Diablo 4 - Review @ Mortismal Gaming
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ChaosTheory
Virtual Reality Hero
I am old enough to have played the first Diablo on release and it was a fantastic experience. ...then things went downhill. I played, but didn't finish Diablo 2 and the 3rd never interested me. It might as well be a phone game for all the blinky, flashy overdone action and floating numbers. I'm not giving this one my online bandwidth, along with my money.
I don't even bother looking at the user-scores on Metacritic anymore. There's no way to know if the person who left the score has even played the game. Too bad D4 isn't on Steam because I think that offers a much better metric.
Drithius
Magic & Loss
I'd give it a 7.5. It's a solid arpg with a lot of flaws that can be remedied - but the foundation is there for a great longterm game if they remedy those flaws and add on content.
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Yeah, the foundation is very solid. And surprisingly it has probably the best Diablo story. As much as I complained about the low points in acts 3, 4 and 5; acts 1 and 6 are pretty great.
I'm curious what they'll choose to improve upon. And I really hope they won't be afraid to make radical changes; I don't think we'll get anything on the scale that Diablo 3 suffered, especially with the first expansion. But I hope they choose to tackle any issue.
For the huge amount of money they're gonna get out of it, with the plenty of ways they're monetizing, they'd better have full teams on this whole thing. Improving it constantly.
And it certainly looks like that's what's happening.
I'm curious what they'll choose to improve upon. And I really hope they won't be afraid to make radical changes; I don't think we'll get anything on the scale that Diablo 3 suffered, especially with the first expansion. But I hope they choose to tackle any issue.
For the huge amount of money they're gonna get out of it, with the plenty of ways they're monetizing, they'd better have full teams on this whole thing. Improving it constantly.
And it certainly looks like that's what's happening.
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Eh, I'd give it a 10/10. If you want to play a Diablo clone you can't get much better than this.
My level 7 friend could join the party when we were about level 35 and he could actually pull his weight due to the best leveling scaling system ever.
edit: especially if you've already played every other arpg out there. No point recommending someone a game they've alreay finished.
...and, yeah, that metacritic user score is full of shit. As if you buy D4 then realize you don't like Diablo games and go ragepost online.
My level 7 friend could join the party when we were about level 35 and he could actually pull his weight due to the best leveling scaling system ever.
edit: especially if you've already played every other arpg out there. No point recommending someone a game they've alreay finished.
...and, yeah, that metacritic user score is full of shit. As if you buy D4 then realize you don't like Diablo games and go ragepost online.
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I'd give it a 7 or 8 at most. If they would only improve the itemization, I'd jump it to a 9. And if they would also improve the skill trees I'd give it a 10.
I've now started a necromancer and its the third class (beside rogue and barbarian) for which I cannot choose any skills in the middle of the skill tree.
There's skills there but they either don't gel with my vision of the character or not something I'd use. And it's not like there weren't unused skills in the D2 skill tree, but for some reason, the fact that this is only one branch it feels really weird to not find anything useful in the mid-tree.
And I haven't counted, but it really feels like there's very few options in the trees. I hope that the expansions, beside introducing new characters, also introduce new skills across all character's skill trees. That would be nice. Again, at the amount of monetization they're doing. They should have no trouble spending that money.
I've now started a necromancer and its the third class (beside rogue and barbarian) for which I cannot choose any skills in the middle of the skill tree.
There's skills there but they either don't gel with my vision of the character or not something I'd use. And it's not like there weren't unused skills in the D2 skill tree, but for some reason, the fact that this is only one branch it feels really weird to not find anything useful in the mid-tree.
And I haven't counted, but it really feels like there's very few options in the trees. I hope that the expansions, beside introducing new characters, also introduce new skills across all character's skill trees. That would be nice. Again, at the amount of monetization they're doing. They should have no trouble spending that money.
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The expansions for Diablo games always improved things. With 2 announced and 75% of Sanctuary left to map it's clear this game is going to end up absolutely massive.
I do feel like you should play some endgame and unlock all the itemization before you judge it, though.
7/10 score, though? I don't know how you score things... What are the top 5 Diablo clone games? Which one is 10/10?
I do feel like you should play some endgame and unlock all the itemization before you judge it, though.
7/10 score, though? I don't know how you score things... What are the top 5 Diablo clone games? Which one is 10/10?
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Yeah, I probably should get into end game at one point. But I'd be shocked if the itemization would be radically improved. But I could be wrong.
As I said, my main issue is that I really see the templates according to how rares are generated. And legendaries seem to be only rares with an interesting aspect on top. Pretty much the only interesting thing about items.
I'd probably choose for them to generate a lot loss automated items, and have more handcrafted ones. But I can understand how difficult those handcrafted ones are to pull off.
7 is probably too low. An 8 seems more fitting.
About diablo clones, I haven't really tried very many, besides the usual. Diablo is pretty much the only looter game I play.
As I said, my main issue is that I really see the templates according to how rares are generated. And legendaries seem to be only rares with an interesting aspect on top. Pretty much the only interesting thing about items.
I'd probably choose for them to generate a lot loss automated items, and have more handcrafted ones. But I can understand how difficult those handcrafted ones are to pull off.
7 is probably too low. An 8 seems more fitting.
About diablo clones, I haven't really tried very many, besides the usual. Diablo is pretty much the only looter game I play.
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Is there a lot of monetisation in the game ?
