Diablo 3 and Reaper of Souls Critique

[@bagandtag4391]

"No bro those hell gates meant nothing to me - I swear - fuck you" This video is a masterpiece.

[@Se7enRemain]

He seems so angry, calling people fucking idiots the whole way through.

[@meepk633]

Don't be a fucking idiot.

[@Soridan]

Harley Quinn cosplay? Disney villain? Saturday morning cartoons? I have to vehemently disagree, the story is the finest fanmade Power Rangers episode I've seen!

[@JinwooYoon1217]

Go, Go, Power Rangers! *Queue Guitar Riff*

[@SpartanWolf222]

More like "Go, Go, OP Nephemlem!"

[@ChristopherWeaver1]

Is that your Big Boss impression

[@joshuakim5240]

...oh my god Magda is literally just Rita Repulsa (they even have the same stupid jester hat) but floating.

[@extraspooky819]

MAKE MY MONSTER GROW!!!!

[@DeusExCeteri]

"I mean his wife is dead shouldn't he at least be a little happy?" I burst out laughing for a solid minute there, I did not see that coming.

[@johnshifflet]

I came down to the comments for this :D

[@fornax985]

That was amazing

[@fredspofford]

Didn't expect that one from Mr. Anderson. Bravo, son.

[@kingzor100]

me too

[@Soma2710]

I was listening to this in the background while doing an online Math test (so I wasn’t paying 100% attention), and my ears perked up at this line exactly! “Wait...wut?” So I rewound it to see if I’d missed something.

[@itsbunta]

When Mr. Anderson meets a bad story, you're in for a good ride

[@juggmkj]

I would like this comment but rather leave it at 420

[@1989TS..]

@@juggmkj too late

[@RECTANGLE339]

Jugg MKJ it’s at 666 now

[@elitereptilian200]

A bit late for this but absolutely 0 person in the history of ever has played Diablo game for the story and those who claim so are lying to you and to to themselves..

[@DankLordDemaar]

@@elitereptilian200 Uh, yeah, because the story is bad. If it was good, there would be people playing it for the story.

[@Turnoutburndown]

Man the story analysis section is so funny - "Then, in the second biggest twist in all of gaming..."

[@dhruvo100]

What twist? Diablo being leah’s dad?

[@YouDontWantItWithMe]

@@dhruvo100wooooosh

[@user-pi2xl4jw3e]

"Throwing around the n-word like a lil' Wayne song" thanks, now my laptop is covered in dr. pepper

[@lucassoares4084]

Damn, even the soda can laughed hun?

[@ndacostabest]

"I think a lot about Blizzard games and because of Hearthstone, I dread the changes that may soon take hold of the company," he said this in 2015 and Blizzard just announced Diablo Immortal. Such foresight!

[@dagowow]

When people unironically think that Diablo Immortal is a bad business move. Oh, how I despise people who are poor in judgement and wealth.

[@63Limar]

@dago who said it's a bad move from a business point? But why should a consumer care about it? What any real PC gamer should hope for is that shareholder cancer and AAA publishers will finally collapse, selling away titles before dying out to real game developers and from the ashes of their shitty industry proper companies will be rebuilt and faithful companies will not have issues. I would rather have games with a much fewer budget and scale but with soul and passion behind them and encourage this behavior with their wallet. I want graphics to downgrade to the beginning/middle of the 2000-s if that would mean that quality and lacking predatory bullshit from publishers of these games will also be also on that level. That I would buy stuff like Battlefield 1942 or CoD MW1 on the release day and that's the finished product without any cut content. EA, Activision-Blizzard, Ubisoft, Square Enix etc all these companies are the one big growing tumor for the industry. They make a profitable product, not the games. And other companies most of the time just copy their concept. MMOs are dying genre because of Blizzard. Games are filled with MTX instead of content because of Riot Games. Games are filled with next grade of MTX - loot boxes because of EA. First-day DLCs because of most big publishers.

[@bronzeager1298]

Yep, watching this from...2019 now, a lot of his criticism of Blizzard seems really prophetic.

[@lennic]

amazing

[@juggmkj]

@@63Limar not because of Riot lol

[@SomethingScotty]

I know this is almost 5 years late, but the Barbarian was originally intended to be more than just a blank, boring canvas. Originally the Barbarian was supposed to be the Barbarian you could play as in Diablo II who, after the destruction of Mt. Arreat, wondered the wastes killing demons and what not for the next 20 years until he notices a meteor streaking across the sky towards Tristram, at which point he felt his destiny renewed and set out to face his old foes. He even had unique dialogue between returning characters such as Cain and that they talked like they already knew each other, and spoke to each other like old friends.

[@joshuakim5240]

From what i can tell, this was likely scrapped due to essentially cementing the Barbarian as D3's main protagonist class, even though that's such a huge shame because that sounds like it would have been great.

[@Delightfully_Witchy]

At least it was a decent, creative choice and not something like "they had to leave things out to get the game out for Christmas".

[@SomethingScotty]

@@Delightfully_Witchy They said they scrapped the idea because they didn't want people playing the female barbarian to feel left out. Doesn't really sound like a creative choice.

[@Delightfully_Witchy]

@@SomethingScotty It was just said they did it so people wouldn't feel like the barbarian class is "the right choice/main character". Nothing about gender came up.

[@SomethingScotty]

@@Delightfully_Witchy Well it's possible I am remembering the interview wrong, it's been at least 5 years at this point since I saw it, but I just swore Jay Wilson said it was so people wouldn't feel excluded.

[@dmas7749]

15:49 "He destroys a bridge leading to his throne and inflicts the great, punishing inconvenience of all of 10 seconds on the player." i mean that's the most evil thing i can think of

[@Wildlander]

"The sales numbers are above 30 million. To put that in perspective: if they sold 29 million, it would still be one more million than that." Oh, Joseph. I come for the incredible analysis, but stay for your humor. (And the incredible analysis.) Late congrats on 200k subs, from a longtime fan.

[@alexanderwamsley5846]

huh I was not expecting to see you here. good job on ultimate skyrim.

[@kaiserblade42]

And what we got today??? 90 players online

[@dainchi.]

1:07:10 "I wonder sometimes if a game might come along one day that cuts out the combat completely, where you watch your character fight[...]" Man I cant believe Joe predicted Vampire Survivors in 2015.

