Something that has been bothering me on the two classes I've ran through Act 1 is that the class specific dialogue when looting the Countess for the first time and picking up the Horadric Malus for the first time isn't triggering. My gaming OCD kicked in, and I ran a character through in the old version and, sure enough, it's there. This is a weird bug. For the most part, it's just the latest patch running underneath the new graphics.
Other than that, it is visually striking, and smooth as silk in the gameplay department. I have read alot of professional reviews about this, and they all make a ridiculous point as far as I'm concerned, which is saying "it's Diablo II, warps and all". Ummmm.......yeah. That's not only what most people wanted, but what we were promised. Complaining it's "just Diablo II with a new paint job" means you aren't even meeting the game where you should on the most basic level. Roger Ebert used to always say he reviewed movies based on what they were trying to do, and graded them based on how well they executed what they were attempting. He didn't hold Citizen Kane and There's Something About Mary to the same standard.
Other than that, it is visually striking, and smooth as silk in the gameplay department. I have read alot of professional reviews about this, and they all make a ridiculous point as far as I'm concerned, which is saying "it's Diablo II, warps and all". Ummmm.......yeah. That's not only what most people wanted, but what we were promised. Complaining it's "just Diablo II with a new paint job" means you aren't even meeting the game where you should on the most basic level. Roger Ebert used to always say he reviewed movies based on what they were trying to do, and graded them based on how well they executed what they were attempting. He didn't hold Citizen Kane and There's Something About Mary to the same standard.
I think I disagree with you on this point.
Reviewing a remake like this shouldnt necessarily be done on a curve, as there is going to be a large customer base of players who have never played Diablo 2, and might consider playing it fore the first time. The game was made to appease the existing playerbase, and that's fine - but D2:R is also trying to attract a new playerbase. So those people need to be informed as to the state of the game.
Really, I think it's perhaps more important to take a critical eye to something like D2:R, which made so few changes precisely because there's a lot (and do i mean a LOT) of very strong positive sentiment around the game. It's essentially been seen as the gold-standard of the ARPG looter genre since it was released. That sort of word of mouth might convince a D3 player that D2 is superior in every way and they should spend the money on it immediately... when in reality, there are a lot of issues with D2, which dont bother the people who love it but might bother a newcomer.
The last thought I have about it is: The reviews for a game like D2:R are probably more for people who are on the fence or never played it to begin with. I'm fairly certain that aside from seeing that there are no game-breaking bugs, anyone who already loved D2 was already sold (or had already decided to skip it). The review isnt really for them...
So I finally got around to bingeing a bit on D2R over the week. And the game basically met almost all of my expecations. And for folks who maybe missed this game when it came out, I can highly recommend it as a purchase. If you like a simplistic action RPG.
I've played entirely online and in hardcore mode. One subtle change about online play is that the default setting for all players is to join a party on invitation and for game hosts to invite people to a party. It's only been a week but this has already seemingly done wonders for increasing the quality of good-mannered online play. I've been on enough to play through normal and die once in act 3 and then make a second character that has made it to nightmare. And I've literally only seen one person hostile and attempt to grief people.
As well doesn't seem like there's evidence of bots or hacks or item duping so far. I see people making trades of even mediocre gear in public games. That's another nice social feature, you can place an item in the chat, so everyone can read its description. So it's kind of a golden age right now for online play.
There's no ladder up yet though. And the game is a bit buggier than I expected from a Blizzard product -- a high bar admittedly. I've had three crashes from attempting to join games. All kinds of little tiny bugs like what's been mentioned upthread here -- frost nova animations not triggering, some other minor, visual related bugs. So if that bothers you, might be good to wait a month or two.
The graphics facelift has pretty much been universally good. As I suspected from watching videos, the action of combat is much easier to read. And thus you feel much more active in some of the split-second decision making. Even the item drops from monsters are easier to read, meaning you're not necessarily as motivated to read drops via text -- keeping you more in the character's experience for longer.
The menus are a little goofy and maybe that's just some time for adjustment. Sometimes crucial text seems to small or too skinny. I'm also not a big fan of the fat borders that cut out a third of the screen without doing much else. Seems like a waste. There are some missed opportunities out there too. I wish they had added some mercenary art for when they have different weapons or armor, but oh well.
