Official Site: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/reaper-of-souls/
Source: Youtube Channel Diablo
We all knew it was coming, but we never knew when it was coming. Today, Blizzard has announced that they are working on releasing an expansion for Diablo 3 with the subtitle "Reaper of Souls". It's known and understandable that many players did not like Diablo 3, but I thoroughly enjoyed the game and have been waiting for an expansion to be announced and here it is! I still play Diablo 3 to level up my other characters, but I have pretty much given up end-game as it has just become a repetitive chore of running through the same levels over and over to slowly level up my paragon level and "maybe" getting an upgrade to my equipment. So it was natural that I was excited for an expansion as it will mean new characters to play, an extra Act, and more content. Here's a quick run down of what is known about the expansion:
-New class: Crusader; similar to D2's Paladin?
Source: Youtube Channel Diablo
-Level cap raised to 70; new runes/skills for everyone!
-Act V in addition to the 4 acts before it
-Main enemy will be Malthael, the angel of death (watch video at top)
-New enemies to fight; unsure if previous acts will have new enemies
-The "Mystic" NPC will be able to re-roll stats on items and change their look
-Paragon level applies to an account rather than one character and has no cap
-Loot Runs: (Hopefully) Randomly generated dungeons for end-game. Kotaku has described it as "Completely random dungeons, with several levels and a random boss at the end." It could be set levels and be picked at "random", but I'm hoping for randomly generated levels like in Diablo 2.
I am excited for new characters, a new Act to the story, more skills and abilities for the characters I already have, new bosses, and I'm especially excited about Loot Runs if it's randomly generated dungeons. Diablo 3 was lacking an end-game content where things could stay fresh and keep me playing and so this might be the answer to that. Since it's Blizzard, we might not get to see this expansion for a while, but it has been announced for a release in 2014. Getting a year from them is better than having to wonder how many years later we'd have to wait before we got to play it. I am so ready for some more Diablo 3!
Also, the console version of Diablo 3 will be releasing on September 3, 2013 if you had planned on getting it for console instead. Some benefits of Diablo 3 on console is being able to play offline without the need for constant internet connection (no lag/disconnections), playing 4-players locally on one system with your friends, having an action-controller scheme similar to Gauntlet over the point-n-click experience, and playing on a large HD Television set.
Showing posts with label Diablo 3. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Diablo 3. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Thursday, May 16, 2013
NewNews - Bonus Magic Find and Exp in Diablo 3
Official Site: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/
Source: Youtube Channel AdriaCraft
It's been a year since the release of Diablo 3 and Blizzard wants to celebrate by giving a bonus 25% Magic find and Exp gain to all players who log in and play between May 15th till May 21st. The bonus buff stacks on top of any other magic find and exp boosts the player already has and will exceed the 300% magic find cap. For me, I mainly want to get back in and level up my characters that haven't reached level 60 yet. Paragon levels I have pretty much given up on and is just a nice little addition/incentive to continue playing my level 60 characters.
Diablo 3 had a rough start and many people ended up not liking the game. People still voice very loudly of how much they hate the game. But that's okay, there is still a community of players who enjoy the game and are still playing it. I didn't like how the story evolved and concluded, but I did enjoy the game a lot and is the reason why I played it for over 200+ hours and still plan to play once in a while. I'm actually hoping for an expansion for Diablo 3 with new classes, a new chapter, and lots of extra goodies.
Source: Youtube Channel AdriaCraft
It's been a year since the release of Diablo 3 and Blizzard wants to celebrate by giving a bonus 25% Magic find and Exp gain to all players who log in and play between May 15th till May 21st. The bonus buff stacks on top of any other magic find and exp boosts the player already has and will exceed the 300% magic find cap. For me, I mainly want to get back in and level up my characters that haven't reached level 60 yet. Paragon levels I have pretty much given up on and is just a nice little addition/incentive to continue playing my level 60 characters.
Diablo 3 had a rough start and many people ended up not liking the game. People still voice very loudly of how much they hate the game. But that's okay, there is still a community of players who enjoy the game and are still playing it. I didn't like how the story evolved and concluded, but I did enjoy the game a lot and is the reason why I played it for over 200+ hours and still plan to play once in a while. I'm actually hoping for an expansion for Diablo 3 with new classes, a new chapter, and lots of extra goodies.
Monday, February 25, 2013
NewNews - Diablo 3 on PS3/PS4 is a pimped out Gauntlet
Official Site: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/
It was a bit of a surprise to hear Blizzard reveal a Playstation 3/4 version of Diablo 3 in the making since they had previously announced in the past that they gave up on consoles. One of the changes from the PC version to console is that it will offer offline gameplay which has turned into a nasty argument in the Diablo 3 community with a lot of PC players feeling cheated and betrayed. The need for constant internet connection has caused multiple problems for PC players where players are randomly kicked off their game, can't login, or have lag issues which was a major problem for those playing Hardcore mode. The requirement of constant internet connection was a way of combating piracy, cheating, and providing a safer auction house compared to those who used to go on seedy 3rd-party websites that might have cheated players out of their money back in the Diablo 2 days. The other difference from PC to console is that console will have 4-player local multiplayer. With 4-player co-op on the same screen and a hack-n-slash playstyle on a controller, it'll feel like a pimped out Gauntlet game. Gauntlet is an old arcade game where 4-players adventure together with nothing but a ranged attack and potions while being able to collect power-ups. With Diablo 3's in-depth RPG elements such as multiple tier equipment, various abilities with runes to modify their aspects, and 160 levels to work up to, I imagine Diablo 3 to be like a Gauntlet game on steroids. As awesome as this sounds, I probably won't be getting it as I did buy Diablo 3 on PC day 1 and am rather satisfied with the experience I got out of it. For those who haven't gotten it yet and want to play 4-player co-op together when it's out on consoles, have 3 buddies chip in and play it together. No announcement of a release date yet.
Source:
-Joystiq - Diablo 3 on PS3 and PS4 will allow offline play
 |
| Source: Joystiq |
Source:
-Joystiq - Diablo 3 on PS3 and PS4 will allow offline play
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
VGCulture - Diablo 3 Patch 1.0.5 released today
Official Site: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/7540457/
Source: Youtube Channel HunterStarcraft
The newest patch has released for Diablo 3 and it has many fans excited. Players can now choose a power level for enemy monsters that affect their farming. The higher the power level, the more health and damage enemies will have but will reward the player with more gold, experience points, and magic find. The high level items drop percentage is evened out between all four acts so that players in Inferno difficulty won't have to rely solely on Act 4 to get high level items. A re-balancing of classes will nerf and buff skills. All in all, it will reward players a bit more often rather than punishing them constantly just to get better loot and grinding for experience points.
Source: Youtube Channel HunterStarcraft
The newest patch has released for Diablo 3 and it has many fans excited. Players can now choose a power level for enemy monsters that affect their farming. The higher the power level, the more health and damage enemies will have but will reward the player with more gold, experience points, and magic find. The high level items drop percentage is evened out between all four acts so that players in Inferno difficulty won't have to rely solely on Act 4 to get high level items. A re-balancing of classes will nerf and buff skills. All in all, it will reward players a bit more often rather than punishing them constantly just to get better loot and grinding for experience points.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
GameLight Review - Diablo 3
Official Site: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/
Source: Youtube Channel machinima
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Platforms: PC
Release Date: May 15, 2012
Genre: Action-RPG
Pros:
-Fast-paced gameplay with satisfying combat mechanics
-High replay value with variable play-styles and randomly generated content
-Vast array of abilities and runes to customize a class
-Easy drop-in/drop-out multiplayer with little to no problems connecting
-Incredibly detailed work in aesthetics, game mechanics, and end-game content
Cons:
-Requirement of persistent internet connection causes some problems
-Lots of imbalances in classes, items, difficulty, and content
-Auction house breaks some of the game mechanics
-Although high in end-game quality, game lacks content quantity
-Eventually becomes a never-ending grind/farm fest
I think I'm finally ready to give a review, and even now I feel it might be too soon to give one. There is no doubt in my mind that I found Diablo 3 to be a lot of fun; however, I also have my complaints about it much like others have. The biggest complaint I probably have about the game is that it wasn't entirely complete when it launched. The game still had bugs that broke the game or allowed players to exploit them to gain an unfair advantage. There were imbalances to classes where one was significantly stronger than the others. Items were also incredibly imbalanced where uncommon items were stronger and better than rare or even legendary items making finding unique items pointless. Player versus player is still not implemented yet for good reasons of the game not being entirely balanced yet. There was a point in the game where no one could get past the last difficulty level and it became a long and difficult farm for better equipment. Blizzard has been hard at work at balancing the game so that players can still enjoy the game, even at end-game. Since launch, connection issues have been resolved, items and classes have been constantly getting balances, a new level mechanic called "Paragon Levels" was implemented to allow an extra 100 levels past 60 to be gained so players would still gain some sort of progress while playing in the Inferno difficulty, and even now more mechanics such as enemy strength levels is being tested and put into the game. The game is definitely more fun with friends than playing solo or with public players, so that's another factor to consider when deciding to buy the game. To put it simply, the game was worth the $60 I paid for it and I can see myself continuing to play the game for quite a while. The thing is, Blizzard hasn't abandoned the game and its players as they still continue to update the game and probably will years afterwards and so the game will progressively become better and more refined as time passes.
