A complete rework of at least 3 sub classes
A complete rework of the weapon loadout
An entirely new story
Improved Graphics
4 entirely new locations
A slew of new strikes
A slew of new MP maps
A reworking of game currency
A reworking of multiplayer across the board
LFG systems and Guilds
Friendly AI characters during gameplay
Improvements to how activities can be launched
Entirely new loot
At least 3 new weapon archetypes
First of all, I do not hate, my expecations are not hugely dampened or am I otherwise trying to picture the following points as entirely negative,
however:
After the introduction of losing everything and gaining new powers, only slightly
reworking
the subclasses, maybe only one of them, seems to be a little on the save side. I think
they missed an opportunity here for a new class, maybe more new subclasses and
innovations to the elements. What we got could very well fit in an expansion.
Weapon loadouts are interesting, but do not merit too much enthusiuasm before seeing the new system in practice. Could be cool, could be bad - it certainly is new enough to differentiate both titles I think.
New strikes and maps are not really interesting to consider imho, they are to be expected - both for an expansion or a sequel and they will, fairly or not, be compared to the quality and quantity of D1. Similarly, while we get new maps - and I am sure they
will be interesting, what we saw didn't look too much different from what we had in D1. Just from the trailer alone, it did not give off the appearance of comletely different worlds, and the same goes unfortunately for the factions, which follow a similar pattern to TTK. Doesn't need to be bad, but just doesn't scream *new*, which especially for the enemy types seems a little odd, even boring.
Entirely new loot is certainly a good thing, all things considered! They can go in interesting directions with the reworkd subclass systems I think.
As for the rest, the quality of life improvements certainly don't scream
fresh and shiny, but I do think we all will appreciate them in D2. They were however severely outdated in D1, so the difference isn't as drastic because most of us probably expected them to go into that direction.
I don't mean to say any of that is final, that we have seen everything or that all of the above is bad or boring, but I can totally see why people got more of an expansion-ish impression instead of a sequel-ish one. I'll play it no matter what, but I do hope they have some surprises for us!