It's also possible, perhaps, that Tyrael has been imprisoned by his peers in Heaven for assisting the heroes of Diablo 2 and destroying the World Stone and it's up to you to free him (for whatever reason). That could actually provide a fairly decent plot device for fighting some angels.
I doubt that it will be the last Diablo game made, the last of this story arc perhaps (although I would be surprised if there wasn't an expansion at least) but it's more likely than not that there's sufficient money left in the Diablo series that they're going to continue the franchise in some way or another.
Now, Heaven in Diablo...hmmm...that's actually an interesting concept. There seems to be very little information on what the place actually looks like, although the Diablo 1 manual does mention a crystal arch of some sort at the center of Heaven if I'm not mistaken. However, I don't think the lush, happy environments would cut it for Heaven in Diablo.
I think that I'd imagine the place as a mighty citadel of marble and steel. Armed patrols marching all over the place whilst down sidestreets and in white-stone squares angelic warriors train tirelessly. I think that everything would be very clean, maybe even "beautiful" in terms of excellent craftsmanship, white-stone streets, marble buildings and so forth, but also very Spartan in terms of having very little decoration and being very practical and made for war, if you know what I mean. Everything would be very orderly and symmetrical. There would be bastions, walls, drill halls and so forth everywhere, the whole place would be like a nation in a state of total war (which it more or less is). So, in summary, everything is geared towards warfare in some way, virtually all of the buildings are martial in purpose, there are angelic soldiers everywhere guarding and training and there's very little organic matter. Everything is made with a practical purpose and sports very little decoration.
I also think that the angels would be more likely to use righteous mortal spirits/souls to bolster or support the ranks, rather than just have them lay idly about.
Like I said I would LOVE this and it would make sense if Azmodan is going to be making an in-game appearance.
I have a few ideas.
Personally I would very much like to see thematic encounters revolving around the seven deadly sins demons. For example, for Greed, just outside of his lair is a room that you must pass through to reach it. It is filled with an enormous amount of gold. Now the natural player response would be to simply pick the gold up. However, if you leave the gold alone and simply pass through the room into Greed's lair he is much weaker than his "normal" self. However, he gets stronger and stronger the more gold you take until he is much more powerful than normal if you pick up all of the gold.
For Sloth (laziness) I'd like to see an obese demon (although not as obese as the Thousand Pounder) being carried on some sort of large-ish portable throne like thing, carried by many smaller demons, or perhaps indentured mortal slaves. The throne would look something like a Palanquin of Nurgle, if any of you guys are familiar with Warhammer. He can cast spells that make your character move more slowly (like being frozen in Diablo 2) and that drain your stamina (assuming stamina is in Diablo 3).
That's all I've got for now, I'll think about it some more.
I'd have to wrack my brain a bit to come up with a unique version of Hell. The whole fire and brimstone thing is so synonymous with Hell that it's almost difficult to envision anything else.
I must say that I agree with Dane though, Diablo 1's Hell was actually quite original and frightening. First of all it's not at all what I expected for Hell (I went in there thinking it was going to be a Mordor-esque wasteland with the typical fire, lava etc.). The second thing was that the monsters in Hell were actually pretty damn difficult, at least for my level 25-ish warrior in single player. You had to tread lightly because those knights and mages and succubi could maul you pretty damn quickly if you weren't careful. I vividly remember gasping "Oh ****!" more than once as I turned a corner and saw a veritable horde of knights storming down the corridor.
By comparison I found Hell in Diablo 2 to be a joke. I braced myself for one Hell of a fight (oh dear, what a terrible pun) coming out of the Pandemonium Fortress and seeing a mob of angry "megademons" charging towards me. Suffice to say it was over before it started and my character butchered all of them without breaking a sweat. It was kind of underwhelming.
Therefore my first request for Hell in Diablo 3 is that it should damn well be bloody hard, especially for a first run character just entering it. It's the domain of the Three, the domain of demon-kind. The demons here are fully manifested and at full power, they should be powerful enough to pose a significant threat to the player in my opinion.