Aesthetics
This is a tricky category to go through. For sure, hands down, the graphics and art of the game is top-notch and some of the best you'll see for a top-down action-RPG. The environment might not be as atmospheric and dark as the first two Diablo games in the series, but it certainly brings the world to life with detail in every aspect. Every object, model, animation, particle effect, and subtlety in the game has a purpose in bringing the player closer to the world they play in. The cinematics are possibly some of the best Blizzard has ever done in their career with beautifully crafted environments, involving characters, and exciting choreography. The combat animations and effects are flashy but not distracting and yet still retains a very fast-paced gameplay akin to its predecessors. The user-interface is compared a lot to Blizzard's other game "World of Warcraft." I really love the user-interface for Diablo 3. It's clean, straight-forward, and aesthetically pleasing. It really bothered me in the first two Diablo games where I couldn't see what skills I had and their key placements weren't ideal. Some prefer the darker look of Diablo 1 and 2, and for atmospheric purposes it worked. In terms of gameplay though, it was actually very annoying when enemies blended in with the environment. So development worked around it and made sure enemies were visible and in clear view while still maintaining a believable color palette and design of the world within Diablo 3. If anything, the level designs and fight mechanics for the bosses in the last half of the game was possibly the only thing that really disappointed me mainly because of how incredible the first half of the game was like. Seriously, one of the bosses in the game is absolutely the best boss fight I have ever had in terms of aesthetic and AI mechanic design throughout the entire series. That boss is how all the boss battles should have been like throughout the game. I won't say which boss battle it was *COUGHACTTWO* but most players will know which one I'm pointing to if they come across it. So all in all, visuals are almost perfect in the game.
For audio, sound effects and voice acting were great. I was pleased to see that the player's character had speaking parts to the game and was more involved with the people around them rather than being the silent hero that kills everything. It really brought out each of the character's personality and made them more believable in the world they're fighting in. Sound effects were just as detailed as the visuals. In the visuals, even tiny things such as leaving footprints and rag-doll effects to dead enemy bodies were accounted for. So for the sound effects, every little object, attack, enemy and environmental effect had their very deliberate attention to how they sounded like. A player can tell what kind of enemy is right outside of the screen, what kind of item dropped, or what to be cautious of because of how unique each sound effect was and how the player reacts to them. Even if a player doesn't hear a trap or see an exploding mine, they'll heard the initial start-up and know to be careful around them.
The music is another story. There isn't anything wrong with the music in Diablo 3. They're appropriate, they intensify the mood, and they do their job as background music. Unfortunately, none of them really stuck. The most recognizable track is probably the log-in screen, that also plays right before you reach Diablo, and even that doesn't really have much of an impact. I was hoping to hear at least one track that I'd really enjoy listening to, but they were all just..."there". Then again, music is very subjective and some people may really enjoy the music done in Diablo 3 aside from hearing it in-game.
What bothered me more than anything in the game was the progression of the story. I won't delve too deep into details as it might spoil some plot points for those who haven't played the game yet. To be frank, there were a lot of points in the story where I just felt dissatisfied even though some of the plot twists were predictable. There were so many ways to have made the story so much better, but the game went for cheap emotional reactions and typical story changers. I also really didn't like some of the writing for the last half of the game. All the main enemies constantly threatened the player so often that it became a joke rather than a daunting foreshadowing. You will probably hear the lines "it is futile" or "but it is of no matter" from the enemies more times than you will ever hear in all the games you've played throughout the year combined. Aesthetics: 8/10
Buttons
The biggest improvement from the previous two games to Diablo 3 is the controls of the game. Skills were always juggled around to be used effectively in Diablo 2 and more so in Diablo 1 and it didn't make it easier that there wasn't a definitive user-interface that was easy to use. Blizzard's simplified combat mechanics with 4 slot skills and two mouse skills make a comfortable and highly viable control scheme that works alongside their "customizable class build" mechanic so that players can still be unique despite having access to all the same skills. No longer do you have to click every individual gold piece in order to pick them up as it made no sense to force a player to do so if they're going to pick them up anyways (You can walk over money to automatically pick them up now). No longer do you have to pick up or buy identify scrolls or teleport tomes as the player in Diablo 2 would eventually have so much money or find them so often that they never ran out (In Diablo 3, you right-click an item to identify them and you can activate a portal to town whenever you want once you have the item for it). In terms of controls and inventory/statistics window mechanics (which doesn't block the entire screen anymore), Diablo 3 is definitely the best out of the series. All the controls, keys, and user-interface makes the most sense (also, hotkeys can be customized to fit any sort of layout needed). Buttons: 10/10
Concept & Content
Diablo 3 is obviously a different game from its predecessors despite having the same game type layout (Kill, loot and level). There were many players upset about the new skill mechanics where the player eventually receives everything at max level and can switch them around. It isn't like most traditional RPGs where a player had control over their attributes and chose a skills tree to focus on so that each character was unique. I love the new mechanic and accept it whole-heartedly as I've played so many RPGs and am done with having to start an entirely new character of the same class just to experience a different build. With the new skill mechanic, I can experiment with all sorts of builds without having to start new characters and be creative with my play-styles. And since end-game mostly consists of grinding and farming, I can have fun changing up my build and sometimes challenging myself into crazy non-conventional skill sets. There are currently five classes to choose from and I've tried most of them out, albeit my witch doctor isn't very far. Each class provides a unique experience throughout the game. The core game hasn't changed much: talk to town NPCs for quests, kill enemies along the way to the next part of the story, loot for better equipment or junk to sell, level to become stronger and gain more abilities to utilize until you beat the game. Once you beat the game, you play the game over again with a higher difficulty choice. Besides stronger enemies and better loot, you also encounter special mobs with more special abilities. Some of those special abilities can provide quite a challenge where they can snare a player, pull them into a mob, create a pool of lava under them, or freeze them in place. After the player has reached the hardest difficulty level and beaten that, it's a hardcore grind from there on out. The player will mostly be killing, looting and leveling in an infinite loop to prepare for the release of Player vs. Player mode. In terms of content, there's quite a bit of items to collect; however, the nice ones are incredibly rare. What was mentioned about the game that didn't seem to really reach full potential was the spontaneous special events. It's true that there were some, but there wasn't really enough to keep the game dynamic aside from the randomly generated special mobs. The one factor that might have broken the game is the Auction house. You can see it as a way for Blizzard to make extra money, or you can see it as Blizzard's way to protect its players from fraudulent trades from a third-party, it still factors in as part of the game. The auction takes out a lot of the excitement of finding items on your own in the game and a lot of the social aspect player experienced in Diablo 2 and 1 with players bartering and trading on their own in the lobby chats. I know people who spends hours just going through the auction house trying to find the best items and trying to make money off them. It doesn't really affect individual players right now since a player can choose to use the auction house or not, but it will definitely make a difference once PvP comes into play and those who have the money or gold will have an obvious advantage over those who don't use the auction house. Blizzard is still adding more content to the game with no additional charge and has a history of updating games well after its release, so I still have high hopes that Diablo 3 will continue to grow and provide entertainment value for the next few years. Concept and Content: 9/10
