[Rufus]

The Angels apparently chucking Diablo's body down to Sanctuary despite the Black Soulstone still being in it is the stupidest shit imaginable. Adria will probably recover it in the expansion and resurrect Diablo with it. Maybe Imperius will attempt to destroy Sanctuary and the Prime Evil with it.

Someone else said it already in this thread, but the game is filled with morons. The emperor is Belial? Oh no! Kulle is going to betray you? Oh no! Adria is suspect? Oh no! Everything is extremely predictable, but somehow not for anyone involved in the story. They drop hints about absolutely everything.

And playing as Witch Doctor the 'spirits' they talk about tip them off about all sorts of shit, but never anything mentioned above.

[Banana Kid]

I feel like they totally dropped the ball on the Nephalem thing. That should have been a revelation, but it's just kinda mentioned once, Leah says maybe it's true, and then all the demons start calling you that and it's confirmed in the most anticlimactic way possible.

That should have been a bigger deal than it was. Still, I did like that there was a decent lore reason why I was able to kill the devil by punching him a whole bunch.

[odd_morsel]

I cared about spoilers until I realized there was nothing to worry about. You can't spoil garbage. It's already rotten.

The worst part of the Nephalem thing is that the Diablo series lets the main character remain relatively mysterious. As far as main characters go, they're some of the most anonymous and expendable. You're never hidden from the fact that there are millions of other heroes out there. They shouldn't have done the "chosen one" stereotype.

But that's just the tip of one big, shitty iceberg. I'm not even disappointed with the plot so much, as I didn't have any expectations there. But the way they told the story was just embarrassing. Way, way too much dialog, especially from the villains. Embarrassing for a top tier studio.

[Zzoram]

Blizzard's modern writing is definitely way below the quality of their 1990s and early 2000s stuff and seems focus grouped for idiots.

[ZealousD]

I personally believe that Malphael is going to play a big role in the expansion.

They've said that his mood darkened and he became aloof, and then he disappears right out of Heaven.

Everyone's expecting a boss fight with Imperius. Personally, I'm expecting a fight with Malphael.

The whole of Act 4 was too rushed. I don't think I got that. And couldn't the fight with Diablo be better tiered? They could have him in his female form at first, and use a final gicantic "this is the full state of my power + the other prime evils" form at the end. They did it with Belial and it was great.

Personally, I think Belial's final form was a lie. The original form that you see him in really is his true form and his final form is the illusion.

[Tacitus_]

I'm surprised that anybody cares about Diablo spoilers, but I guess people are super spoiler paranoid around here.

To put it mildly :lol
GAF is really crazy about 'spoilers'

[Haeleos]

I cared about spoilers until I realized there was nothing to worry about. You can't spoil garbage. It's already rotten. The worst part of the Nephalem thing is that the Diablo series lets the main character remain relatively mysterious. As far as main characters go, they're some of the most anonymous and expendable. You're never hidden from the fact that there are millions of other heroes out there. They shouldn't have done the "chosen one" stereotype. But that's just the tip of one big, shitty iceberg. I'm not even disappointed with the plot so much, as I didn't have any expectations there. But the way they told the story was just embarrassing. Way, way too much dialog, especially from the villains. Embarrassing for a top tier studio.

I came here to post this. I consider Diablo II to be one of the high points of storytelling in games and with fewer words, it accomplished a lot more in terms of tone and characters. The great thing about it is that your character is barely ever mentioned during D2's story, yet you still feel like you are a key player in the events during Marius' flashbacks. There is none of that subtlety in DIIIs storytelling.

[evil solrac v3.0]

D3's story has all the subtlety of a sledgehammer to your head. and jesus was act 4 rushed.
that boss fight wasn't even worth my time leveling up for.

[Alex]

I liked the lore and world stuff, I think they always do a terrific job on the basic structure and history of their worlds and that is whats really important for a game but their plotting and narrative, from the old to the new has always been extremely dry to me.

At least Diablo III was just dry though and not... Well, see the Cataclysm ending. God. Square-Enix levels of bad there.

Best thing about Diablo III's writing is Covetous Shen, though. I loved listening to his dialogue.