Also, I would like Blizzard to represent that Hell is a "living" kingdom, or dominion of sorts. Let's see some demonic overseers and torture-masters tormenting the souls of the damned. Therefore I'd like to see people in pits of lava, struggling to escape, people on various torture-engines, in cages etc. Let's get the atmosphere of eternal damnation and utter hopelessness going.
I'd like to see a "lieutenants of Azmodan" type fight if Azmodan is in fact one of the bosses in Diablo 3. It would be especially cool if it takes place in Azmodan's dominion in Hell. So, you go through seven levels of Hell, maybe they could be actual areas outdoors rather than dungeons as in Diablo 2 (although I would actually prefer that the encounter takes place in claustrophobic levels that mirror, somewhat, Hell as in Diablo 1). But in any case, each of the seven levels is ruled over by one of Azmodan's lieutenants, each one representing one of the seven deadly sins. The monsters you fight in the dungeons, even the very level environments, are heavily influenced by the aspect of the master, or rather the deadly sin he represents. As for Azmodan himself, he would be on the eighth level, a throne room of massive proportions, filled with no other monsters besides him. The walls of his throne room would be covered in frescoes and tapestries depicting scenes of terrible evil and debauchery. Azmodan would sit upon a giant throne made of human flesh and bone (still bleeding hopefully). Particularly the throne would be crafted of the faces of great human sinners, still twisting/struggling and crying out in anguish. The throne would sit upon a raised dais (preferably quite large) held in the air by strong chains and linked to the rest of the throne room only by a thin stone bridge. Underneath the bridge and the dais would be a deep pit, filled with lava or boiling blood where evil mortals writhe in agony.
Azmodan sits on his throne completely motionless (deep in thought perhaps?), his eyes closed and his head resting in one of his hands. He is "divinely beautiful" ie. he looks more like a vampire or fallen angel than a conventional demon to represent the "seductiveness" of sin (and also to separate him from the other demon lords of the game. Unlike Diablo et al he's not huge, rather he's almost human-sized, maybe eight feet tall at the most). As soon as the player crosses onto the dais the bridge crumbles and falls into the lava/boiling blood below and Azmodan stirs and prepares to fight.
Other than that it would be awesome to have the Butcher return. I always wished they brought him back in Diablo 2. It would be nice if there was actually a separate "Butcher-dedicated" level, rather than just some random body-filled room in the main dungeon/environment for his lair.
Now, normally I wouldn't reply to a post such as your's USNSEALs. However, bringing "whimsical" into the equation you directly referenced me, and quite frankly I find your stereotyping of people who don't like the new art direction rather wearisome myself. There are fools and children who don't like the new art direction, just as there are fools and children who do.
This is not to say that I don't like the art direction, I do, however this shaman is somewhat laughable in my opinion, and it's my opinion to have. Other people think similarly it would seem, whatever their numbers and most have been reasonably civil, certainly they have not lashed out at other forum members.
I grow tired and weary of this competition of who can be the biggest smart ass and most disrespectful and irritating
I do also, and yet the only embittered soul that I see, slinging insults with wild abandon, is you. I think that perhaps you may have won that competition yourself with that jewel of a post.
As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised if all of this announcing was to wait for all the bitching and admiring, to gauge what needs improvement to further the satiation of admirers, and to accommodate those that are unhappy. What I mean is, I wouldn't be surprised if they are finished in their eyes, but just making sure the fans agree - giving us time to come up with ideas that we naturally need time to come up with, and then releasing the game.
I see absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, I'd be impressed if Blizzard intended to implement fan suggestions into Diablo 3.
Polishing can take a long time. Why do you think Blizzard's games are so famous. They don't particularly innovate or add new mechanics to their various genres. They're famous because Blizzard takes the time to make games that are very fun, extremely well balanced and polished to perfection so that they have less bugs than several other games combined.
Although, in all fairness, D3 does look like a pretty innovative RPG, from what I've seen so far.