Duration
Normal difficulty doesn't take that long to complete if the player goes straight through it. Normal difficulty is practically one huge tutorial so that players can get used to the game so that they'll be ready for the real challenges the game has in store. Diablo 3 is actually slower in speed than Diablo 2 yet it has a nice pace to it. It never gets dull and draws the player in while never letting going. It's pretty satisfying killing one large mob after another to level up and get better loot to kill even stronger enemies. I have around 90 hours on my main character and close to 200 hours with all my characters combined and I still have more hours I can pull out of it by playing my other characters with friends or grinding my main character to increase her paragon level. Diablo 3 is definitely a game I'll keep coming back for, even if just to login to kill stuff. Duration: 10/10
Fun
My first few hours with the game was horrible because of my laptop. It took forever to install and the graphics were so messed up and it was impossible to see anything. I eventually got the graphics to be somewhat visible, but it was still pretty difficult to get through the game. I eventually bought a new laptop specifically geared towards gaming and my experience with the game changed a lot. Diablo 3 is definitely a lot of fun and I still get my enjoyment out of it playing different classes and trying different builds out. I don't really have an ending impression on it as I'm still currently playing the game and still enjoy it. Despite some of the disappointments I faced throughout the game, playing the game was and still is entertaining. Fun: 10/10
Overall
Like mentioned above, "despite some of the disappointments I faced throughout the game, playing the game was and still is entertaining." I don't regret buying the game on day 1 for full price as it has become the most played game out of my entire library. The combat is satisfying, playing with friends can be quite the bonding experience (especially against the special mobs in Inferno difficulty), and replay value is high so the game wouldn't burn out that quickly for those wanting a game to play for a long time. For some, Diablo 3 is over-hyped and over-rated, but it is undeniable that it's a fun game for those who enjoy top-down, point-n-click, Action-RPGs. Overall: 9.4/10
Source: Youtube Channel machinima
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Platforms: PC
Release Date: May 15, 2012
Genre: Action-RPG
Pros:
-Fast-paced gameplay with satisfying combat mechanics
-High replay value with variable play-styles and randomly generated content
-Vast array of abilities and runes to customize a class
-Easy drop-in/drop-out multiplayer with little to no problems connecting
-Incredibly detailed work in aesthetics, game mechanics, and end-game content
Cons:
-Requirement of persistent internet connection causes some problems
-Lots of imbalances in classes, items, difficulty, and content
-Auction house breaks some of the game mechanics
-Although high in end-game quality, game lacks content quantity
-Eventually becomes a never-ending grind/farm fest
I think I'm finally ready to give a review, and even now I feel it might be too soon to give one. There is no doubt in my mind that I found Diablo 3 to be a lot of fun; however, I also have my complaints about it much like others have. The biggest complaint I probably have about the game is that it wasn't entirely complete when it launched. The game still had bugs that broke the game or allowed players to exploit them to gain an unfair advantage. There were imbalances to classes where one was significantly stronger than the others. Items were also incredibly imbalanced where uncommon items were stronger and better than rare or even legendary items making finding unique items pointless. Player versus player is still not implemented yet for good reasons of the game not being entirely balanced yet. There was a point in the game where no one could get past the last difficulty level and it became a long and difficult farm for better equipment. Blizzard has been hard at work at balancing the game so that players can still enjoy the game, even at end-game. Since launch, connection issues have been resolved, items and classes have been constantly getting balances, a new level mechanic called "Paragon Levels" was implemented to allow an extra 100 levels past 60 to be gained so players would still gain some sort of progress while playing in the Inferno difficulty, and even now more mechanics such as enemy strength levels is being tested and put into the game. The game is definitely more fun with friends than playing solo or with public players, so that's another factor to consider when deciding to buy the game. To put it simply, the game was worth the $60 I paid for it and I can see myself continuing to play the game for quite a while. The thing is, Blizzard hasn't abandoned the game and its players as they still continue to update the game and probably will years afterwards and so the game will progressively become better and more refined as time passes.
Aesthetics
This is a tricky category to go through. For sure, hands down, the graphics and art of the game is top-notch and some of the best you'll see for a top-down action-RPG. The environment might not be as atmospheric and dark as the first two Diablo games in the series, but it certainly brings the world to life with detail in every aspect. Every object, model, animation, particle effect, and subtlety in the game has a purpose in bringing the player closer to the world they play in. The cinematics are possibly some of the best Blizzard has ever done in their career with beautifully crafted environments, involving characters, and exciting choreography. The combat animations and effects are flashy but not distracting and yet still retains a very fast-paced gameplay akin to its predecessors. The user-interface is compared a lot to Blizzard's other game "World of Warcraft." I really love the user-interface for Diablo 3. It's clean, straight-forward, and aesthetically pleasing. It really bothered me in the first two Diablo games where I couldn't see what skills I had and their key placements weren't ideal. Some prefer the darker look of Diablo 1 and 2, and for atmospheric purposes it worked. In terms of gameplay though, it was actually very annoying when enemies blended in with the environment. So development worked around it and made sure enemies were visible and in clear view while still maintaining a believable color palette and design of the world within Diablo 3. If anything, the level designs and fight mechanics for the bosses in the last half of the game was possibly the only thing that really disappointed me mainly because of how incredible the first half of the game was like. Seriously, one of the bosses in the game is absolutely the best boss fight I have ever had in terms of aesthetic and AI mechanic design throughout the entire series. That boss is how all the boss battles should have been like throughout the game. I won't say which boss battle it was *COUGHACTTWO* but most players will know which one I'm pointing to if they come across it. So all in all, visuals are almost perfect in the game.
For audio, sound effects and voice acting were great. I was pleased to see that the player's character had speaking parts to the game and was more involved with the people around them rather than being the silent hero that kills everything. It really brought out each of the character's personality and made them more believable in the world they're fighting in. Sound effects were just as detailed as the visuals. In the visuals, even tiny things such as leaving footprints and rag-doll effects to dead enemy bodies were accounted for. So for the sound effects, every little object, attack, enemy and environmental effect had their very deliberate attention to how they sounded like. A player can tell what kind of enemy is right outside of the screen, what kind of item dropped, or what to be cautious of because of how unique each sound effect was and how the player reacts to them. Even if a player doesn't hear a trap or see an exploding mine, they'll heard the initial start-up and know to be careful around them.
The music is another story. There isn't anything wrong with the music in Diablo 3. They're appropriate, they intensify the mood, and they do their job as background music. Unfortunately, none of them really stuck. The most recognizable track is probably the log-in screen, that also plays right before you reach Diablo, and even that doesn't really have much of an impact. I was hoping to hear at least one track that I'd really enjoy listening to, but they were all just..."there". Then again, music is very subjective and some people may really enjoy the music done in Diablo 3 aside from hearing it in-game.
