So since none of this is confirmed yet talked about in great detail I'm going to spoiler tag my whole post.
So I've finally taken enough of a break to finally go back and watch the entirety of the "Behind the Scenes". Needless to say they give great insight on their design process but in their "Behind the Scenes: Cinematic" They reveal that the game wasn't going to be about Malthael. In fact he wasn't really going to do much at all. He was going to enter the cinematic kill two people and stand off to the side... They reveal that IMPERIUS, yeah IMPERIUS was to be the big bad guy. They talk about the almost brotherly hatred between them, that was going to go far enough that Imperius would kill tyrael, but they didn't wanna kill Tyrael. So they just had him beat the ever loving shit out of him. They even show the story-boards where Tyrael just has blood streaming down his face and show some early renders of Tyraels face bloodied broken and bruised. They then got to thinking why not go all the way, why would Imperius stop at just kicking the shit out of him. So then apparently they were also thinking why the hell is Malthael just standing there. Apparently he didn't do anything in the Cinematic so they wanted him to be more active. Thus they decided to leave Imperius out and focus on Malthael. This shows that they're looking to end up with Imperius turning evil and corrupt. Remember "Valor shall turn to Wrath" they're really rolling with him ending up evil. I expect to also face Meph Andariel, Duriel, Baal, Azmo, and Belial AGAIN somewhere in the next expac or later. With The black soulstone destroyed, ALL of them are free. Tyrael only refers to big D being free, but he completely forgets about the fact that the other 6 evils are also free? Hell anyone? maybe a fight through all 7 evils, and then Tathamet to close us out? I expect some seriously big things from the next expac and beyond. they'e setting up tons of story turns and expansions here. What do you guys think?
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Not even Death will save you from Diablo Bunny's Cuteness!
I kindof agree with that but I think they would save the 6 evils for Diablo 4, seeing how little work they put into ROS.
I could see Imp killing off Tyreal in the next xpac though.
If there's a Diablo 4, it'l be a different story arc. This entire current arc of the eternal conflict / Diablo and friends trying to take over Sanctuary is going to end with D3. How many expacs? Hopefully two more personally, but I can see them wrapping it up in the next one.
But the imperius thing I've been expecting for awhile. Even the whole 'Hey nephalem, YOU go kill Malthael because he's my bro and I can't do it, even though you know I'm supposed to be the fearless leader who had no trouble kicking the shit out of Tyrael, it's, um, complicated now.'
Possibly He was working with Malthael, hoping he'd be successful.
So since none of this is confirmed yet talked about in great detail I'm going to spoiler tag my whole post.
So I've finally taken enough of a break to finally go back and watch the entirety of the "Behind the Scenes". Needless to say they give great insight on their design process but in their "Behind the Scenes: Cinematic" They reveal that the game wasn't going to be about Malthael. In fact he wasn't really going to do much at all. He was going to enter the cinematic kill two people and stand off to the side... They reveal that IMPERIUS, yeah IMPERIUS was to be the big bad guy. They talk about the almost brotherly hatred between them, that was going to go far enough that Imperius would kill tyrael, but they didn't wanna kill Tyrael. So they just had him beat the ever loving shit out of him. They even show the story-boards where Tyrael just has blood streaming down his face and show some early renders of Tyraels face bloodied broken and bruised. They then got to thinking why not go all the way, why would Imperius stop at just kicking the shit out of him. So then apparently they were also thinking why the hell is Malthael just standing there. Apparently he didn't do anything in the Cinematic so they wanted him to be more active. Thus they decided to leave Imperius out and focus on Malthael. This shows that they're looking to end up with Imperius turning evil and corrupt. Remember "Valor shall turn to Wrath" they're really rolling with him ending up evil. I expect to also face Meph Andariel, Duriel, Baal, Azmo, and Belial AGAIN somewhere in the next expac or later. With The black soulstone destroyed, ALL of them are free. Tyrael only refers to big D being free, but he completely forgets about the fact that the other 6 evils are also free? Hell anyone? maybe a fight through all 7 evils, and then Tathamet to close us out? I expect some seriously big things from the next expac and beyond. they'e setting up tons of story turns and expansions here. What do you guys think?
Well, according to the Book of Tyrael (Page 107), Diablo consumed the essence of all other evils becoming the prime evil thus all others are gone and just D himself remains as the big bad guy.
