Diablo II vs. Diablo III

00:00:00.030Diablo the game that changed all pushing

00:00:03.060dialogue storyline and downtime to the

00:00:05.190backseat and bringing tense fast-paced

00:00:07.290real-time action to the forefront Diablo

00:00:09.750set the standard of action RPG design

00:00:11.730for decades though it was by no means

00:00:13.679the first time to accelerate and

00:00:15.240streamline the RPG formula it was by far

00:00:17.850the most popular one to do so Diablo 2

00:00:20.460stole that crown and pretty much outdid

00:00:22.289the original in just about every way

00:00:23.609more classes environments loot and a

00:00:26.550greater scope in environments abilities

00:00:28.349in combat made the first game all but

00:00:30.269obsolete it had such a lasting

00:00:32.489attraction that the Diablo battle chest

00:00:34.140still landed on top-10 lists of

00:00:35.910best-selling PC games a decade after

00:00:37.950release many things happen between the

00:00:40.079second and third game including a

00:00:42.000complete scrap of the original Diablo 3

00:00:44.010prototype and the mass leaving of the

00:00:46.200entire team that developed the first two

00:00:47.789games so when the long-awaited three

00:00:50.070cool arrived this new game from a

00:00:52.260completely different team was as you

00:00:54.059would expect very different from what

00:00:55.680the fanbase anticipated years later and

00:00:58.199after game-changing patches and an

00:01:00.059expansion pack we have a much better

00:01:01.949game for it but major differences and

00:01:04.260controversial design decisions remain

00:01:06.060I've played all three games on both

00:01:08.310their PC and console versions and I have

00:01:10.890clocked hundreds of hours on them in

00:01:12.450total but this will be coming from the

00:01:14.430mindset of a medium core player of both

00:01:16.590single-player and multiplayer with

00:01:18.000friends I'm making this video to go over

00:01:20.430as fairly as possible the elements

00:01:22.320Diablo 2 and Diablo 3 did better in my

00:01:24.330opinion and with whispers of a new entry

00:01:26.759coming to the series perhaps we can take

00:01:28.770a look at what can be learned from

00:01:30.030successes and mistakes of the past I

00:01:32.009give you Diablo 2 versus Diablo 3

00:01:49.440[Music]

