So, as the title says.

What is the charm of Diablo 2 and/or 3?

My POV, it is a hack 'n slash co-op:able top-down action-rpg with heavy emphasis on loot and you got few acts which you can complete on harder modes and then you got some story.

edit: obviously it'll most propably be fun for the first time around to "beat the game", but once you've cleared the acts once, what keeps you going back for more (obviously it won't be the lore/story)?

What i fail to see is what the whole fuzz around the Diablo series is about, what makes it so "awesome", what keeps people playing it and loving it so furiously?

ps. this is not a flame or troll post, it's just an honest request to enlighten me

I honestlydon't know, especially since by now there are similar games that are better in many ways.

Titan Quest is one of them.

why do people feel the need to make "i dont like thos game but others do, why is that?" posts, different peopole like different things, its not rocket science.

The Diablo series set the standards for the hack-n-slash genre.  When Diablo 1 and 2 were released, nothing else stood up to the quality of those two games.  Since then, many games have tried to copy the formula that made Diablo so great, but none seemed to get it quite right.  A few managed to get the quality close, but the gameplay, story, or addictive loot farming elements were missing.  The best way to understand why they are so great is to play them.  I'm sure you can find a really cheap Diablo 2 box somewhere or simply buy it online from Blizzard.

Originally posted by warmaster670

why do people feel the need to make "i dont like thos game but others do, why is that?" posts, different peopole like different things, its not rocket science.

did i at any point say i didn't like it?

Don't read between the lines, as it is an honest question to people who played diablo 2 for eternity and beyond.

Originally posted by Fusion

So, as the title says.

What is the charm of Diablo 2 and/or 3?

 

My POV, it is a hack 'n slash co-op:able top-down action-rpg with heavy emphasis on loot and you got few acts which you can complete on harder modes and then you got some story.

 

What i fail to see is what the whole fuzz around the Diablo series is about, what makes it so "awesome", what keeps people playing it and loving it so furiously?

 

ps. this is not a flame or troll post, it's just an honest request to enlighten me.

i can not speak for others but for my diablo always had good story telling (altough diablo 3 could be better imho...the story feels very weak in diablo 3 for me....at least the beta story until the king isnt realy impresive) 

Its like you sayd, diablo series is hack and slash...nothing more or less.

I always loved these potion fests.... :)

Got high hopes for TL2 tough.

Well when Diablo 2 was release there was nothing like ita nd i guess some of us were already fans of Diablo 1 (and where Diablo 1 was release there was nothing :p ).

For me anyway the charm of the Diablo IP is loot, this may don't look good these days with all items grind = bad bad thing but i love to see a rain of items when i kill a rare and maybe a golden item in the midst of them. 

It's what I call Kinder Surpise effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinder_Surprise).

EDIT: Oh i forgot about the storytelling too and the incredible cinematics.

Originally posted by syntax42

The Diablo series set the standards for the hack-n-slash genre.  When Diablo 1 and 2 were released, nothing else stood up to the quality of those two games.  Since then, many games have tried to copy the formula that made Diablo so great, but none seemed to get it quite right.  A few managed to get the quality close, but the gameplay, story, or addictive loot farming elements were missing.  The best way to understand why they are so great is to play them.  I'm sure you can find a really cheap Diablo 2 box somewhere or simply buy it online from Blizzard.

I've played (and cleared both 1 & 2+LoD) and i thoroughly liked them, what im trying to figure out is what keeps people in the games, once they've "cleared" them?

Originally posted by Fusion

Originally posted by syntax42

The Diablo series set the standards for the hack-n-slash genre.  When Diablo 1 and 2 were released, nothing else stood up to the quality of those two games.  Since then, many games have tried to copy the formula that made Diablo so great, but none seemed to get it quite right.  A few managed to get the quality close, but the gameplay, story, or addictive loot farming elements were missing.  The best way to understand why they are so great is to play them.  I'm sure you can find a really cheap Diablo 2 box somewhere or simply buy it online from Blizzard.

I've played (and cleared both 1 & 2+LoD) and i thoroughly liked them, what im trying to figure out is what keeps people in the games, once they've "cleared" them?

It provides a challenge as enemies do different things, I get different skills/class etc.