[@Corrupted]

4 years later, nothing really changed hahaha

[@vonmehlau9284]

Oh my

[@andrewzell3576]

pretty cool to see how bang on he was with the blizzard prediction

[@il6315]

@@andrewzell3576 It's honestly kind of sad how accurate he was

[@AsprosOfAzeroth]

@@andrewzell3576 let's all pray for Diablo 4 to be saved from microtransactions

[@daedalus6433]

@@AsprosOfAzeroth Just play Path of Exile lol

[@OlinLabcat]

It's an old video, but watching it now, and remembering when I played Diablo 3 on Console, the Rifts was what got me to the realisation of "Why do I keep on playing?" I played through the story as Crusader, with my brother, and we incremented the difficulty as we got better gear, playing through it twice or so. Eventually I got some gear that boosted my shield charge, so I started using more gear to boost my damage and shield charge. It got to the point where I did 42 billion damage per shield charge. Nedless to say, it got ridiculous. Doing rifts, I remember the only boss was the Stone Golem Parendi, and it was named Rift Guardian back then. I could solo Rifts by just shield charging through then 1-3 shotting the rift guardian. And it was fun, and I got a little better gear, until I hit that wall, where I couldn't really get better gear, just better versions, and the trash mobs could tank more than one, two hits of my 18 billion damage AoE shield charge, so I couldn't progress. It kind of had a hamster wheel feeling, that no matter how far I go, I will never amount any progress, so I stopped playing. I mean, yes, no game really gives you any "concrete" progress, apart from perhaps improving skills related to the game, or finish the game itself, but it dawned on me that I was really just holding down right trigger, and farming, for hours upon end, and that realisation is what games should avoid, not use to prolong the experience ad nauseum. And that kind of ruined all other ARPGs for me, because I just instantly get that hamster wheel feeling, and I can't shake it off.

[@Tonydaling]

Completely agree with you man

[@okagron]

That's more of an issue with Diablo 3 more than ARPGs in general. Diablo 3 having basically endless progression means your character progression will never end. Things ending is actually a good thing.

[@OlinLabcat]

@@okagron Well yes, but having the illusion destroyed, as well as a clear identification for it, it still specifically ruined ARPG's for me. I am not saying all people will have this, neither that all ARPG's will create this scenario. But this experience without a doubt was what enabled it to happen, and now I can myself not stop associating it, or correlate it, with the fundamental ARPG game-loop.

[@Chance57]

Now take everything you just said and multiply that about by about 3 that was me. Like every year and a half I end up starting up the game and wasting a whole week before I re realize that it's pointless and I'm not even really having fun. It's addictive as hell when you're grinding but eventually you realize playing to grind isn't as satisfying as grinding to play.

[@maybeyourbaby6486]

I bought it on sale, played the campaign once and never touched it again. I have really fond memories of the game and the environments and the setting and the voice acting and I'm willing to leave it at that, but like yikes would it not at all have been worth it for €60.

[@Soffish583822]

"Why is he attacking his own city? No, why is he attacking his own city?" had me in stitches XD

[@chekeichan]

I really enjoyed your analysis of Diablo 3. Playing through with friends, the plot was a frequent target of mockery. We noticed as well that, from Act III on, the plot was "Ahh, so you beat my thing. But you won't beat this -other- thing! Muahaha!" I would totally play your vision of how the player character is integrated into the plot. Your idea reminds me of the first Resident Evil and how the two characters' experiences (kind of) intertwined.

[@JosephAndersonChannel]

+chekeichan Thanks! Yeah the story is by far and away the weakest part, and I do wonder how it got into the state it is today. Very strange. Maybe Blizzard will talk about Diablo 3's development in-depth one day.

[@KironVB]

We used our brand name and trust of fans to push freemium bullshit in a full price game just like we do in Overwatch and people keep eating it up because it uses the same psychological tricks as poker machines? This is what we design our games around these days? I don't think Blizzard will admit that somehow.

[@bertschumacher2097]

I've played at least a 1000 hours of Diablo 3. And I think I've played the story about 10 times, and when you said 'Lea dies' I was like 'wait, that happened?'. The story is so bad and only the first time I did not spam my spacebar to get through the dialogue. Still love the game though, sometimes I come back for a few hours of grinding. Great review!

[@wslaxmiddy]

@@JosephAndersonChannel Can only imagine how disappointed you must be by Diablo Immortals MTX model. It's the exact thing you said mentioning going in the direction of hearthstone. MMO aspect is cool, the fact you CAN play for free is cool. The way they push so many microtransactions and leaderboards with P2W whales on them in your face is sickening. Acti/Blizz has fallen far

[@on3trackmind]

“I dread the changes that may soon take hold over the company” - welp.

[@kaijumediajames653]

That’s some good insight, but then again anyone could see how far Blizzard has fallen. People really weren’t really paying mind to how awful Blizzard was until they censored Blitzchung, and by the time they put our Warcraft 3 Reforged they’d lost a huge amount of good will.

[@MSF_Soldier_Alligator]

"Funnily enough that sums up the campaign of Diablo 3; me being a dick." Fucking subscribed.

[@philip7319]

i like your informalness in this video. the swearing is right where it needs to be and is not overused.

[@SlagLPs]

This Channel is really awesome, loong good reviews/critiques, keep it up

[@Nr4747]

I disagree on Magda being the most successful villain - that would be Adria. Adria *actually* manages to ressurect Diablo as the Prime Evil, like she had planned for *decades*. She also managed to get Magda killed (which you find out later was her "side-plan" for the Nephalim from the start to "tie up lose ends").

[@anabukashka]

Also, Diablo III reminds me so much of Destiny. In a bad way. It looks like there is a huge drive in the industry right now to create games that suck the players in and keep them playing, while offering no comparable amounts of fun and entertainment in return. They rely on cheap psychological tricks to keep the player playing. Not on depth, not on fun. They create addiction, a bad kind of addiction, just like F2P mobile games. Activision-Blizzard seems to be on the forefront of it. I can argue that games should be about good addiction. Like when you play something like basketball or soccer in real live. You keep coming back because you want to get better, to learn more about the game, nail the mechanical skill, understand the game and become a skilled player. This is what a good addictive game should be all about. In return, you never feel like you wasted your time, you always feel good about yourself.

[@Jasonwolf1495]

Uhm destiny reminds you of diablo. Diablo is much older.

[@anabukashka]

Yes i know about that. But i meant about Diablo III and it's design and marketing practices. Blizzard and Bungie both tied to Activision after all.

[@Ghost1170]

I think the issue is more that theyre catering to newbs, and newbs being super casuals. Most people who are hardcore gamers are way outnumbered by casuals, and because normal business sense is to multiply your profits, you want to cater to EVERYONE. Will your game lose quality? Not necessarily, but there's a high chance a game a developer WANTS to make may change a fuck ton due to publishers and just plain business. Perhaps a game wanted a complex leveling system like old WoW trees and diablo 2 trees. While a few talents may have been a bit questionable, because there was so much choice, you could create specialized characters without having to give a fuck about being "top tier", AND YOUD STILL KICK ASS! Nowadays, everything is very streamlined, which isn't necessarily bad, but theyre streamlining games without giving you a means to FEEL needed or WANTED. My last example would be Halo. Halo 1 is definitely a casual game, but holy fuck, it was a casual game that made you feel needed and wanted. That you're a pivotal plot point and even though it's linear, it's a game that can be played hundreds of times without it being boring, including other difficulty modes that CATER to the hardcore. Fuck, they even give you skulls if you want even more from the game. THAT is an example of streamline done right. They make the player feel as important as the situation that is unfolding before them, that and the gameplay was fuckin' solid and simple.