00:01:50.680both games have cinematics before each

00:01:53.210act but there's a difference here the

00:01:55.520elbow to cinematics focused on the

00:01:57.140one-ders actions and building up the

00:01:59.450anticipation for what's to come this

00:02:01.490made way for the player to tell their

00:02:03.080story through the gameplay more so than

00:02:04.759the cinematics Diablo 3 story was

00:02:07.039brought to life by beautiful cinematics

00:02:08.810sadly focused on Lea's disparate story

00:02:11.569which after lots of character

00:02:13.160development was a letdown when she

00:02:14.840became the titular antagonist in a

00:02:16.430surprise act for though both games

00:02:18.830feature solid and will produce

00:02:20.090soundtracks most gamers would agree that

00:02:22.160Madeline's haunting high reverb a

00:02:24.140combination of soft choir low piano keys

00:02:26.870and famous guitar riffs of the first two

00:02:28.610games is Diablo incarnate while turning

00:02:31.190the music offered Diablo 2 I noticed

00:02:33.200something interesting

00:02:33.980I could hear a draft of win in some

00:02:36.140areas faint screams and echoes of things

00:02:38.600often innocence the patter of footsteps

00:02:40.700all around the environment and the

00:02:42.980slight burning sound of a nearby torch

00:02:44.780all these things are minor overall but

00:02:47.030really added a sense of space and

00:02:48.440atmosphere to the game Diablo two's tone

00:02:50.989was pitch black reading about the horror

00:02:53.390stories and untold evils that have

00:02:55.070plagued the world many times over

00:02:56.269stories of as a virgin blood gore

00:02:59.150painted arenas and hatred enemies the

00:03:02.030sense of lingering horror was paramount

00:03:03.859on the other hand Diablo 3 stone is all

00:03:07.070over the place

00:03:07.640we have biblical corruption yarns loot

00:03:10.340goblins fallen angels and butterfly

00:03:12.950witches the graphic style also clearly

00:03:15.410took some visual cues from the more

00:03:16.880pleasant and agreeable World of Warcraft

00:03:18.620graphics with Randor shapes brighter

00:03:20.840colors and softer edges and so it came

00:03:25.340to pass that the countess who once

00:03:27.709bathed in the rejuvenating blood of a

00:03:29.900hundred virgins was buried alive

00:03:32.840and her castle in which so many cruel

00:03:35.629deeds took place fell rapidly into ruin

00:03:39.370rising over the very dungeons in that

00:03:42.080godforsaken wilderness a solitary tower

00:03:45.050like some monument to evil is all that

00:03:48.860remains the countess's fortune was

00:03:52.370believed to be divided among the clergy

00:03:54.250although some say that more remains

00:03:57.049unfound still buried alongside the

00:04:00.620rotting skulls that bear mute witness to

00:04:03.920the inhumanity of

00:04:06.459creature

00:04:08.450with a thicker and more unique

00:04:10.380atmosphere with a story that stays out

00:04:12.390of your way

00:04:13.050Diablo 2 takes this one hands down

00:04:15.550[Music]

00:04:24.710always a focal point of the Diablo

00:04:26.940series loot could be found in chests be

00:04:29.490bought at stores or drop off enemies

00:04:31.440with thousands of combinations of

00:04:32.940magical effects

00:04:33.870I feel the rarity and power algorithm in

00:04:36.360Diablo 2 is just about right where rare

00:04:38.760and legendary items were just in common

00:04:40.620enough to seem viable but not too

00:04:42.600frequent so as to lose importance and

00:04:44.280become boring

00:04:44.940you could also penny pinch sell items at

00:04:47.850stores and save up to buy a good item at

00:04:49.830the shops or gamble on an item of

00:04:51.720unknown value at certain vendors

00:04:53.340conversely Diablo 3 started out

00:04:55.380downright loot starved in its original

00:04:57.420release after playing it for dozens of

00:04:59.400hours I never organically received a

00:05:01.290single legendary item only to go buy a

00:05:03.750few in the broken economy of the auction

00:05:05.820house Blizzard later realized the error

00:05:07.740of their ways and in my opinion over

00:05:09.570corrected that they killed the auction

00:05:11.490house and made item drops way way more

00:05:13.380generous making it commonplace in later

00:05:15.720levels to see 2 sometimes 3 Legendary's

00:05:18.090drop off a single creature shops are

00:05:20.160made pretty useless in 3 as well being

00:05:22.440that almost all items sell for a similar

00:05:24.720lowly price and sell mostly lower end

00:05:27.000items making crafting your only

00:05:29.040non-combat option for better loot there

00:05:31.380were lots of little mechanics in - that

00:05:33.180were removed in 3 like keys to unlock

00:05:35.400certain chests and needing lots of ton

00:05:37.320portal and identify scrolls of having

00:05:39.540some sort of risk reward or trade for

00:05:41.370identifying items and I stand by that

00:05:43.500concept as being a solid one but after a

00:05:45.480while it does become rote diablo 3

00:05:47.760removes these consumables making the

00:05:49.560concept of identifying an item sort of

00:05:51.420pointless Diablo 2 had a plethora of

00:05:53.820potions of all types and sizes and there

00:05:55.860were also a couple potions that were

00:05:57.420pretty useless for the most part such as

00:05:59.280ones for stamina and thawing Diablo 3

00:06:01.920removed all potions entirely with only a

00:06:04.380single cooldown based potion and instead

00:06:06.570it incentivized passive skill build and

00:06:09.120item based restoration it also

00:06:11.070introduced health orbs that drop from

00:06:12.960enemies this arcade game light design

00:06:15.550philosophy was stated during development

00:06:16.900interviews as well probably the most

00:06:18.880bewildering mechanic introduced in

00:06:20.440Diablo 2 was the stamina bar or how I

00:06:22.990like to call it the jog blocker very

00:06:25.300little was developed around it so it

00:06:26.770really became a limiter to progression

00:06:28.090for no reason

00:06:29.080running drain stamina whereas walking or

00:06:31.810waiting or drinking stamina potions

00:06:33.460refilled it that's it pretty useless

00:06:35.880despite my misgivings with the loot

00:06:37.960system and the now pointless

00:06:39.280identification I'd have to say this one

00:06:41.740overall goes to Diablo 3

00:06:48.030[Applause]

