[rybrad]

What was the point of the Hearts of Sin? I must have missed something but it seemed like they just had to be destroyed because Tyrael said so.

[Vulcano's assistant]

hilarious title, good thing I have a pic for the occasion.


Can't read thread at the moment though.

[Thoraxes]

So I just got done watching my CE bluray, and during the commentary (during the cutscene portion) when Dark Leah shifts into Diablo at the gates of Heaven, the guys there say this:

On Imperius: He's [Imperius] too cool a character to die. we've had a lot of discussion about what we're going to do with him in the future.

Black Soulstone: ... Ultimately defeated the Heart of Darkness. We felt that it was really important to celebrate that, so we talked a lot about what that would be, and talked about the fall of Diablo, as what that meant, and seeing the Black Soulstone to help everyone understand that, you know, even though evil has been defeated, it's still not over.

And then for super teasing at the end: Imagine if we took these assets and made a movie. Hmmmmmm.... Yes..... Now go and get some sleep.

[Ridli]

Leahblo was just... bleh. Everything about the Black Soulstone just feels off. Apparently it's been siphoning off all the other Evils since D2 in secret so they can combine into super-mega-diablo?

I really didn't like the boss fight fakeout. Both with Adria and Imperius. When the boss ready check screen came up for us before Imperius, I was right ready to throw down with him. I felt cheated out of that fight. Leaving it for an expansion doesn't help me out right now :|

I also don't understand Tyreal's change though. No longer Justice, now Wisdom? Isn't there already an Archangel of Wisdom? So confused. At least the loot game is still fun!

[fna84]

What are the chances of Leah coming back/being saved in the expansions?

Haven't felt this bad since the end of Berserk(anime).

[Ridli]

Well, so far the evidence we have of people possessed by Diablo is not good. Both of Leoric's sons were possessed by him and neither of them looked very alive after big D was defeated. So it's grim.

[Thoraxes]

What are the chances of Leah coming back/being saved in the expansions? Haven't felt this bad since the end of Berserk(anime).

Watching more of the BD. Metzen mentions that her soul is definitely out there and lost, and would definitely like to explore getting her back somehow in the future.

He said they haven't even thought about any new stuff, but he and the team really liked Leah, and would love to get her back and save her. I think they are definitely aware of it as a future choice to follow, but whether they do it or not is another thing entirely.

[Kem0sabe]

I wonder whats the time frame for the release of the expansions. We still don´t have out first SC2 expansion, heck it doesn´t even have a release date...

I would bet for a 2014 release, 2 years.

[Bitmap Frogs]

So, just done.

19 hours 15 minutes, level 31 Witch Doctor.

I was sad to see Cain go. He was such a series staple. And right when you start thinking Leah might be a good replacement, blammo! Tyrael was a bit of a letdown... I mean storywise he's now meatier but there was something about the misterious angelical being. D2 story was... spare, but they used that wisely. The lack of detail about Heaven and Tyrael worked for the better, I think.

The game is very heavy on homages. First act references directly D2's Act 1 and D1 as well. I kinda missed details like the inner cloyster on D2... a secret underground cloyster to mark the start of the "real" cathedral was brilliant imho yet D3 Act 1 has nothing like it. But I enjoyed Act 1 a lot... there's a lot of locales and environments which is something I missed on the latter acts, way too monothematic. Of course things are shallower since there's more to talk about, but I ejoyed it. Acts 2, 3 and 4 are way too much focused

I have the feeling all the homages might be a way to make the game feel more like a Diablo game after the gameplay changes.

And just know, well... sure Adriah and Inarius are alive.. but they went way too far I think. The hero has just defeated the combination of all the Great Demons, almost the reincarnation of the Original Evil who's corpse is what the Burning Hells are made from. Sheesh what's to do after that?