[@anabukashka]

Ghost1170 You say that games must cater to everyone and i have no problem with that. But it's not the case with modern AAA western games. When Japanese companies create game that truly cater to both hardcore players and casual players, western devs think that it's completely normal to put aside the enjoyment of the hardcore players, take for example the recent trend of ultimate attacks in multiplayer game like Destiny, Titanfall, Overwatch etc. These are devastating attack and yet there is no way of knowing or predicting if the other player has the attack ready. This creates randomness, makes the game shallow, outcome of every multiplayer battle now decided less by skill and more completely random factor that is a part of the game's design. When a player dies in multiplayer game he asks himself, how did it happened and what should he do for it to newer happen again? In Halo for example if the player just got killed by a rocket launcher he will say to himself: i need to know where and when this rocket launcher spawns on this map and next time i must do my best to deny the enemy team the rocket launcher if i don't want to die like that again. That is how the improvement happens in multiplayer games, that is how skill is build. And this is a damn satisfying feeling when you improve like this bit by bit and the game allows it. This means the game has depth. It can be played and enjoyed for a very, very long time. But what if the player got killed by ultimate attack in Destiny. He asks the same questions. How can he avoid this attack next time? There is no answer, this attack cannot be avoided it is too powerful, it cannot be denied everyone will get at least 1 super during the game, it is not telegraphed and there is no way of knowing if someone has the ult ready. The only way to avoid getting killed by this attack is by not playing the game. This means the game has no depth, there is no room for skill to grow. The game is completely random. And where is fun in playing a game in which you can't improve? Where victory is decided by elaborate roll of the dice? That how depth is sacrificed by western devs.

[@Ghost1170]

Alexander Abdulov "You say that games must cater to everyone and i have no problem with that." Na nigga, I said businesses WANT to cater to everyone, but that said everyone is the casual crowd. Why, because it's larger. ".. for example the recent trend of ultimate attacks in multiplayer game like Destiny, Titanfall, Overwatch etc. These are devastating attack and yet there is no way of knowing or predicting if the other player has the attack ready." Random? In Overwatch, you know when the enemy has an ult. If you play the game long enough, ult's aren't 'random' as you see it, but rather something to play against and around. One example would be genji activating his sword ult. If you have a zenyatta, then his ult is cancelled by zenyatta's ult. However, this isn't the only way to deal with this. Ana has her sleep dart which makes him sleep for 6 seconds, which is basically his whole ult. This mechanic isn't shallow, and it's been around for ages, a counter to everything. You only used destiny vs halo as your example. I can't say I know much about destiny, but just because there are random elements to a game, doesn't mean it can't be competitive and can't be worked around. One example of this would be dota 2. There are particular amounts of rng in some things, like uphill cliff auto attack percentages of missing, spirit breaker's passive of stun, and many other moves that work this way. The good thing that dota does is circumvent these rng events by adding in items that can nullify them completely, or hell, even have items that ENHANCE the rng to be higher. An example would be ghost scepter as an item. You activate it and can't be hit by anything physical, but you take increased magic damage. So just because rng is in a game, doesn't mean that it can't be used in a professional/serious way (for gaming). As for the destiny ultimate argument, I read up that you need kills to charge your ultimate. Just because the move is strong, doesn't mean it can't be stopped. I saw warlock's ult being that he throws stuff from his hand as a giant bomb. If you had, say a shotgun, you could rekt his face before he actually got the move off. It's all about positioning and awareness. It seems you're having issues with the fact that there are moves that can one shot or give you a big boost to killing power or defense. If you have issues like that, you should play games like starcraft 2 where it's ALL rock paper scissors.

[@Eierfeile]

Joseph, since you mentioned the dissonance thing on Mass Effect 3: There is even a DLC for the game where you throw a giant ass party with all your companions at an apartment before the big fight. All while thousands die by the second :P

[@archimedes9784]

Eierfeile The thing about morality for killing one person important in games is stupid. I want to be a programmer, and I will go to college for it, so if I am going to make a first person shooter that's not going to be a thing. Either that, or the person you play as will be constantly thinking they're a bad person while killing, but they have no other option.

[@oliviawilliams6204]

You have to keep in mind that whole DLC happens while the Normandy is under maintenance and being retrofitted , it make lot of sense for them to take a shore leave and relax while that happens, and it's can be judged as crucial since you don't want the ship to break in middle of a battle because of lack of maintenance. And a party is just good for everyone morale

[@Talking_Ed]

You know that's literally what happens in reality right? Like, during wars, people higher up party and chill lol

[@Shenaldrac]

I'm into giant asses, but why would you throw a party for them? Like, sure, get all the big booty'd guys and gals to come have some fun but why specifically a giant ass party? What if people with flat butts wanna join?

[@ich3730]

erm bro, thats what soldiers do irl. they cant fight 24/7, they need rest. and yes, they even party during wartimes.

[@voodoolew]

Binge watching your videos again after your latest release. "Shouldn't he be at least a little happy?" got me so much. Glad you're back

[@jon-umber]

So happy to see you tear apart the writing, as it was some of the worst I've seen in a video game in a really, really long time.

[@classymofo1059]

"he's a skeleton and a ghost... a ghost-skeleton..." me: He's also a king!

[@dovahgoatdragonbear3075]

@just dont ???

[@Delightfully_Witchy]

A ghost-skeleton-king.

[@larskrantz1463]

It is actually too bad that you haven't played D1 and D2. The games had a much darker tone that disappeared in D3 (that was created by other people). D3 is much more Disney/World of Warcrafty.

[@moonraven6145]

This, Diablo 2 was more in tone to something like Path of Exile.

[@mortemtyrannus8813]

What do you mean? D3 was just as dark as D1 and D2. If anything, you have to ask why they decided to rename it Grim Dawn.

[@okagron]

@@mortemtyrannus8813 Yeah, Grim Dawn is much more of a Diablo game than Diablo 3 will ever be.

[@nomukun1138]

The expansion did have the Nephelem dialog showing him or her turn to the dark side, but it was such a deluge of emo complaining that it just felt gloomy and stupid. It was the Dragon's Breath Five-Alarm XXX tasteless vegan chili of dark tone.

[@maybeyourbaby6486]

I played 3 only and it really reminded me of Warhammer Fantasy setting-wise? Which I thought was pretty neat. But yeah would love to play through the originals though, once I finish Fallout 1 and Fallout 2 :P

[@taylorbanks9148]

My biggest issue with Diablo 3 (aside from not just being a graphical upgrade of Diablo 2) was that in making the game appeal to a wider audience, they lost pretty much all of what appealed to the hardcore playerbase of Diablo 2 (which is still there by the way). You are given every skill in the game, which also have runes which change the way the skill works slightly, and you come up with a combination of them with some gear to make a "build". BUT *every* offensive skill in the game is tied to your weapon's damage (which is tied to a primary stat) which is a critical failure to recognise what made Diablo 1 and 2 work so very well. This means that basically every level you are forced to upgrade your weapon or be unable to continue even if the weapon has a really cool modifier to a certain skill that you liked - this wasn't in issue in previous games. Gear came with +Skill modifiers, there was no "primary" stat which decided your damage, and gear also had stat requirements as well as level requirements which made planning out how your character was going to work crucial to the success of your build. If you weapon's damage or armour's defense stat became terrible, it didn't really matter if you were benefiting from the +skills the weapon/armour piece gave you. This was very easy to see in the Sorceress, Necromancer, and Druid classes, but it was still applicable to Assassins, Amazons, Barbarians, and Paladins too due to how crucial certain skills were to certain builds. A level 62 Harlequin Crest was still viable on a level 99 character because the modifiers on the piece of gear were incredibly important. Blizzard wanted to take Diablo 3 in a different direction (understandably), but in the process of that and appealing to a wider audience, they lost what made DIablo 1 and 2 great. And they're never going to recapture that until they either rehaul Diablo 3 completely (again) or release DIablo 4 with what made it's predecessors revolutionary and genre defining. You mentioned you hadn't played Diablo 1 and 2, I would recommend that you do, simply to experience them and to understand how crucial they were in the evolution of the dungeon crawler, and a burgeoning online multiplayer industry. But bear in mind, I'm some bumblefuck on the internet you'll likely never meet so take my recommendation with the usual grain of salt.

