I loved the game when I was younger, the Hype of getting out of school and playing this wrist pain causing point and click game will always hold some awesome memory’s in my mind. The dark brooding story with demons and every evil that could walk the earth in times of darkness.
The playing with friends to early hours of the morning and yes, even feeling like it was a horror at times in my young easy bendable mind for what I saw before me, They are fond, twisted gory memory’s of a good, badly pixelated time.
…With that said I am not a heavy rose tinted glasses person, as good as it was after stepping back from diablo 3, to go into diablo 2 it is EASY to say and see diablo 3 is the better game: In terms of game play and accessibility. But with that Diablo 3 is not without its many faults as well.
I can only hope Diablo 4 is DARK EVIL gory and twisted as diablo 2 was, it should be a gothic dark fantasy world. Diablo 3 just felt to…campy and happy and colorful? it just lacked the “horror” darkness feel. Take Diablo 2’s dark themed world, steal some of those systems over (I.E rune words, charms, even player stats) but mix in diablo 3’s quicker, snappy game play and diablo 4 might be the best game ever out of them all.
Strange it is EASY for me to say D2 is the better game… Talent system, story, pretty much all of it I liked better anout D2… Except I do quite enjoy the wizard on D3.
I get excited to play D2. I have thought about booting D3 up again since D2R but every time I think “Meh, I’d much rather play D2 instead”.
I am super excited to try out D4 when that finally comes out though. I’m glad talent trees are coming back.
I think Diablo 3 at launch was a better game. Now what they turned it into has nothing to do with the franchise or character development. Once they get the server issues ironed out and continue working on new content Diablo 2 will be hailed as a great game again.
How dare you say diablo 3 is a good game! I am angry now!
But really, A lot of things Diablo 3 did extremely well are overlooked by the people who act like diablo 3 was a total failure. They should be reminded it sold better than any blizzard game with around 40 million copies. Its one of the best selling games of all time.
It really hurts diablo 4 if we ignore the best parts about Diablo 3. Or any game in the franchise and even mods. Learn from what failed and include what works. Thats how Diablo 4 will be the best one to date.
Oh yes the excellent combat, nice QoL and crazy sales. Nobody has ever mentioned those three pillars that define D3. Remind me again what other aspect of that game was done “extremely well?”. Sure as hell wasn’t loothunt, itemization or even endgame (compared to PoE or other modern ARPGs).
As for the OP, strong disagree. Playing D2R made me realize how solid the foundation of this game still is. If this game wasn’t plagued with such terrible servers then Blizzard could focus on some much needed bug fixes and QoL changes. The UI for example is severely outdated and implemented extremely poorly, I’d say getting it fixed so the lobbies work is also a priority.
When it comes to D4, Blizzard already know how to make amazing combat. They just need to know how to incorporate the RPG elements properly for it and the last place they need to look for that is in D3.
shrug Just an opinion like we all have one, I played diablo 2 at the height of its craze but going back to it like said: It is a good game don’t take away im saying diablo 2 is horrid by any means. I am saying as stated above GAMEPLAY wise diablo 3 was better.
Maybe gameplay does not peg a game to “it is better then the other” because diablo 2 does do alot of other things right as mentioned: Stat pages, charms, rune words, dark gory fantasy tones, the down right “evil” feel of it all. I played diablo 2 many years grinding out countless hours, runs, sets, etc.
And everything I love/loved about diablo 2 again grinds to a halt: The combat is clunky, the stamina system is dumb, The chance to miss is insanely high. everything GAMEPLAY wise is just old, slow, prodding paced I can give Diablo 2 10 gold stars for everything it gets right but the gameplay does not hold up to Diablo 3, and trust me Diablo 3 is no master piece either i am simply saying one is better then the other gameplay wise.
Diablo 2 still gets most the points, But the gameplay drags it down for me.
I like both games for different reasons. D3 after RoS was a great solo experience. I loved just listening to podcasts or watching youtube and grinding it.
D2R is (IMO) a great game to play with my friends. I’m in a small private discord with a bunch of us who have been IRL friends for 20+ years and it’s been lively in there with us sharing our drops and asking for trades or even just gifting stuff to other people.
I personally prefer the “action bar” method of doing skills in D3 than the 2 button thing D2 has. However I wasn’t the biggest fan of “you can only have 6 skills set”. I prefer that in D2 the character at least, in theory can use a ton of skills even if in practice this doesn’t happen.