But you know, the overall feeling on the story is positive. And I'm happy with that. Sure it is Blizzard and they could have hired 10 oscar winners to create the biggesterest and betterest script ever... but let's get real. Call it lowered expectations, but after so much franchise reuse these days where it's all about the marketable power of the brand seeing this kind of respect for the original (even if it is just a calculated choice) makes me happy.

@kemosabe: the leaked blizzard roadmap (yeah I know...) had 18 months between D3 and the first expansion, take it for what it's worth.

[megalowho]

Want to play a Covetous Shen expansion where we go hunting for his cursed ring and some real New York style bagels

[CarbonatedFalcon]

I'm curious as to how much we'll see in an expansion - playable content-wise. LoD only adds one Act, but it also adds a bunch of other stuff. I'm sure there will be plenty of new items, features, etc. but I'm wondering about the addition of new maps.

The other thing that is also at large is the Jeweler's evil gem thing that he talks about, unless that's resolved in a conversation that I missed.

Personally I'd like to see more dynamic events. It doesn't seem like there's enough of them peppering the maps, at least compared to the way the game was originally portrayed in the reveal footage. Adding back the Mystic in some form (would be wasteful just to trash all the completed art!), and the charm feature that was cut are probably givens. I'd also like to see more varied types of affixes. I know on the high end there are some affixes that enhance specific skills with damage (mostly) or other things, but it would be neat if there were (rare) affixes that enhanced abilities in the way higher level runes were supposed to do. So you could get +1 Magic Missile split on an item, enhancing that rune, and now you have 4 splits instead of 3. That would put a lot more longevity into the game than the already near infinite amount there is, as you'd be hunting specific gear to enhance specific builds.

Any other expansion thoughts?

[Won]

I really didn't like the boss fight fakeout. Both with Adria and Imperius. When the boss ready check screen came up for us before Imperius, I was right ready to throw down with him. I felt cheated out of that fight. Leaving it for an expansion doesn't help me out right now :|

I was pretty disappointed that there was no Imperius fight. Eveything looked like they set him up as final boss or something and then he just falls over.....


I aslo hope Leah is gone for good, but the Black Soulstone didn't get destroyed I guess so that's that.

[Parallax Scroll]

holy shit a blizzard story where a character starts out good and then is transformed into evil

i'm pretty sure this is the first time blizzard has done this in a game

[echoshifting]

holy shit a blizzard story where a character starts out good and then is transformed into evil i'm pretty sure this is the first time blizzard has done this in a game

Seriously
Blizzard...ffs
Stop doing this. Stop.

I loved Act III, but the lack of barbarians was off-putting. I was also pretty miffed that the destruction of the Worldstone didn't play a larger role. A cliffhanger over a decade long and you...barely even mention it? I understand it's the impetus for Tyrael's fall but that's not nearly enough. Amazing that through all the homages they barely fluttered over the one topic I actually cared to learn more about.

Beautiful cinematics but probably my least favorite story from a Blizzard game. =/ It's still a great game but it's like they didn't even try to do anything surprising with the plot.

[Parallax Scroll]

Yeah, the story was a big sack of who gives a shit, but damn those movies looked good.

Oh well, the Diablo 1 throwbacks and the heaven level were kinda cool I guess.

[Dresden]

Story did what it had to do, I'm just miffed at how badly presented it was at times. Those in-game cutscenes...

The problem is that when you have the characters talk so much, all that bad writing shows through! Solution: have them be close-lipped bastards. How it ended was fine, it was nice and triumphant and all that jazz.

[CarbonatedFalcon]

Seriously Blizzard...ffs Stop doing this. Stop. I loved Act III, but the lack of barbarians was off-putting. I was also pretty miffed that the destruction of the Worldstone didn't play a larger role. A cliffhanger over a decade long and you...barely even mention it? I understand it's the impetus for Tyrael's fall but that's not nearly enough. Amazing that through all the homages they barely fluttered over the one topic I actually cared to learn more about. Beautiful cinematics but probably my least favorite story from a Blizzard game. =/ It's still a great game but it's like they didn't even try to do anything surprising with the plot.