[@JosephAndersonChannel]

Haha, "bumblefuck". I probably should play them. Especially if Blizzard is gearing up for Diablo 4 like some of the rumors suggest. Thank you for the comment.

[@Nicolas-Kage]

It's nothing like D2.

[@Mordewolt]

My biggest issue with D3 is that i preordered a demo for 60$ without the ability to refund or get the full version without paying more money. Yeah, they DID made a full game, as promised, took them 2 more years to finish the essential features that should have been in from the start by their own words, but you have to buy the game twice.

[@joshuakim5240]

I recently played some Diablo 2 for nostalgia sake and find it surprising how well it holds up. I made a Zeal paladin that relies on weapon damage, and a Fire sorceress who with a staff that deals a whopping 2-9 damage can cast spells that eviscerate hundreds of points in hp damage thanks to proper builds + a runeword weapon combo. The lack of streamlining gives the game a lot more replay-ability since every different character has the First Act spent learning how to use it, almost like playing the game in an entirely new way every time.

[@drogonmax8781]

Diablo 2 is much better than this and nephalim bullshit!

[@greysquirrel404]

53:10 To compare Reaper of Souls to similar expansions in other ARPGs: Diablo 2 Lord of Destruction: 1 new act, 2 new classes Dungeon Siege 2 Broken Worlds: 1 new act, about 50% larger than previous acts, with 2 new classes Titan Quest Immortal Throne: 1 new act, about 50% larger than previous acts, with 1 new class Path of Exile Awakening: 1 new act (free) Path of Exile Fall of Oriath: 6 new acts (free) Grim Dawn Ashes of Malmouth: 2 new acts, 2 new classes ($18) Titan Quest Ragnarok: 1 new act, about twice the size of previous acts, with 1 new class ($20) Nearly all of these add significantly more content than RoS, nearly all of them are much cheaper, and all of them are one or the other.

[@Ve5emiR]

Don't even get me started what happened when Delve league and Betrayal arrived to PoE :v Especially the Delve mechanic is fucking gorgeous.

[@unspokendg]

Those quotes at 23:00 had me rolling "To hell with you witch." "I will stop at nothing to kill them, all of them, until their corpses are piled higher than the tallest towers."

[@acesuperwolf3277]

Awesome vid man

[@McSquiddington]

I always figured Azmodan was so inept because of his nature. He's Pride - especially *excessive* pride. He's written like he simply cannot compute any potential failings on his part, like that's impossible for him to even vaguely consider. So he gloats like Snidely Whiplash and refuses to recognize his plans are falling apart all because of his deeper nature. The problem is, if this does make sense, it doesn't excuse it. It's still horrible characterization I'd expect out of a Saturday morning cartoon, not a game that's trying its best to display some sort of epic Dark Fantasy conflict as it unfolds.

[@TheFuzzician]

Yea, there was no reason to call him a "Master Tactician", given that he is so fucking inept. It would be enough to state that he just has a vast, relentless army.

[@pepi7404]

I doubt it was intentional. Iirc, Azmodan has seven sin lieutenants, implying that one of them is the Lord of Pride and Azmodan is the Lord of Sin, because all sins are his servants.

[@McSquiddington]

@Shadow Mask Potentially stupid question, but isn't there some overlap between Nebiros and Naberius, in that regard? My money would've been on Nergal and Ereshkigal, personally, two Mesopotamian deities that motivated a good chunk of the Mesopotamian world's conflicts.

[@seancanttalk]

Monk: "I am a monk" lmao bro I was dying

[@GregEdmondson]

"Throwing the n-word around like a Little Wayne song." Dude, your writing is fucking genius. I can't wait to check out your books!

[@frankaliberti]

I care as well. It sounds silly, but I find the story of Diablo really interesting. Well, not the story, but the world, the lore. I played this game for the story, not for the gameplay. I could care less about the loot. So your idea of having each class have their own scenario, to me, sounds amazing and a far better experience then the one I got when I played Diablo 3 the first time.

[@FlippingNinjaFtw]

27:53 Skipp the Kripp guys!

[@mihaiandrei12]

The campaing part is basically cinema-sins for video games. I always wanted something like this. You are awesome man!

[@chickmcjr]

Damn son this was super funny and amazing points were made. More please!

[@chadmcmillan1907]

Thank you for being one of the VERY FEW video makers on KZbin that made a FULL in-depth review on Diablo 3. I'm doing research on a paper and I really needed this. So, thanks again for making my life easier!

[@hamster4sale]

You deserve kudos for how thoroughly you documented Diablo 3 and its evolution if nothing else. I tend to agree with all of your criticism but none of your solutions. While interesting, your idea of having each character play from a different point of the act wouldn't work for friends playing through the campaign together. Your solution to the very real problems the end game still have are interesting, but infinitely scaling gems or introducing super ancients is only a band aid solution. Your suggestions were very well meaning, though, and one can hardly expect someone with a youtube channel (your words) to solve the problems of a video game that still managed to make a billion + dollars. It should be noted that I have become very cynical about this game and there are very few solutions for it I've ever seen that I've thought would be good. I think your best insights are about how Blizzard has lost sight of their previously held value of, well, giving us tons of value and content for our money. As someone who has poured thousands of hours into this franchise I love and appreciate their efforts to patch this game post the disaster that was Classic, but as you pointed even things as great as rifts and bounties are just recycled content. This goes counter to a lot of what you were saying, but as someone who loves to grind the end game (flawed as it is) I would actually like to see the next expansion be almost devoid of story. Give us a couple of small maps chalk full of fun and engaging set pieces, a new class, and a sweet final fight with Diablo, and then spend 90% of the development time on end game. I have no idea how to drastically improve the end game, but certainly if Blizzard gave it everything the have they should be able to come up with something and get back to delivering us valuable content. And as a final note I will never get tired of bashing how god awful the twitter updates from Azmodan and Diablo were in acts 3/4. Even if the rest of your video hadn't been as insightful and thorough as it was, I would have updated and commented on it for that alone.

