Hello! So I’m a long time Diablo fan, mainly, as are many, a fan of Diablo 2. I have been attempting to play this game every so often (Diablo 4 that is), and always end up quitting as something just doesn’t feel right to me, but I couldn’t for the longest time pinpoint what it was. I thought back to Diablo 3, and though I enjoyed it at a certain point, the thing that killed that one for me, was the overbuffing of one set per class per patch, basically dictating what people would play to remain competitive. While you wouldn’t have to play that build, you’d be putting yourself at a disadvantage by not playing something they buffed by 10K%.
Anyway, fast forward to Diablo 4 here, and I decided to give it another shot very recently. I hopped in, leveled to a decent level really fast due to helltides, which I’m fine with, because I don’t want to grind the story for the 3rd or 4th time. However, I still just have no interest in playing. I found myself actually going back to Hero Siege for their new season, and it’s been really fun. So after thinking about it, I think the reason that it has kind of died for me, is that items feel so bland. I really, truly hate the aspect system. Essentially, if I open a chest or kill a boss, and 10 “legendary” items drop with their beams shooting towards the sky, why do those not feel special when I see them?
So, I didn’t like the buffing and such of Diablo 3, but at least legendaries were a unique item that had unique effects to it, and it wasn’t just an item with an effect that you could take off and put on any item with the stats you wanted. I’m not sure if that came off quite right, but basically, think back to Diablo 2 if it helps, and how you’d find a (easy example) spiderweb sash unique that was unidentified. Immediately you’d get that dopamine rush and be thrilled you found an arachnid mesh. Yes, uniques have had a diminishing effect since then as runewords and runes themselves skewed value in uniques, but all the same.
I guess the point is, even in Diablo 3, items that drop that are legendaries or sets should feel like that, rather than something no better than a yellow that you patched the desired effect on. That to me is the big problem I have with items in Diablo 4. Now, uber uniques are awesome, sure, and in my opinion, that’s what legendaries should be, and then if you want a tier of uber uniques like that, go for it, but just make them non-mandatory for builds, but rather, take that build to the next level if you happen to get it (and make the drop for those items super low like say Death’s Web from Diablo 2, or like uber uniques used to be).
Idk, maybe this opinion won’t be shared, but I’ve pretty much lost faith in Blizzard in terms of the Diablo franchise, so long as they keep trying to re-invent the wheel. Use a system that you’re already known and praised for, and improve upon it, I’m not sure why it’s so hard to do that. Instead, it feels like they go out of their way to make things worse. I’m all for attempting something new and seeing how it’s received, but maybe not what makes the core of your game fun, items, maybe only try to improve on a system people enjoy rather than change it completely. Oh, and also, not that this is happening right now, but don’t fall into the Diablo 3 balance cycle is my advice, I also found that annoying and terrible. Just try to make things at least somewhat balanced with one another (which I get, is hard).
Anyway, don’t mean to be negative, just wanted to share thoughts on what I think is wrong or going wrong with these last two iterations of the Diablo franchise. Thanks! 