If they are making the game cuddly how come when I watched the gameplay video I saw 3 (assumed virgins :P) woman sacrificialy explode in a ritual to summon a huge demon into sanctuary.
Uh, look more closely. Those look more like mutants or possessed cultists than virgins. You can see them more clearly in the screens.
I don't think anyone's saying that the game is going to be cuddly, it's just that the new Fallen Shaman really does look much too friendly and whimsical to be a demon.
Oh, and I actually quite like the new art direction, just for the record (although it could be a bit more gothic).
Well, the greatest thing about the original Diablo, in my opinion, was the horror-like atmosphere. It kept things tense and really made it feel like the evil that you were up against was truly Satanic and vile. A large part of this was the music, all of the screams and groans, the fear-evoking notes.
Diablo II really didn't come anywhere close to the atmosphere Diablo I had. The music more reminds me of something that you'd hear playing a Lord of the Rings game.
From what I've heard of Diablo III's music though, I quite like it. It seems as though they've merged the "creepy" of the first game with the "epic" of the second.
Oh and just for the record, I preferred the way Diablo I was played in a very deep dungeon for the entire game. It kept the gameplay focused and gave a real sense of accomplishment when you finally fought your way into Hell itself. There was also a sense of mystery and nervousness. What sorts of demons waited for you on the next level? Anyway, the dark nature of the first game's dungeons really kept the player on his/her toes.
They have to include Diablo in some way, shape or form, the series is, afterall, named for him. Diablo's rising, especially the way in which he arises or the impact he has on the story, could be a great plot twist in and of itself. That's not to say that it should be the only one, but I think there could be a compelling story that involves Diablo.
No worries though, I think Blizzard is cooking up something suitably nefarious.
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Now, Heaven in Diablo...hmmm...that's actually an interesting concept. There seems to be very little information on what the place actually looks like, although the Diablo 1 manual does mention a crystal arch of some sort at the center of Heaven if I'm not mistaken. However, I don't think the lush, happy environments would cut it for Heaven in Diablo.
I think that I'd imagine the place as a mighty citadel of marble and steel. Armed patrols marching all over the place whilst down sidestreets and in white-stone squares angelic warriors train tirelessly. I think that everything would be very clean, maybe even "beautiful" in terms of excellent craftsmanship, white-stone streets, marble buildings and so forth, but also very Spartan in terms of having very little decoration and being very practical and made for war, if you know what I mean. Everything would be very orderly and symmetrical. There would be bastions, walls, drill halls and so forth everywhere, the whole place would be like a nation in a state of total war (which it more or less is). So, in summary, everything is geared towards warfare in some way, virtually all of the buildings are martial in purpose, there are angelic soldiers everywhere guarding and training and there's very little organic matter. Everything is made with a practical purpose and sports very little decoration.
I also think that the angels would be more likely to use righteous mortal spirits/souls to bolster or support the ranks, rather than just have them lay idly about.
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Like I said I would LOVE this and it would make sense if Azmodan is going to be making an in-game appearance.
I have a few ideas.
Personally I would very much like to see thematic encounters revolving around the seven deadly sins demons. For example, for Greed, just outside of his lair is a room that you must pass through to reach it. It is filled with an enormous amount of gold. Now the natural player response would be to simply pick the gold up. However, if you leave the gold alone and simply pass through the room into Greed's lair he is much weaker than his "normal" self. However, he gets stronger and stronger the more gold you take until he is much more powerful than normal if you pick up all of the gold.
For Sloth (laziness) I'd like to see an obese demon (although not as obese as the Thousand Pounder) being carried on some sort of large-ish portable throne like thing, carried by many smaller demons, or perhaps indentured mortal slaves. The throne would look something like a Palanquin of Nurgle, if any of you guys are familiar with Warhammer. He can cast spells that make your character move more slowly (like being frozen in Diablo 2) and that drain your stamina (assuming stamina is in Diablo 3).
That's all I've got for now, I'll think about it some more.
