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[DunDunDunpachi]

Grand Theft Auto V. Minecraft. Metal Gear Solid V. Diablo III. Wolfenstein: New Order. Guilty Gear Xrd. AssCreed IV: Black Flag. Max Payne 3, Persona 5. (can you think of others? Destiny and Dying Light were eventually surpassed but would also fit the category).

Many consider these games to be paragons of their respective franchises/genre. I have nothing against top-notch games standing the test of time, but I'm surprised these titles are still going so strong. Has competition gotten so weak that we can't surpass games over half a decade old? Maybe my expectation (alternatively: my fanboyism) is preventing me from seeing it.

 

[NickFire]

Micro transactions were still in their infancy, so devs paid less attention. But now they are all grown up and devs are in love with them?

 

[Wings 嫩翼翻せ]

You aren't the only one who thinks so.

Not gonna pretend I know the answer, but I feel like the focus from the gaming experience to profitability has at least some part.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Hmm good point about microtransactions. It feels like the content of a game is spread as thin as possible across multiple lootbox/DLC/seasons/expansions without pissing off the customers of the original game too badly.

 

[Tesseract]

mechanics have nosedived a bit (a lot) i feel, but there's still a few studios out there doing things right

 

[IKSTUGA]

Big budget AAA has suffered this gen, yeah. Nintendo is doing good stuff, though.

 

[ThatStupidLion]

freedom to develop gets neutered/spayed more and more each gen

 

[Terce]

Diablo III

You lost me on this one, it was ok for a quick arcade-y experience but I wouldn't call it anywhere near best of the generation.

Also stop supporting Blizzard, they've proven time and time again where their allegiance lies.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Big budget AAA has suffered this gen, yeah. Nintendo is doing good stuff, though.

Nintendo is kind of in on it too, though. DK Tropical Freeze and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe are phenomenal but are also Wii U titles. I was tempted to include those in the OP but I couldn't really call those "cross gen" because of the gap.

That isn't a slight against the quality of those games, mind you.

You lost me on this one, it was ok for a quick arcade-y experience but I wouldn't call it anywhere near best of the generation.

Also stop supporting Blizzard, they've proven time and time again where their allegiance lies.

Well that's kind of the point of the thread. What loot-grind RPG has surpassed Diablo III?

 

[Birdo]

It's the same with the Switch.

BOTW and MK8 are still the biggest selling games, and probably still will be at the end of it's life.

 

[IKSTUGA]

It's the same with the Switch.

BOTW and MK8 are still the biggest selling games, and probably still will be at the end of it's life.

Actually forgot BOTW was also on the Wii U . Smash Ultimate is also based on a Wii U game. Yeah, this gen has been pretty disappointing when it comes to brand new games.

 

[Fractured_Veil]

I think the business model has changed with more focus on loot boxes, DLC, and ways to further squeeze every last cent out of assets that the company has already paid for that it is effecting the release and creation of new stuff.

 

[Terce]

Well that's kind of the point of the thread. What loot-grind RPG has surpassed Diablo III?

If you're only including 3rd person ARPG's that are similar to Diablo than I would say that Diablo II remains more popular than 3 (though it's not cross platform) and that POE is seen as a much better game that continues to grow and improve.

If you include the shooters then you could realistically include Destiny which has shown to have a much larger ongoing community than D3 and probably Borderlands as well.

D3 was very popular at launch but fell off extremely quickly and at this point it's struggling to maintain a population where it's competitors are thriving

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Ooof I forgot to mention BotW Birdo which is another perfect candidate for the OP's subject matter. Thanks!

If you're only including 3rd person ARPG's that are similar to Diablo than I would say that Diablo II remains more popular than 3 (though it's not cross platform) and that POE is seen as a much better game that continues to grow and improve.

If you include the shooters then you could realistically include Destiny which has shown to have a much larger ongoing community than D3 and probably Borderlands as well.

D3 was very popular at launch but fell off extremely quickly and at this point it's struggling to maintain a population where it's competitors are thriving

The game sold 10s of millions. I was also there in the beginning of D3, playing through the whole game prior to Loot 2.0. I shelved it just as they added Paragon levels and player activity was still high. I don't see any evidence for "fell off extremely quickly".