00:06:53.179every level you gained in Diablo 2 gave

00:06:55.679you attribute points to permanently

00:06:57.089enhance the core statistics of your

00:06:58.679character similarly with the skill tree

00:07:00.990one must spend points to gain skills

00:07:03.029unlock new ones at specific level

00:07:04.979milestones Diablo 3 did away with twists

00:07:07.469of progression all together with only

00:07:09.089tiny improvements added late-game with a

00:07:10.800patch and made skill switchable

00:07:12.659on-the-fly once unlocked by level only

00:07:14.550this means that every character at each

00:07:16.709level is more or less identical safer

00:07:18.869loadout and equipment on one hand the

00:07:21.419idea of experimenting with lots of

00:07:22.800active abilities variants and passives

00:07:24.599is good fun and can keep combat and

00:07:26.759exploring your character's abilities

00:07:27.779fresh and fun on the other it handles

00:07:30.509more like the loadout system of a modern

00:07:32.189multiplayer shooter than an RPG where

00:07:34.919you would make permanent choices that

00:07:36.240decide the future for character

00:07:37.469specialty as far as skill customization

00:07:39.779goes Diablo 3 certainly has a wider

00:07:41.969selection of skill variants although a

00:07:44.009portion become obsolete when compared to

00:07:45.990others despite this though many players

00:07:48.449report that there are only a couple

00:07:49.619viable let game builds for each class

00:07:51.899claiming that there are more potentially

00:07:53.759useful builds in Diablo 2 this is

00:07:55.769compounded by the simplification of item

00:07:57.659stats primarily into a few core

00:07:59.459attributes with a big DPS value shown on

00:08:02.279all weapons rather than needing to get

00:08:04.289into the nitty-gritty of what the item

00:08:05.909does this is also due to a huge

00:08:08.339difference between the way the games

00:08:09.930handle weapons in Diablo 2 weapons were

00:08:12.689generally your default attack and you'd

00:08:14.369use it as you might think

00:08:15.629you shoot arrows you throw throwing

00:08:18.389knives you slash the swords etc your

00:08:21.389weapon was your mana free back up attack

00:08:23.129for all classes and a primary staple for

00:08:25.589melee builds in Diablo 3 though your

00:08:28.649vanilla weapon attack is basically

00:08:30.059unused it is replaced by a growing set

00:08:32.639of mana free abilities that turn what

00:08:34.949would be a bow and arrows into a jar of

00:08:36.659spiders a spear into a lightning strike

00:08:39.269a mace into a fireball you get the idea

00:08:42.060all abilities become simply greater or

00:08:44.699lower percentages of your weapon damage

00:08:46.439the single-handedly makes your weapon

00:08:48.689the most important factor of your entire

00:08:50.670character Diablo 2's late game damage

00:08:52.649and effect numbers run into the hundreds

00:08:54.569and eventually low thousands Diablo 3

00:08:56.970gets decidedly more exponential and gets

00:08:59.550into the billions for similarly no other

00:09:01.439reasons but to be impressed

00:09:03.379also for a game that prides itself for

00:09:06.059being streamlined how you determine your

00:09:08.550actual damage based on your stats and

00:09:10.379weapons is a bit like voodoo and you

00:09:12.449just have to trust the game stat

00:09:13.709increase up or down arrow to tell if it

00:09:16.019will improve your character rather than

00:09:17.790scrutinize an item use particular

00:09:19.139effects there are many more types of

00:09:21.329slotted item fillers such as jewels

00:09:23.069which are similar to the elbow threes

00:09:25.259legendary gems later on runes which

00:09:28.410could be combined in unique ways to make

00:09:30.029powerful rune words and more which were

00:09:32.670simplified in diablo 3 for a five color

00:09:34.800gem system there are also charms which

00:09:37.740would give you a buff in exchange for

00:09:38.939cluttering up your inventory the end

00:09:41.160result of all this is pretty clear

00:09:42.689though in Diablo 2 you would tailor your

00:09:45.749equipment loadout around you're

00:09:47.069permanently developed character in

00:09:48.619Diablo 3 you tailor your character

00:09:51.329ability loadout around your all-powerful

00:09:52.889equipment though I love the skill

00:09:55.350variance and amount of choice 3 presents