The Worldstone being destroyed didn't even really come to mind at all to me while playing the game. We still don't know what the real consequences of that are. For a game that wraps up pretty well (all Lords of Hell seemingly defeated, at least for the time being - ignoring the soulstone falling to the ground) there are a lot of loose ends. It's more stuff that's in the background/on the side though.

[Morokh]

How it ended was fine, it was nice and triumphant and all that jazz.

I thought it was the worse part actually, cliché happy ending, random sequences patched together.
Diablo's body falling from nowhere like they threw it from the tower, with the black soulstone falling from his body .... are angels really that stupid ?
There must be a thing to bounce-off for the expansion, but that's actually really lame ...

Diablo isn't about happy endings, in Diablo 1 you basically see the hero stick the soulstone in his forehead, Diablo 2: there is a prime evil left and the way they made the player doubt if the man in the hood was Tyrael or not was a really nice move.
LoD's ending wasn't that great but it just felt the impression that Tyrael just had to shatter the entire world.

Evil always finds a way back, that's what Diablo has been about, and they even say it several times in the game.

[Deadly]

Did we get to learn what happened to the guys from D2 or did I miss it? They wer referred as 'the heroes' often but that's about all I caught on to..

Thought the story was really underwhelming though..D2 seemed to have more narrative or something

[echoshifting]

Did we get to learn what happened to the guys from D2 or did I miss it? They wer referred as 'the heroes' often but that's about all I caught on to..

The necromancer and the barbarian in abstract ways. The necromancer's apprentice pops up in an optional event in Act II (hint of a future class hopefully? much like the assassin in D2), and the male barbarian character was supposed to be the original barbarian aged twenty years. They dropped that, I think, but there isn't really much preventing you from believing that it's him.

[Ashodin]

Alright, just beat the game, now to list all the loose ends in a concise... well, list.

• Adria is still out there.
• The Black Soulstone falls to Sanctuary.
• Dirgest's gem is loose and crazy powerful.
• The Templar's Order is in need of some Retribution.
• You need to free the Scoundrel's brother from prison.
• You need to search for the Enchanter's other sisters.
• Imperius has that weird festering scar on his body. Also hates nephalem.
• Where the fuck is Melphael, the Archangel of Wisdom?
• What exactly did the shattering of the Worldstone do?

The companion things could be sidequests within the larger plot whole (ha), however I foresee Imperius' fall from grace (Wrath), and the Lost Archangel (who now has become Folly) being a big plot of an expansion.

I think however they will touch upon Adria and the Black Soulstone first. They fucked over the entire party hardcore, and you bet for sure if there's anything remaining of Diablo it will reach out and try to contact her.

Kinda sucks that there's no trace of the Horadrim any more. Here's hoping Leah can get resurrected from the Black Soulstone (I think it trapped her much like Diablo, and she fights for survival).

All in all, a lot of fun to try to figure this out.

[Ferrio]

So beat it last night. I must say the story was extremely predictable. I was calling Leah or Tyriel being turned into diablo by adria soon as she joined the party. Hell the kid empeorer was so predictable I thought it was a red herring... but nope.... he was really belial.

At one point near the end the templar says something "I think that adria might of been the other witch".

No shit. Game is full of morons.

[Kiraly]

I think the upcoming expansion will deal with Imperius

Like in that Wrath animated short it was Imperius fighting Diablo and he said something like 'you are afraid your brothers will see what you truly are' and now he hates nephalem and such

Imperius is a demon I tell you

[Rickenslacker]

Story did what it had to do, I'm just miffed at how badly presented it was at times. Those in-game cutscenes... The problem is that when you have the characters talk so much, all that bad writing shows through! Solution: have them be close-lipped bastards. How it ended was fine, it was nice and triumphant and all that jazz.