Path of Exile looks sick. I personally wish there was an offline mode but I understand I'm not the market they're aiming for. Diablo II isn't available on most platforms like Diablo III is, sadly. Borderlands and Destiny are both last-gen/cross-gen titles and would probably meet the OP's criteria if we bent the rules a bit.

Sounds like you don't feel any love for D3 and I can respect that.

 

[diffusionx]

If you're only including 3rd person ARPG's that are similar to Diablo than I would say that Diablo II remains more popular than 3 (though it's not cross platform) and that POE is seen as a much better game that continues to grow and improve.

If you include the shooters then you could realistically include Destiny which has shown to have a much larger ongoing community than D3 and probably Borderlands as well.

D3 was very popular at launch but fell off extremely quickly and at this point it's struggling to maintain a population where it's competitors are thriving

I think you forget just how popular D3 is - according to Wiki it sold 30 million copies by 2015, so add another four years of tail to that. I really doubt Diablo 2 was ever more popular than Diablo 3. But at this point D3 is 7 years old, the expansion pack is 5 years old, the Necromancer is 2+ years old, and Blizzard hasn't invested major resources in the game since. Do we expect the game to have a massive population at this point? It's basically been in maintenance mode for years.

Loot grind nerds online may talk more about PoE or Grim Dawn or whatever but I really doubt the playerbase of that game has ever touched D3. That's not a knock on PoE or loot grind nerds, but more about how easy it is to lose perspective when you're super focused on a small niche community.

 

[FMXVII]

freedom to develop gets neutered/spayed more and more each gen

Band in China.

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

Those games were made by exceptional developers who were at the top of their game. There is still some great AAA coming out with the likes of Sekiro, DMCV, Death Stranding, and TLoU II on the way. God of War and RDR2 are the best in their genre, I'd say.

Never lose hope on the gaming industry, but always make sure to voice your concerns on troubling trends that may hamper quality single player games being greenlit in the future.

 

[joe_zazen]

You lost me on this one, it was ok for a quick arcade-y experience but I wouldn't call it anywhere near best of the generation.

Also stop supporting Blizzard, they've proven time and time again where their allegiance lies.

better loot game then iii on ps4? I cannot think of one. I might put forth BL2, but golden keys ruin the the loot loop imo, and end game is not nearly as long. Destiny? Too many currencies and mtx and vendors and general faff.

& I bet Diablo IV is going to make people real nostalgic for post-auction house III.

 

[joe_zazen]

If you're only including 3rd person ARPG's that are similar to Diablo than I would say that Diablo II remains more popular than 3 (though it's not cross platform) and that POE is seen as a much better game that continues to grow and improve.

If you include the shooters then you could realistically include Destiny which has shown to have a much larger ongoing community than D3 and probably Borderlands as well.

D3 was very popular at launch but fell off extremely quickly and at this point it's struggling to maintain a population where it's competitors are thriving

in no world is d2 more popular or more played than 3 in 2019. PoE is free to play, so ewww.

although, competion in the isometric loot genre isn't exactly fierce, diii has done really well.

 

[FMXVII]

better loot game then iii on ps4? I cannot think of one. I might put forth BL2, but golden keys ruin the the loot loop imo, and end game is not nearly as long. Destiny? Too many currencies and mtx and vendors and general faff.

& I bet Diablo IV is going to make people real nostalgic for post-auction house III.

If Blizzard wants to redeem themselves AT ALL, the only way I see it happening, is for the My Little Pony Levels to be switched out for Winnie the Pooh levels.

 

[SmoothRunningGun]

You're wrong. I'll take horizon zd over any of them.

 

[The_Mike]

Nintendo is kind of in on it too, though. DK Tropical Freeze and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe are phenomenal but are also Wii U titles. I was tempted to include those in the OP but I couldn't really call those "cross gen" because of the gap.

That isn't a slight against the quality of those games, mind you.


Well that's kind of the point of the thread. What loot-grind RPG has surpassed Diablo III?