00:09:57.149you the loadout system breaks the

00:09:58.769immersion of building a character and

00:10:00.240the DPS focused design turns the game

00:10:02.579into an exercise and number building the

00:10:04.800elbow 2 wins this round this is an

00:10:14.939obvious one but when you make a game a

00:10:16.649decade later you're going to have much

00:10:18.509more power to work with and much more

00:10:20.490advanced tools engines and previous

00:10:22.410experience at your fingertips as a

00:10:23.790developer Diablo 2 was a little behind

00:10:26.490the times even in 2000 with the

00:10:28.559retention of fairly low res 2d sprites

00:10:30.509and fixed resolutions all the while

00:10:32.579running at a choppy 25 frames per second

00:10:34.769Diablo 3 has higher frame rates

00:10:36.600resolutions and true polygonal graphics

00:10:38.309making for a more visually pleasing game

00:10:40.679and more responsive combat work was also

00:10:43.139done to the UI and key mapping allowing

00:10:45.420more abilities to be used with a single

00:10:47.249button press rather than the frantic

00:10:49.259switching of your right-click ability

00:10:50.610using the F keys or mouse wheel that

00:10:52.439Diablo 2 suffered the idea that all your

00:10:54.929characters are bound to your account and

00:10:56.459have shared storage to makes for a much

00:10:58.230more seamless experience as well Diablo

00:11:00.5693 is always online nature defended

00:11:02.279against cheaters much better but because

00:11:04.019of that it cannot be played offline even

00:11:06.089if going it solo that also means that

00:11:08.369modding are custom campaigns that have

00:11:09.990been made for the original two games are

00:11:11.549not impossible

00:11:12.450for the third entry at this time

00:11:13.710strangely too because of the online

00:11:15.390nature of Diablo 3 trading has been

00:11:17.820severely hindered due to legendary items

00:11:19.860and higher-level gems being account

00:11:21.510bound which has drawn ire from the

00:11:23.670old-school community now that the

00:11:25.470servers work and due to the huge

00:11:27.000technological leaps between the two

00:11:28.470games I'll have to say that this one

00:11:30.240goes to Diablo 3

00:11:31.500[Music]

00:11:40.040in the end Diablo 2 & 3 were products of

00:11:44.160a different era with much different

00:11:46.019scopes time frames budgets and team

00:11:48.060sizes Diablo 3 has benefited from all

00:11:50.670those differences and in many ways comes

00:11:52.920out the better game due to the sheer

00:11:54.449amount of professional man-hours and

00:11:55.769technological improvements put into it

00:11:57.480its flashy our new player friendly and

00:11:59.819is much more focused on in-game

00:12:01.529activities and that's definitely paid

00:12:03.300off but for old-school Diablo fans like

00:12:06.059myself who do not have the benefit of

00:12:07.709being new to the franchise there is

00:12:09.749something just a little bit off about it

00:12:11.910is it the glossy feel good scheana has

00:12:14.189ignoring its grimmer roots

00:12:15.809is it the self-aware luk frenzy the game

00:12:18.089has evolved into where it's become a

00:12:19.589grab-bag game / shinies or is it the

00:12:22.410fact that the eccentricities and

00:12:23.790technicalities of ability items and

00:12:26.189stats have been worn down and polished

00:12:27.809to a point where you just have to chase

00:12:29.189the big dps values and increase the sea

00:12:31.649of damage numbers to survive whatever it

00:12:34.379is the reality is pretty clear to me

00:12:35.970that the game I'd recommend to new

00:12:37.649players would undoubtedly be Diablo 3 as

00:12:39.809it is technically proficient streamlined

00:12:41.999and immediately rewarding however I

00:12:44.279personally feel that the crown of action

00:12:46.079RPGs still resides atop Diablo 2's head

00:12:48.540where it had innovated a genre for

00:12:50.490decades to come

00:12:51.300and rough edges are not is still to date

00:12:53.610the prime example of the genre

00:12:55.170perhaps a mix of the things each got

00:12:57.360right would result in the perfect action

00:12:59.279RPG what do you think please share your

00:13:02.069thoughts of these games and the action

00:13:03.750RPG genre as a whole I'd love to discuss

00:13:05.759with you thanks for watching

00:13:07.930[Music]