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Post by Vandelay on Mar 26, 2023 15:13:44 GMT
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Dgzter
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Post by Dgzter on Mar 26, 2023 22:09:39 GMT
Yeah, so I absolutely loved this. Finished off all the available beta content on my Rogue: bumped it to T2 and went back to redo bosses like Denmother just to try out builds etc. Really good fun. Personally, I think they've nailed the aesthetic/ambience, and the pseudo-Hellraiser vibe they've went for is honestly working really well for me -- just hope the quality lasts throughout the campaign.
My only gripe at the moment is the server lag and severe FPS drops in the overworld/towns, especially after transitions. Hoping that's something that can be ironed out, as otherwise performance has been flawless for me on my aging machine.
Pretty hyped, tbh. I could honestly see me re-arranging all my project schedules to have a few days off for the launch of this lol.
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Phattso
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Post by Phattso on Mar 26, 2023 22:53:24 GMT
I’m genuinely bereft that this goes away tomorrow. It has grabbed me like few other games. Very much my jam. The gameplay loops, the controls, the vibe, the layering of content. Yes. Just feed it into my face until I sign the safe word.
Well done, Blizz. A decade well spent.
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Post by Vandelay on Mar 27, 2023 7:34:27 GMT
Yeah, played properly now with friends and it was a lot of fun (had previously only played up to the first real town). We played through the mines and reached level 15. Very satisfying combat and looks to be lots of options for character builds.
Think I already mentioned, I was playing as a necromancer and it was great having an army of undead by my side. I also got a nice surprise when unlocking the skeleton mages at the end of my time playing. I assumed they would be replacements for my first batch, but they were actually in addition. This gave me a little army of 7 skeletons running around, with another bunch being unlocked if I reached level 25.
Being able to add extra abilities to the skeletons was nice too, adding some additional customisation on top of already being able to select types. The option to forego them entirely for a buff is cool too, but the buffs could have been a bit more interesting to make it more enticing.
Some of this wasn't particularly explained though, so I mostly stumbled into it. Tutorialing in general wasn't great, as there seemed to be quite a few systems tucked away that you had to unearth yourself. There were even a few extra tutorial quests hidden under a "priority quest" tab that we didn't find until right towards when we finished playing.
There were a few bugs. The biggest issue we faced was getting through the prologue. One of my friends joined the other's game and skipped the boss at the bottom of the first dungeon you go through. This didn't become apparent until right at the end of prologue when it didn't seem to progress for him into act 1 (it did come up with the pre-order pop-up as if he had completed it though). So, he had to start all over again. We tried to join him, but the game seemed to get a bit confused.
It felt like you shouldn't really be able to join someone else's game until the prologue is complete. They should really just disable that option until you reach the main town.
We had a couple of other issues with it dropping once or twice and it dumping us out at slightly random places. Nothing major and I'm sure that kind of thing will be fixed.
On the tone, although I didn't really think it whilst playing, it does feel a bit of a weird juxtaposition between the game play and how everything in the world feels. During cutscenes and just if you spend time looking at some of the environments, it is all very grim and horror infused. Very claustrophobic and unsettling at times. Then you come to the game and you are mowing through hordes of enemies as they pop into gibs, running around with friends as you watch a cacophony of abilities going off. You probably have to whisper it around Diablo fans, but it is very cartoony. Really, it should probably be going more Doom heavy metal than it should Hellraiser (or, to put it another way, the cutscenes are more Hellraiser 1, whilst the game play is Hellraiser 3).
Lots of fun though. We all ended up thinking we will probably pick it up near release, whereas I had been thinking of holding off to see if it will hit Game Pass by the end of the year. Probably will wait a week or two after the release, as I expect the servers will be a nightmare initially.
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Post by dfunked on Mar 27, 2023 8:50:17 GMT
I couldn't resist preordering. They're doing 4 day early access with the more expensive preorders, so I'm hoping that things will have settled down by the time the actual release date rolls around on the 6th. Having said that, it'd be nice to get the game on a Friday instead of a Tuesday, so I'll probably cave in and upgrade to a pricier version and book the Monday off instead.