What bothered me more than anything in the game was the progression of the story. I won't delve too deep into details as it might spoil some plot points for those who haven't played the game yet. To be frank, there were a lot of points in the story where I just felt dissatisfied even though some of the plot twists were predictable. There were so many ways to have made the story so much better, but the game went for cheap emotional reactions and typical story changers. I also really didn't like some of the writing for the last half of the game. All the main enemies constantly threatened the player so often that it became a joke rather than a daunting foreshadowing. You will probably hear the lines "it is futile" or "but it is of no matter" from the enemies more times than you will ever hear in all the games you've played throughout the year combined. Aesthetics: 8/10
Buttons
The biggest improvement from the previous two games to Diablo 3 is the controls of the game. Skills were always juggled around to be used effectively in Diablo 2 and more so in Diablo 1 and it didn't make it easier that there wasn't a definitive user-interface that was easy to use. Blizzard's simplified combat mechanics with 4 slot skills and two mouse skills make a comfortable and highly viable control scheme that works alongside their "customizable class build" mechanic so that players can still be unique despite having access to all the same skills. No longer do you have to click every individual gold piece in order to pick them up as it made no sense to force a player to do so if they're going to pick them up anyways (You can walk over money to automatically pick them up now). No longer do you have to pick up or buy identify scrolls or teleport tomes as the player in Diablo 2 would eventually have so much money or find them so often that they never ran out (In Diablo 3, you right-click an item to identify them and you can activate a portal to town whenever you want once you have the item for it). In terms of controls and inventory/statistics window mechanics (which doesn't block the entire screen anymore), Diablo 3 is definitely the best out of the series. All the controls, keys, and user-interface makes the most sense (also, hotkeys can be customized to fit any sort of layout needed). Buttons: 10/10
Concept & Content
Diablo 3 is obviously a different game from its predecessors despite having the same game type layout (Kill, loot and level). There were many players upset about the new skill mechanics where the player eventually receives everything at max level and can switch them around. It isn't like most traditional RPGs where a player had control over their attributes and chose a skills tree to focus on so that each character was unique. I love the new mechanic and accept it whole-heartedly as I've played so many RPGs and am done with having to start an entirely new character of the same class just to experience a different build. With the new skill mechanic, I can experiment with all sorts of builds without having to start new characters and be creative with my play-styles. And since end-game mostly consists of grinding and farming, I can have fun changing up my build and sometimes challenging myself into crazy non-conventional skill sets. There are currently five classes to choose from and I've tried most of them out, albeit my witch doctor isn't very far. Each class provides a unique experience throughout the game. The core game hasn't changed much: talk to town NPCs for quests, kill enemies along the way to the next part of the story, loot for better equipment or junk to sell, level to become stronger and gain more abilities to utilize until you beat the game. Once you beat the game, you play the game over again with a higher difficulty choice. Besides stronger enemies and better loot, you also encounter special mobs with more special abilities. Some of those special abilities can provide quite a challenge where they can snare a player, pull them into a mob, create a pool of lava under them, or freeze them in place. After the player has reached the hardest difficulty level and beaten that, it's a hardcore grind from there on out. The player will mostly be killing, looting and leveling in an infinite loop to prepare for the release of Player vs. Player mode. In terms of content, there's quite a bit of items to collect; however, the nice ones are incredibly rare. What was mentioned about the game that didn't seem to really reach full potential was the spontaneous special events. It's true that there were some, but there wasn't really enough to keep the game dynamic aside from the randomly generated special mobs. The one factor that might have broken the game is the Auction house. You can see it as a way for Blizzard to make extra money, or you can see it as Blizzard's way to protect its players from fraudulent trades from a third-party, it still factors in as part of the game. The auction takes out a lot of the excitement of finding items on your own in the game and a lot of the social aspect player experienced in Diablo 2 and 1 with players bartering and trading on their own in the lobby chats. I know people who spends hours just going through the auction house trying to find the best items and trying to make money off them. It doesn't really affect individual players right now since a player can choose to use the auction house or not, but it will definitely make a difference once PvP comes into play and those who have the money or gold will have an obvious advantage over those who don't use the auction house. Blizzard is still adding more content to the game with no additional charge and has a history of updating games well after its release, so I still have high hopes that Diablo 3 will continue to grow and provide entertainment value for the next few years. Concept and Content: 9/10
Duration
Normal difficulty doesn't take that long to complete if the player goes straight through it. Normal difficulty is practically one huge tutorial so that players can get used to the game so that they'll be ready for the real challenges the game has in store. Diablo 3 is actually slower in speed than Diablo 2 yet it has a nice pace to it. It never gets dull and draws the player in while never letting going. It's pretty satisfying killing one large mob after another to level up and get better loot to kill even stronger enemies. I have around 90 hours on my main character and close to 200 hours with all my characters combined and I still have more hours I can pull out of it by playing my other characters with friends or grinding my main character to increase her paragon level. Diablo 3 is definitely a game I'll keep coming back for, even if just to login to kill stuff. Duration: 10/10
Fun
My first few hours with the game was horrible because of my laptop. It took forever to install and the graphics were so messed up and it was impossible to see anything. I eventually got the graphics to be somewhat visible, but it was still pretty difficult to get through the game. I eventually bought a new laptop specifically geared towards gaming and my experience with the game changed a lot. Diablo 3 is definitely a lot of fun and I still get my enjoyment out of it playing different classes and trying different builds out. I don't really have an ending impression on it as I'm still currently playing the game and still enjoy it. Despite some of the disappointments I faced throughout the game, playing the game was and still is entertaining. Fun: 10/10
Overall
Like mentioned above, "despite some of the disappointments I faced throughout the game, playing the game was and still is entertaining." I don't regret buying the game on day 1 for full price as it has become the most played game out of my entire library. The combat is satisfying, playing with friends can be quite the bonding experience (especially against the special mobs in Inferno difficulty), and replay value is high so the game wouldn't burn out that quickly for those wanting a game to play for a long time. For some, Diablo 3 is over-hyped and over-rated, but it is undeniable that it's a fun game for those who enjoy top-down, point-n-click, Action-RPGs. Overall: 9.4/10
Thursday, September 6, 2012
VGCulture - Diablo 3 Wizard Critical Mass
Official Site: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/
Source: Youtube Channel Archon InfernoFriday
There was a lag time for a while where my friends and I just stopped playing Diablo 3 like much of the community had as end-game didn't provide much replay value (especially those who already beat Inferno difficulty) and those who didn't have the right gear constantly died which resulted in a rapidly diminishing gold resource. Blizzard has been hard at work re-balancing the game to even out the difficulty, make all classes fair (to prepare them for PvP in the future), re-adjusted the stats on items, and providing more progression for players who have reached inferno. I was sad about the nerf to attack speed as many classes relied on it to complete inferno; however, all classes have been given a huge buff in power and the game now has an extra 100 levels to climb through past 60 called "Paragon Level" which further improves stats as well as increasing gold and magic find. In this way, Blizzard has virtually extended the end-game content by a lot. It doesn't provide anything new, but it gives quite an incentive for those who find entertainment value in farming. Farming can be difficult when you don't have the right gear and can't survive enemy attacks, even for the beloved Wizard class who has been considered the most OP class from the very beginning. But it seems that players have found a build for the Wizard that allows them to Tank, DPS (Damage Per Second) and Burst all in one go. They call this build "Critical Mass."
The build thrives from one of the Wizard's passive ability to shorten the cooldown of all their abilities by one second for each critical hit they land so that the skills can be spammable. What's crazy about this build is that the player can run into a large mob and constantly do damage, increase durability, and land a lot of burst AoE (Area of Effect) damage without the need of range abilities or a generate attack. The build is as follows:
Active Skills:
-Energy Twister/Storm Chaser (DPS) - This ability hits multiple enemies multiple times which increases the chance of a critical much higher.
-Explosive Blast/Chain Reaction (Burst) - The blasts will help soften enemies up or take them out all around you and can be spammed.
-Diamond Skin/Crystal Shell - (Tank) - It is this ability that will keep your character alive as it absorbs a lot of damage and can be spammed.
-Frost Nova/Bone Chill (Utility) - Having this ability not only damages enemies, but also prevent them from hitting you. With everything else combined, your wizard would never get hit.
-Magic Weapon/Force Weapon (Damage) - This can be switched out to anything that would help in increasing damage to providing more.
-Energy Armor/Prismatic Armor (Survivability) - Critical hits activate on "chance" and so not all your skills will protect you. This helps a bit to prevent getting one-shotted.
Passive Skills:
-Critical Mass - Above all else, the build relies on this passive skill. It shortens the cooldowns of all skills whenever your character lands a critical hit by 1 second. With the Energy Twister and Explosive Blast, critical hits should trigger quite often and allow the player to continually spam their skills.
The other passive skills can be modified to work with whatever the player needs. If they're not dying as often, Cold Blooded and Glass Cannon can help increase the damage output. But if survivability is an issue, skills like Blur to decrease physical damage or evocation to shorten the cooldown on skills even further so that Diamond Skin and Frost Nova can be used more often to ensure protection.
Creating this build still takes quite a bit of farming to do to make it work:
-Critical Hit Chance: Archon (within the video) suggests having at least 30% or more for this build to start working and can be increased by finding items with those stats on it.
-Armor, Vitality and All Resistance: Your Wizard is going to be in the middle of the fray the entire time and needs as much protection as possible to avoid getting one-shotted and so having these defense stats up is important to stay alive.
-Life on Hit/Kill: Honestly, having these on any class help tremendously so that the player doesn't have to rely so much on potions (which has its own cooldown) and health globes (which appear by chance). Archon suggests having a total of at least 800 Life on Hit.
-Intelligence and Critical Hit Damage: This is where the damage and killing power will come from. Even with all that defensive equipment and abilities, you're going to die if you're not killing enemies fast enough as it's easy to be overwhelmed (especially with special mobs that have "waller", "frozen", or "vortex").
TL;DR Version:
-Tank, DPS and Burst all at the same time
-Equip "Critical Mass" and items/abilities that help it
-Mash all the buttons as fast and hard as you can
This is a big incentive for me to max out my Wizard now.