Kinda like how people play Tetris / pinball / Trials HD / Any Sports game / Any FPS over and over again.

For any that remember one word sums it up for me.....GUANTLET..."ELF NEEDS FOOD BADLY!"

For me ahardcore devout Diablo fan... its all about the story...i have al the books and a few figures and posters. Game is great and the story is the best part. Not to mention its the only good Top down hacker out there.(yes i played tourchlight and was not impressed felt liek i was playing a cartoon)

Everyone has there opinion about it but alot r quick to judge the new D3 as a compleat failure from only playing a 5% beta...sad really

The fun? Well in D2: trying different classes and builds. Grouping up with friends. Finding nice loot, and improving your character. Enjoying the good graphics and music. Seeing new landscapes. Seeing the difficulty increasing, and with that the risk of dying, and the concentration and reactions required.

---

Originally posted by Fusion
So, as the title says.
What is the charm of Diablo 2 and/or 3?
 
My POV, it is a hack 'n slash co-op:able top-down action-rpg with heavy emphasis on loot and you got few acts which you can complete on harder modes and then you got some story.
edit: obviously it'll most propably be fun for the first time around to "beat the game", but once you've cleared the acts once, what keeps you going back for more (obviously it won't be the lore/story)?
 
What i fail to see is what the whole fuzz around the Diablo series is about, what makes it so "awesome", what keeps people playing it and loving it so furiously?
 
ps. this is not a flame or troll post, it's just an honest request to enlighten me
 
 

---

Back when Diablo 1 and 2 came out pretty much all the dungeon crawlers and roguelike games where pretty much ASCII games, with zero level of graphic, you used to have text that would describe the room your character is coming in and stuff like that. So when they made Diablo1&2, it was like opening the pandora box, at last you could play such game without being a pure geek.

The thing is this was like 10/15 years ago i'm not sure if anybody really play any dungeon crawler or roguelike anymore, or if they do those games a probably copy cat of Diablo anyway. So the appealing factor that was there back then is pretty much over.

Also people have to know that roguelike game really had something special to it, it was like wandering into a underground world, in a no ending dungeon, that was really something special in the role playing game scene, and this is pretty much forgotten now.

And well Diablo is now nothing more than a hack&slash money grab game. It just lost everything that was about roguelike games back then. And back then the over simplification version of those games was actually worth the accessibility and awesome graphics, and the feeling was still there in most gamers when playing D1&2. But now? This is just buried since a long time. Rogue like games were really super popular back then and they were tons of them, all with boiling imagination.

What would have been awesome is if playing Diablo 3 would feel like playing those very rich roguelike game with a 2012 setting, that would have been great, but this?

Originally posted by syntax42

The Diablo series set the standards for the hack-n-slash genre.  When Diablo 1 and 2 were released, nothing else stood up to the quality of those two games.  Since then, many games have tried to copy the formula that made Diablo so great, but none seemed to get it quite right.  A few managed to get the quality close, but the gameplay, story, or addictive loot farming elements were missing.  The best way to understand why they are so great is to play them.  I'm sure you can find a really cheap Diablo 2 box somewhere or simply buy it online from Blizzard.

This man stated all there is needed to know.  Diablo IS hack-n-slash.  Mindless slaughtering of pixels for shiny objects.  Many have tried, all have failed, Sacred? Titan's Quest?  The zillions of asian MMO's copying the diablo-esque style.  All pale in comparison.  Obviously they did something right, considering the last time I played Diablo 2, there were still over 100k clients online.

Originally posted by Slheyas

I honestlydon't know, especially since by now there are similar games that are better in many ways.

 

Titan Quest is one of them.

While Titan Quest is the best Diablo clone out there, it doesn't have the multiplayer replayability.

You either love it or you don't.  I like being able to play at ANY time and have a chance to improve my characters.  In MMO's I need to schedule times to raid with others and have a lockout if I beat the content.  That is the antithesis of what I want, especially if I'm paying a monthly fee.

Originally posted by Fusion

So, as the title says.

What is the charm of Diablo 2 and/or 3?

 

My POV, it is a hack 'n slash co-op:able top-down action-rpg with heavy emphasis on loot and you got few acts which you can complete on harder modes and then you got some story.

edit: obviously it'll most propably be fun for the first time around to "beat the game", but once you've cleared the acts once, what keeps you going back for more (obviously it won't be the lore/story)?

