Current Events > Still blows my mind how badly they botched Diablo 3's story *spoilers*

(+) Yeah! (+)

Forget the rocky launch, the real-money auction house, the bad itemization, all of that. I just don't understand still to this day how they so badly misunderstood what Diablo was about. The constant cringe-inducing one-liners, the villains showing up every thirty seconds to spout off "YOU'LL NEVER DEFEAT ME! MWAHAHA!" like Saturday morning cartoon villains, containing several immense plot developments within horribly animated in-game cutscenes... man. Such a big whiff after the ambiance of the first two games.

And like, it's weird because it clearly tried to do fanservice in a lot of ways but again just completely misunderstood what would resonate. No one wanted to see The Butcher make a WWE entrance, introduced by a hammy demonic butterfly, and scream "vegetables bad, meat good!"

I don't get it, man. Was it just Jay Wilson? I'll give credit where it's due and say Reaper of Souls improved on all of this about as much as you possibly could without feeling like a jarringly different game.
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Dude, nobody plays Diablo for the story
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Blue_Dream87 posted...

Dude, nobody plays Diablo for the story

That was patently untrue in D1 and D2.

It's very true in D3 and why I still really enjoy the game, but the story still bugs the crap out of me.
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Blue_Dream87 posted...

Dude, nobody plays Diablo for the story

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Blue_Dream87 posted...

Dude, nobody plays Diablo for the story

So, that makes it OK to force all of that horrendous dialogue, the barely skippable quest scenes, onto the player?

Sakaki posted...

Blue_Dream87 posted...

Dude, nobody plays Diablo for the story

So, that makes it OK to force all of that horrendous dialogue, the barely skippable quest scenes, onto the player?

Yeah it's funny that "Nobody cares about the story" is consdered a valid defense when the story sucks
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"Nobody cares" is both a) not an excuse and b) not even true. The story got a lot of blowback because D2's cinematics and overall story/vibe were excellent and unsettling.
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I feel like you may be nostalgia'ing hard here. The first game literally had a cackling demon named The Butcher who was just a demon that was a butcher.

Dash_Harber posted...

I feel like you may be nostalgia'ing hard here. The first game literally had a cackling demon named The Butcher who was just a demon that was a butcher.

That one didn't pause the gameplay to give you a lecture on why vegetables are bad. He just ran up to you and started butchering you.

Dash_Harber posted...

The first game literally had a cackling demon named The Butcher who was just a demon that was a butcher.

I mean... exactly. That was simple and scary and effective.

The "less is more" approach was perfect for Diablo 1 and 2. By and large, those stories were about a town (or towns) already beyond fucked, with you just chasing in the wake of unfathomably powerful demons who did not give a shit about you. You were an insect, a nuisance at best, facing insurmountable odds. We got lore and the backstory of what was occurring through gossip, not through Demon Lords monologuing at us for 45 seconds explaining their plans in great detail.
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Mr_Biscuit posted...

Dash_Harber posted...

The first game literally had a cackling demon named The Butcher who was just a demon that was a butcher.

I mean... exactly. That was simple and scary and effective.

The "less is more" approach was perfect for Diablo 1 and 2. By and large, those stories were about a town (or towns) already beyond fucked, with you just chasing in the wake of unfathomably powerful demons who did not give a shit about you. You were an insect, a nuisance at best, facing insurmountable odds. We got lore and the backstory of what was occurring through gossip, not through Demon Lords monologuing at us for 45 seconds explaining their plans in great detail.

Fair enough, but it's sort of like watching Star Wars and hoping for some real good Astronomy information.

Mr_Biscuit posted...

Dash_Harber posted...

The first game literally had a cackling demon named The Butcher who was just a demon that was a butcher.

I mean... exactly. That was simple and scary and effective.

The "less is more" approach was perfect for Diablo 1 and 2. By and large, those stories were about a town (or towns) already beyond fucked, with you just chasing in the wake of unfathomably powerful demons who did not give a shit about you. You were an insect, a nuisance at best, facing insurmountable odds. We got lore and the backstory of what was occurring through gossip, not through Demon Lords monologuing at us for 45 seconds explaining their plans in great detail.

It's like you're intentionally ignoring the journals that provide the lore. And I struggle to recall a demon lord who took longer than 20 seconds to start fighting.
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The first time I played Dark Souls, I got like 30 minutes in and thought "holy crap does this feel like Diablo." Not in gameplay, obviously, but in that sense of the broken world that may or may not already be beyond saving, with most of the surviving NPCs either in despair or driven mad. That vibe only grew as I started to gather what was going on through conversations and bits of lore, rather than monologues.