[@Iyiouseismouse]

"His wife is dead shouldn't he be at least a little happy" lol those deadpan jokes you throw in without any differentiation in vocal tone or inflection. I watch your videos multiple times and still catch new things each watch. Great job :)

[@fogacio411]

I actually read the book of Reaper of Souls and it anoyed me that such a cool piece of lore ( the assault on Heaven by a group of nephalem and Malthiel treason) wasnt shown. I would love playing as one of the nephalem on the heist

[@MacClariggs]

I had to write up one quote from one character's dialogue: "I conquered my terror long ago. Now I only see what I must do next". This really hit me and awakened me to the fact that the protagonist truly is more than human or at least a complete one, which you'd think someone fighting Diablo needs to be, Fearless.

[@Logicz1233]

"yea she fucking dies, I told you there would be spoilers.." I died xD

[@Inogat]

Belial : lord of lies : turns into a dinosaur and tries to eat you. Well when you say it like that ! Also it made me laughe way too much !

[@meganbarineau3290]

Your suggestions for the different classes working within the plot reminds me a lot of how Divinity: Original Sin 2 works with its option for your OC or playing as a named character.

[@AXELEMASTER]

I don't how you kept me entertain for more than 1 hour but I like it and want more

[@wengeance8962]

I love how you summed it all up in the end with Blizzard's original intentions of "Make great games, and make good money" brought to light with games such as Vanilla Wow and Diabo 2. Now their focus is now geared towards "Make good money by making 'great' games" examples being in WoW Legion, Diablo 3 and Hearthstone.

[@fatwe1992]

Ive played an ungodly (see what i did there) amount of hours on this game because for a while, it was the only game I owned on xbox 360. I started off thinking the game was just passable. But as I kept playing and got more powerful... oh god... I never played a game even remotely like Diablo previously, but this game taught me how to min/max and I am a different gamer because of it. Diablo 3 was one of my favorite games but like joe said, "Why am I still playing this game?" was a thought that crept into my mind after I got what I felt was my perfect build. I'm thankful I got out when I did and I'm thankful you made this vid joe! I hope you make a vid about D4 someday!

[@snowboundwhale6860]

I still remember the "big brain" moments I had when I realised Wizard's Teleport and Monk's Dash (which describes itself as teleporting) can move you through walls, and later when I realised the Jailer trapping ability is functionally creating walls around you and can be teleported out of. Unfortunately they can't teleport out of frozen, but the Witch Doctor can Spirit Walk away from it, which is cool.

[@HollowIchigo4243]

Your character summarization was bar none the funniest thing I experienced in a while. Never change Joseph. Never change

[@XyscusProductions]

Your videos have been spot on. This one and your video on hearthstone voice what I could not manage to put in words. A little harsh, but hey I guess that is the point of a critique. My biggest problem with blizzard games recently is that it never feels like anything can really be your own and successful. There is always one dude that figures out the meta build, and that build is so good that it is the only option to be played until blizzard finally gets around to nerfing it. Whenever they do nerf it, whether it is warcraft, hs, or diablo, they always just shoot it to hell so bad that all your time seems wasted. I have a few question for you if you don't mind? What kind of software do you use to record video? Will you be getting overwatch? What are your prethoughts on it and do you think you will continue the trend and do a review on it? Are you planning on making a starcraft video?( especially since a new expansion just came out). hah anyways thanks for making some really high quality docs!

[@JosephAndersonChannel]

Thanks so much for the feedback. I use shadowplay through nVidia's geforce bundle thing that came with my graphics card--at least I think it did. It's free and I don't feel any performance hit whatsoever when it's on, but I do use a second hard drive to record onto. Overwatch is ridiculously expensive and until it becomes cheaper or I see what their expansion model is going to be, the only reason I'll play it is if the channel grows to the point that I can justify doing it "for my viewers" so to speak. It looks fun but Blizzard is horrendous at balancing their games and this time around it's a purely multiplayer experience, so I can see it becoming very frustrating when they inevitably leave unbalanced characters in the game for months on end. Starcraft 2 is on my list of games to look at, along with a fairly lengthy retrospective on WoW. My current queue is Fallout 4 (I took a break from making the video to reply here!), then Dark Souls 2, and then I'll see what I want to do next after that. These videos are taking up a lot of my time so I also need to gauge their reception and how much time I'll be committing to them in the new year. I really liked Wings of Liberty--I think I got to diamond in multiplayer too after playing in the beta. It was a good game. Heart of the Swarm... not so much. I haven't played Legacy yet.

[@XyscusProductions]

+Joseph Anderson Thanks so much for your reply! I have been spreading the word about your videos. This is a really underrated channel and I can see it really picking up momentum. Yeah I feel that omen as well about Over watch. If you look at a game like TF2, it has 6 classes it has to worry about balancing, overwatch has like 21.... And a video on WoW would be amazing. Are you happy where warcraft has gone? Do you think WLoD and the upcoming release of Legion will heal the wounds of MoP? Cheers! I look forward to your next video

[@JosephAndersonChannel]

It's difficult for me to condense my opinion on WoW because it's a huge game and, for a while, was a big part of my life--I ran my own raiding guild for years and spent a few nights a week in that sort "club" kind of atmosphere. I loathed the theme in MoP but the first two raid tiers were fantastic. Then WoD came out and, for the second time close together, I felt like Blizzard had ripped me off and I quit. I haven't played since and don't have any interest in returning for Legion. But I have a lot to say about how the game has changed over the years.

[@XyscusProductions]

+Joseph Anderson I get your vibe. I loved it when it first game out and the first three expansions for me were awesome. Especially Lich King. For me it started to die once Cata came out, not because it was necessarily a bad expansion, things were just getting boring and way to formulated. My uncle was in Tactical Gamer and Vodka and did that whole raiding scene religiously as well. He made the point as well that once MoP came out things sort of died. Honestly, I had the most fun in vanilla WoW. I noticed you did a few Dark Souls games, are you planning on doing other game reviews beyond blizzard or is it just whatever you are playing at the time and interested in doing a critique on?

[@ghostoflazlo]

This is my favourite videos of yours and I still come back to it

[@sidma1980]

30 million? 30? 30?!

[@JosephAndersonChannel]

29 + 1!

[@nitras.design]

Would you like to review ori and the blind forest too? I like this style of reviews (even though I don't agree on everything, it gives great new insights)

[@JosephAndersonChannel]

I liked Ori a lot. I have the new version. I might do a video on it soon since I already know the game.

[@danielebassotti1046]

if you enjoy game like diablo you could also like "Path of Exile" too then!

[@nitras.design]

Joseph Anderson thanks Joseph, looking forward to that one!