 

What i fail to see is what the whole fuzz around the Diablo series is about, what makes it so "awesome", what keeps people playing it and loving it so furiously?

 

ps. this is not a flame or troll post, it's just an honest request to enlighten me

 

 

I played some D1 and a lot of D2, so from those experiences this is what I have to say about the series so far;

Diablo I and II are great games because they have diverse, fun to play classes each with their own unique playstyles which can be heavily customized using the game's RPG elements. The games have a unique brooding gothic aesthetic, an amazing soundtrack, and engaging story which doesn't drag on. Every act feels different from the next.

I doubt there's much of a PvP end-game community left in D2 because of the oversaturation of what is the equivalent of gold-farmers/spammers in MMOs, making it unbalanced in favor of those who pay to win.

I played a while back just out of nostalgia, and every non-password protected public server would get a visit by a bot spamming up the chat log advertising item/powerlevelling services.

Overall, these games are worth buying just for a play-through on normal difficulty because of the atmosphere, story, and differentiated class gameplay alone. In Diablo II, endgame PvP used to be really fun and it had a lot of depth. However I think the end-game PvP is broken beyond repair at this point, so if you're looking for a game to entertain you as much as MMOs can I would go elsewhere.

I remember when my cousin got a Diablo demo to the first game.  I was just a kid, but I was completely blown away.  I hadn't really played anything like that before.  I think this might have been before I even got into mmos.  Not sure as I started with UO. 

Regardless I did eventually get D1 and loved it.  When D2 came out it offered even more, as D1 just took place in one area and then the combat maps which were just a decending dungeon down below the old church.  In D2 I fought in the open for the first time in series, and I traveled.  It just amped up D1. 

It was very fun to play, scary at times, and for many like myself that really liked D1, D2 was the new ultimate Diablo experience. 

As for Diablo 3?  Heck if I know.  I cant answer that because I couldnt care less about it.  Diablo 2 back in its time was a prime experience as there wasnt much like it.  There's a lot of games like Diablo now.  Diablo 3 just looks like more of the same. 

Im no longer excited about Diablo 2.  I loved it and have fond memories.  But why would I get Diablo 3?  I feel like Ive already been there and done that, and D3 doesnt seem to offer anything new to my eyes.  Thats an old play experience.  Ive moved on and so have games in general. 

The things that made me replay the Diablo games again and again so much were:

- Fun basic, monster-bashing gameplay

- Random dungeons - it's a "new" dungeon every time you play.

- Random loot - you never know what you're going to get.

- Different classes - it's a different experience playing through it depending on what class you play.

- Different difficulties - the additional challenge of higher difficulties help  alleviate the boredom of trivial encounters.

Originally posted by Fusion

Originally posted by syntax42

The Diablo series set the standards for the hack-n-slash genre.  When Diablo 1 and 2 were released, nothing else stood up to the quality of those two games.  Since then, many games have tried to copy the formula that made Diablo so great, but none seemed to get it quite right.  A few managed to get the quality close, but the gameplay, story, or addictive loot farming elements were missing.  The best way to understand why they are so great is to play them.  I'm sure you can find a really cheap Diablo 2 box somewhere or simply buy it online from Blizzard.

I've played (and cleared both 1 & 2+LoD) and i thoroughly liked them, what im trying to figure out is what keeps people in the games, once they've "cleared" them?

The immersion is outstanding if you are playing by yourself, but the Diablo series shines when played with good friends.  We had four separate groups of four rolling on Skype and in game and the day FLEW by.  Granted there were server problems, but this series just makes you want to come back for more.  I can't really explain it, honestly, as that very thing caught me off-guard as well ten years ago.  It doesn't even really matter to me why i suppose, but i'm having a lot of fun and that's why i play.

For me Diablo was a bloody good dungeon romp with friends, it was never a game to take seriously, it was all about the sheer joy of the slaughter and the bliss that came with finding a decent item.

I think there are those expecting a life changing experience with D3 and these types would be disappointed if aliens landed, but weren't as interesting as a hollywood alien, but for me, as long as it pleasures my lust for mass destruction in the same way as D2, then it will have done its job. :)