So, Enty, you're going to have to post a link to the video or article for me, because I'm clearly looking at the wrong version of The Making Of ROS's Cinematic. :\
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Be it through hallowed grounds or lands of sorrow
All in the Forger's wake is left bereft and fallow
Is the residuum worth the cost of destruction and maiming;
Or is the shaping a culling and exercise in taming?
The road's goal is the dark Origin of Being
But be wary through what thickets it winds.
-Excerpt from the Litany of Residuum;
As Translated by He Who Brings Order
I thought we'd see Imperius and Malthael working together, so it's kind of cool that they actually were going to do that, not really a satisfying answer as to why it was scrapped though (Malthael didn't do anything in a cinematic?). They did produce the 'Wrath' animation that heavily hinted at Imperius being a threat, so most likely it will be happening in the next expansion as they also set the stage for the nephalem fighting for their right to live without angelic/demonic interference at the end.
In the original game's Behind the Scenes, one of the devs said, "At the End of Days, angels and demons will fight on the land of man." so there's that, too.
Deckard Cain tells us that the Prophecy of the End Days is a warning of what is to come, and that the 'ultimate invasion' of Sanctuary by the Hells is involved. With Diablo (and maybe the other Evils) released at the end of RoS, the ultimate invasion ought to be coming.
"So, I am finally to face Malthael, the latest in a seemingly endless line of "most evil beings". It is now undeniable that mankind is trapped within an insane game that will continue forever, unless we put a stop to it. It is past time for us to say "No more." The days of angels and demons threatening the existence of our world must end."
"As I go to face the Angel of Death, my only fear is what he will do to my world should I fall. So I will not allow that to happen. It is obvious that neither side can be trusted. It is time for mankind to declare that the age of angels and demons is over."
This Crusader's lore snippet may also hint at the future (the only one that suggests Kulle may return, since, you know, the Horadrim had to magically dismember and seal his body parts away the first time):
http://d3head.com/quest/57337-the-black-soulstone"Well Kulle was not back among the living for very long. He is dead, though I would not be surprised to run into him again sometime. More importantly, we have the Black Soulstone and are ready to face Belial."
I've been thinking about the ending cinematic when Tyrael talks about the Nephalim being mortal and eventually being corrupted. That appeared to me to be a set up for something to come. Maybe just a content patch when we go batshit crazy killing stuff before it turns evil.
I think the efforts of the angels/demons/Nephalem are all futile. Futility seems to be the unspoken theme in the series. The angels and demons are locked in an eternal conflict and when that boils over and impacts the mortal races the Nephalem get involved and it always ends badly for everyone including the Nephalem. There are no happy endings in the D3 lore. Actually Blizzard games in general, while they have a theme of redemption, don't have happy endings.
The eternal conflict gives the Nephalem something to focus their power and effort on and it also seems to keep them in line. If the eternal conflict were to end as mentioned a few posts above that would end badly for everyone, especially if the Nephalem end up succumbing to corruption as suggested by the ending cinematic. I doubt the conflict is going anywhere however because historically we (the player characters) are really really really REALLY bad at putting a stop to the evils. They pop up, we play whack-a-mole, we derp, they're free again!
I'd actually like to see them do something more interesting with Imperius than make him an enemy.
A big part of the futility theme though has been ongoing sequelitis. Every previous ending was a cliffhanger, in part because the teams had in mind the sequel they were developing. (see what Blizzard North was doing on "their" D3.) If they aren't in any rush to push out a Diablo 4 that is basically more of the same (and I'm not sure they would be), then they might not choose that kind of ending for xpack2.
D3's ending was the first time we had some "finality" or even happiness, even if there was in fact unfinished business for the expansion to pick up. So if Xpack2 wants to pull something more "final" like D3 vanilla did, they certainly could. And they can just as easily make something up later to continue the series as well.
Even if Demons/Angels are not eradicated for eternity, I am expecting some kind of radical turn or change that significantly weakens them for a long time, with the implication that humanity now stands on their own. For how long who knows, and of course humans/nephalem by nature are not necessarily good, but it seems to be the conclusion we are driving for after having killed THE most powerful demon and angel. Again they can always twist it much later when they decide they want to exploit the franchise again.