The thing is, Blizzards aiming for accessiblity. Mareting to fuck knows who with kpop and Megan Fox and crap. You can probably clear the campaign wearing nothing but blues and a build that uses 2 basic and 2 core skills. Level 1 to 50 items is just look for the green + and equip it. By world tier 4 you'll be paying way more attention to what items do.
Couple of cosmetic outfits in the store.
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I was looking at what all items did throughout my whole playthrough, and I really min-maxed. But as I said, aside from legendaries which truly enhanced the mechanics, everything else was mostly just small incremental improvements. And I really got tired of comparing rares.
Anyway, I'll try to get through the endgame to formulate a better opinion. That would be the honest thing to do.
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Vaelith
Keeper of the Watch
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It's a 9/10 for me, but as with all things, you have to be into a type of game to put an actual value to it. When one doesn't even like the type of game and is looking for excuses not to like the game, then you have to wonder what are they doing by even talking about the game, much less launching it on their computer. I, for example, would not go through the torture of speaking about NFL games, and I'd certainly be disqualified to review NFL games as I don't care for the genre, the sport, nor have any desire to play a videogame with its characteristics.
If something is not for me, then it's not for me, the elegant thing to do would be to bow out and leave a way for those that do care for it because they are the ones that will actually draw its real value and because it makes them happy. After all, there will be games that I might like and others do not, and I'm sure everyone would love that courtesy to be extended to them.
PS: A tip - For those that feel like it doesn't matter what skills you use or what gear you equip: play hardcore. I guarantee that will revolutionize your experience.
If something is not for me, then it's not for me, the elegant thing to do would be to bow out and leave a way for those that do care for it because they are the ones that will actually draw its real value and because it makes them happy. After all, there will be games that I might like and others do not, and I'm sure everyone would love that courtesy to be extended to them.
PS: A tip - For those that feel like it doesn't matter what skills you use or what gear you equip: play hardcore. I guarantee that will revolutionize your experience.
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Yeah, that's what I mean, too. I can't imagine there's actually people out there who looked at footage, thought they'd like it, bought it then found it to be a 1/10 and went to post on metacritic.
I'm giving it credit for it's potential, too. Some games will launch and sell poorly and you think they could be good with more content and polish but the money just isn't there to support it and the online community is too dead to risk paying the cover charge, etc, etc. There's no issues like that going on with D4. The foundation is laid and its solid as a rock and the future is bright. New season content, 2 expansions planned with more classes, probably updates to old classes or at least new mechanics from items.
Also, it's got Australian servers which is more rare than you might think. There are so many online games I would have tried if it wasn't for issues like these.
I'm giving it credit for it's potential, too. Some games will launch and sell poorly and you think they could be good with more content and polish but the money just isn't there to support it and the online community is too dead to risk paying the cover charge, etc, etc. There's no issues like that going on with D4. The foundation is laid and its solid as a rock and the future is bright. New season content, 2 expansions planned with more classes, probably updates to old classes or at least new mechanics from items.
Also, it's got Australian servers which is more rare than you might think. There are so many online games I would have tried if it wasn't for issues like these.
Vaelith
Keeper of the Watch
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Also just to note in my last post, I don't mean you can't have a less-than-good opinion on the game, or find any flaws in it. All I mean is that if you are making a review to give Diablo IV a score of 5/10 or worse, you're well out of your depth. Diablo IV is objectively a technical prodigy and a work of beauty, with the best ARPG animations, graphics, voiceovers, and soundtracks that any ARPG has ever seen, to mention a few key points. And that's regardless if you like seeing other players running around, or Blizzard employees stealing breastmilk.
I understand that some reviewers have an audience to get clicks from that will enjoy seeing them give the game a bad score and clap in their echo chamber about it, but in my opinion, by qualifying this game as a 5/10 or worse, you are actually disqualifying yourself as a legit reviewer.
Not like any of that matters in places like Metacritic anyway, as users aren't really trying to be reviewers, just spite things for the sake of it. The "journalist" reviews at least do tend to keep a semblance of professionalism for the most part.
I understand that some reviewers have an audience to get clicks from that will enjoy seeing them give the game a bad score and clap in their echo chamber about it, but in my opinion, by qualifying this game as a 5/10 or worse, you are actually disqualifying yourself as a legit reviewer.
Not like any of that matters in places like Metacritic anyway, as users aren't really trying to be reviewers, just spite things for the sake of it. The "journalist" reviews at least do tend to keep a semblance of professionalism for the most part.
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and the graphics are not just excellent but they run on really low end hardware. The balance of qualityerformance is some of the best I've seen. You can even get 30 FPS lows on an old gtx 660 1GB @ low/720p.
I give it extra points for stuff like this that some people wouldn't even consider.
erformance is some of the best I've seen. You can even get 30 FPS lows on an old gtx 660 1GB @ low/720p.I give it extra points for stuff like this that some people wouldn't even consider.
This little ambiguity with scores is always there, isn't it?
Is it relative to the genre, to the personal idea of a perfect game, or to fixed criteria no matter the genre? Anyway, it gives a ballpark idea, but the personal comments are very helpful to get a better picture.
Is it relative to the genre, to the personal idea of a perfect game, or to fixed criteria no matter the genre? Anyway, it gives a ballpark idea, but the personal comments are very helpful to get a better picture.
Are these 9/10 and 10/10 scores you guys are throwing around a metric of how it ranks as a Diablo game or overall? I don't think it's near that good overall.