June seems so bloody far away now...
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Post by gibroon on Mar 27, 2023 9:04:35 GMT
Enjoyed the Beta, the general feel of the game is a bit darker but do agree it is a bit D3.5. Some of the assets are ripped from D3 and Immortal especially the Necro skellies. Everything is a still a bit too cartoony and bright for my liking. It was definitely a bit more of a challenge than D3 though, some of the bosses were especially challenging which was good.
I know it was a beta but I do have some reservations about the final build quality, for one of their flagship games it seems a bit patchy. I will no doubt get it at some point but will hold off a couple of weeks after launch.
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Post by UncleLou on Mar 27, 2023 9:32:30 GMT
I've got to say, "cartoony and bright" is not a comment I expected. Compared to ... what?
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Post by bichii2 on Mar 27, 2023 9:37:23 GMT
One thing I never quite got in diablo games is boss fights. On one now as barb and there isn't really anyway to beat it. What I mean is it's a melee type boss and the only way as barb is to hit it with a then use other attacks when you have the fury. Your only option is just stand there and trade blows with the occasion dodge dash allowed. So you're either high enough leveled or your aren't. I mean I'm the same rank as the boss I think but it melts me as barb. Rouge or something would be able to set traps etc but barb you just stand there and hit each other.
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Post by Vandelay on Mar 27, 2023 9:44:09 GMT
To clarify my own point on tone and what is cartoony, I think the gameplay is cartoony, not the aesthetic. There are also the cutscenes that lean even more into the grim dark of the environments.
Even though the Diablo community loves the heavy horror vibe, I would say a cartoon aesthetic does make more sense to go with the gameplay. I don't think it is that surprising they tried to go with a lighter tone for Diablo 3, as the game itself is incredibly silly.
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Post by gibroon on Mar 27, 2023 9:50:07 GMT
I've got to say, "cartoony and bright" is not a comment I expected. Compared to ... what? D3 was cartoony and bright
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Post by UncleLou on Mar 27, 2023 9:56:00 GMT
It was. No argument there.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2023 9:59:29 GMT
I much prefer the asthetic and tone on this than 3. I've got to say though I must doing something wrong as I find the gameplay to be the most mindlessly dull thing I've ever played. Feels like a small step up from one of those cookie clicker type games the way I'm playing it?
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Post by dfunked on Mar 27, 2023 10:03:10 GMT
I kind of liked that they fully embraced it with Whimsyshire.
I personally never minded D3's cartoony side. As said above, it fits the click everything until loot explodes out of it gameplay. Then again I never played D2 at launch, so don't really have a massive attachment to the grimdark style of that.
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Post by gibroon on Mar 27, 2023 10:18:08 GMT
I much prefer the asthetic and tone on this than 3. I've got to say though I must doing something wrong as I find the gameplay to be the most mindlessly dull thing I've ever played. Feels like a small step up from one of those cookie clicker type games the way I'm playing it? Yeah, I felt like I was playing a mobile game in a lot of ways, mainly due to the dated gameplay. Lost Ark at least had some good set-pieces, camera work. D4 just feels like nothing new, which is good for some but not exactly inspiring.
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Phattso
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Post by Phattso on Mar 27, 2023 11:37:32 GMT
I much prefer the asthetic and tone on this than 3. I've got to say though I must doing something wrong as I find the gameplay to be the most mindlessly dull thing I've ever played. Feels like a small step up from one of those cookie clicker type games the way I'm playing it? The lower difficulties are traditionally almost tutorial modes. I'm Level 18 with my Necromancer in the D4 Beta and I haven't died once. Not even close. Granted we know that the class is OP AF right now, but still. Once the higher difficulties get unlocked the builds matter a lot more, and the moment-to-moment requires more thought and skill.