[@johnmraz4332]

Second time watching this, love your videos man :) Just a thought on the town portal dissonance. In games 1 and 2 you had to either specifically know that one spell or you had to have a scroll of town portal and it used it up. In the first game you had to do this inventory management thing of carrying some town portals if you didnt know it but also making sure you had room for other things like stacks of money which took up physical sections of your inventory and had caps to the stack amount. In the second you could carry around a ome that hold 50 town portal scrolls for you so it was less of a hassle (and money didnt occupy space anymore) but the idea still stood that you had to have the physical thing to get back to town. This doesnt affect the problems in Diablo 3 but just something you might be interested to know if you didnt by now

[@JeremyHoffman]

Great , thorough analysis. My biggest problem with Diablo 3 was that I simply didn't enjoy monster combat. Your review touched on this (that the "action" in "action RPG" was superficial). IMHO, combat in D3 is too crowded, chaotic, and fast. My favorite memories of Diablo 1 are dodging the slow-moving fireballs. Look how frightening and intimidating this moment is: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gHuTd5aYrrupqdUm10s Watch the warrior back off, dodge the fireballs, and plan the engagement. Those were amazing moments in Diablo 1. Diablo 2 was faster-paced than the plodding Diablo 1, but I still remember having intense battles, positioning myself carefully, waiting around corners, my heart pounding with tension. In Diablo 3, I never felt that same excitement; I felt like I was mowing down crowded hallways of noisy punching bags while numbers and explosions sparkle everywhere. I never felt like I had to precisely aim or time my abilities. Everything is about pumping out offense without any real focus on defense. Click, kite, click, kite. It's really hard to capture the lightning in a bottle of a fun combat system. I think Diablo 3 missed the mark, even though I can't put my finger on why. Since I kept getting bored going on the vapid quests and slogging through monotonous battles, I only beat Diablo 3 and Reaper of Souls once. So I can't relate to the issues with the grinding endgame. I mean, if you have all the best gear, it's time to accept that you've "beaten the game," at least with that character!

[@Account.for.Comment]

It is five years, after listening to this review that I finally played D3 after ordering it with D2:Resurrected. I think it is because the difference in User Experiences that the two games aimed for. I only play D3 necomancer so far and I' ve played mostly D2 Necromancer and occasionally other classes but I' ve struggling to survive Act I in Inferno difficulty to be thinking about runestones. I' m just a noob at both games but I know why I' m enjoying D2 and D3 differently. In D3, the devs wanted to make you feel like a powerful chosen one and want you to feel like the strongest warrior in the world. In D2, you are a random nobody. In D3, you have access to very powerful abilities early on, you can experimented in new ones. In D2, it is very boring grind at first, especially with the damn stamina bar, until you can get into more valuable spells and tougher enemies. In D3, I' ve got bored one-shotting enemies that I need to raise difficulty level just to feel a bit of challenges in two-shotting them. In D2, most monsters are easily killed but if I don' t pay attention, my hero is also easily killed. I killed the final boss in hard difficulty without dying once in D3. This is never happened to me once in another ARPG. In D2, the fun is not in the loot for me. It is returning to the enemies that I had difficulties with and show them how I' ve improved. D2 Necromancer are not as well-polished as D3. The minions gove very low damages. The class weapon is an unsuitable, weak melee weapon. The damage output required a corpse. In order to do anything, I need corpses. Potions and mana are very annoying Everytime, I fight bosses, I need portals, I need to buy potions, I need to go back to kill weak monsters to rebuilt my dead skeleton army. My gears are often underleveled, but it is the best one I' ve got. It is easily to grow attached to it. Every boss fights, I spent more time running from it than fighting it. After I killed Baal, the boring in the First Act suddenly become dangerous. Then I have to deal with enemies resistances and immunities. That basically, why D2 combat felt great. It is a constant battle of wits and wills against the monsters and the bosses. The builts and items are only a part of it. D3 felt great, much more polished, but it is only role-playing as a hero in a power-fantasy story where the villians are underdeveloped and the hero' s story already at its end-points. I don' t feel the progression, unlocking a new abilities is just a matter of time. While in D2, everytime I want to make a new character to play with, it reminded me of how far my undergeared, horribly-built and cookie-cutter hero had come.

[@moonraven6145]

"Diablo is free" pc: pff yeah and? I defeated him in like 10 minutes when he was meant to be "The most demon in existence etc"

[@MDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMD]

It's incredible how many of the ideas that are pitched around 1:11:00 that they actually implemented.

[@TheRevanchists]

Ah man, as soon as I heard that ME3 song my heart sank. You literally can't understand just how crushed that game made me. It's left permanent emotional damage to my soul.

[@MontyDJBerlin]

I am a bit in shock...i played and loved Diablo 1 and then somehow never came back, but i remember it to be a great RPG experience. Looking at D3 is like eyecancer. It seems like flashy colours and random numbers all over the screen with no depth to it at all.

[@ProfKisuto]

It decided that the D2 end game was the best part of the experience. AND COMBO MULTIPLIERS! :D

[@ExBruinsFan]

Chris Monty I played Diablo, but did not love it. All that freaking mouse clicking drove me nuts. I agree that the D3 graphic effects are way over the top. Something that I am seeing in current era MMOs, as well. WoW's spell effects are the right level of splash and situational awareness to my eyes.

[@CorporateShill66]

Diablo 1 had no depth, but it was a good experience for its time. I think we are getting too old for games. I'm sure if I played Diablo 1 for the first time now, I wouldn't think much of it. Same goes for Diablo 2.

[@Wesuwius]

And cooldowns. So many god damn cooldowns.

[@Jardonius]

Picked up D2 again the other day, can confirm I still have at least 80% of the fun I originally had with it back in my youth. That's just me, but 30,000+ other people (and bots) seem to agree lmao

[@SoullessInternetScum]

You got my like for the 30 million joke. Caught me off guard and gave me a good chuckle!

[@stijnvandevyver7958]

I want a character like Zoltan Kulle who acts sinister and cackles like a maniac, but who in reality genuinly wants to help you instead of trying to betray you.

[@hell_pike9150]

Excellent man this is the first I've seen of you, right up my alley.

[@jenniferkingston4920]

Nice to see you again! :D I remember a long time ago when Diablo 2 came out and I had played like... 20 minutes? Didn't really have time to enjoy it or maybe that small time that I had played, it didn't capture my attention. However, After Reaper of Souls came out, I decided to give the series another go and I rented Diablo 3. It was an amazing 30 hours, I'll tell you that! I never really cared for games like this that are very similar to MOBA's. Fast action, bright colours, and alot of shit flashing on the screen! Toppled on with isometric view, lackluster combat, and little to no character progression, Diablo 3 left me with a sour taste. It was fun in the very beginning like most games are to me; Start off a weak character, grind for hours, get better gear and level up to become stronger, and when you defeat an enemy way above your level, the feeling of victory is so sweet, despite the amount of defeat *you* suffered in that time! With Diablo 3, I didn't even get that feeling. It was very simple, spam buttons and wreck havoc! Low health? Slap a button, Full Health! It made the game too easy and I don't mean to imply that I'm the greatest gamer to ever live. I didn't feel any strategy in it, I ended up running around in Circles and kiting enemies to deal with them and that's a very dull strategic. Despite that, I carried on for a while hoping it would change and it did not. Enemies were not interesting enough and most were fodder or buffed up versions of those fodder, like you had said. Little to no variation in enemies, bland gameplay, no character progression, cringe-worthy voice acting, and no difficulty. So, Diablo had poor gameplay in my eyes. Graphics were alright, surprised the FPS didn't drop drastically when you are spamming every flashy spell you have, and the spells/abilities/actions/whatever are impressive, though some are very stupid looking. I could go on about the problems I have with Diablo, but I feel as if I have rambled enough. Funnily enough, I am huge fan of Grinding; Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen, Runescape, Destiny, Monster Hunter - are all some of my favourite games because of the feeling you get when you notice your character has grown in strength! In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed Sacred 2 Fallen Angel more than enough to platinum it and it's *very* similar to Diablo. Brace yourself, but believe it or not, some people still read the description! I enjoyed this video a bit more; the laid-back tone, the jokes that didn't feel out of place, yet the length of the video was a tad bit long. Probably could've cut out or shorten the part where you discuss the DLC and Price, cause we all know how companies regard DLC. I think I would prefer it be cut into parts, if it's as long as this one. My biggest complaint is you didn't put an annotation or edit in where to skip the spoilers about the Campaign, but I realize the entire video is a huge spoiler! XD Don't know anything about Hearthfire or whatever it's called, but I will watch nonetheless, even though I may not have a long ass reply, which you'll probably be thankful for! Have a good day, friend!

