View Topic

Fate was an interesting game to say the least.

Although Torchlight was monumentally better when it came out...probably because of the D2 people that helped with it.  I have yet to play Torchlight 2 since it's not a console game.

It certainly was eccentric, lol...who would have thought of having a Diablo-like game with fishing? Still, Fate probably would have been a much more successful game if it'd had multiplayer ability. At the time that it was released, Diablo II was still the main game in the genre mostly due to its multiplayer.

Reon and I recently completed a run-through of Torchlight 2, and it's not bad. In terms of mechanics, it's more or less an expansion of Torchlight with entirely new classes. I would say out of the current generation of aRPGs, the area that it stands out is modability...it was made to be modded as extensively as anyone wanted. I personally find the graphics a bit cartoonish, though that could be because to me D2 is still 'the classic' that good aRPGs should follow.

Partially for those reasons, I think Path of Exile is probably the best aRPG of the current generation. It's an online game, but areas outside of towns are instanced so it's not quite a MMORPG, but the best thing about it to me is how you can customize your characters skills, stats, and abilities...you have skill gems that grant your character skills regardless of class, a skill map that all classes share (though different classes start in different areas), and the ability to find and get all sorts of different items. Plus it holds true to the D2 theme. The only downside is that it arguably caters to hardcore players, especially at the endgame.

I think the thing that killed it for me with the first game was that you were confined to one dungeon and a town.

Now, that was okay with Diablo because it was an older game and was still experimenting quite a bit to where a one-area dungeon type of game seemed like a good idea to them.

Fate, however, came when Diablo 2 was already out, so them copying the idea but changing it into a "cave" makes it seem like a complete Diablo clone with some added features, to where it seemed they were like "Oh, you liked the first Diablo?  Well here's our version, and it's much better."

And granted it did have some good ideas such as having the companion pet and, as you said, fishing.  But really? 

And that's probably why they opted for a more cartoonish look for D3 rather than the gritty-hardcore realistic type of looks that they were building up in 2.  Torchlight became pretty successful to where it was considered almost a spiritual successor to the series despite them being completely different games.  So I imagine the makers of Diablo saw and capitalized on the fact that people loved the graphics especially, and thus Diablo III was made in that style.

Personally, I didn't mind the graphics of D3 in the slightest, but I know some people were pretty disappointed in the fact that it was more cartoonish than realistic, which they considered a "downgrade" compared to 2.

I haven't actually played D3, so I can't comment on it. I think Fate was a game that was put together as quick and as cheaply as possible...thus, the lack of multiplayer and the one dungeon setting. Torchlight carried this on, because it was meant as a 'practice' game for making a future Torchlight MMO, which became Torchlight 2 instead.

I will say that I consider Path of Exile the true spiritual successor to Diablo II. I'm trying to get Reon to play it with me, but he hasn't been in the mood for it yet.

I also just don't like Path of Exile...

I would rather play Diablo III which I have and like...

See, I also like D3.  While, yes, it's quite a bit different compared to 2 and , I welcome the change.  You don't want to keep the same formula for too long since people will get bored, and with the way the style was changing with upcoming games, I think they made the correct change.  Did it have problems?  Well yes, but most big name games do these days, and Blizzard is no exception.  Could they have done more?  Sure, but for what it is, it works.  It answers quite a few questions that the first two games left, and goes back to even explain the plot in those two a bit better for both new players and returning players alike.  They make it so you can backtrack to the other games for nostalgia purposes, but not for clarification purposes.

On the other hand, there's a reason that classic games become classic games, and many sequels have lost their way by trying to reinvent themselves unnecessarily (SimCity, anyone?). I think Path of Exile has struck a good balance of trying new things while remaining true to the things that people loved about D2, and the fact that the company is making money off it in spite of offering a free game that's funded only through 'ethical' micro-transactions (no XP-boosts, etc) says a lot about its success. 