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Post by UncleLou on Mar 27, 2023 11:44:46 GMT
I much prefer the asthetic and tone on this than 3. I've got to say though I must doing something wrong as I find the gameplay to be the most mindlessly dull thing I've ever played. Feels like a small step up from one of those cookie clicker type games the way I'm playing it? It‘s never been a skill-based genre or game, although it does get a bit more involved in the endgame, like Phattso has just said. That‘s part of the appeal though - nothing else except a few racing games - Gran Turismo, for example- can give me quite the same “zen”-like vibes. The clicker game comparison isn’t that far-fetched. It’s the AAA version of that.
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Post by bichii2 on Mar 27, 2023 11:54:17 GMT
Yeah I'm not sure what it is but I love diablo games even though normally I enjoy skill based games. There's something simple and satisfying in this even when I'm just holding A and then sometimes tapping another button.
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Post by bichii2 on Mar 27, 2023 13:42:11 GMT
Sucks playing with necros. Just did a couple of main quests with a friend and it was not much fun when half the things on screen are their summons.
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Phattso
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Post by Phattso on Mar 27, 2023 13:43:56 GMT
Truth be told it's a bit annoying even *as* the Necro. I basically just dance around the periphery and orchestrate from afar. I wonder if the engine can handle different zoom out levels as there have been times when I've really wanted to birds-eye things. * * this is where one of you tells me there's actually a button that does exactly this in the game
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Post by dfunked on Mar 27, 2023 13:48:29 GMT
Don't think you can zoom out any further from the default, but you can zoom in IIRC.
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Post by bichii2 on Mar 27, 2023 14:02:02 GMT
I like zooming in when I'm in towns or to check out how sexy I look in my new gear.
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Duffman5
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Post by Duffman5 on Mar 27, 2023 14:57:11 GMT
I like zooming in when I'm in towns or to check out how sexy I look in my new gear. as do I...oh you mean "in game" right, as you were.
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Post by effinjamie on Mar 27, 2023 15:00:01 GMT
Leveled my usual Sorcerer up to level 25 then thought I'd try a Necro. Can't really see the point to be honest, its like having someone else play the game for you and you're just a casual observer.
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myk
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Post by myk on Mar 27, 2023 15:05:42 GMT
Seemed to me like they'll be easy mode early game then fall off in the harder content. The fact you can choose not to use them and get bonuses hints having all of them around might not be optimal.
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Post by dfunked on Mar 27, 2023 15:05:56 GMT
I kind of like that about the necro at first. Although I like auto attacking skills like the hydra anyway, as you can just drop them to mop up some trash.
You still need to manage CD, and when you get a decent build together it's just as involving as the other classes IMO. (All from a D3 perspective. Haven't tried necro in this yet)
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Post by Vandelay on Mar 27, 2023 15:12:50 GMT
Did anyone try Druid? Thinking that might be the class I'll go with when I get the full game.
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Post by Jambowayoh on Mar 27, 2023 15:28:21 GMT
Did anyone try Druid? Thinking that might be the class I'll go with when I get the full game. I tried it, didn't really get on with it tbh, hits way too slow for my liking and Spirit buildup was far too slow for the base attacks.
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neems
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Post by neems on Mar 27, 2023 21:27:27 GMT
I enjoyed Druid, but it only really came together when I got a legendary affix that gave me an extra hit on the 'Landslide' skill. Respecced fully into earth skills and went to town.
I think I might go Rogue at launch, had a nice knockdown build going.
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Post by Warrender on Mar 28, 2023 1:56:35 GMT
I love this game. I’m already planning a three day sickie from work around launch. Slacker. I took a week's vacation on release week to get a proper headstart.
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MolarAm🔵
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Post by MolarAm🔵 on Mar 28, 2023 3:02:50 GMT
I will probably go Druid, because my plan for this (as it was with D3) is to look as stupid as possible. And turning into a giant bear for a split second in order to break a crate, feels like a pretty good start to that.
Hopefully they will have some summoning options too?
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