Re: Diablo IV

On Thu, 25 Jul 2024 14:57:33 -0700, Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com>
wrote:

On 7/21/2024 10:12 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

Arguably I may have worsened the experience by playing
it on a console (honestly, any game that demands I use a gamepad feels
worse to me) but I don't think I'd have had more fun on a PC.

>
Ugh.  I can't imagine.  The game seems really set up for point and click.
>
On the other hand I enjoyed Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance and Bard's Tale
on the PS2 which are also ARPGs, so maybe I'm wrong.

Yeah, I got a lot of "Dark Alliance" vibes while playing D3 on
console. I don't know how well the gameplay on console compares to the
PC version, but it was... adequate. My problems with the game had more
to do with the game's design (shallow gameworlds, linear quests, too
much combat, unrewarding loot) than the fact I had to use a gamepad.
The same problems, I'm pretty sure, I'd have had if I'd played "Diablo
3" on PC.

But I can't necessarily disagree that the gamepad might have made the
game worse.

I actually rather enjoyed the "Dark Alliance" games, although I think
that was more because I was so surprised that the games were at all
playable with a gamepad. I expected a totally horrific experience, and
that... the "Dark Alliance" games weren't. They were simplistic, sure,
but fun, in a mindless popcorn-movie way.

    [Yay for low expectations!]

That said, I enjoyed "Diablo 3" a lot less than those older games.
But, again, that's more because I just don't care for "Diablo's"
design. Those games, it seems to me, are more focussed on their
multplayer experience than the single-player, and this effects
everything in the game: the equipment, the skills, the monster
placement, the pacing. Everything is designed to be balanced in
multiplayer. "Dark Alliance" is primarily a single-player experience,
and this is reflected in how your character steadily becomes more and
more powerful. It's just more rewarding gameplay as far as I'm
concerned.

But YMMV. A lot of people like the Diablo gameplay style. I'm not one
of them, but I don't think it was the use of the gamepad that made the
game less enjoyable for me.