Diablo III is for real

[Chesspiece_face]

I was trying to put my finger on the artistic features that made me :( and you've nailed it. I hope it can be adjusted for a smoother look, but given who the lead artist is, I doubt it.

Occhi

I personally have no problems with the artistic direction of D3. So far i think it looks like a beautiful game and looks like a lot of fun to play.

My issues with the Diablo franchise as a whole, and why i feel the series has lost a lot of it's mood derives from a couple of changes that occured between D1 and D2.

1. In diablo 1 the smaller scope really created a feel that the characters were cut off from any greater society. And not that they were just the exception, but that the world of diablo was a world floundering in the darkness much like that of medieval europe and that it's denizens were a people always fearful and superstitious of the world just outside their doors. When D2 opened up the world and showed areas of great commerce and civilization the mask of darkness and superstition disintigrated. Traversing in the greater world became more pedestrian and the evils you faced were lessened because of it.

2. Diablo 2 removed much of the Christian symbols and religious context in favor of a more generalized fantasy world. This happens with a lot of games like this when they become popular and under more focused attention. In Diablo they started removing the upside down burning crosses etc. Magic the Gathering underwent a similar change in which they removed all cards with demons as well as altered art to remove pentagrams etc. The use of real world icons makes much of the imagery in Diablo 1 that much more viceral and dark.

The combination of these two factors creates a powerful literary device where the characters in Diablo 1 focused their fear and superstitions towards the church looking for safety and reprieve. The church, in turn, became an even greater source of the darkness the characters were trying to escape. This is a level of evil which can easily resonate with any player and this depth was totally lost in the transition to Diablo 2.