14 DAY TRIAL // I played quite a bit of the Diablo III beta, trying out all the five character classes and getting though all the four quests included, and my initial impression of the game was pretty disappointing and has cooled off my interest in the Blizzard-made hack and slash, which is set to arrive in about a month.
I loved the initial Diablo and finished it three times, with each of the included character classes, and the game got me through a pretty tough period of my life and I was even satisfied with the Diablo II experience, even though I felt that it got a little too repetitive and obsessed with loot for my taste.
I expected the third game in the series to up the role-playing elements in order to keep gamers interested, opening up new ways to customize characters and differentiate experiences, and the initial information from Blizzard seemed to suggest this.
Unfortunately, the game seems to have undergone major changes earlier during the year, which the fan base suspects are linked with Blizzard’s and Activision’s desire to get the game on home consoles as well as on PCs.
And now the game simply lacks the ability to differentiate between character classes in any meaningful way.
Based solely on gameplay, I would be hard pressed to tell you the unique difference between the Demon Hunter and the Wizard at level 8 and the line of demarcation towards the Witch Hunter and the Monk are equally feeble.
The Barbarian is more unique, but he shares another problem: the skillset for each character is limited and the player gets to control just a limited part of the progression.
I understand that Blizzard loves classes and tries to create different experiences for each of them, but I fail to see how keeping the player out of the class progression loop is a good idea and can allow for a true connection between the fan base and Diablo III.