Yeah, I felt that people talk a whole lot despite having a whole lot of nothing to say. Particularly how most of the big bads were basically becoming cheesy movie villains who goad you every step of the way. Azmodan in particular had to get his holoface up in there to babble at you just how you won't be able to beat him blah blah blah. His dairies where he's yelling at his monsters that they gotta make sure little ol' hero doesn't kill their asses or he'll kill their asses were ugh.

I think about Diablo in Diablo 2, you break the seals and he's out. Not even death can save you from me. Done, to the point. Here, he's playing the role of Pokemon trainer sending out each boss and telling you about it, then goes on to say DON'T MATTER THAT YOU KILL THEM, AS LONG AS I DELAY YOU LOL. Then they make sure there's a little in-engine cutscene before you fight him and yadda yadda yadda.

[Sn4ke_911]

What happened to Leah? i know she turned into Diablo but ... is she dead?

[Iadien]

Story was predictable. The Diablo fight was also way too easy as a witch doctor.

Very unhappy with the game... Hopefully PVP is fun.

[Aeris130]

Story did what it had to do, I'm just miffed at how badly presented it was at times. Those in-game cutscenes... The problem is that when you have the characters talk so much, all that bad writing shows through! Solution: have them be close-lipped bastards. How it ended was fine, it was nice and triumphant and all that jazz.

1000x this. The shitty storytelling culminates when leahblo holds a speach about her future plans for invading heaven when

1) There's nobody around (is she talking to herself?)
2) We get to see a real cutscene of her doing exactly that no less than 10 fucking seconds after the talk-scene has ended. Why was it even needed?

Overall, there's way too much talking, and the game is full of shitty villains that can't spend more than 5 seconds on screen without revealing their entire master plan. And if the plan is revealed (and foiled), they just spew something about how little it mattered anyways.

"Adriah, when did you betray us...?"

"Lol I dunno, so I'll just restate that I did it and for no reason lawl"

"Hahaaaah, while you were away, I just captured all your friends! Thought I should let you know! Hahaaa!"

[Ashodin]

Unfortunately when your villains are pure aspects of a specific evil, they tend to get a little, well, one-dimensional. HA!

Also, the constant relaying of what is happening gave a sense of urgency to the characters. Shit's going down, go go go!

[mandiller]

I think the upcoming expansion will deal with Imperius Like in that Wrath animated short it was Imperius fighting Diablo and he said something like 'you are afraid your brothers will see what you truly are' and now he hates nephalem and such Imperius is a demon I tell you

The on the making of blu-ray one of the guys says the good essence of Leah still exists (In the black soulstone?) and that's something they want to chase from a story perspective. So maybe the expansion will involve trying to resurrect Leah from the soulstone? Or that might be a side thing that ends up happening in the expansion.

[Ferrio]

Templar story was way more interesting than the actual story. I wanna go kick some templar ass.

[Ashodin]

The on the making of blu-ray one of the guys says the good essence of Leah still exists (In the black soulstone?) and that's something they want to chase from a story perspective. So maybe the expansion will involve trying to resurrect Leah from the soulstone? Or that might be a side thing that ends up happening in the expansion.

There's lots of ways to say she survived within the soulstone, hell, even Covetous Shen admits that when you talk to him near the end.

[Thoraxes]

holy shit a blizzard story where a character starts out good and then is transformed into evil i'm pretty sure this is the first time blizzard has done this in a game

Well this was a little different...

It was more a good character had her soul ripped out of her body and her mortal shell was taken over by a prime evil, and then disintegrated by an angel. Leah was never bad, and when Diablo took her body, she herself was never there.

What happened to Leah? i know she turned into Diablo but ... is she dead?

According to Metzen, her soul is lost out there. It [her soul] still exists, and her mortal shell is gone.

[echoshifting]

"They all went down in the armory! I'm sure they are celebrating down there. BYOB!"

Oy.

Templar story was way more interesting than the actual story. I wanna go kick some templar ass.

Agreed. I also liked how he kept constantly reminding me that the wizard guy in Act 2 was obviously going to betray us. I felt like he was the only guy with half a brain in the entire game.

