Diablo 3 - Preview @ Edge

Edge Online has a four-page look at Diablo III. Here's an excerpt on the new character system:

And it’s no paradox, either. Blizzard has the resources to spend the best part of a decade working – and reworking – every last detail of a complex formula, yet it also has the design experience to ensure that such an enormity of interlocking systems and variable mechanics all end up channelled directly into a game that unfolds with no friction and no confusion. As the beta unfolds, every element in Diablo III bows down before the power of one simple click: the click that busts up zombies, vacuums loot, activates audiolog lore books and – now – even allows you to re-spec your character on the fly.

And there lies one of the game’s two big ideas: a reshaping of the RPG progression system that does away with points and trees in favour of simply giving you a new skill – which will grow more powerful as you do – with each new level. Although Diablo III still forces you to focus yourself somewhat, offering at first only two and eventually just six active skill slots (along with three passives, an evolution of the series’ troubled traits system), within that you can then swap abilities in and out to your heart’s content, changing the fundamental nature of your character from one encounter to the next.