Diablo 3 - Plot Analysis @ Gamasutra

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Gamasutra has an editorial that analyzes the plot in Diablo 3. In it Josh Bycer explores what he thinks is The Plot Holes of Diablo 3. Before the quote, fair warning, spoilers to follow in the following quote about what he sees as a retcon:
Diablo 3 features a very confusing retcon in the form of the Nephalem. According to the game, these are the children of angels and demons from a long time ago. They supposedly have super human powers and are set up as the game's version of the chosen one. This doesn't make sense, considering how the world of Diablo was set up. In previous games, the heroes have always been regular humans who were trained in supernatural professions, and they were able to save the world. Were they really Nephalem the entire time? And if so, why did no one mention this at all over the last two games? For all the buildup around this plot point, it never goes anywhere. The player is never given any special powers to show that they are Nephalem outside of the level 60 magic find buff. All this point is used for, is to make the player's connection to the story very dry. Every character refers to the player as a Nephalem, instead of by their profession.
Thanks RPG Codex and Gamebanshee
More information.
 
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well look on the bright side, all those plot holes and logic fallacies open the maw of endless DLC. enjoy the future.
 
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Wow. This guy talks about lazy story-writing? This is a rather lazy critique. Most of the questions he has are actually answered in-game by either dialogue or lore, he admits in comments to his own piece that he began ignoring lore, some of his assertions are flat out false, and his preconceived notions of how thing should work don't amount to an objective criticism. And he uses Star Wars and Harry Potter as sterling examples of plot construction? Really? Pfft. This guy has no credibility to be writing an opinion piece on the art of story construction, and it shows in the very poorly constructed argument he makes.
 
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yeah, maybe it was a blizzard gimmick to bash its weakest point in the wrong way, so people start defending it and feel better about the product

Its junk either way, who needs a guys telling you this, I just needed 5 minutes to watch streams of people fighting the butcher Leoric and Diablo to know they took a piss on all the lore and all the logic
 
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Except Blizzard made it very obvious that they were going for a lot more story emphasis with Diablo 3 - and they hired a certain high-profile writer for the lore.

Personally, I think story is important to give the experience some weight and meaning. Most people might not think they enjoy the story in Diablo - but if there was no story, the game would quickly feel hollow and pointless.

That's kinda what happened to Hellgate - at least for a lot of people.

They forgot the importance of an engaging story and interesting NPCs. Not because it's the primary ingredient - but because it needs to be there.

As for story in Diablo 3 - I think it suffered from being way too safe and by-the-numbers. Much like StarCraft 2 - which really surprised me with how boring and predictable it was.

The presentation is strong, though, and the atmosphere/production values are very impressive - as per usual for Blizzard.

But it's like the writers would rather kill themselves than do something original or "daring" in terms of the writing.

The Diablo games were much darker, originally. Certainly the first game was VERY oppressingly gothic - and I think that would have been much more interesting.

Also, as much as I hated the size of the "Kurast" swamp area in Diablo 2 - I felt the atmosphere was much more powerful in that specific area than anything in Diablo 3. D3 is just so.... run-of-the-mill in comparison.
 
Except Blizzard made it very obvious that they were going for a lot more story emphasis with Diablo 3 - and they hired a certain high-profile writer for the lore.

Personally, I think story is important to give the experience some weight and meaning. Most people might not think they enjoy the story in Diablo - but if there was no story, the game would quickly feel hollow and pointless.

That's kinda what happened to Hellgate - at least for a lot of people.

They forgot the importance of an engaging story and interesting NPCs. Not because it's the primary ingredient - but because it needs to be there.

As for story in Diablo 3 - I think it suffered from being way too safe and by-the-numbers. Much like StarCraft 2 - which really surprised me with how boring and predictable it was.

The presentation is strong, though, and the atmosphere/production values are very impressive - as per usual for Blizzard.

But it's like the writers would rather kill themselves than do something original or "daring" in terms of the writing.

The Diablo games were much darker, originally. Certainly the first game was VERY oppressingly gothic - and I think that would have been much more interesting.

Also, as much as I hated the size of the "Kurast" swamp area in Diablo 2 - I felt the atmosphere was much more powerful in that specific area than anything in Diablo 3. D3 is just so…. run-of-the-mill in comparison.

I think this nails the problem. In Diablo III you're there to hunt, to kill thousands of monsters. You're the predator.
In Diablo I you were there mostly surviving. Each new piece of equipment, each new spell I learned was a boon because it would improve my chances at surviving. I constantly found myself running away from monsters. I was the prey and that was what thrilled me.
I think Diablo's (all three of them) story is great. It does not need to be epic. What it has got to be is believable to a point it makes you feel you're in that situation, desperate. I have bought the "Book of Cain" and boy it's so well done. It's the best produced book I have and I have tons of books. It reeks with style and details the Diablo series lore in a great way.
I think what Diablo III lacks is ambience (even with those high production values). It's like a party, you're there to level up and kick some ass. That's too common. I miss the older entries, which were so much grittier, gothic and darker overall. I loved the feeling of hopelessness and knowing that at any moment I might die. Not that dying itself is anything special but in that ambient, amongst that darkness, by the hand of those mad demons, in my perspective it would be a pretty terrifying situation.
 
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It's like a party, you're there to level up and kick some ass. That's too common. I miss the older entries, which were so much grittier, gothic and darker overall.

This is true in Normal. They went too far in making Normal easy. With a party, it becomes almost trivial.

However, the later difficulties get more like this:

I loved the feeling of hopelessness and knowing that at any moment I might die. Not that dying itself is anything special but in that ambient, amongst that darkness, by the hand of those mad demons, in my perspective it would be a pretty terrifying situation.

Meet an elite pack with Arcane Enchanted/Vortex/Reflects Damage in a narrow hallway dungeon as a DH and you feel the terror! :)
 
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This is true in Normal. They went a too far in making Normal easy. With a party, it becomes almost trivial.

However, the later difficulties get more like this:



Meet an elite pack with Arcane Enchanted/Vortex/Reflects Damage in a narrow hallway dungeon as a DH and you feel the terror! :)

Hahahaha I feel your sarcasm but anyway I meant it in another way. It's much more about the ambient than the difficulty itself.
And by party I did not mean "group" but "celebration".;)
 
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