Source: Youtube Channel Archon InfernoFriday
There was a lag time for a while where my friends and I just stopped playing Diablo 3 like much of the community had as end-game didn't provide much replay value (especially those who already beat Inferno difficulty) and those who didn't have the right gear constantly died which resulted in a rapidly diminishing gold resource. Blizzard has been hard at work re-balancing the game to even out the difficulty, make all classes fair (to prepare them for PvP in the future), re-adjusted the stats on items, and providing more progression for players who have reached inferno. I was sad about the nerf to attack speed as many classes relied on it to complete inferno; however, all classes have been given a huge buff in power and the game now has an extra 100 levels to climb through past 60 called "Paragon Level" which further improves stats as well as increasing gold and magic find. In this way, Blizzard has virtually extended the end-game content by a lot. It doesn't provide anything new, but it gives quite an incentive for those who find entertainment value in farming. Farming can be difficult when you don't have the right gear and can't survive enemy attacks, even for the beloved Wizard class who has been considered the most OP class from the very beginning. But it seems that players have found a build for the Wizard that allows them to Tank, DPS (Damage Per Second) and Burst all in one go. They call this build "Critical Mass."
The build thrives from one of the Wizard's passive ability to shorten the cooldown of all their abilities by one second for each critical hit they land so that the skills can be spammable. What's crazy about this build is that the player can run into a large mob and constantly do damage, increase durability, and land a lot of burst AoE (Area of Effect) damage without the need of range abilities or a generate attack. The build is as follows:
Active Skills:
-Energy Twister/Storm Chaser (DPS) - This ability hits multiple enemies multiple times which increases the chance of a critical much higher.
-Explosive Blast/Chain Reaction (Burst) - The blasts will help soften enemies up or take them out all around you and can be spammed.
-Diamond Skin/Crystal Shell - (Tank) - It is this ability that will keep your character alive as it absorbs a lot of damage and can be spammed.
-Frost Nova/Bone Chill (Utility) - Having this ability not only damages enemies, but also prevent them from hitting you. With everything else combined, your wizard would never get hit.
-Magic Weapon/Force Weapon (Damage) - This can be switched out to anything that would help in increasing damage to providing more.
-Energy Armor/Prismatic Armor (Survivability) - Critical hits activate on "chance" and so not all your skills will protect you. This helps a bit to prevent getting one-shotted.
Passive Skills:
-Critical Mass - Above all else, the build relies on this passive skill. It shortens the cooldowns of all skills whenever your character lands a critical hit by 1 second. With the Energy Twister and Explosive Blast, critical hits should trigger quite often and allow the player to continually spam their skills.
The other passive skills can be modified to work with whatever the player needs. If they're not dying as often, Cold Blooded and Glass Cannon can help increase the damage output. But if survivability is an issue, skills like Blur to decrease physical damage or evocation to shorten the cooldown on skills even further so that Diamond Skin and Frost Nova can be used more often to ensure protection.
Creating this build still takes quite a bit of farming to do to make it work:
-Critical Hit Chance: Archon (within the video) suggests having at least 30% or more for this build to start working and can be increased by finding items with those stats on it.
-Armor, Vitality and All Resistance: Your Wizard is going to be in the middle of the fray the entire time and needs as much protection as possible to avoid getting one-shotted and so having these defense stats up is important to stay alive.
-Life on Hit/Kill: Honestly, having these on any class help tremendously so that the player doesn't have to rely so much on potions (which has its own cooldown) and health globes (which appear by chance). Archon suggests having a total of at least 800 Life on Hit.
-Intelligence and Critical Hit Damage: This is where the damage and killing power will come from. Even with all that defensive equipment and abilities, you're going to die if you're not killing enemies fast enough as it's easy to be overwhelmed (especially with special mobs that have "waller", "frozen", or "vortex").
TL;DR Version:
-Tank, DPS and Burst all at the same time
-Equip "Critical Mass" and items/abilities that help it
-Mash all the buttons as fast and hard as you can
This is a big incentive for me to max out my Wizard now.
Monday, August 20, 2012
VGCulture - 100 more levels in Diablo 3's new patch
Official Site: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/6968517/
Blizzard has announced a huge change in Diablo 3's new end-game system. Introducing, the paragon level system. An extra 100 levels has been added past the max level of 60 gaining players extra stat points into Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality as well as an extra 3% in gold find and Magic find for each level. This will extend the game's progress well beyond the initial 60 levels and give purpose to playing in inferno other than completing the difficulty, farming for items, and dying a lot. Also, the border of your character's portrait will change and evolve as their paragon levels increase. No exact date on when this patch will release has been announced yet.
Blizzard has announced a huge change in Diablo 3's new end-game system. Introducing, the paragon level system. An extra 100 levels has been added past the max level of 60 gaining players extra stat points into Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality as well as an extra 3% in gold find and Magic find for each level. This will extend the game's progress well beyond the initial 60 levels and give purpose to playing in inferno other than completing the difficulty, farming for items, and dying a lot. Also, the border of your character's portrait will change and evolve as their paragon levels increase. No exact date on when this patch will release has been announced yet.
Friday, May 18, 2012
VGCulture - The Secret Pony Level (Diablo 3)
Official Site: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/?-
Source: Youtube Channel AlexInSixty
In Diablo 2, there was the "secret cow-level" that Blizzard added in due to a rumor that circulated around Diablo 1 where players could fight "cows". But that wasn't true for Diablo and so players were overjoyed to find that D2 had the "secret cow level" with all its absurdity and humor. It deviated away from all the serious tone the game had and was quite the fan-service by Blizzard. Well the new "secret level" for Diablo 3 happens to be unicorns, rainbows and stuffed teddy bears. It's a joke aimed at itself when players were complaining how early works of Diablo 3 was too brightly colored and cartoony compared to the original two installments of the series. This, to me, was quite the treat to see and is LOL worthy. I can't wait to find this place and shoot unicorns and teddy bears.
Source: Youtube Channel AlexInSixty
In Diablo 2, there was the "secret cow-level" that Blizzard added in due to a rumor that circulated around Diablo 1 where players could fight "cows". But that wasn't true for Diablo and so players were overjoyed to find that D2 had the "secret cow level" with all its absurdity and humor. It deviated away from all the serious tone the game had and was quite the fan-service by Blizzard. Well the new "secret level" for Diablo 3 happens to be unicorns, rainbows and stuffed teddy bears. It's a joke aimed at itself when players were complaining how early works of Diablo 3 was too brightly colored and cartoony compared to the original two installments of the series. This, to me, was quite the treat to see and is LOL worthy. I can't wait to find this place and shoot unicorns and teddy bears.
Friday, May 11, 2012
VGCulture - Diablo 3 features
Official Site: http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/games/d3/
Source: Youtube Channel diablo
I'm going to do my best and list all the awesome features of Diablo 3 possible:
-Choose between 5 unique classes: Barbarian, Wizard, Monk, Witch Doctor, and Demon Hunter
-Randomly generated levels (like its predecessors)
-Attributes are set, but ability sets can be changed and customized (Player skill over character stats)
-Skill runes changes the effects of an ability or enhances them
-Followers (much like bodyguards from D2) have their own equipment and upgradeable skills
-Crafting and Artisans allow a player to improve equipment, augment attributes, and create new items
-You can re-spec skills (as mentioned above) so limitless builds for different play-styles are possible
-Universal stash to share items between characters
-No need to collect scrolls and tomes to return back to town or identify items
-Unwanted items can be sold from the inventory menu (unless they took this feature out? I'm not sure)
-Everyone in co-op mode gets their own loot, no need to fight for dibs
-Auction house in-game (rather than shady 3rd-party sites). I feel like people are still gonna use alternatives
-PvP Areans created specifically for head-to-head competitive play
-Inferno difficulty, a level beyond "hell" difficulty
-Achievements, everyone's doing it, might as well add it
I'm probably missing a whole lot of other things, but being able to re-spec my character is enough to get me pumped up for Diablo 3 among the other dozens of new features.
