Hey blizzard, I’m going to keep this to the point, because my time is valuable, and I’m not sure if anyone is going to take it onboard.
Firstly, I really like the game. The graphics are detailed and rich, the visuals are clear and easy to understand, the combat feels reactive and dynamic (particularly if you’re a sorcerer). The story and open world are both resonably compelling, and yet it feels distinct from previous diablo games.
First impressions are good. However as I continued to play, first at a rogue, then sorcerer - A lot struck me as less than compelling. I’m going to address those things, and then go into more detail about the ones that bothered me most.
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The item affixers seem to lack variety, things like life on hit seem absent, the items seem to just add a level to skills or add a few repetitive buffs. There needs to be at least 20 times this level of item depth and variety to make this compelling. This goes doubly for legendaries, which are a lot more confusing and less imaginative so far when compared to diablo 2 or 3. Particularly 3.
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Bosses are repetitive, most feel like they have the same patterns. Similar to dungeons, there needs to be more ways to make them distinct.
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Dungeons are repetitive, I appreciate the randomization and how there are mini encounters in some. However for the most part structurally there seems to be about 4-5 types of dungeons. And the end result is that it feels like each encounter is a bit copy and paste.
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I don’t think the core skill tree is particularly imaginative or distinct on any particular branch. All the skills seem to be a very specific base skill with three branches. I find these skills to be very bread and butter “FLAME WALL” or “ICE SHIELD” without any interesting tangents or variations. The additional branches are often very generic and lack the interesting aspect. They seem a bit too “flat increase” and too little “add a very interesting new mechanic or change up an existing mechanic so it becomes new”
While I love the storyline, it feels extremely linear. And i hope you have found a way to pair back the singleplayer story for the more repetitive freeform nature of endgame. It makes very little sense to be skipping through text and encounters beyond the first playthrough.
Yes, the sorcerer is overpowered. However instead of nerfing the class, i feel it would be a lot more fun having the other classes feel as powerful. Rather than making them all feel weak as a result of balance.
Other than these major things, I really like the following.
The ultra detailed, organic graphics. This game is stunning.
The genuinely dark storyline and side content.
The fact that it feels a bit like skyrim meets diablo, in terms of running into caves and dungeons and discovering new events.
The incredible sounds and music.
The npc voice acting (player voice acting is generic)
I’m not a fan of the ui skin, it lacks the gothic feel of the rest of the game. I do however like the ui functionality.
Playing this game feels really premium. I like it. But the skills and items feel like they lack diversity and most importantly - original and interesting ways to augment the character in a “one of a kind imaginative” way. And that’s my main issue.