* Any criticism of GW2 is intended solely for snark purposes and should be taken with a hefty dose of salt. :D
I don't think that WoW is necessarily more limiting as a whole, but the 1-60 levelling game since Cataclysm is (IMO) much more linear and prescribed than it was before. That's not a universally bad thing, but it's not to my taste, and I think it does tend to discourage striking out on your own and seeing what's out there.
Honestly for me, and I appreciate other people have opinions on what investment means, but the older I get the less patience I have for games that ask you to build a character while you have imperfect information
Einmal ist keinmal, after all
People hate on games like diablo 3 for offering you the ability to tweak your skills on the fly, but what are they really hating on? They're hating on the ability for you to constantly evaluate the promise of a skill against the reality of that skill in the field.
Far from claiming games like d3 don't let you invest in your character, I'd argue games that don't let you switch up your skills and stats don't have faith in their own gameplay systems
PoE can have a really rough first impression I think, both because of the crazy skill chart makes your progress seem small, and also because you only start with 1 skill gem and skill progression is from random drops plus quest rewards/purchases a new person will have no way to plan or evaluate. A typical result is a first character with no synergy that eventually just can't proceed, and it's hard to know why. "Make another 50 characters and you will find ways to make it fun" is a questionable design if you need to keep new players coming in.
All these games suffer from a lack of clarity that is astonishing to me, with poor or no combat logs. When you die the only chance you have to learn why is to watch recorded video of your own death and try to pick out visual clues about what happened? Oh, that enemy champion had an aura that gave damage reflection to all the enemies nearby and the dark snuffgrubbler in the far corner cursed me with weakness to cold, and all my hasted multishot frost arrows were reflected and killed me. Why didn't you say so :-/
I LOVED Diablo II and played more hours of it than I can remember.
But the WoW-inspired art style of Diablo III was a big turn-off for me
and I never could get over it. I understand some people like it (8
million or more, if the WoW subscription numbers are any indication),
but it's just not for me.
Nice review. Bit late to the party but thought I'd comment anyways. :)
One aspect of modern arpgs you didn't touch upon is what online aspect GD has. It's one of only a few knocks I have against this game, which I find superior to D3 in virtually every other way.
With Diablo 3 in the title of this review, I did expect more of a comparison or contrast to the premier arpg title, and am disappointed there wasn't more of an effort to highlight where GD shines in comparison (loot system, skill system, crafting, character progression).
I wish there was more of an online presence though - perhaps some sort of public ladder that affords a nominal venue for competition amongst the playerbase. Otherwise I find GD to be a mostly-silent community in comparison to inferior games like D3.