Source: Youtube Channel diablo
I'm going to do my best and list all the awesome features of Diablo 3 possible:
-Choose between 5 unique classes: Barbarian, Wizard, Monk, Witch Doctor, and Demon Hunter
-Randomly generated levels (like its predecessors)
-Attributes are set, but ability sets can be changed and customized (Player skill over character stats)
-Skill runes changes the effects of an ability or enhances them
-Followers (much like bodyguards from D2) have their own equipment and upgradeable skills
-Crafting and Artisans allow a player to improve equipment, augment attributes, and create new items
-You can re-spec skills (as mentioned above) so limitless builds for different play-styles are possible
-Universal stash to share items between characters
-No need to collect scrolls and tomes to return back to town or identify items
-Unwanted items can be sold from the inventory menu (unless they took this feature out? I'm not sure)
-Everyone in co-op mode gets their own loot, no need to fight for dibs
-Auction house in-game (rather than shady 3rd-party sites). I feel like people are still gonna use alternatives
-PvP Areans created specifically for head-to-head competitive play
-Inferno difficulty, a level beyond "hell" difficulty
-Achievements, everyone's doing it, might as well add it
I'm probably missing a whole lot of other things, but being able to re-spec my character is enough to get me pumped up for Diablo 3 among the other dozens of new features.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
VGCulture - Digital Copy Tease (Diablo 3)
Official Site: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/?-
My friend informed me that he has Diablo 3 installed on his computer. I thought he meant the Beta, but he says it's the actual game. So I looked it up and realized that those who pre-order the digital copy of Diablo 3 were able to download and install the game much like the way some games are released on Steam for download and installment but cannot play it quite just yet. As the comic suggests, it's to make it fair for those buying it retail who want the physical box and disc in their hands. Publishers, especially Blizzard, know to look out for all their customers and fans and not just those that are easier to reach. I can hardly imagine how it's like for my friend and the many other millions who bought the digital copy and has the full game right there in front of them but are not allowed to play it just yet. Fortunately for them, they get to start playing the second it hits midnight next Monday while those who pre-ordered at a store or online will have to pick it up or wait till it gets delivered. The week is dragging on longer and longer as the anticipation for Diablo 3's release draws closer. Stay strong Diablo 3 fans, just...5 more days...
 |
| Source: http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2012/05/09 |
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
VGCulture - Feeding me some Diablo 3
Official Site: http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/games/d3/?int=d3
There's 7 days left before the release of Diablo 3 and the wait is excruciating! I don't remember the last time I was this excited and obsessed with the launch of a game. Even with games I love and know I'll buy on the first day I'll be calm and indifferent on the matter of time. But ever since I pre-ordered my own copy of Diablo 3 on May 1st, all I can think about it Diablo 3. Images of being able to mow down hundreds of demons, customizing my skill sets, finding all sorts of awesome loot, fighting crazy bosses with my friends, and getting into intense player versus player action keeps swimming through my head. With this mental state in mind, my thirst for top-down Action-RPGs reached out and found some interesting games:
[Torchlight 2]
Source: Youtube Channel Torchlight2
It was sad news for many to hear that Torchlight 2 will be releasing after Diablo 3 rather than before as many had hoped to play it in the meantime. Other players have gone the opposite and said that they'd rather wait for Torchlight 2 instead of getting Diablo 3 as Torchlight 2 provides LAN play, single-player without the need for internet connection, the ability to mod, and online play which wasn't available in the original Torchlight. I enjoyed Torchlight but didn't really feel like playing past the main story. With multiplayer co-op online, new classes, and different game mechanics readily available in this next installment, I'm probably going to get it eventually sometime this year. I just wish it had come out earlier so that it could feed my hunger for Top-down, Point-n-Click, Action-RPGs.
[Grim Dawn]
Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment
When Iron Lore Entertainment (developed Titan Quest which I'm playing now to quench my thirst for Diablo 3) closed down, the members of the studio went on to form Crate Entertainment. The company made up of mainly 2 full-time employees have revealed that they are working on a game called Grim Dawn using the Titan Quest engine which they got the rights to now. The game looks a lot darker, but interesting from what they have shown so far in their pre-alpha build. One mechanic they have shown that some gamers have noted and like is the ability to change the camera angle. I'm really enjoying Titan Quest right now (though a bit slow on pacing) so I'm eager to see how the end product for Grim Dawn will be like.
[Realm of Ancient War (RAW)]
Source: Youtube Channel GameNewsOfficial
I found out about this game through a random video advertisement that played on Youtube (which I generally hate). While the ad was going, the gameplay immediately pulled me in and I'm just going "whoa whoa WHOA, what game is this? It's look amazing! It doesn't look like Diablo 3, so it can't be it." When it revealed the name, I looked it up and checked it out. The game looks like it will play similar to the classic arcade game "Gauntlet" which I have fond (and nightmarish) memories of. The skills look explosive and dynamic, the graphics are rendered beautifully but isn't convoluted, and the gameplay seems to be really fast-paced. I'm definitely keeping an eye out for this one.
[Lineage Eternal]
Source: Youtube Channel ArogatsGaming
I'm guessing that it's within the world of Lineage, the age old MMORPG. In terms of Top-down, Point-n-Click, Action-RPG that isn't Diablo 3, this seemed to have impressed me the most with the ways a player can utilize their skills and abilities. Those mouse gestures totally make sense and have seen it used in other games and genres (like League of Legends for example). The graphics also look very impressive. There might be a chance that this will be released as a free-to-play MMORPG when it comes out, so I'm very willing to check it out.
The problem right now is that all four of these games aren't even out yet, so it does little to occupy my time and desires for Diablo 3 (if anything, it fuels it). There is one game I found that might help:
[NOX]
Source: Youtube Channel humanPleiadian
NOX was developed by Westwood Studios and published by Electronic Arts as a top-down, point-n-click, Action-RPG and faced cries of "rip of Diablo!" back in 2000 that many Action-RPGs face today. I've never heard of the game and don't recall ever having come across it in the past. The rights to the game and development were taken entirely by EA and they decided to not support the game anymore which led to the end of online ladder and pvp. Still, this looks like an interesting game and I might check it out. I hear it's on GOG.com for $6.
The wait for Diablo 3 feels really long, even though it's only 7 days away. I hope the game is worth all this time and anticipation.
There's 7 days left before the release of Diablo 3 and the wait is excruciating! I don't remember the last time I was this excited and obsessed with the launch of a game. Even with games I love and know I'll buy on the first day I'll be calm and indifferent on the matter of time. But ever since I pre-ordered my own copy of Diablo 3 on May 1st, all I can think about it Diablo 3. Images of being able to mow down hundreds of demons, customizing my skill sets, finding all sorts of awesome loot, fighting crazy bosses with my friends, and getting into intense player versus player action keeps swimming through my head. With this mental state in mind, my thirst for top-down Action-RPGs reached out and found some interesting games:
[Torchlight 2]
Source: Youtube Channel Torchlight2
It was sad news for many to hear that Torchlight 2 will be releasing after Diablo 3 rather than before as many had hoped to play it in the meantime. Other players have gone the opposite and said that they'd rather wait for Torchlight 2 instead of getting Diablo 3 as Torchlight 2 provides LAN play, single-player without the need for internet connection, the ability to mod, and online play which wasn't available in the original Torchlight. I enjoyed Torchlight but didn't really feel like playing past the main story. With multiplayer co-op online, new classes, and different game mechanics readily available in this next installment, I'm probably going to get it eventually sometime this year. I just wish it had come out earlier so that it could feed my hunger for Top-down, Point-n-Click, Action-RPGs.
[Grim Dawn]
Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment
When Iron Lore Entertainment (developed Titan Quest which I'm playing now to quench my thirst for Diablo 3) closed down, the members of the studio went on to form Crate Entertainment. The company made up of mainly 2 full-time employees have revealed that they are working on a game called Grim Dawn using the Titan Quest engine which they got the rights to now. The game looks a lot darker, but interesting from what they have shown so far in their pre-alpha build. One mechanic they have shown that some gamers have noted and like is the ability to change the camera angle. I'm really enjoying Titan Quest right now (though a bit slow on pacing) so I'm eager to see how the end product for Grim Dawn will be like.
[Realm of Ancient War (RAW)]
Source: Youtube Channel GameNewsOfficial
I found out about this game through a random video advertisement that played on Youtube (which I generally hate). While the ad was going, the gameplay immediately pulled me in and I'm just going "whoa whoa WHOA, what game is this? It's look amazing! It doesn't look like Diablo 3, so it can't be it." When it revealed the name, I looked it up and checked it out. The game looks like it will play similar to the classic arcade game "Gauntlet" which I have fond (and nightmarish) memories of. The skills look explosive and dynamic, the graphics are rendered beautifully but isn't convoluted, and the gameplay seems to be really fast-paced. I'm definitely keeping an eye out for this one.