Path of Exile. Grim Dawn just to name a few.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Path of Exile. Grim Dawn just to name a few.

What do you like about those, compared to Diablo 3? I'm currently going through it again on Switch (buddy is playing it for the first time) so I'm curious to hear opinions on its competitors. The online-only aspect of Path of Exile is a dealbreaker for me, unfortunately. I haven't heard much about Grim Dawn but it looked cool and I'm a Games Workshop fan. I'll hunt down some comparison videos.

EDIT: Ah, I remember why this wasn't on my radar. It's not on the platforms I own. Bummer for me, but I'll keep an eye out for it and learn up on some info about it.

EDIT EDIT: derp, "Games Workshop". I didn't realize this took place in a unique game world. Respect to that. I guess it's to the credit of the game that the art style was good enough that I confused it for an official GW product.

 

[Slings and Arrows]

The order 1886 is still the best looking console game to date.

To say it runs on a laptop CPU on a console made in 2013, blows my mind.

 

[diffusionx]

What do you like about those, compared to Diablo 3? I'm currently going through it again on Switch (buddy is playing it for the first time) so I'm curious to hear opinions on its competitors. The online-only aspect of Path of Exile is a dealbreaker for me, unfortunately. I haven't heard much about Grim Dawn but it looked cool and I'm a Games Workshop fan. I'll hunt down some comparison videos.

EDIT: Ah, I remember why this wasn't on my radar. It's not on the platforms I own. Bummer for me, but I'll keep an eye out for it and learn up on some info about it.

EDIT EDIT: derp, "Games Workshop". I didn't realize this took place in a unique game world. Respect to that. I guess it's to the credit of the game that the art style was good enough that I confused it for an official GW product.

Those games are designed for hardcore Diablo 2 fans that like to build alts, try out character builds, etc. Diablo 3 was not much like D2 at all, so the old school fans really did not like it - PoE stepped in and filled the gap.

 

[The_Mike]

What do you like about those, compared to Diablo 3? I'm currently going through it again on Switch (buddy is playing it for the first time) so I'm curious to hear opinions on its competitors. The online-only aspect of Path of Exile is a dealbreaker for me, unfortunately. I haven't heard much about Grim Dawn but it looked cool and I'm a Games Workshop fan. I'll hunt down some comparison videos.

EDIT: Ah, I remember why this wasn't on my radar. It's not on the platforms I own. Bummer for me, but I'll keep an eye out for it and learn up on some info about it.

EDIT EDIT: derp, "Games Workshop". I didn't realize this took place in a unique game world. Respect to that. I guess it's to the credit of the game that the art style was good enough that I confused it for an official GW product.

The thing Diablo lacks is depth. It's an action game first, and a lite rpg second. I hate how rgear dictates your spec, and that you don't have a talent tree. I know paragon helped that alot, but it was too late when it came.

Im probably just biased as D2 was thousand times better, and that's why I was so disappointed with it

 

[01011001]

Smash Ultimate is also based on a Wii U game.

uhm... no it's not... it's not even using the same engine

 

[Fbh]

I personally disagree, most of my favorite games this gen aren't cross-gen.
But anyway, I think it's because this gen has mostly focused on visuals and it overall wasn't the sort of technological leap which enabled most devs to do things they couldn't before. A game like the Witcher 3 for all it does and how big and next gen it felt when it launched still runs on a Switch which isn't that far away from last gen hardware

Also, a lot of the big companies with the big bucks seem to have their entire research team focused on how to best implement microtransactions instead of how to take the medium further.

 

[Woodchipper]

God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Spider-Man, Super Mario Odyssey and Zelda Breath of The Wild are not early cross-gen titles last I checked.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Those games are designed for hardcore Diablo 2 fans that like to build alts, try out character builds, etc. Diablo 3 was not much like D2 at all, so the old school fans really did not like it - PoE stepped in and filled the gap.

I'm coming to understand that a bit better now that I learn more about the game. I like D3 for what it was (like I said before, played and enjoyed pre-Loot 2.0, even). D2 is also cool.