[@JosephAndersonChannel]

+Jennifer Kingston Hey again. Thanks so much for the long response--don't worry about ever saying too much. It's pretty encouraging. I don't know how I feel about grinding in general. I hate most of the grinds in World of Warcraft, but I also think Diablo 3 could be fun for many, many more hours than it is now if it took some small steps in prolonging some of the grinds that already exist. Games like this give you quick rewards in power early on but the time between them becomes too great too fast. I actually hate leveling in Diablo. Paragon points are fun and getting your first legendaries at Torment feels good, but getting from level 1 to 70 is a huge chore each season. That's what the game comes down to for me: either have a deep combat system, or make it so I can play the "hunt for loot/progression" for much longer. I haven't played any of the games you mentioned, haha. Dragon's Dogma and Destiny looked interesting but I don't have the consoles for them. Although I think Dogma is getting a PC release soon? Monster Hunter also looks good. Maybe I should give them a try. Thank for responding to the description! I think I'll keep with the longer videos going forward but find a way to split it into categories within the video and then add a table of contents in the description. I'm also throwing around the idea of making a shorter companion video for people to watch if the long one doesn't interest them. Hearthstone footage is going to take a long time to gather, so I think there will be some other stuff before then. I'll have to see how it goes. Thanks again for watching.

[@jenniferkingston4920]

+Joseph Anderson Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen gets the PC release in Jan 2016, if I'm correct. *IF* Dark Arisen sells better than last time, then we might see Dragon's Dogma Online come to the west, so I'm extremely excited yet worried! It's not for the casual and doesn't explain much. Especially when it comes to Pawns, so a guide will probably be needed. Combat is addicting, Vocations and Builds that you can make is amazing, but the story is somewhat lacking and the graphics are nothing to talk about. PC will probably fix the latter, though. Luckily the story isn't jammed in your face and the voice acting on some characters are amazing as well! The lip-sync though... The notice board quests are a bit lacking, nothing more than fetch quests or kill "X" of "Z", and then there's the escort quests. Simple. This game obviously wasn't to be rushed through, but you can if you're good enough at it. It's better to take the time to train a few levels and make bank for better gear. It's the perfect game for hardcore players! :D Runescape is actually a browser based game. It's much different than what it was 10 years ago, but it still holds up. Good thing is it just takes a few seconds to start the game and not long at all to understand what's what. Go ahead, try it out when you aren't busy!

[@jenniferkingston4920]

+Joseph Anderson Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen gets the PC release in Jan 2016, if I'm correct. *IF* Dark Arisen sells better than last time, then we might see Dragon's Dogma Online come to the west, so I'm extremely excited yet worried! It's not for the casual and doesn't explain much. Especially when it comes to Pawns, so a guide will probably be needed. Combat is addicting, Vocations and Builds that you can make is amazing, but the story is somewhat lacking and the graphics are nothing to talk about. PC will probably fix the latter, though. Luckily the story isn't jammed in your face and the voice acting on some characters are amazing as well! The lip-sync though... The notice board quests are a bit lacking, nothing more than fetch quests or kill "X" of "Z", and then there's the escort quests. Simple. This game obviously wasn't to be rushed through, but you can if you're good enough at it. It's better to take the time to train a few levels and make bank for better gear. It's the perfect game for hardcore players! :D Runescape is actually a browser based game. It's much different than what it was 10 years ago, but it still holds up. Good thing is it just takes a few seconds to start the game and not long at all to understand what's what. Go ahead, try it out when you aren't busy!

[@VashdaCrash]

The campaign map is so hillarious, I've barely pay attention to the story when I played back when it was released, but I've never realised how silly it is. Great stuff.

[@DarkFire515]

RNG: A way to artificially force longer play times in order to hide the lack of actual content. In case anyone is wondering, Path of Exile is exactly the same in this respect.

[@peaceprinceshaxi5978]

But with more build choices if my knowledge of the game stays true

[@michimatsch5862]

@@peaceprinceshaxi5978 yeah. I played poe 3 years ago and after having like 70 hours in it my friends bought me "the real deal". I was unimpressed with my options, found the worldbuilding boring and done (poe at least has an interesting world though you rarely interact with it), my build options negligible and stopped playing diablo 3 after a few hours.

[@Flackon]

One certainly can’t accuse PoE of lacking content (except perhaps for the incomplete-by-design nature of certain game systems and items), but RNG is indeed a muddy foundation to the game's design and the source of PoE's (and diablo’s) many inherent flaws

[@michimatsch5862]

@@Flackon oh, yes. That is why I stopped with PoE after 60 hours which is a low amount for me, especially back then. But I'd also argue it is also the source for its addictive nature.

[@DarkFire515]

@@Flackon Hmm in hindsight you're right about the content aspect, and I was wrong. Plenty to do in the game for those who enjoy the genre.

[@awimachinegun]

"There are two types of things. Things that are one way, and things that are the opposite way"

[@artcrime2999]

Adria was in the first game, and was a trustworthy person in D3 due to that appearance. She was the merchant who sold staves and spells. She was also the reason D1 happened via retcon in d3. You should play the other two or read a brief plot overview, makes some of this plot make a little more sense.

[@shadowmane55]

I only played a brief part of Diablo 3's opening sections and have zero plans to ever revisit the game, but best believe i am thoroughly enthralled by yet another of your infamous, gloriously pedantic & infinitely amusing story teardowns. God i wish u uploaded more... Or do i? If it would waterdown the quality of your upolads then definitely not... Your content is worth the wait.

[@ImperialGoldfish]

I've played through this game more times than I can count, AND I've seen this video before, and I STILL remember none of this story.

[@Eqvil]

Ok, I'v been watching this critique for 17 minutes and IT IS ENOUGH! I have to make a mug of coffee to further enjoy this masterpiece of a video.

[@crowley1403]

holy shit. decard dies of sadness or some shit. phaha. i'm crying of laughter. Jesus man, ur vids are great! been binge watching u for few hours now.