[Lineage Eternal]
Source: Youtube Channel ArogatsGaming
I'm guessing that it's within the world of Lineage, the age old MMORPG. In terms of Top-down, Point-n-Click, Action-RPG that isn't Diablo 3, this seemed to have impressed me the most with the ways a player can utilize their skills and abilities. Those mouse gestures totally make sense and have seen it used in other games and genres (like League of Legends for example). The graphics also look very impressive. There might be a chance that this will be released as a free-to-play MMORPG when it comes out, so I'm very willing to check it out.
The problem right now is that all four of these games aren't even out yet, so it does little to occupy my time and desires for Diablo 3 (if anything, it fuels it). There is one game I found that might help:
[NOX]
Source: Youtube Channel humanPleiadian
NOX was developed by Westwood Studios and published by Electronic Arts as a top-down, point-n-click, Action-RPG and faced cries of "rip of Diablo!" back in 2000 that many Action-RPGs face today. I've never heard of the game and don't recall ever having come across it in the past. The rights to the game and development were taken entirely by EA and they decided to not support the game anymore which led to the end of online ladder and pvp. Still, this looks like an interesting game and I might check it out. I hear it's on GOG.com for $6.
The wait for Diablo 3 feels really long, even though it's only 7 days away. I hope the game is worth all this time and anticipation.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
VGCulture - The Problem with Fun Games
I might have mentioned this in the past, but one of the fears I had in going into the game industry is ending up hating videogames or losing the passion for it. I have met many individuals within the trade who have lost interest in videogames or don't play them and treat their position in the industry solely as their job. I know this isn't a common habit within the industry as people want to work with videogames because they love them, but knowing that it could happen is rather frightening. Throughout the past few years, I've been heavily involved with the medium and have studied the history of videogames, game designs by various studios, and playing as many different games as possible. I have to admit that there are times where it really does feel like a job going through some of the games and figuring out all the bad designs and flaws a game might have. Also working as a publisher last year made me lose faith in the direction the industry is going. So some nights when I decide to play a game for fun, I feel hesitant and scared when I look through my library of games and can't choose a game I'd feel happy playing. It scares me whenever I get to a point where I can't seem to enjoy a game.
Then once in a while, a really good game comes along unexpectedly and captivates me entirely. In these past few years, games like Terraria, Demon's Souls, and Dynasty Warriors 7 has done this for me. It sparks an interest and sucks me in. I can play blissfully without thinking about what bad designs there were or what could be improved. While I'm playing, I think more about "what do I want to do next? What can I build? What can I experiment with?" If I can play a game where I lose track of the time, not become incredibly frustrated, and feeling good while playing, I know I have found a fun game. Then the other problem arises.
When I find a game I really enjoy, I can't stop thinking about it. When I play, I want to keep playing. When this happens, all other games I own suddenly are neglected while another handful becomes a lot less appealing. For most gamers, this is alright and mostly preferred so that they don't have to look for another game to play. But with me, I like playing all sorts of games and want to extend my knowledge of games as far as possible. Just last week, I was invited to the Japanese Closed Beta Testing for Phantasy Star Online 2. I loved it, and I couldn't stop playing. One day, I played for 7.5 hours which by my standards is a lot (I generally play 1-2 hours of videogames a day). I was so engrossed by the game's environment, the gameplay, the excitement I felt from fighting a boss, the intrigue of finding out what else was available in the game, and the adventure I got to share with my friends. I ignored playing Playstation 3, League of Legends (which I play almost everyday now), and Steam games that weekend because of how heavily involved I was in PSO2. It's a great feeling to know I still love games and am reminded of that by these types of games, but it also saddens me that I have several dozen games still waiting for me to play.
I know this is going to happen again very soon. How soon? May 15th soon. I pre-ordered Diablo 3 yesterday and should be getting it the day it launches (unless something happens to it on its way to my hands). I know I'll be a happy clicker killing demons, collecting loot, leveling my characters, and fighting alongside my friends for who knows how long. With the games mentioned above, I spent 102 hours on Terraria, 90+ hours on Demon's Souls, and around 70+ hours on Dynasty Warriors 7. I can only imagine how heavily involved I'll be with Diablo 3 when I have it installed on my laptop.
Source: Youtube Channel cvg
This year is bad for my backlog. Not only with Diablo 3 coming out, but with Guild Wars 2 and games like Dragon's Dogma, Xenoblade Chronicles, and The Last Story it's going to be difficult to get around getting through my other games. It's okay though. I love being reminded why I love games so much.
Then once in a while, a really good game comes along unexpectedly and captivates me entirely. In these past few years, games like Terraria, Demon's Souls, and Dynasty Warriors 7 has done this for me. It sparks an interest and sucks me in. I can play blissfully without thinking about what bad designs there were or what could be improved. While I'm playing, I think more about "what do I want to do next? What can I build? What can I experiment with?" If I can play a game where I lose track of the time, not become incredibly frustrated, and feeling good while playing, I know I have found a fun game. Then the other problem arises.
When I find a game I really enjoy, I can't stop thinking about it. When I play, I want to keep playing. When this happens, all other games I own suddenly are neglected while another handful becomes a lot less appealing. For most gamers, this is alright and mostly preferred so that they don't have to look for another game to play. But with me, I like playing all sorts of games and want to extend my knowledge of games as far as possible. Just last week, I was invited to the Japanese Closed Beta Testing for Phantasy Star Online 2. I loved it, and I couldn't stop playing. One day, I played for 7.5 hours which by my standards is a lot (I generally play 1-2 hours of videogames a day). I was so engrossed by the game's environment, the gameplay, the excitement I felt from fighting a boss, the intrigue of finding out what else was available in the game, and the adventure I got to share with my friends. I ignored playing Playstation 3, League of Legends (which I play almost everyday now), and Steam games that weekend because of how heavily involved I was in PSO2. It's a great feeling to know I still love games and am reminded of that by these types of games, but it also saddens me that I have several dozen games still waiting for me to play.
I know this is going to happen again very soon. How soon? May 15th soon. I pre-ordered Diablo 3 yesterday and should be getting it the day it launches (unless something happens to it on its way to my hands). I know I'll be a happy clicker killing demons, collecting loot, leveling my characters, and fighting alongside my friends for who knows how long. With the games mentioned above, I spent 102 hours on Terraria, 90+ hours on Demon's Souls, and around 70+ hours on Dynasty Warriors 7. I can only imagine how heavily involved I'll be with Diablo 3 when I have it installed on my laptop.
Source: Youtube Channel cvg
This year is bad for my backlog. Not only with Diablo 3 coming out, but with Guild Wars 2 and games like Dragon's Dogma, Xenoblade Chronicles, and The Last Story it's going to be difficult to get around getting through my other games. It's okay though. I love being reminded why I love games so much.
Monday, April 9, 2012
VGCulture - Rant on Diablo 3 & Torchlight 2
Diablo 3: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/
Torchlight 2: http://www.torchlight2game.com/classes/outlander
Source: http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/04/09/diablo-iii-barbarian-spotlight-video
Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment
Diablo 3 fans are very excited to have a definitive release date after waiting for 5+ years. Torchlight 2 fans and those who pre-ordered are still in the dark to whether the game will release soon or not and it has created quite a bit of tension between the communities between the fans of both games. Torchlight 2 was set to release sometime last year and sought to buy it to feed their top-down, Action-RPG needs until Diablo 3 came out; however, the game was not released for the reason of too many "good games" coming out at the time (which I can understand since I bought at least a dozen games Q4 of 2011). Joystiq recently reported a quote from the CEO of Runic Games explaining that they do not want to release around the same time as Diablo 3 and will release shortly after instead. With this news, many who pre-ordered Torchlight 2 to wait for Diablo 3 has canceled their pre-orders knowing that they'll be playing Diablo 3. Other community members on blog sites, video comments and forums took a different reaction to the news and are instead canceling their pre-orders for Diablo 3 for Torchlight 2 now that they hinted at a "month later" release from Diablo 3's launch. Some common complaints on Diablo 3 are:
-Constant internet access needed to play, even for single-player
-All player data is stored on Blizzard servers and monitored (so no modding)
-Auction house has many skeptical about the balance and fairness of PvP
Runic games hopes to provide a different experience to avoid competition from Blizzard's highly anticipated game with these features:
-$20 retail price from the get go
-Ability to play offline
-LAN capabilities
-6 Player Online Cooperative play
-Modding support
I can understand what many of the community feels about Torchlight 2 coming out after Diablo 3, but it's too late for Runic games to try to push the game out and release it as many players will still wait for Diablo 3. For me, I know I'll be getting both games to play; however, my priority is set to Diablo 3 as I seek a cooperative game I can play with a lot of my friends and none of them seem too interested in Torchlight 2. Thus, I won't be getting Torchlight 2 anytime soon. Still, I hope both games will find its audience and provide an enjoyable experience for all.