[Rufus]

Am I just tired or could they not make up how many votes were cast against the annihilation of mankind? At first Tyrael was the only one opposing, then it turns out that Auriel (and 'Fate'?) was against it, too.

Templar story was way more interesting than the actual story. I wanna go kick some templar ass.

Him and Covetous Shen stood out for me as characters. The Scoundrel had an interesting background, too. And he's amusing. After you defeat Diablo he starts tearing up: "That's just the rain." - "It doesn't rain in this realm." - "Wellitdoesnow! *sniff*" Adorable.
The Enchantress was as interesting as wet toast though.

[Dragonzord]

So was I the only one who hated Leah and her bullshit powers that made no sense and were never even properly explained? I appreciate Blizzard making my character feel like second fiddle.

And god forbid they write some dialogue for acknowledging the Barbarian's past in D2.

[Rufus]

Leah inherited some demonic powers when the wanderer (who had Diablo's soulstone in his forehead at the time) boned Adria. There you go.

[Schweinehund]

So was I the only one who hated Leah and her bullshit powers that made no sense and were never even properly explained? I appreciate Blizzard making my character feel like second fiddle. And god forbid they write some dialogue for acknowledging the Barbarian's past in D2.

It is a different barbarian than the one from d2. Would have been awesome to see some exclusive dialogue between him and cain and other characters about his adventures in d2.

[MrPing1000]

Covetous Shen spin off game please.

[Rufus]

Hope we get to end his search in one of the expansions.

It is a different barbarian than the one from d2. Would have been awesome to see some exclusive dialogue between him and cain and other characters about his adventures in d2.

No, I don't think it would be. There were enough cameos and knowing winks in the game as is. What is it with video games and call backs?
Then again, Diablo 2 did it too, so I suppose they've stayed the course instead of trying to prove something.

[Dragonzord]

It is a different barbarian than the one from d2. Would have been awesome to see some exclusive dialogue between him and cain and other characters about his adventures in d2.

Do we know that? The enchantress will say to him 'When did you kill your first demon?' and he'll respond "It was a while back. I was a young man then." Did Demons exist between d2 and d3 or do they all leave then the lords are gone?

[Spirit of Jazz]

Templar story was way more interesting than the actual story. I wanna go kick some templar ass.

Oddly enough the only element of the narrative that caught my attention was when Zultun Kulle spoke of the dubious nature of the templars, given Zultun was totally legit.

Outside of that I thought D3's story was shite though (keeping in mind I still love the game). It seemed like Blizzard went out of the way to focus solely on twists throughout the entirety of the game without making any attempt to have them be interesting, clever, or unpredictable.

[ezrarh]

Good thing Blizz games still have good gameplay. Maybe I've gotten older but after Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2, Blizzard stories have been on a whole other level of cheese. I couldn't take anything seriously at all so I wasn't mad about it or anything.

[Rufus]

Oh, and what was the advantage of the black soul stone again?

[jokkir]

What happened to the mom? I forgot the cut scene before heaven

[sprsk]

I gotta say the Azmodan boss fight was really fun.

[hamchan]

I'd prefer Leah to not come back like a fairy tale. Her soul is eaten by Diablo, the end.

[zyxwvu4321]

Oh, and what was the advantage of the black soul stone again?

It could hold multiple souls instead of just one, and could also trap angels as well as demons.

[Haunted]

What happened to the mom? I forgot the cut scene before heaven

Ssent away by Diablo, no doubt to set up something for the expansions.

[Rufus]

It could hold multiple souls instead of just one, and could also trap angels as well as demons.

Yeah, you could put all your eggs in one basket. And it was unstable too. Those are not advantages.

[Schweinehund]

Do we know that? The enchantress will say to him 'When did you kill your first demon?' and he'll respond "It was a while back. I was a young man then." Did Demons exist between d2 and d3 or do they all leave then the lords are gone?

nvm I'm dumb, read it wrong.

http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Barbarian_%28Diablo_III%29

Same barbarian.