It's pretty darned comprehensive, every class getting some skill changes. Especially notable is martial arts assassin having some radical changes. Also notable are significant buffs to non-act II mercenaries. New runewords, several changes to set items to boost them. And a bunch of new monster level 85 areas for Hell difficulty.
I'm honestly shocked that they did this so soon after release, I thought they might just roll with the game intact for at least a year. But it's also a hopeful sign that they perhaps plan on tweaking this game a bunch in the future. Still no word yet on ladder addition, but seems likely that will come with the patch announcement.
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Other than that, it is visually striking, and smooth as silk in the gameplay department. I have read alot of professional reviews about this, and they all make a ridiculous point as far as I'm concerned, which is saying "it's Diablo II, warps and all". Ummmm.......yeah. That's not only what most people wanted, but what we were promised. Complaining it's "just Diablo II with a new paint job" means you aren't even meeting the game where you should on the most basic level. Roger Ebert used to always say he reviewed movies based on what they were trying to do, and graded them based on how well they executed what they were attempting. He didn't hold Citizen Kane and There's Something About Mary to the same standard.
I think I disagree with you on this point.
Reviewing a remake like this shouldnt necessarily be done on a curve, as there is going to be a large customer base of players who have never played Diablo 2, and might consider playing it fore the first time. The game was made to appease the existing playerbase, and that's fine - but D2:R is also trying to attract a new playerbase. So those people need to be informed as to the state of the game.
Really, I think it's perhaps more important to take a critical eye to something like D2:R, which made so few changes precisely because there's a lot (and do i mean a LOT) of very strong positive sentiment around the game. It's essentially been seen as the gold-standard of the ARPG looter genre since it was released. That sort of word of mouth might convince a D3 player that D2 is superior in every way and they should spend the money on it immediately... when in reality, there are a lot of issues with D2, which dont bother the people who love it but might bother a newcomer.
The last thought I have about it is: The reviews for a game like D2:R are probably more for people who are on the fence or never played it to begin with. I'm fairly certain that aside from seeing that there are no game-breaking bugs, anyone who already loved D2 was already sold (or had already decided to skip it). The review isnt really for them...
I've played entirely online and in hardcore mode. One subtle change about online play is that the default setting for all players is to join a party on invitation and for game hosts to invite people to a party. It's only been a week but this has already seemingly done wonders for increasing the quality of good-mannered online play. I've been on enough to play through normal and die once in act 3 and then make a second character that has made it to nightmare. And I've literally only seen one person hostile and attempt to grief people.
As well doesn't seem like there's evidence of bots or hacks or item duping so far. I see people making trades of even mediocre gear in public games. That's another nice social feature, you can place an item in the chat, so everyone can read its description. So it's kind of a golden age right now for online play.
There's no ladder up yet though. And the game is a bit buggier than I expected from a Blizzard product -- a high bar admittedly. I've had three crashes from attempting to join games. All kinds of little tiny bugs like what's been mentioned upthread here -- frost nova animations not triggering, some other minor, visual related bugs. So if that bothers you, might be good to wait a month or two.
The graphics facelift has pretty much been universally good. As I suspected from watching videos, the action of combat is much easier to read. And thus you feel much more active in some of the split-second decision making. Even the item drops from monsters are easier to read, meaning you're not necessarily as motivated to read drops via text -- keeping you more in the character's experience for longer.
The menus are a little goofy and maybe that's just some time for adjustment. Sometimes crucial text seems to small or too skinny. I'm also not a big fan of the fat borders that cut out a third of the screen without doing much else. Seems like a waste. There are some missed opportunities out there too. I wish they had added some mercenary art for when they have different weapons or armor, but oh well.
It's pretty darned comprehensive, every class getting some skill changes. Especially notable is martial arts assassin having some radical changes. Also notable are significant buffs to non-act II mercenaries. New runewords, several changes to set items to boost them. And a bunch of new monster level 85 areas for Hell difficulty.
I'm honestly shocked that they did this so soon after release, I thought they might just roll with the game intact for at least a year. But it's also a hopeful sign that they perhaps plan on tweaking this game a bunch in the future. Still no word yet on ladder addition, but seems likely that will come with the patch announcement.