D3 has Less Gore, Less Baroque, Less Realism

[mtgibbs]

Ok, so I posted this over at the official Diablo forums, and after 3 people agreed with me my thread was closed. That in itself pisses me off because I still purchased Diablo 3 and think it's a good game. BUT..

My major complaint with Diablo 3 is the art style. It's been said thousands of times, but here's my opinion. What made Diablo 2 awesome (for me) was the art direction. Not only is everything more colorful in D3. But the architecture and structures and gear are exaggerated like in WOW (which torchlight does too). Which makes it more cartoony and less real looking. What happened to the more Castlevania look? Diablo 3, in my opinion, would be more enjoyable as a gruesome, dark, gothic style game. Does anyone else agree or has something to add to this sentiment?

[MagisterMan]

Agreed but there is nothing to do about it at this stage. The issue has been up so many times and Blizzard hasn't listened.

[Goury]

less realism: +1
less gore: -1
less baroque: -1
too exaggerated: +1

personal opinion on diii: 8 of 10
Its great for game to be 8 out of 10 for my opinion yet its awesomely awful score for Blizzard.
Game is still great yet there is too many of slopwork done.
I really do hope they sill make it up yet it taken eight years to make d2 perfect so i dont hope for this year.

[a black kid]

i can somewhat agree with part of that, but more colorful? are you kidding me? did you not see the sorcs in d2 decked out in BRIGHT PURPLE, or that barbs had a ridiculous glowing aura... or how about the baal runs that was literally a flash of all colors of the rainbow every pack that got dropped... not the mention that the level itself was bright *** red. diablo 2 was OVER colored, and i feel that diablo 3 uses its colors to a FAR better result than d2 did.

[BobCox2]

i can somewhat agree with part of that, but more colorful? are you kidding me? did you not see the sorcs in d2 decked out in BRIGHT PURPLE, or that barbs had a ridiculous glowing aura... or how about the baal runs that was literally a flash of all colors of the rainbow every pack that got dropped... not the mention that the level itself was bright *** red. diablo 2 was OVER colored, and i feel that diablo 3 uses its colors to a FAR better result than d2 did.

Full sets auras are fun.

[marshmallow]

Am I the only one who misses the multi-colored unique enemies?

[Asrrin]

I think that the art was just as dark if not darker than in D2. You have to realize you are remembering D2 through rose colored glasses. Think back to Act2 and Act 5, where everything was BRIGHT. think back to the sorc purple dinosaur outfit and how pretty much everything glowed garish colors. Heck, even act 1 was bright when it wasn't raining. The only thing that was dark were the dungeons. and in D3, everything is very dark and foreboding. Even Act's dessert is more rocky and a darker palette than D2's was. and as far as gore is concerned, I'm not sure what you are talking about. Sure bodies tend to disappear more quickly than in D2 (mostly to keep CPU cycles down) but bodies EXPLODE all over the place, I've had pieces flying at the screen in some cases! And don't get me started on the ghostly scenes at the end of Act 1. the beheading alone was pretty gruesome.

The only thing that doesn't feel Baroque/Gothic/Victorian to me is the Witch Doctor. I feel he is slightly cartoonish and doesn't fit with the theme of the rest of the cast. I wish they would have kept him as the Gothic Necro, but alas, they didn't. I do feel however the DH, the Wiz, the Monk, all have very good art directions.

[Ace_wanderer]

Diablo 3's art-style is nothing like Diablo 1 or 2, it's way over the top and childish.

Compare the original Butcher to the new one. In Diablo 1 The Butcher scared the crap out of me when I saw all the bodies and heard some naked pig man with a cleaver say fresh meat.

The D3 Butcher is just some generic joke that is like any other boss.

[ZwanZigZwolf]

I disagree with OP. This game is very dark, gloom, gothic and gory. Much more so than Diablo 2. Diablo 2 was very drab and brightly lit most of the time. D3 has absorbing atmosphere. Act 1 alone is nothing but gore and gloom. Most of the trees look like they will eat you, later in the act they actually try, LOL. The dark purples and blues of this game really add to the gloom, so does the volumetric fog that is everywhere. I LOVE the artstyle of this game and and glad to see they didn't go with the grainy, pixelated stylings of D1 or D2.

It's time for progress and that is what we have. A friend of mine who has watched me play D2 for sometime finally took the time to watch me play some D3 and she pointed out how much better D3 looks. She even commented on the animations, she said they were much more lifelike, even the rag-doll effects were thrilling.

This game has much more realism than D2, in particular the animations and physics. It is just simply a matter of letting go of the ideal of Diablo 2. It is an amazing game, no doubt but D3 is destined to surpass it, especially when the arenas are launched.

[DiabloBaal]

Dark and Gothic was Diablo 1. That is the art direction Diablo 3 should have taken.