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So I've finally taken enough of a break to finally go back and watch the entirety of the "Behind the Scenes". Needless to say they give great insight on their design process but in their "Behind the Scenes: Cinematic" They reveal that the game wasn't going to be about Malthael. In fact he wasn't really going to do much at all. He was going to enter the cinematic kill two people and stand off to the side... They reveal that IMPERIUS, yeah IMPERIUS was to be the big bad guy. They talk about the almost brotherly hatred between them, that was going to go far enough that Imperius would kill tyrael, but they didn't wanna kill Tyrael. So they just had him beat the ever loving shit out of him. They even show the story-boards where Tyrael just has blood streaming down his face and show some early renders of Tyraels face bloodied broken and bruised. They then got to thinking why not go all the way, why would Imperius stop at just kicking the shit out of him. So then apparently they were also thinking why the hell is Malthael just standing there. Apparently he didn't do anything in the Cinematic so they wanted him to be more active. Thus they decided to leave Imperius out and focus on Malthael. This shows that they're looking to end up with Imperius turning evil and corrupt. Remember "Valor shall turn to Wrath" they're really rolling with him ending up evil. I expect to also face Meph Andariel, Duriel, Baal, Azmo, and Belial AGAIN somewhere in the next expac or later. With The black soulstone destroyed, ALL of them are free. Tyrael only refers to big D being free, but he completely forgets about the fact that the other 6 evils are also free? Hell anyone? maybe a fight through all 7 evils, and then Tathamet to close us out? I expect some seriously big things from the next expac and beyond. they'e setting up tons of story turns and expansions here. What do you guys think?
I could see Imp killing off Tyreal in the next xpac though.
But the imperius thing I've been expecting for awhile. Even the whole 'Hey nephalem, YOU go kill Malthael because he's my bro and I can't do it, even though you know I'm supposed to be the fearless leader who had no trouble kicking the shit out of Tyrael, it's, um, complicated now.'
Possibly He was working with Malthael, hoping he'd be successful.
I don't see
All in the Forger's wake is left bereft and fallow-Excerpt from the Litany of Residuum;
As Translated by He Who Brings Order
In the original game's Behind the Scenes, one of the devs said, "At the End of Days, angels and demons will fight on the land of man." so there's that, too.
Deckard Cain tells us that the Prophecy of the End Days is a warning of what is to come, and that the 'ultimate invasion' of Sanctuary by the Hells is involved. With Diablo (and maybe the other Evils) released at the end of RoS, the ultimate invasion ought to be coming.
http://d3head.com/quest/273408-angel-of-death
"So, I am finally to face Malthael, the latest in a seemingly endless line of "most evil beings". It is now undeniable that mankind is trapped within an insane game that will continue forever, unless we put a stop to it. It is past time for us to say "No more." The days of angels and demons threatening the existence of our world must end."
"As I go to face the Angel of Death, my only fear is what he will do to my world should I fall. So I will not allow that to happen. It is obvious that neither side can be trusted. It is time for mankind to declare that the age of angels and demons is over."
This Crusader's lore snippet may also hint at the future (the only one that suggests Kulle may return, since, you know, the Horadrim had to magically dismember and seal his body parts away the first time):
http://d3head.com/quest/57337-the-black-soulstone"Well Kulle was not back among the living for very long. He is dead, though I would not be surprised to run into him again sometime. More importantly, we have the Black Soulstone and are ready to face Belial."
What we haven't seen is is the last line.
"and fate lies shattered forever"
Archangel of Fate.
The eternal conflict gives the Nephalem something to focus their power and effort on and it also seems to keep them in line. If the eternal conflict were to end as mentioned a few posts above that would end badly for everyone, especially if the Nephalem end up succumbing to corruption as suggested by the ending cinematic. I doubt the conflict is going anywhere however because historically we (the player characters) are really really really REALLY bad at putting a stop to the evils. They pop up, we play whack-a-mole, we derp, they're free again!
I'd actually like to see them do something more interesting with Imperius than make him an enemy.
D3's ending was the first time we had some "finality" or even happiness, even if there was in fact unfinished business for the expansion to pick up. So if Xpack2 wants to pull something more "final" like D3 vanilla did, they certainly could. And they can just as easily make something up later to continue the series as well.
Even if Demons/Angels are not eradicated for eternity, I am expecting some kind of radical turn or change that significantly weakens them for a long time, with the implication that humanity now stands on their own. For how long who knows, and of course humans/nephalem by nature are not necessarily good, but it seems to be the conclusion we are driving for after having killed THE most powerful demon and angel. Again they can always twist it much later when they decide they want to exploit the franchise again.