM message, by the way.
Firstly: Yeah it does get better. The disturbing tortured human things are coming too. I chose a Demon Hunter first, but my favourite class is the Monk. They're just so much fun to use!
I love that Monk class!
Thanks,Blake. Seems like I have better stuff to look forward to! So far the most morbid moments I've encountered are the carriage of burned bodies in New Tristam (To prevent them from rising again) and the senile farmer who keeps the skeleton of his dead wife.
Damn... you got a lot to see! There's walls lined with rotting corpses, bodies that spew out leeches, and all manner of messed up shit.
Well, I've fought the bloated undead filled with the leeches. Guess I should have mentioned that. lol And now that I've talked to the spirit of King Lorak's head holding wife and I've seen his BDSM torture dungeon (Complete with his head hunter and a ressurected Butcherer) it's safe to say Diablo III is finally stepping up to the plate. 
I can't get enough of Diablo 3. As far as "darker", I personally love that Blizzard art style combined with turning big enemies into Mortal Kombat-esque piles of bone and meat. I'd say that if you chose the Demon Hunter first that might attribute to you being less than enthused. I'm using her for my hardcore playthrough and it took a while before the game got fun again because I was just holding down the X button and things would die. Once the encounters got tougher and I got some more exciting abilities it became a completely different game.
Yeah, I think once I get passed that initial lump things will improve,Julian. Honestly I was like this with Diablo II as well. My first 8 or so hours were "meh" but after that I was totally ensnared and addicted! Regardless, if you love D3 definitely check out Torchlight II as well!
I'd have to get a look at Diablo III to see if I agree its designs could be more interesting, but that picture of a giant goat making a woman dance is effectively creepy.
I hadn't played any of them. I think I'll try to get my hands on the first 2 games.
I call the color palette in Diablo 3 "Disney dark." The lack of deep black shadows sets a different tone from the other two games. You can have all the staked bodies and corpse piles you want, but if it's all rendered in primary and secondary colors, it loses some of the effect. The early game is particularly Disney/animation-ish, while later it becomes more hellish and grandiose. Not as bleak and brimstone as Diablo 1, though.
I'm kinda of the fense about that game too. I do like the action RPG like I did back in the PSO/PSU days but I'm not sure if I'd go for the isometric view. I haven't pplayed a Diablo title though and this might sound like a good reason to try it out either on the Ps3 or a future PS4 purchase. I wonder if thre is a digital upgrade if you by last gen to new gen console.
After I finish EDF 2025 with my friend Mark, I'm going to get either Diablo III or Gears of War Judgment so we can continue the co-op. Gears might be first because it's cheaper but I will get to D3 sometime soon.
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