@chaosbrigade: As a huge ARPG fan I greatly disagree with the author's point about skill point allocation and "cookie cutter builds." Literally every ARPG to this day that has skill point system has exact same problem (POE, Grim Dawn, etc). Though it varies from season to season with changes in meta. And he's not even totally right about D2 forcing cookie cutter builds. Every so often in Youtube I see a new build that I never even thought was possible.

One thing that no other ARPG has ever come close to in D2 imo is the fun factor. There is just some satisfying feeling I get killing monsters in this game that I don't get in the modern ones.

The only jarring thing I see in D2's gameplay is having to hotkey skills and change them instead of a skill bar. I think that is really the only improvement D2 needs.

@R4gn4r0k: Any character has to beat normal to get to nightmare

And nightmare to get to hell

Guess I'm just getting old.

I grew up with D2 and play D3 periodically.

D2 has far more immersion and the plot is so much more interesting. It's a grittier, more adult vision than D3. I like the itemization and trading more than D3's approach at itemization. The core of the game is fun and addicting.

D3 however has smoother, more cinematic gameplay and offers a variety of environments and enemies in the form of rifts. The difficulty scales more smoothly and the player has more control over that aspect. I play hardcore only for this reason. It's generally fun but leaves me bored midway through a season where progression becomes a slog. D2's end game is more fun because the chances of getting ultra rare loot and trade keep me going.

I hope D4 happens to take the best of both games. Itemization like D2 and trade with a combat system that included a skill bar and cinematic presentation similar to D3 would be excellent in my book. I bet that is one reason Blizzard did this - to gauge what people like and don't like.

@Darkflare_EX: Hmm but at $9 I would expect the game to be crap if it was a long experience unless it was on sale. I only have so much time - can't waste it playing bad games.

@greatatemi: Wife and kid..tickets will be > $30. If you do the usual popcorn thing - you're easily going up to $60.

@Darkflare_EX: Yea but it's only a $9 game lol. Not everything has to be replayable. Not familiar with this game but if it's a really cool experience for $9 that's worth it. People spend $60 at a movie theater for a 90 minute experience.

I suppose the simple solution is to make really short games "no refund." But then Steam users will be less likely to purchase it.

Or, when you reach certain milestones in a game, you lose your ability to refund.

@Baconstrip78: Who cares? This bubble is going to burst within the next year or 2. Stock prices right now mean little.

Don't have a next gen console but I did just get a 3080 ti. Guess that makes me the graphics power equivalent of a 1%er. Yes, I did pay a kidney for it.

Wouldn't surprise me if there were more connections to RE4. The aesthetic is so similar - it was the first thing I thought of when I saw the trailer for the first time.