Diablo 3 15 may

[Arkalis]

Can't get it till Friday due to proyects/exams...as much as I would want to throw it all away, there are limits

[Gifted]

Going to be streaming on LegacyObserver tonight with Kdraconis and LordofAscensiona t least. Also may have a cluster of friends to add enjoyable banter.

[SpikeVorador]

nice log screen! i love it XD


edit:

BUT DONT CUT THE STREAM!!! >.<

[RetlocLive]

The games amazingly hard. 30 minutes in and I can't even beat the login screen. >_<

[TheEconomist]

...

Really? I never had any difficulty until 7 hours in. It's pretty damn easy, although infinitely harder than Diablo 1 & 2 normal difficulties.

[TheEconomist]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...v=GsqUZkmO-zk#!

[Visions of Khas]

So I've watched what I could on the lore and storyline. As always, the cinematics were breathtakingly, achingly beautiful. But I expected something... more out of the story and its conclusion. It was painfully predictable; there were so many great fan theories floating out there on the internets, they should have pulled upon at least a couple of them!

Ah well, I still hate anyone who can play this, 'cause I can't til I get a new computer. To those who do have it, have fun -- and go to the Burning Hells!

[TheEconomist]

The story in-game is where its at. Side dialogue is very well done and there's fucking behemoth shit tons of it.

Diablo 3 is the opposite of StarCraft II. 90% of the story in Diablo III is in-game as opposed to 10% or so being in-game for StarCraft II.

Also, obviously watching cinematics with no contents stringing them together is never optimal

What I'm disappointed in is the music. I knew it would be this way when I heard musicians talking about how they wanted to make the music not detract from the gameplay. So what do the do? Generic orchestral soundtrack. Very Wowish. I've played ten hours of Diablo III already and I can't remember a single note or tune from any of the songs. As opposed to the original Diablo 1 theme, which, form the very moment I started up the game, it became one of my all-time favorite pieces of music.


The gameplay is fucking phenomenal though. A very, very large improvement on Diablo 2 in every concievable way.

[Hawki]

I assume it's now acceptable to discuss the story, as per the above comments?

Granted, I've so far watched the cinematics and Tyrael's monologues, so I'm speaking within a limited context (and CE DVD stuff as well). But concerning on what I can comment on:

-Music: You have a point. I listened to the soundtrack and there definately is some epic fantasy-type music in the game, though also gothic-type as well. I also noticed that the game could be called slightly less dark in a sense-consider the endings of the previous games, how we had an ominous ending for the D1, a "oh shit, this isn't good" ending for D2 and "bittersweet victory" for LoD. It's nice to have a happy ending for once, though the ending itself I have gripes with.

-Cinematics: Absolutely beautiful. While some of the dialogue is cheesy (Tyrael really says "justice" a lot, doesn't he?), I can forgive it because these are mighty beings and talking like this is probably in their job description. Fight scenes also a bit short. But either way, "beautiful" is an adjective I stand beside. I don't ever recall seeing such gorgeous animation, even from Blizzard's past CGI works.

-Story: Again, this is me saying the basics. But of the story itself, I think it's decent overall. Obviously we could guess at some elements long beforehand, such as Leah being a vessel for Diablo, but I was genuinely surprised at some plot twists, such as Tyrael being mortal or Diablo not only incorporating Mephisto and Baal, but the Lesser Evils as well-Tathamet incarnate. The ending however, is where things get iffy for me.

Thing to remember, while D3 effectively ends the trilogy and pretty much everything that's happened since the Dark Exile (Diablo's plan all along since then), Metzen's also stated that he knows where the story will go next. To me, this is perhaps comparable to the Pirates of the Caribbean series. 1-3 form a trilogy, while 4, IMO, could be watched by anyone with little to no knowledge of the previous installments. I kind of imagined something like this, but I had mixed reactions. Going through the ending sequence:

-So, Diablo disintergrates and the Black Soulstone falls through the clouds. So...um, are the Evils still in it? Is Leah? I can't help but feel this is really teasing us of upcoming stuff when it shouldn't be. And considering the hints of future storylines made in other media, I think the Great Evils need to get off centre stage. Leah also makes me concerned in that Metzen hinted her spirit could be floating around somewhere. If she does a Medivh/Tassadar on us...well, hard to say. Hopefully more Medivh than Tassadar, but I'm wary of reincarnation either way.

-Healing of Heaven...may as well mention I don't have a problem with this. Place is going to be rebuilt anyway, and since the Crystal Arch still stands, I think it adds to the 'divine' feeling one gets.

-So...Tyrael's mortal now? I assume, as in, being able to be killed because if he's ageing, the Angiris Council is going to lose another member. But this aside, I don't really like this move, of it being permenant. Tyrael has been an angel up until now. He's done what angels can't or won't-doing the right thing, regardless of what others think. It adds to his character IMO, that as cheesy as this sounds, he has the heart of a human, being able to choose to do the right thing despite his nature not really giving him the option (same as demons being obliged to be 'evil'). Also, it could be argued that this dilutes the "humans are special" trope for the series, actually used well here. If angels can so easily make the transition, then it dilutes the essence of humanity and the nephalem in the greater scheme of things.

-So...Tyrael's now effectively the Archangel of Wisdom? So...he's no longer justice, which further strays away from his character, and I assume that Malthael is all "sure Tyrael, take my aspect, I don't mind at all." This feels like character change more than development.

-And Tyrael declares that Heaven and Sanctuary shall stand together. Okay...nice idea, if this really was the end of the series. But as it isn't, I'm iffy about it because firstly, what are they standing against? The Evils are defeated. Hell is, or should be, in shambles. While I'm not against demons coming back, I think this dilutes the feeling that the Great Conflict has ended, even if not in the way Diablo imagined. Secondly, I can't see this going down well with groups such as the Shaptev monks or Priests of Rathma. They're all for balance, and while Hell has tried to take it towards chaos, Heaven could take it towards order too much for their liking. While Heaven has been an enemy to Sanctuary before, becoming an enemy now seems too much like simple role reversal. And there's the whole dynamic of angels and demons being regarded as myths by most denziens of the world, so this could change the dynamic even further.

This is nitpicking probably, but just thoughts I had after seeing the ending. Fill me in by all means.

[Visions of Khas]

-So, Diablo disintergrates and the Black Soulstone falls through the clouds. So...um, are the Evils still in it?

If you watch the end cinematic carefully, you'll notice that the Black Soulstone likewise disintegrates. It's hard to spot since it's already falling through a haze of clouds.

he has the heart of a human, being able to choose to do the right thing despite his nature not really giving him the option

I thought his transformation into a human was weird, since humans are essentially the Protoss-Zerg Hybrids of the Diablo world (they're called Nephalem); they're a commixture of the two sides, being more powerful than either. Maybe Tyrael can take the form of a human but just lacks that Nephalem lineage and innate power. Eh... okay.

-So...Tyrael's now effectively the Archangel of Wisdom? So...he's no longer justice, which further strays away from his character, and I assume that Malthael is all "sure Tyrael, take my aspect, I don't mind at all." This feels like character change more than development.

Not having played the game, I don't know if Malthael ever is mentioned. But he vanished from Heaven shortly after the Worldstone was destroyed. He'll probably appear in the expansion, being the big bad.