[evil solrac v3.0]

I hope the Expansion pack also deals with the Followers and their quests. Would be pretty awesome to go with the Templar to ruin the Order. :D Anyone else get a bit sad when they saw Warriv's body and Caravan all mangled up?

where did you see that? :(

[Raide]

where did you see that? :(

I will see if I can find it again. I just came across the broken caravan and his body with a journal on it.

[Mister Saturn]

You know the writing is pretty bad when one scene completely retcons the previous scene and contradicts the main purpose behind the characters journey.

Here we have Diablo defeated, lying on the ground undisturbed. Next scene, Diablo falling over the ledge and plummeting below, soulstone and all, and pay no attention to the fact that smashing the soulstone was the very thing driving the story from the second act forward.

I expect shitty and contradictory writing in the WoW story and lore, and I get that they need hooks for the expansion packs, but naively thought Diablo 3 would be at least bit different from their shitty output of late, if for no other reason than the tone of the series. Oh well, at least most of the Companion/Merc chatter was good, particularly Covetous Shen and the awesomely lecherous Scoundrel.

[LumpOfCole]

When the best and most dimensional character in the game is unquestionably the Gem Combiner, something went wrong.

[fizzelopeguss]

You know the writing is pretty bad when one scene completely retcons the previous scene and contradicts the main purpose behind the characters journey. Here we have Diablo defeated, lying on the ground undisturbed. Next scene, Diablo falling over the ledge and plummeting below, soulstone and all, and pay no attention to the fact that smashing the soulstone was the very thing driving the story from the second act forward.

Fucking hell... :lol

[zoukka]

Damn I wish they'd written an adult story for Diablo.

Though it is rated for 16.

[raphier]

Never mind me, I'll just teleport to High Heavens unexpectedly. Wait, why I didn't think of this ten years ago?

[LiK]

Why did they give Diablo a male voice? Should have went with a monstrous female voice.

nah, he was still Diablo and i think retaining his male voice showed he completely destroyed what was left of Leah's body and soul after revealing his true form to Imperius.

[Thoraxes]

Never mind me, I'll just teleport to High Heavens unexpectedly. Wait, why I didn't think of this ten years ago?

20 years, and he didn't have all of the lesser and prime evils' power within him.

[ZealousD]

20 years, and he didn't have all of the lesser and prime evils' power within him.

Yeah, if he was old Diablo, his fight with Imperius would have gone far differently I think.

[Easy_D]

The only thing blizzard is good at these days is killing off their good characters. Either by character assassination (Starcraft 2) or straight up killing them (Warcraft and Diablo)

What was up with killing off Illidan in some weird Warcraft spinoff? :(.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

Never mind me, I'll just teleport to High Heavens unexpectedly. Wait, why I didn't think of this ten years ago?

Pretty clever of Imperius to deduce that the possessed girl appearing in a cloud of brimstone to lay waste to Heaven was actually Diablo in disguise.

[LiK]

When the best and most dimensional character in the game is unquestionably the Gem Combiner, something went wrong.

yea, Shen is one of the best new characters in any game this year.

[Tacitus_]

Never mind me, I'll just teleport to High Heavens unexpectedly. Wait, why I didn't think of this ten years ago?

The Hells had invaded the Heavens many times, but they'd never breached the Gate. Usually backstabbing destroyed the daemon horde when they thought victory was assured and started fighting about the spoils. One Prime Evil and therefore no infighting.

[KarmaCow]

While the twists with Emperor Hakan and Adria were very obvious, I'm glad that they didn't bring back Leah somehow after Diablo was killed tossed off Heaven.

[xyla]

While I don't mind the story (D2 was a lot better, but that was another era of gaming/Blizzard), I cannot think of a single possible reason, why Leah looks the way she does. Who designed this character and thought: "Yep, thats a character in the diablo universe"? I wouldn't mind if it was just a minor character, but she is the main character in the story. With her haircut, her bow and everything she looks like she should be as far away from Tristram as possible.
Bugged me from the beginning of the game to the end.

Oh and I just read the instruction manual - I'm glad they went the way of additional story in there instead of just an AGB booklet. The first page alone explained a lot more about the Nephalims than I got ingame.

[Robin64]

Pretty clever of Imperius to deduce that the possessed girl appearing in a cloud of brimstone to lay waste to Heaven was actually Diablo in disguise.

Congratulations, sir, you made me spit tea.

[Banana Kid]

For stuff that's actually good about the story, I really liked the banter with the companions. I loved hearing them chat with my character and whoever else was tagging along, I just wish there was more of it.