[@mihaidinul]

I am making my way through your whole repertoire. You sir, need a tenured position. You are the best gaming academic I’ve read.

[@extremelyhappysimmer]

im going to spoil everything: the game, the plot, your dinner. lol

[@VoytekPavlik]

and how can someone spoil a dinner is like calling this Lineage and WoW crossdresser, piece of a game, a Diablo title. People who defend this game probably eat skittles on dinner.

[@Kurasai56]

@@VoytekPavlik You mean eating skittles for dinner is a bad thing 0.o.

[@faceless-x-abberation8400]

17 minutes in and I love how you explain how this game really is. Don't get me wrong - I played the hell out of it, but most of your points are accurate. I mostly drudged through it on Diablo 2 nostalgia and having fun with the skills. Edit - This is the most entertaining video game review I've ever watched. Very good job!

[@mortvia]

A very nice summation and collection of ideas. Shame you’ll never try Diablo 1+2. The way they solved the story problems was by working with the limitations these kind of games pose to a dynamic story rather than around them. What you ended up with was a story simple in execution but grandiose in impact and well enhanced by the game itself.

[@nielsvanhemert7972]

KZbin needs a system where you can give multiple upvotes for a video. I wanted to upvote every five minutes or so, some of your comments are just that good.

[@IndependentBoy94]

When you play as a necromancer and ask the smith about his wife he actually gives an answer, pretty sure someone at blizzard watched this video

[@JerkyMurky]

I loved your idea for the story being smaller and different for each character. To expand on it there could also be a way or setting or difficulty where you play all the characters, switching back and forth between them and showing all their different parts of the story, so it unfolds like a novel that has multiple POV's. That would have redeemed the game for me, and possibly kept me playing for more then a few months. It would have also pushed players like myself to play more the just one character. I played only witch doctor, i had a friend who i played with through the entire game at launch who only played barbarian, and one more who only played demon hunter. Imagine what i would have missed out on if i only stuck with one character, much like the different origins in dragon age origins. There is a game that actually gave you a reason to replay as a different race and class multiple times, because it not only changed how the game started, but it changed how the world, other characters, and the story as a whole interacted with YOU.

[@moonraven6145]

Granted your character never appeared in Diablo 2's CGI cut scene's either, but that was mainly because you were dealing with the aftermath of what happened between the character's seen in the scene's.

[@Justathought81]

Discovered your channel with your Anno 2205 review, really nice stuff man thanks!

[@GamerPony]

33:15 God damn it Joe! Now I have to play through Deus Ex again!

[@DaxterKing]

i fell asleep during the subnautica video and kept thinking he was still talking about subnautica when i would wake up every now and then in this video

[@eternalmaggot7246]

For clarification: Zoltun Khulle does NOT betray you. In fact quite the opposite. The game tries so hard to paint him as an antagonist and that he does do this twist, but, if you look at the dialogue and his actions, he is the best choice out of all the options given at this point in the game. He is more a hero than our hero! Adria is a known witch, which in lore is sort of bad to know, and, knowing that she knows about the black soulstone already, this sort of outside interference is a huge red flag. Zoltun Kulle basically states to take a step back and figure out what is truly going on. But no. Our character is lawful stupid and just jumps right on him as soon as he doesn't give us what we want. We are the assholes.

[@mAcChaosCh]

Yeah that was always weird. You could talk for 5 seconds and the entire plot wouldn't have happened.

[@milesmontgomery7215]

Amazing video! I love your honesty and all the little details. Thank You.

[@neosho3953]

It's funny, I've played through the game multiple times and it wasn't until I watched this critique that I actually knew what the hell was going on.

[@theabregz2157]

“and their upcoming title overwatch” gave me whiplash

[@legion999]

I really hate it when some awful, but preventable twist happens, and my incredibly powerful character stands around gormlessly doing fuck all because they're frozen in a cutscene

[@moonraven6145]

Tbh that's a problem is most forms of media, having one of the villains go "haha, you may have this shard of maguffin, but im heading to the water temple right now to get the otherpart".... erm we never knew it was there but... thanks?

[@TheArtofAustenMengler]

He's a ghost skeleton...... haha! Love the pause after that to let it sink in.

[@NilsEbbesen]

watching a lot of your videos today. Oh man are they great. Love the humor aswell

[@gromhunterRUS]

I know i am a year late, which is mildly funny cause i am exactly year late, but it was always bothering me that Blizzard hired Leonard Boyarsky who worked on original Fallout and later Arcanum and VTM:Bloodlines to develop story and world. Maybe originally they really had intention to make much more involved plot, but later became more interested in game loops, as with all their later games. Which is sad, cause while Blizzard stories were never particularly complex, they still were effective at building mood of a game. At least Boyarsky left Blizzard and now is at it again working on Tyranny at Obsidian.

[@cashmoneyxdr]

watched 3 of your reviews. You spot on every time. Subscribed :)

[@adiveler]

It's worth to mention that the team which worked on this game are completely different from the previous 2 Diablo games. And it is very clear, that although the story wasn't a masterpiece in the previous games, it still managed to deliver a very dark gothic atmosphere! (Without doing the whole "YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE" bullshit D3 did here).

[@VoytekPavlik]

Oh yeah, that's right. It seems the previous team had more balls to work on a game called "DIABLO" for damned sake! Unless they thought it's a Mexican game where the Chosen One is wearing a sombrero, plays a guitar and fights the evil boss, who wants to build the wall...

[@heyyitsultima]

I've watched this video a couple of times in the past and just came back to it... Never noticed how you said "I mean his wife is dead, shouldn't he be a little bit happy" and it caught me way off guard this time.

[@mrbitbot]

Play Diablo 2 and critique it as well. The story is so much better told.

[@unforgivent]

agree completely! Diablo 1 was also impressive although graphics hurt nowadays...

[@MattZelda]

@@unforgivent That's what mods are for B)

[@VoytekPavlik]

@@MattZelda They made mods to improve D1 graphics??

[@skipgoose4426]

Great video :) watched several of your works dude you deserve a lot more subs.

[@Slimjim2147]

Watching the ending years later is hilarious! Diablo immortal anyone? Y'all have phones right?

[@TisTheWay]

If I didn't give up on blizzard already I would have been pissed. Clearly after those quick cash phone games

[@estebaneduardoibanezgiron8682]

I watched this whole video from beginning to end, this was really well made, informative and funny.

[@OneEyedCat873]

I know this is old but you should atleast try out Diablo 2. One of the must play games it is.

[@OneEyedCat873]

Diablo 3 to Diablo 2 is like the Hobbit to LOTR. Many fans thought that D3 sucked ass compared to D2

[@VoytekPavlik]

@@OneEyedCat873 I'm a Diablo 2 fan. Played it hours and nights, also multiplayer. Didn't play D3, only watched the trailers, heard critiques from few, trusted sources, and now after seeing this video, I am sure I would say it's a waste of money and time. It has that WoW smell all over it...

[@garlicfries85]

Great video as always man! Im going to be a smarty pants and say that "meta sense" is already concept that has a name. Its called genre savvy. Or medium awareness. God i love tvtropes!