I'm definitely getting Grim Dawn if it comes console-side. Watched a video comparing it to Diablo 3. Sounds really interesting, especially the constellation-upgrade system.

The thing Diablo lacks is depth. It's an action game first, and a lite rpg second. I hate how rgear dictates your spec, and that you don't have a talent tree. I know paragon helped that alot, but it was too late when it came.

Im probably just biased as D2 was thousand times better, and that's why I was so disappointed with it

Diablo 3 is Gauntlet on crack, and I like it for that quality. I also like how gear entices the player to try out different skills and builds (wait, this has +150% damage for [skill]?).

Diablo 2 is Diablo on crack, and Diablo was Nethack on crack and in real-time. These were never true-blue RPGs. Diablo's claim to fame is that it took a turn-based niche genre and made it real-time. A roguelike finally made it mainstream, possibly the first "roguelite". I don't see any problem with this formula of action game first, RPG elements second.

I love Nethack, Angband, A.D.O.M, Mystery Dungeon, etc and I played those games alongside the original Diablo. I like how each game is a different twist on the mother genre.

 

[Belmonte]

I can't agree with you this time, DDDP.

Only this year we had DMCV, RE2 Remake, Sekiro and will have Death Stranding and Doom Eternal which seems great also. But I agree that we had great crossgen titles. Didn't notice until this thread.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

I can't agree with you this time, DDDP.

Only this year we had DMCV, RE2 Remake, Sekiro and will have Death Stranding and Doom Eternal which seems great also. But I agree that we had great crossgen titles. Didn't notice until this thread.

All of those are great games.

I don't see those as successors to the cross-gen ones I pointed out, except for perhaps MGS5 -> Death Stranding which ironically will probably also be a cross-gen title. Where's my successor to Minecraft? Plenty of clones, none of them compare (IMO). That's kind of what I'm noticing, at least. I feel like some of the most influential games this gen also remained influential and didn't really get topped.

Maybe that's normal, though. Mario Bros 3 held up against Super Mario World. God of War 2 came out after the PS3 had launched. Maybe "cross-gen" is just a weird version of the regular late-generation gems that we usually get. I suppose I'd rather own the ultimate best-looking version of a game on my newer console if I had the choice.

 

[Belmonte]

All of those are great games.

I don't see those as successors to the cross-gen ones I pointed out, except for perhaps MGS5 -> Death Stranding which ironically will probably also be a cross-gen title. Where's my successor to Minecraft? Plenty of clones, none of them compare (IMO). That's kind of what I'm noticing, at least. I feel like some of the most influential games this gen also remained influential and didn't really get topped.

Maybe that's normal, though. Mario Bros 3 held up against Super Mario World. God of War 2 came out after the PS3 had launched. Maybe "cross-gen" is just a weird version of the regular late-generation gems that we usually get. I suppose I'd rather own the ultimate best-looking version of a game on my newer console if I had the choice.

Oh, my bad! I understood the OP wrong.

 

[magnumpy]

hmm I would point out that this generation is winding down, next gen is coming up. and even then, we won't see games really pushing next gen consoles like the PS5 until 2021/2022

 

[Dontspeakforme]

D2 is more popular than D3 - among 40+ year old nerds that never got married or reproduced, sure.

The little communities you hang out with don’t represent the world.

 

[UncleMeat]

Grand Theft Auto V. Minecraft. Metal Gear Solid V. Diablo III. Wolfenstein: New Order. Guilty Gear Xrd. AssCreed IV: Black Flag. Max Payne 3, Persona 5. (can you think of others? Destiny and Dying Light were eventually surpassed but would also fit the category).

Many consider these games to be paragons of their respective franchises/genre. I have nothing against top-notch games standing the test of time, but I'm surprised these titles are still going so strong. Has competition gotten so weak that we can't surpass games over half a decade old? Maybe my expectation (alternatively: my fanboyism) is preventing me from seeing it.

I wish Max Payne 3 was cross-gen. I'd love to play it on xbox one or ps4.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

I wish Max Payne 3 was cross-gen. I'd love to play it on xbox one or ps4.

Derp! For some reason I thought it had been ported forward.