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I must say that I agree with Dane though, Diablo 1's Hell was actually quite original and frightening. First of all it's not at all what I expected for Hell (I went in there thinking it was going to be a Mordor-esque wasteland with the typical fire, lava etc.). The second thing was that the monsters in Hell were actually pretty damn difficult, at least for my level 25-ish warrior in single player. You had to tread lightly because those knights and mages and succubi could maul you pretty damn quickly if you weren't careful. I vividly remember gasping "Oh ****!" more than once as I turned a corner and saw a veritable horde of knights storming down the corridor.
By comparison I found Hell in Diablo 2 to be a joke. I braced myself for one Hell of a fight (oh dear, what a terrible pun) coming out of the Pandemonium Fortress and seeing a mob of angry "megademons" charging towards me. Suffice to say it was over before it started and my character butchered all of them without breaking a sweat. It was kind of underwhelming.
Therefore my first request for Hell in Diablo 3 is that it should damn well be bloody hard, especially for a first run character just entering it. It's the domain of the Three, the domain of demon-kind. The demons here are fully manifested and at full power, they should be powerful enough to pose a significant threat to the player in my opinion.
Also, I would like Blizzard to represent that Hell is a "living" kingdom, or dominion of sorts. Let's see some demonic overseers and torture-masters tormenting the souls of the damned. Therefore I'd like to see people in pits of lava, struggling to escape, people on various torture-engines, in cages etc. Let's get the atmosphere of eternal damnation and utter hopelessness going.
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Azmodan sits on his throne completely motionless (deep in thought perhaps?), his eyes closed and his head resting in one of his hands. He is "divinely beautiful" ie. he looks more like a vampire or fallen angel than a conventional demon to represent the "seductiveness" of sin (and also to separate him from the other demon lords of the game. Unlike Diablo et al he's not huge, rather he's almost human-sized, maybe eight feet tall at the most). As soon as the player crosses onto the dais the bridge crumbles and falls into the lava/boiling blood below and Azmodan stirs and prepares to fight.
Other than that it would be awesome to have the Butcher return. I always wished they brought him back in Diablo 2. It would be nice if there was actually a separate "Butcher-dedicated" level, rather than just some random body-filled room in the main dungeon/environment for his lair.
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Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers guys.
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This is not to say that I don't like the art direction, I do, however this shaman is somewhat laughable in my opinion, and it's my opinion to have. Other people think similarly it would seem, whatever their numbers and most have been reasonably civil, certainly they have not lashed out at other forum members.
I do also, and yet the only embittered soul that I see, slinging insults with wild abandon, is you. I think that perhaps you may have won that competition yourself with that jewel of a post.
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I see absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, I'd be impressed if Blizzard intended to implement fan suggestions into Diablo 3.
Polishing can take a long time. Why do you think Blizzard's games are so famous. They don't particularly innovate or add new mechanics to their various genres. They're famous because Blizzard takes the time to make games that are very fun, extremely well balanced and polished to perfection so that they have less bugs than several other games combined.
Although, in all fairness, D3 does look like a pretty innovative RPG, from what I've seen so far.
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Uh, look more closely. Those look more like mutants or possessed cultists than virgins. You can see them more clearly in the screens.
I don't think anyone's saying that the game is going to be cuddly, it's just that the new Fallen Shaman really does look much too friendly and whimsical to be a demon.
Oh, and I actually quite like the new art direction, just for the record (although it could be a bit more gothic).
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Diablo II really didn't come anywhere close to the atmosphere Diablo I had. The music more reminds me of something that you'd hear playing a Lord of the Rings game.
From what I've heard of Diablo III's music though, I quite like it. It seems as though they've merged the "creepy" of the first game with the "epic" of the second.
Oh and just for the record, I preferred the way Diablo I was played in a very deep dungeon for the entire game. It kept the gameplay focused and gave a real sense of accomplishment when you finally fought your way into Hell itself. There was also a sense of mystery and nervousness. What sorts of demons waited for you on the next level? Anyway, the dark nature of the first game's dungeons really kept the player on his/her toes.
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No worries though, I think Blizzard is cooking up something suitably nefarious.