Story Mode: Diablo III is out of Mana

Story mode is a column where Matt or Brittany shares a story or opinion about a gaming experience outside of the common playthough.

Diablo is one of my favorite games of all time. Throughtout its iterations, Blizzard has added more features, improved graphics, bigger worlds, and more exciting gameplay. So why is it that I find myself liking the series less as time goes on? Diablo was a game filled with so much magic that still holds a special place in my heart. Where did that magic go?

When the first Diablo game came out, it playing it was essential to my survival. Eat, sleep, breathe, and Diablo. This was my life. I can still remember loading up the game every night.  My mother, step-dad, and I would play Diablo after dinner straight through until it was time for me to go to bed.  We had so much fun on those nights, playing through the same dungeons countless times in search of better loot. It was simple, it was easy, and it was fun.

When Diablo II was about to come out, I couldn’t have been more excited. My step-dad and mom were equally as excited. We had worn out Diablo enough, and now it was time for new classes, new lands, new enemies, and of course, new items. We played through the sequel, but this time, something was different. We got to the end, felled Diablo, and then lost the desire to play.

I didn’t think much of it at the time. There were a lot of changes in my life. I was high school, and my focus changed to social life and console gaming. This was the start of the Playstation 2 era, and tons of exciting new games were coming out all the time.  I wanted to move on to the next thing. I didn’t have the time to play it like I had the first. And there was something about it too, that I couldn’t put my finger on. It seemed too complicated, too story driven, or too expansive in content. Either way, I felt like Blizzard had lost touch with whatever it was that made the first game so magical. So, I figured I had my fun with Diablo II, but it was time to move on.

I was naturally excited when Diablo III was announced. But my excitement was reserved. The second in the series hadn’t done for me what the first had, and I was hesitant to jump on board. After all, I am an adult now. I have a fiancé, a job, and bills to pay. I have even more going on now than I did when Diablo II came out, so how could I have the time to have kind of fun with it that I did with the original?

And then I got the news. I spotted on Twitter that there would be an open beta for Diablo III for one weekend, and anyone can jump in and try it out. I told Brittany, who had never played any of the Diablo games before. But she had been curious, and the more I told her, the more excited she became. Together we downloaded the beta and created characters. We played it through until the end. I was ecstatic. We both had a blast. It felt just like it had when the first game came out. “This feels much more like Diablo than Diablo II did!” I said to Brittany. They had recaptured the magic!

In the months between the beta and release we spent time discussing the game. We learned as much as we could, and planned out what characters each of us would play. Diablo III happened to come out on Brittany’s birthday, so I pre-ordered two copies with release date delivery. We went out for her birthday, but when we got home, the two packages were waiting at the door. We both rushed in and installed. We booted up the game, created characters, and started to play.

A few weeks passed until eventually Brittany and I had gotten to Diablo himself, and slain him. The game was incredible. We decided to continue on the harder Nightmare mode, and play though again (over and over for better loot, like the good old days of the first Diablo, right?).

However, by the time Brittany and I got to the end of Act 1, I noticed we began to slow down. We were playing less. Brittany seemed like she wasn’t motivated to play. I asked her why she didn’t seem interested in playing anymore. “I just feel like it’s the same thing. We are playing to get better items, but they just aren’t dropping.” She told me. “It just isn’t fun anymore.”

I shrugged this off. I figured that since she hadn’t played the first one like I had, she didn’t know how exhilarating running through again and again, getting better loot each time could be. But since we were playing our characters together I didn’t want to play without her. I didn’t play for a few weeks.

Recently, a buddy of mine suggested we play. I didn’t want to play with the character I use when Brittany and I play, so I suggested we each create a new one. I was excited to play again. We hopped on, and he and I played a bit through Act 1, about as much as the beta allowed. Then we both realized something. The game simply isn’t fun anymore. It was boring. Now I understood what Brittany was feeling. And I realized that I let my love and nostalgia for the first Diablo blind me to the flaws of the third.

The game was repetitive, clicking on enemies and hoping something would pop out that you could use. But most likely, what would pop out wasn’t at all useful, and you would just pick it up to sell to the vendor in town. The game was a grind. Sure you get new spells and abilities, but all those new abilities equate to are changing the way it looks when you click on enemies to kill them. Fireball or Frost Nova, either way you are click, click, clicking. My new fist weapon will drop, just one more click, just one more. I realized that Diablo III was a slot machine.

But wait a minute. The first Diablo was exactly the same way. So what was different about the thrid? Why was the first Diablo so magical, and the third so boring? I got to thinking about it. All I can come up with is timing. When Diablo came out, I was young. I had time. I was easily entertained. And there was nothing else like it. It was simple to get into, and the more you played, the more you felt rewarded. More importantly, it was family bonding time between my mother, my step-dad, and I.

With Diablo III, Brittany and certainly enjoyed playing it together, but there are many more games we can play together now. We can bond over so much more. The co-op experience that Diablo provides is no longer novel. Both of us have jobs, and don’t have the time to grind out a game for a slightly better piece of armor or weapon. We want to move on to the next thing.

While on its own, Diablo III is a great game. It’s incredibly polished, really fun, and can be a great social experience to play with friends. But all of this only lasts as long as the game. Once you see all there is to see, the game offers very little reason to continue playing. Why would I want that new fist weapon I’m grinding for? So I can kill the same enemies I’ve been killing the past 20 hours slightly quicker than I have been? I was glad to have the experience to play through Diablo III. Even more so, I was glad I could share a franchise that I love so much with Brittany. But the magic of Diablo is gone. No longer is Diablo essential to my survival. Diablo III is just another game.