Source:
-Joystiq: Torchlight 2 will 'ideally' launch shortly after Diablo 3
Torchlight 2: http://www.torchlight2game.com/classes/outlander
Source: http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/04/09/diablo-iii-barbarian-spotlight-video
Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment
Diablo 3 fans are very excited to have a definitive release date after waiting for 5+ years. Torchlight 2 fans and those who pre-ordered are still in the dark to whether the game will release soon or not and it has created quite a bit of tension between the communities between the fans of both games. Torchlight 2 was set to release sometime last year and sought to buy it to feed their top-down, Action-RPG needs until Diablo 3 came out; however, the game was not released for the reason of too many "good games" coming out at the time (which I can understand since I bought at least a dozen games Q4 of 2011). Joystiq recently reported a quote from the CEO of Runic Games explaining that they do not want to release around the same time as Diablo 3 and will release shortly after instead. With this news, many who pre-ordered Torchlight 2 to wait for Diablo 3 has canceled their pre-orders knowing that they'll be playing Diablo 3. Other community members on blog sites, video comments and forums took a different reaction to the news and are instead canceling their pre-orders for Diablo 3 for Torchlight 2 now that they hinted at a "month later" release from Diablo 3's launch. Some common complaints on Diablo 3 are:
-Constant internet access needed to play, even for single-player
-All player data is stored on Blizzard servers and monitored (so no modding)
-Auction house has many skeptical about the balance and fairness of PvP
Runic games hopes to provide a different experience to avoid competition from Blizzard's highly anticipated game with these features:
-$20 retail price from the get go
-Ability to play offline
-LAN capabilities
-6 Player Online Cooperative play
-Modding support
I can understand what many of the community feels about Torchlight 2 coming out after Diablo 3, but it's too late for Runic games to try to push the game out and release it as many players will still wait for Diablo 3. For me, I know I'll be getting both games to play; however, my priority is set to Diablo 3 as I seek a cooperative game I can play with a lot of my friends and none of them seem too interested in Torchlight 2. Thus, I won't be getting Torchlight 2 anytime soon. Still, I hope both games will find its audience and provide an enjoyable experience for all.
Source:
-Joystiq: Torchlight 2 will 'ideally' launch shortly after Diablo 3
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
VGCulture - Players glitch into new areas of Diablo 3
Source: Youtube Channel FixtionFXReality
I was told by a friend that over the weekend that there was a bug in the Diablo 3 beta that unlocked new content for players. Voluntarily not participating in the beta, I didn't know about such an event so I looked it up online. It seems that players were able to access three new areas that were previously not present before. After the incident was discovered, Blizzard took down the servers to block access to those parts of the game once again as they were not ready for beta testing just yet. Many players have recorded their venture into the new maps and posted them on Youtube and other video sharing sites. As excited as I am for the release of Diablo 3, I can wait. Blizzard has had a great record for incredible gaming experiences due to their efforts in detail and planning and not answering to petty trends and publisher's hastened deadlines (mostly because they're their own publisher and can afford it). I have no doubt that Diablo 3 will be great, so I'm willing to wait a bit longer if that's what it takes for it to get there.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
NewNews - Prepare for Diablo 3
No, a release date hasn't been announced; however, the skill calculator is up and running with the most up to date skills and runes for the game!
The skill calculator allows players to plan out what sort of abilities they want to bring into battle (only 6 active skills and 3 passive skills can be equipped) and what runes to use for each of those abilities. The link will change according to the settings of the sheet and can be shared with friends, family, and people of the web. So far, there are 5 classes in total. I'm hoping for more in the future as Diablo 2 had a good selection (granted that it was an expansion), but 5 will do at the moment with 2 that I really want to play. So if you're eager to find out what sort of build you want to make for your Barbarian, Monk, or which ever character you desire, go experiment right now: http://www.gamegavel.com/reviews/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/diablo3.jpg
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| Source: http://www.gamegavel.com/reviews/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/diablo3.jpg |
Monday, August 1, 2011
NewNews - Diablo 3 announces auction house with real currency
Here's a video I found which explains some of the changes and announcement made for Diablo 3. You can alternatively read the source article on the bottom:
Source: Youtube Channel OMFGcata
So Blizzard has decided to allow players to auction off and bid for items in-game with real money. The reasoning behind this was that the same activities were done on sketchy websites and in-game dealers who were willing to sell items for real money. This was allowing 3rd-parties to earn money off the game (or rip off a poor kid who didn't know better). So in a way, Blizzard is trying to look out for the players; however, a lot of people have been saying that it is an act of greed. That could be the case if Blizzard is earning money off of it, but I don't know how that would work yet. I suppose if you look at Team Fortress 2 and Valve's change in business model for it, it makes more sense. Valve places items for high prices and players still buy them. Of course, Blizzard also mentioned that items can still be auctioned with in-game gold. I never liked auction houses in online games. Items were always at high prices and unless they were the best equipment that a player could get, it eventually becomes useless later on. If it is the best, it would take a long time to get the amount of currency in-game to be able to get it. I am curious about the auction house allowing the use of real money though. It makes me wonder if I can make any money off the game if I just auctioned off rare items instead of buying or bidding. I'm not sure how crazy I'll play when the game comes out since I barely touched Starcraft 2 after I bought it the first week (even got the Collector's Edition too). We'll see...
In addition, Blizzard announced that the game will require a constant connection to the internet (be it single-player or multiplayer online). It's not a surprise to me at all since Starcraft 2 was like that. It's not too big of a problem, but I feel a lot more disconnected from the game when it requires it. I feel like I'm always on an unstable line to be able to play my games when they require a constant internet connection. I suppose I'm used to it already from playing games on Steam. Regardless, I am still ecstatic about Diablo 3 and can't wait to play it when it comes out.
Source:
-Gamasutra: Blizzard Reveals Real Money-Powered Diablo III Auction House
-Joystiq: Diablo 3 to feature player-to-player real money auction house for virtual items
Source: Youtube Channel OMFGcata
So Blizzard has decided to allow players to auction off and bid for items in-game with real money. The reasoning behind this was that the same activities were done on sketchy websites and in-game dealers who were willing to sell items for real money. This was allowing 3rd-parties to earn money off the game (or rip off a poor kid who didn't know better). So in a way, Blizzard is trying to look out for the players; however, a lot of people have been saying that it is an act of greed. That could be the case if Blizzard is earning money off of it, but I don't know how that would work yet. I suppose if you look at Team Fortress 2 and Valve's change in business model for it, it makes more sense. Valve places items for high prices and players still buy them. Of course, Blizzard also mentioned that items can still be auctioned with in-game gold. I never liked auction houses in online games. Items were always at high prices and unless they were the best equipment that a player could get, it eventually becomes useless later on. If it is the best, it would take a long time to get the amount of currency in-game to be able to get it. I am curious about the auction house allowing the use of real money though. It makes me wonder if I can make any money off the game if I just auctioned off rare items instead of buying or bidding. I'm not sure how crazy I'll play when the game comes out since I barely touched Starcraft 2 after I bought it the first week (even got the Collector's Edition too). We'll see...
In addition, Blizzard announced that the game will require a constant connection to the internet (be it single-player or multiplayer online). It's not a surprise to me at all since Starcraft 2 was like that. It's not too big of a problem, but I feel a lot more disconnected from the game when it requires it. I feel like I'm always on an unstable line to be able to play my games when they require a constant internet connection. I suppose I'm used to it already from playing games on Steam. Regardless, I am still ecstatic about Diablo 3 and can't wait to play it when it comes out.
Source:
-Gamasutra: Blizzard Reveals Real Money-Powered Diablo III Auction House
-Joystiq: Diablo 3 to feature player-to-player real money auction house for virtual items
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