I also think the intent (whether they hit the mark or not is debatable) in D3 of giving every class a movement skill was a great idea. Like the crusader horse charge- while not as good as teleport - is a good concept at least.
Anyways I don’t think either of the games are bad nor do I think either are perfect.
I have never been so enthralled with a game as I was with d3 at season starts. It only lasts about 2 weeks but it is basically ALL I do. There is this feeling of progress and godliness. Diablo 2 lasted about 2 weeks too but more because the pacing is a bit slower and then it just all out made me mad due to putting “work” in doing mindless crap and not finding a single HR.
I can’t say one is ‘better’ than the other, but dear god there are a lot of QoL improvements in D3 that i miss playing D2. Like how i have to swap my left hand between multiple rows of keys frequently (between F keys for switching skills, which we have to do a lot, then the 1-4 for belt potions). D3 only needing number keys and Q for potions is so much better, too many times i get stuck in a tight situation in D2 (like hit by a manaburner while TPing around, so i have to swap to hit a mana potion then back but sometimes because it catches me offguard i’m hitting wrong keys). Maybe people who are more used to games that use dozens of keys frequently handle it fine but i’m too old now to be that nimble. And D3 also has more room for indivualization (ironic since it doesn’t have talent trees). But the way D2 is overtuned on hell difficulty, cookie cutter builds are about the only thing that has a chance of clearing hell at all, with very few items being worth anything because a handful of items are used by multiple classes as BIS (like shaco, maras, HOTO, spirit). D3 can clear T16 with a variety of builds (even if pushing for top of GR ladder is limited to one or two builds per class, you can still clear the best farming difficulty-t16-with a wide variety). And seasonal themes are kind of a nice touch, gives me a reason to go back and play a few days every few months to get the journey loot. But D2 feels a lot darker (especially due to light system, which i missed in D3)
D3 and D2 have completely different concepts…not to mention the art direction each game took is not comparable. D2 is about item hunting, D3 is about spells. For me I prefer the nature of trying to find best yellows/rares with eth/self repair/cruel/fools/2 soc/etc with D2, it is much more enjoyable than the cookie cutter sets/legs from D3.
Just a matter of opinion. I disagree. People can hate me for saying this but I’m doing trades on “that site”, and it’s a lot of fun. I almost spend more time on there wheelin’ and dealin’. So fun to find stuff and see what I can get for it. Even the smaller stuff. There is not a lot of end game to isometric ARPGS that I can see, so trade is so important. Yes, it promotes more bots and RMT sites, which sucks, but in a game like Diablo which can be played entirely single-player, you can’t worry about what everybody else is doing. PVP is important to a lot of people as well. D2 may not be as polished; it’s obviously an older game, but I can easily say I enjoy it more.
You seem a little insecure about it after your random rant thread To each their own. A lot of people like D3.
And that is why I said I hope Diablo 4 takes the BEST from diablo 2: Which is yes a longer list from Diablo 3, but also takes the BEST from diablo 3: builds, expands on them both and makes a fusion angels weep.
Diablo 3 took nothing from Diablo 2: lets hope Diablo 4 takes lessons from both and really makes a great game. Although and this is not that I am a mega fan or really play it but POE is insanely good so Diablo 4 got its work cut out for it, but like said if they take lessons from 2 and 3, might have a winner.
Define “game play” because we don’t actually know what your definition is. It can mean a lot of things or a few things. Regardless I disagree whatever you think it is.
Accessibility? Why is D3 more accessible than D2 according to you?
Ah of course, this same broken record parroted sentence that D3 trolls love to use, that it was all nostalgia and rose tinted glasses. You do realize D2 LOD didn’t just disappear after 2002 as if no one ever played it again right? Just because D2R just came out does not mean people have not been playing D2 on and off for the last 2 decades. So this whole concept that people are latching on only to memories from 2001 is a fallacy.
The short comings of D3 have been discussed tirelessly. It missed the mark on creating a solid foundation of itemization and loot hunt that D2 absolutely is the clear winner in over D3. Could D2 have been improved upon, yes but whatever D3 may have went 1 step forward on it went 5 steps back in several other areas. It was simply due to the fact that the team that worked on D3 was not a team that had previous experience with ARPG’s because they fired Blizzard North.
The only good idea from Diablo 3 is the idea of skill augmenting legendary’s which is going to be in D4. But the itemization for affixes overall in D3 is just too weak that that alone cannot carry the itemization aspect of the game alone.
To each their own. A lot of people like D3.