I mean, fuck, compare the story of Marius and the Wanderer to anything in D3's story.
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Dash_Harber posted...

Fair enough, but it's sort of like watching Star Wars and hoping for some real good Astronomy information.

The first two games did exactly what I'm talking about, so no. I was hoping the third game would have the same vibe and ambiance as the first two.

Blue_Dream87 posted...

It's like you're intentionally ignoring the journals that provide the lore.

The journals were mostly great but they weren't how the story was delivered. The story was delivered through (really terrible) in-game cutscenes. I'd have preferred more journals, albeit with less jokes in them preferably, and way fewer "get it?! This was my plan! Let me explain!" moments.
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Worth noting that Reapers story isnt phenomenal but definitely SUBSTANTIALLY better. Credit where its due. I felt the atmosphere had a lot more genuine dread and things were a little more personal.
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Gotta say, I just played through Temple of the Firstborn for the first time and man, thats the good shit right there.

More of an atmospheric note than story note, I suppose, but that place nailed it. Minimal on the exposition, maximum on the creepy.
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the last season I played was 13. burnt out again.
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Does the bad story make Diablo's face tired?
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chris metzen is basically the george lucas of blizzard. i appreciate and love all that he introduced but i'm glad he's out of the picture now
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>playing games for the story

People dont really do this past the age of 10 do they?

Mr_Biscuit posted...

That was patently untrue in D1 and D2.

lol
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RickyTheBAWSE posted...

the last season I played was 13. burnt out again.

I hadnt played in a while but D3 Switch got me back in.

I love the game, it just bums me out that the whole vibe was just so OFF in the base game. Whoever headed design on Westmarch and especially the bonus content like Secheron and Temple of the Firstborn gets it and it gives me some faith in D4 whenever we get it.
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Act II is basically one mega fetch quest.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcJ_XT3oWtY" data-time="
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Mr_Biscuit posted...

Whoever headed design on Westmarch and especially the bonus content like Secheron and Temple of the Firstborn gets it and it gives me some faith in D4 whenever we get it.

That would probably be Wyatt Cheng, the guy who Blizzard basically threw to the wolves to announced Diablo Immortal at Blizzcon.
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St0rmFury posted...

Act II is basically one mega fetch quest.

And a fucking bad one

Belial, Lord of Lies, is an objectively terrible liar. Its not even Blizzard failing to be sneaky, even the characters comment multiple times on how obvious it is that the child emperor is super fishy. Not only that, but hes not really doing anything except waiting to be killed, so why are we bothering with Kulle and the Soulstone? Moreover, Azmodans whole reason for invading was to get the Black Soulstone, so again, why are we doing this
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Delirious_Beard posted...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcJ_XT3oWtY" data-time="

Oh god it hurts

Especially Azmodan lmao
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Mr_Biscuit posted...

Blue_Dream87 posted...

Dude, nobody plays Diablo for the story

That was patently untrue in D1 and D2.

No, it's not.
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Am I the only person who didn't hate Leah
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Azmodan shows up every 5 minutes just to tell you that you ain't shit and to eat a dick. he was probably the one I wanted dead the most.
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toyota posted...

>playing games for the story

People dont really do this past the age of 10 do they?

Multiplayer is what you do when don't have the skill for single player.
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It's because Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction created the whole LOOOOOOOOOOT aspect of the series that overwhelmed everything else about it.

Diablo 3 was never meant to be a dungeon crawl with thick atmosphere ambiance unlike previous two games, unfortunately.

That, and add in Blizzard's perchant for making the player an over the top super hero these days.
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Lord_Wombat posted...

Mr_Biscuit posted...

Blue_Dream87 posted...

Dude, nobody plays Diablo for the story

That was patently untrue in D1 and D2.

No, it's not.

Yes. it is.

Dont get me wrong, Im not saying people only or even mostly played D2 for the story, but many did and it was highly regarded for its atmosphere and the cinematics. It was obviously crafted with love and care, while D3s story was absolute schlock.
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I've never played a Diablo game for the story and 3 was just a massive shit show for so many reasons.
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kuwab0 posted...