On the other hand, there's a reason that classic games become classic games, and many sequels have lost their way by trying to reinvent themselves unnecessarily (SimCity, anyone?). I think Path of Exile has struck a good balance of trying new things while remaining true to the things that people loved about D2, and the fact that the company is making money off it in spite of offering a free game that's funded only through 'ethical' micro-transactions (no XP-boosts, etc) says a lot about its success.

Well that's partly true as well.  But banking on the success of a popular game by creating the exact same formula for its sequels is always a horrible idea, because it will always be even more critically compared to the other game as it would if they had played with the mechanics a bit.  People would comment about the graphics being a bit stale for this time period and that Blizzard needs to step up their game, they'd comment on the lack of originality since the game itself would play the same, and arguably everything that happened in D3 would translate poorly if it was done in D2 style.

I think what makes PoE successful is because it took what made D2 good, and made it into an MMO...something many people wanted with D2 once it came out.  Even with D3, the multiplayer is slightly limited in the sense that you don't proceed throughout the game as you did with D2 multiplayer.  If I'm correct (since I've never actually done it), you can only do a chapter at a time, rather than going through the progression.  But I'm only speaking of online multiplayer...it might play far differently in local.

Well that's partly true as well.  But banking on the success of a popular game by creating the exact same formula for its sequels is always a horrible idea, because it will always be even more critically compared to the other game as it would if they had played with the mechanics a bit.  People would comment about the graphics being a bit stale for this time period and that Blizzard needs to step up their game, they'd comment on the lack of originality since the game itself would play the same, and arguably everything that happened in D3 would translate poorly if it was done in D2 style.

I think what makes PoE successful is because it took what made D2 good, and made it into an MMO...something many people wanted with D2 once it came out.  Even with D3, the multiplayer is slightly limited in the sense that you don't proceed throughout the game as you did with D2 multiplayer.  If I'm correct (since I've never actually done it), you can only do a chapter at a time, rather than going through the progression.  But I'm only speaking of online multiplayer...it might play far differently in local.

Just to clarify, PoE is not a MMO...it's an online game with the towns serving as 'lobbies' of a sort, but once you leave town the entire Act is instanced to you and your party, much like D2/D3. In some ways it's even better than a MMO because you have the community and activity in town to do things like item-trading and economy stuff, but you still get the intimate experience of just having you and your party out in the world. You're not competing with others for kills or grinding areas. I think the choice to do it like that was very innovative, but there could be more improvements made...building up guilds, for example.

Actually I hope to eventually find at least one person to play PoE with...I love the aRPGs, but they're the sort of game that's so much better having at least one companion to play with. I probably would have never finished Torchlight II on my own without Reon.

Ohhh, okay, gotcha.  I heard from some that it's an MMO, and that it's not, so I was a bit confused and thought it purely was.

If I had a better computer that would play it, I'd happy play PoE with you.  I really need a better system.  <.<

Yes, you do.

I would rather play Diablo III which I have and like...

I read that Dildo III, which sounds fun

PCGamer and Bundle Stars are giving away Steam keys for Culling of the Cows, which is apparently a tower-defense sort of game. The directions for getting it are here, but it's mostly filling out your email and liking PCGamer and Bundle Stars on Facebook.

I don't know if it's a good game or not, but it's free, so...yeah.

http://www.amazon.com/Starcraft-II-Battle-Chest-PC-Mac/dp/B00PV2S6EE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1433919385&sr=8-1&keywords=starcraft+2+battle+chest

Amazon is having a sale on the Starcraft II Battle Chest...$19.99 for both Starcraft II titles, and a strategy guide that is included. Probably not cheap as defined for this topic, but sales on Blizzard games seem to be rare so I thought I'd include it. Note that this is a boxed version, meaning it has to be shipped to your home and then you install it from physical media like you had to in the old days.

Game sales abound just about everywhere though, as everyone tries to wrap up their own game sales before Steam launches theirs.