Howdy folks,
I've been playing Diablo 3 since last Tuesday, so that's a whole week of playing and approximately 20-40 hours that I've played (about 25~ hours on the European servers and 15~ hours on the American servers). I'd like to think I have a decent grasp on giving my initial impressions of the games and commenting on various aspects of the game.
I've played Diablo, I've played Hellfire, even, and I did the Diablo 2 thing and the Lord of Destruction. I didn't do it like a diehard and go through all the levels of difficulty and farm bosses, but I like to think that I enjoyed them enough to have a good grasp on what Diablo is about. So, as I dislike any kind of review/first impression that doesn't have a sum up paragraph, here it goes for the 'tl;dr':
Diablo 3 is a Diablo game through and through. It delivers everything that I wanted from the next installment in a franchise that I have loved for many years. It improves upon Diablo 2 and the changes it gives me only help it, rather than hinder it. While the Always-On Internet requirement is problematic for some, it has not been for me, save for some server lag while playing on the American servers (dues to being European), but I understand why this is a problem for people. There also seems to be a problem with end-game loot and some combination of abilities. But, I believe that the hours of enjoyment from just a week that this game has given me really make these flaws less of an impact to myself and I hope that any major problems with balance (items, abilities, etc) can be fixed at a later date with content patches, as most Blizzard games.
Now, on to the actual impressions and personal experience. I started off firstly as a Barbarian, levelling him up to the end of Act I. I enjoyed beating away at things, causing enemies to be blown to pieces as I cleave through them. I felt that this really encompassed the idea of Diablo gameplay; continuous hack and slash through enemies. The start of Act I really didn't have enough big packs of enemies, but I understand that this is just because it was Act I. As I got deeper in, passed the Skeleton King and on my way to the Act I boss, I started finding myself more challenged by mob packs and was having a really good time, leaping about and using my skills most likely sub-optimally. After defeating the boss, which was a bit of a hectic fight due to subpar equipment and not sure what the hell was going on at the time, I started a new character after deciding to see if there was a better class for me.
So, I started up a Monk. Now, the monk just felt... better. In every way, I couldn't for the life of me tell what made the Monk and the barbarian on an even playing field. I gathered myself some nice equipment, rings and the like, some things with +life on hit and dual-wielded, using the primary attack with the teleport rune. I could not be stopped, I ploughed through enemies at a great rate. I'm not complaining about this, but again it felt that the monk was a bit overpowered in comparison to the Barbarian. I defeated the Skeleton King so easily it was like he was just another mob pack and then I went on to just doing the same with the Act I boss. The Monk did not leave me feeling unsatisfied, it left me thinking 'Huh, Barbarian was a bit weak'. I felt that the Monk was right for what I wanted to do (beat face), but I wanted to give the Demon Hunter a chance.
Starting up a Demon Hunter, I just felt the class was... so weak. I had no way to deal with packs of mobs early on, I had to constantly run away from enemies. I immediately switched back to Monk and went on to Act II to beat face.
The point I'm trying to make here is that I feel there is a disconnect between class balance at early level. The Demon Hunter is probably awesome later on, but at early levels it felt so slow. The curve at which I would get awesome abilities seemed to be different between the Monk and the Demon Hunter. I got to the Skeleton King boss fight and after running around a lot to avoid getting stomped in the face, I had made up my mind that the Monk was just better.
Gold seems to be a bit of a wavy point for me. On one hand, you get quite a bit from just picking it up off the floor (without clicking, which is awesome), but everything else you pick up sells for jack all coin. So you obviously just go and break down any magic items you have and don';t pick up any other items. That's fine, but you have to then waste your money on upgrading your blacksmith to justify the fact you're getting all this subtle essence. It's a bit of a trap, I think, that you sink all this gold into your blacksmith, but you can't use the shit you're investing in because it's too high level. Maybe that's just something I did, like a pillock. But, the Auction House is a feature I'm all on the upside for. If you don't go vomit money at your blacksmith, you can invest in really good gear from the Auction House. It does, however, mean that you may outgear the current challenge on normal, but it's really your choice to use the Auction House or not. Normal is about being able to just to cut a swathe through your enemies, rather than have any kind of challenge. It's normal mode, it's easy and fun.
The story wasn't bad. I think a lot of people complain about the story for trivial reasons. You don't go to Diablo to find a masterfully crafted story. It has a decent story, I didn't find it overbloated with people or have too corny lines. The premise was good and some of the characters were interesting. Sure, it was a bit predictable what was going to happen in Act III because it was obvious who you had to fight in Act IV, but I liked that there were a few subtle clues along the road with lore books and the like about some aspects of the story.
This leads on to Lore Books and Monster Lore. God damn, I love those things. I love collecting information where it talks to me. I find it fascinating and it just really adds a good depth to the game. Like there is something behind these enemies you're mercilessly slaughtering because they're disgusting demon scum.
Okay, I'm not really sure what I've rambled on about because I have a tendancy to write things from mind to screen and not actually remember what bullshit I've spouted. So, I'd like to go to the final point; community response. There has been a huge outcry by select members of the Diablo 3 community who are attempting to blow things out of preportion. Some of them have valid complaints and I'm not detracting from them, but they are not the ones shouting about it and spewing bile at the game and the developer. The Always-On Internet is a big problem with the game for some people because of their internet connection and because it's really shaky until Blizzard have fixed up their servers for a much more stable gameplay time. Having an offline single player would not have made the game better for me, but it would have been good for those people that wanted it. I can understand, however, why Blizzard didn't want an offline single player mode, due to wanting everything stored online and auction house, etc etc.
So, complaints about that, I can nod my head at and say, "Okay, that's' reasonable, if you use your inside voice and think about the shit you're saying before spewing hateful remarks". That's fine. I can understand that people are a bit disappointed that the end game items have balance problems. I'm sure if I got the Legendary Item of Coolness, I don't really want a Random Blue item being better, but hey. It's a patchable game and I hear that Blizzard patch games a fair bit. So, I hope that it will be fixed at the some point.
But, the worst complaints. I have had the misfortune of going to the Diablo 3 forums and seeing posts there. Posts that are filled with vitriol. Someone complained that after they had put 60 hours into the game, that Inferno Mode was just the same as Normal but harder. Those forums have so many posts like this that I am baffled as to what people want out of the game. These people put tens of hours into the game and then they complain that it cost £40. I don't know how much people think that their time is worth playing a game, but apparently it's more than £1.50 per hour. Maybe I just don't understand because I haven't played all the way though or maybe I just don't understand the general consumer now-a-days.
So... Yeah, that's about it. I really am enjoying Diablo 3. Like so much. I played 4 player co-op nightmare today and it was god damn awesome with so much going.
So, yeah. Level 37 Monk on Act II Nightmare. Some of the best times I've had in a long time.
~ Omnomicron