[LiK]

For stuff that's actually good about the story, I really liked the banter with the companions. I loved hearing them chat with my character and whoever else was tagging along, I just wish there was more of it.

yea, they repeated too often.

[Chavelo]

Just finished the game...

And yeah, the story did suck. Only good parts are prolly the jeweler, the companions, and maybe the crazy farmer dude in Act 1 with his dead wife. :P

[Caerith]

General question: do the story, cutscenes, characters, and dialogue detract from your enjoyment of the game enough that you stopped playing, or do you enjoy the game despite its story and are working through Nightmare or higher?

Refresh my memory, but in Diablo II couldn't you skip all the dialogue except "Looking for Baal?" (which was a way bigger surprise than anything in Diablo III) and get right to the adventuring without needing to chat up a cutscene and wait on an NPC? I don't remember D2 feeling so MMOish.

[Rufus]

It doesn't detract, but it does make you wonder why they bothered when this is what they came up with. I guess the success they have otherwise lets them live in a bubble, like some celebrity gone off the rails because nobody dares to tell them what they really think any more.

D2's story just got out of your way and it was better off for it. The sparsity of words also made it feel quite somber, reinforced by the art and music. D3 feels whimsical in comparison, much like Torchlight.

[DTKT]

General question: do the story, cutscenes, characters, and dialogue detract from your enjoyment of the game enough that you stopped playing, or do you enjoy the game despite its story and are working through Nightmare or higher? Refresh my memory, but in Diablo II couldn't you skip all the dialogue except "Looking for Baal?" (which was a way bigger surprise than anything in Diablo III) and get right to the adventuring without needing to chat up a cutscene and wait on an NPC? I don't remember D2 feeling so MMOish.

I skipped everything but the CGI. Most of the in-engine cinematics are incredibly boring and ugly to watch.

[elcranky]

I just finished up nightmare, and I have enjoyed it thus far. However, I have to wonder what the hell took so long? Diablo 3 is a game that should have taken a team of 30 no more than 2 years to make. It still isn't as good as Titan Quest, and I expect Torchlight 2, Borderlands 2, PoE, and maybe Grim Dawn (if you give it a break on art for lack of team size) to be significantly better games.

[Thoraxes]

General question: do the story, cutscenes, characters, and dialogue detract from your enjoyment of the game enough that you stopped playing, or do you enjoy the game despite its story and are working through Nightmare or higher? Refresh my memory, but in Diablo II couldn't you skip all the dialogue except "Looking for Baal?" (which was a way bigger surprise than anything in Diablo III) and get right to the adventuring without needing to chat up a cutscene and wait on an NPC? I don't remember D2 feeling so MMOish.

You can skip all of it in here too, by just pressing ESC when it pops up. It skips all of it, all of the quest dialogue. For the cutscenes (to skip you know you just cancel them when they start), well, those really aren't majorly present in WoW, and the only ones they've ever put in the game with in-engine cinematics are at the ends of each expansion.

To me it doesn't feel MMOish, just feels like a game that has scripted sequences for objectives sometimes, ala Gears of War, Bioshock, or Half-Life 2. (i'm not speaking in terms of quality, just the use of that particular technique)

[LiK]

I skipped everything but the CGI. Most of the in-engine cinematics are incredibly boring and ugly to watch.

they're pretty short tho. Shen's dialogue should not be skipped.

[OmnipotentO]

Finally finished it yesterday. Leah! I liked that character :[

[stuminus3]

I just finished up nightmare, and I have enjoyed it thus far. However, I have to wonder what the hell took so long? Diablo 3 is a game that should have taken a team of 30 no more than 2 years to make. It still isn't as good as Titan Quest, and I expect Torchlight 2, Borderlands 2, PoE, and maybe Grim Dawn (if you give it a break on art for lack of team size) to be significantly better games.

This is often missed in discussion about potentially lengthy time between D3 and a possible D4, but the D3 we're currently playing isn't what was in development a decade ago (because Blizzard North closed down in 2005).

[Talon]

Life sucks in sanctuary.

Cain dies. Leah dies with her soul floating around somewhere in the ether. Everyone's used as a vessel for demons.

[michaelius]

For stuff that's actually good about the story, I really liked the banter with the companions. I loved hearing them chat with my character and whoever else was tagging along, I just wish there was more of it.