Am I the only person who didn't hate Leah

I dont love or hate Leah. She trends dangerously towards generic and her saying they were all just stories, my uncle only saw what he wanted to see to a literal angel a few hours after Cain got killed by a butterfly demon directly in front of her was one of the dumbest things imaginable, but shes far from my biggest problem.
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yeah D1 and D2 were atmospheric af. the setting felt dark and it worked out great. D3 does absolutely feel like a cartoon
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They totally did.

Blizz no longer cared about the fans after WoW, they've already been paid, now they can cash out with the new cell phone game, because the younger generation will eat up the micro transactions.

Since there is no standard to hold them to, they can do what they want, people will still buy, nobody boycotts, they just whine on the internet which does nothing.

Diablo 4 will be the same thing, peeps will buy, complain, buy the expansion, complain, Diablo 5 will introduce features removed, people will complain, etc etc

Lmao. Diablo has always been kitschy as fuck.
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I thought the story in 2 was pretty amazing. I always enjoyed talking to all the people and getting a feel for the area

COVxy posted...

Lmao. Diablo has always been kitschy as fuck.

You know, for all the Diablos story never mattered to anyone posts in here, there sure are a lot of others agreeing with me too

Makes you think


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Mr_Biscuit posted...

COVxy posted...

Lmao. Diablo has always been kitschy as fuck.

You know, for all the Diablos story never mattered to anyone posts in here, there sure are a lot of others agreeing with me too

Makes you think

Story being kitschy doesn't mean story doesn't matter, my point is entirely different. The story has ALWAYS been full of ridiculous tropes and over exaggerated caricatures.

I think too may people played Diablo 2 when they were 11 and thought "oh, this is so spoopy" and have now generalized their nostalgic experience to "what Diablo is supposed to be about".
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While the story and presentation had some flaws, a few things did catch me off guard (in a good way) - spoilers obv, but Deckard actually dying, eventual fate of Leah, eventual fate of Tyrael.

I get what you are saying about the first two starting off with a hopeless tone - you are thrust into a setting already sliding downwards, but with D3 that was part of the draw for me. Things are stable.. Diablo and his brothers were defeated/dissipated... so what else could there be? In a way that set the stage for RoS (and it's grim ending) really well...

Poor Leah...
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UnfairRepresent posted...

Sakaki posted...

Blue_Dream87 posted...

Dude, nobody plays Diablo for the story

So, that makes it OK to force all of that horrendous dialogue, the barely skippable quest scenes, onto the player?

Yeah it's funny that "Nobody cares about the story" is consdered a valid defense when the story sucks

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Are people still pretending D1/D2 VA and dialogue wasn't corny and melodramatic long before D3 came along?
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Ruvan22 posted...

While the story and presentation had some flaws, a few things did catch me off guard (in a good way) - spoilers obv, but Deckard actually dying, eventual fate of Leah, eventual fate of Tyrael.

I get what you are saying about the first two starting off with a hopeless tone - you are thrust into a setting already sliding downwards, but with D3 that was part of the draw for me. Things are stable.. Diablo and his brothers were defeated/dissipated... so what else could there be? In a way that set the stage for RoS (and it's grim ending) really well...

Thats kind of the issue for me though. The few good story decisions they made were delivered terribly too.

I think Cain dying couldve been super powerful... but to Maghda in a horrible in-game cutscene that made zero sense for any character involved? Leah gets betrayed by her mother and possessed by Diablo... in another bad in-game cutscene with a monologue from Adria laying out everything in detail in case you hadnt been paying attention?

They undercut even the potentially good beats.
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i love blizzard games but never have any of them been known for deep & complex stories, it's schlocky comic book style stuff with corruption as a core plot device lol
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Like, for real, what IS that Cain death sequence?

Maghda: Fix the sword, since youre the only one who can!
Cain: Why?
Maghda: Belial wants it for reasons! Now I will kill you before you fix the sword even though you never refused to do so!
Cain: ARRGHHH NOT THE BUTTERFLIES
Leah: *goes Super Saiyan and nearly passes out*
Maghda: Okay you got me this time I guess! Ill just leave... because!
Cain: At least I can use my dying breaths to fix the sword like she was just trying to make me do against my will!
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Also why did Tyrael rip off his wings, thus causing himself to plummet to earth and awaken the dead, killing like... a lot of people and giving himself amnesia rather than just, like

...leaving

to help us as a super-angel

He even has a line in Act V where hes like man I cant help but wonder if I wouldve been more helpful if I didnt tear off my wings for dubious reasons

No shit Tyrael
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