When you take your templar from Normal and then do the Templar rescue quest it's some hilarous dialogs when you have two of them for short moment :D

[michaelius]

I just finished up nightmare, and I have enjoyed it thus far. However, I have to wonder what the hell took so long? Diablo 3 is a game that should have taken a team of 30 no more than 2 years to make. It still isn't as good as Titan Quest, and I expect Torchlight 2, Borderlands 2, PoE, and maybe Grim Dawn (if you give it a break on art for lack of team size) to be significantly better games.

They won't be better games - they they might have some elements when they try to best Diablo but overall product will be weaker as they weren't in develepoment for 6-7 years to fine tune and make sure total addictiveness of loot mechanism.

[Dreavus]

I feel like they totally dropped the ball on the Nephalem thing. That should have been a revelation, but it's just kinda mentioned once, Leah says maybe it's true, and then all the demons start calling you that and it's confirmed in the most anticlimactic way possible. That should have been a bigger deal than it was. Still, I did like that there was a decent lore reason why I was able to kill the devil by punching him a whole bunch.

I agree. I actually thought I had missed the revelation entirely... I skipped a quest or two in Act II when I joined a few friends and couldn't figure out why they were all calling me that.

Going through on Nightmare again, I was looking carefully, and it is only hinted at to the slightest degree before everyone starts calling you nephalem. Kulle: "Do your friends know what you really are?" etc.

[Rufus]

I agree. I actually thought I had missed the revelation entirely... I skipped a quest or two in Act II when I joined a few friends and couldn't figure out why they were all calling me that. Going through on Nightmare again, I was looking carefully, and it is only hinted at to the slightest degree before everyone starts calling you nephalem. Kulle: "Do your friends know what you really are?" etc.

The Nephalem ghost in Act 1 also tips you off, but it's (the good kind of) subtle. He asks you if you are Nephalem, which Leah denies. He says something slightly odd in response before sending you out to get the two orbs that open the door. It only becomes clear what he's alluding to once the cat's out the bag.

[fanboi]

Pretty excited to see what they've done with the Butcher, and the circumstances surrounding him being back.

I don't care much for Diablo lore, but this intrigues me. Killing the Butcher in D1 was one of the most epic moments in the entire game.

If this hasn't been answered, they say in the game (you can find a book) that there are alot of demons in Hell that is "the butcher".

So it isnt the same afaik.

[FieryBalrog]

Blizzard's modern writing is definitely way below the quality of their 1990s and early 2000s stuff and seems focus grouped for idiots.

It's not focus grouped, it's Metzen. You can see his touches a mile away. (just play through Dragon Soul, it's like the same exact style as this game)

I have to imagine someone was reigning him in on Starcraft 1. Ever since Warcraft 3 it's been the current Blizzard house style. D2 got away with not having much of a story, it was thankfully less in your face so you could overlook that it was one long Plot Maguffin hunt just like this one.

[sankt-Antonio]

They won't be better games - they they might have some elements when they try to best Diablo but overall product will be weaker as they weren't in develepoment for 6-7 years to fine tune and make sure total addictiveness of loot mechanism.

Can't tell if sarcasm or not.

[maxcer0081]

what are the chances we'll see mephisto and baal as end bosses in the next expansions? i didn't play the first two so forgive my ignorance.

[Raide]

what are the chances we'll see mephisto and baal as end bosses in the next expansions? i didn't play the first two so forgive my ignorance.

Slim to none. They got smacked in D2. I would rather them focus on something new and a bit more evil. :D

[Jasoneyu]

I just have a feeling imperious got infected with something when diablo stab/punched him and aria has a bigger plan than diablo given the fact that she just teleported away somewhere.

My theory is that she wants both heaven and hell destroyed as revenge for what they did to their world of sanctuary

[Dresden]

I think it's a given that imperius goes mad (like every Blizzard villain since D2) and you have to kill him for loots.

[Zefah]

Blizzard's modern writing is definitely way below the quality of their 1990s and early 2000s stuff and seems focus grouped for idiots.

Gotta agree with this. It's surprising just how bad the stories and writing of both Starcraft II and Diablo III are. With so much polish and high production values everywhere else, it only makes the low quality of this aspect stand out that much more. It's a damn shame, really.