D3 Console first impressions?

I don't have the game (no console to play it on) so I'm not adding my own, but I'm curious what you guys who have leapt into it are finding and thinking and feeling. The only person I've talked to so far who is playing is enjoying it a lot, but says he doesn't notice much different in the early going. Not that we expected much different.

A few things he mentioned to me:

* Quests now award an item. He says random blues so far, with +movement speed boots for his first quest reward.
* The very different difficulty options were confusing at first glance.

 

I would agree with your friend, but would add that you get used to the difficulty options very quickly. Quests do indeed give random magic items as rewards. The controls work far better than I thought they would, and the 'dodge' button (actually the right stick) works exceptionally well - it's good for putting distance between toon and enemies as well as dodging. It is, in my opinion, a very successful conversion that deserves to do well. I'm glad I bought it.


ETA: My Wizard just got a yellow source as a quest reward. This was for defeating the Skeleton King.

Further ETA: Yellows seem to be easier to come by.

 

Well, I was really interested to see how the console played after having sunk quite a few hours into the PC version. Initial impressions from a level 9 hardcore WD playing on MP2.

-AOE skills like Grasp of the dead mostly work, though I've missed a close enemy I wanted to target because the game was still targeting enemies behind the one I was aiming for. Takes the game a split second to catch up. Don't care for it as much as the point and click targeting of the PC version.

-Other skills like splinters work fine. No complaints.

-Playing on medium (equivalent of MP 2) seems to give a density increase, even on normal. I feel like I'm running into bigger packs than I do on the PC version...though not quite the bedlam of MP1+ in Inferno on PC. I've thought that this might be because of the view being pulled in closer to your character so everything seems bigger, closer, etc, but I'm not sure yet. I'll have to test on Easy (MP 0).

-Character seems to run faster out in dungeons than in town. Run speed in general feels faster. This is most certainly because of the closer view I mentioned above.

-Itemization...this was something I was really interested in testing. Of course we won't know much until we get to the end game, but as of the Cathedral level 4, no low level legendaries, but less items on the whole. Notable increase in gold drops, so I'm thinking this is the effect of the converting white items into gold. Much much more to come on this in later updates.

-Random tidbits...You don't have to click on bodies, cracked floor panels, etc to have them release their goodies. Automatic. Vendors do indeed sell better quality yellow items. The inventory is functional and probably as good as it can be for the type of game, but my personal preference is still the Tetris game of the PC version. That being said, being able to mark things as junk to facilitate salvaging and vendor selling is pretty darn convenient.

Anyway....more to come in later posts.

 

I played two characters to level 10 and 11 yesterday and two to level 6, so I can't really judge the game yet.

But my first impression is that it just feels right. Even after having played huge amounts of Diablo 1, 2 and 3 it might turn out that I could like the console controls better than mouse and keyboard. But we will have to see about that once I am higher level. Anyways, playing with the controller works remarkably well.

I can't say much about loot yet, but I found some OK'ish rares. And there are a lot less white and grey rubbish drops.

So far I am really happy and impressed with the way they ported it to consoles.

 

I totally concur... I've only been able to play for a (too) short time yet, but after playing the various Diablo versions on PC using the mouse and keyboard for the past 15 years, I was surprised about the ease to switch to playing with the controller and the new UI. This is how Diablo should be on a console (I've also played the original Diablo in PS one, but that felt wrong.) And now I can play with some friends, which we'll try this weekend, for total mayhem. Or on a single screen with my wife (I've been playing all Diablo versions with both of us behind our own PC...).

Also the possibilities you get with the evade stick is really nice, especially for ranged characters like the wizard or demon hunter. Only question it gives me: what is the benifit of Vault? Of course it gives a longer range to jump, but is that worth the loss of a skill-slot?

And since I'm an ironborn fan: playing offline on the console is a good way to do just that.

It could well be that I'll stop playing on the PC till the expansionpack is released...

 

I wondered about that first time testing the console at Blizzard a few months ago. The Evade is much shorter distance of movement, and you can't pass through anything; you just roll into the legs of the monsters. So it's not at all a movement skill or Escape skill like Vault. That said, it clearly overlaps the function somewhat, and the real irony is that the DH is widely-considered the weakest class in the game now... so of course the new console feature partially duplicates one of her best skills.

 

Further to my earlier post, drop rates seem to be much, much higher than PC. I'm only in Act 2 and I've already found 2 legendaries. Rares are even more common than I thought, from Vendors, Rewards and Drops, and class specific items are useful very early. One of my legendaries is class specific. I know it's early, but I think -first impressions remember! - that Blizzard may have got the drop rates spot on.

ETA: Just finished Act 2 with 4 Legendaries found.

 

Spot on?? it seems the drop rates are ridiculously high on console to appease the instant gratification crowed that's only going to play this game 30-50h max before they move on to the next big game of the month.

 

Generalization FTW.

 

I've just finished Act 3, and I only found 1 Legendary during it. It was a higher level version of one that I found in Act 2. Maybe I was lucky in Act 2? Or unlucky in Act 3? Only one of the legendaries is still being used - the one from Act 3. However, there are still lots of yellows dropping. I even got one from a weapon rack. I'm still on normal, but it will be interesting to see if this sort of drop rate continues on higher difficulties. I don't think they are ridiculously high, but I'd rather have high drop rates than have to depend on an auction house. Obviously, some observations from other players on the drop rates they are experiencing would be helpful.

 

I beat Nightmare today , gonna start and finish hell in few hours.

Comparison between PC and Console :

Drop Rates : The main attraction for me was the new loot 1.5 , Legendaries are amazing , drop rate is very good for self found , I actually get excited about finding new items and when I do hear the sound of a legendary drop I feel so excited knowing that 90% of the time I am getting a new upgrade , Rares feel better with more MUST HAVE stats appearing on their slots , for example , so far almost 80% of the legendary weapons have sockets , they almost all got some form of Crit Dmg and useful stats.
Rare items too are good , finding alot of gloves with Attack speed or crit chance at low level , rings with Attack Speed and MF and GF and good chunk of main stat , rarely do I find crap affixes like Str/Int or Dex/Int , finding alot of Str/vit . dex/vit , int/vit , Vendors do sell rares that are useful at this level , gonna have to see how that changes in Inferno and Item rewards for completing quests is also a good feature which might become a good thing in Inferno if there is a chance for legendary.
Act bosses seem to drop tons of items for first kills and so far Diablo in Normal dropped 2 legendaries for me and in Nightmare also 1 legendary , not sure if they increased drop chance of Diablo or just because it was first kill.

Nephalem Glory : I simply LOVE this orb , it just feels great when you do get a streak of these , they increase run speed , they start shocking packs like chain lightning , they start proccing each time you get hit and they also act like shocking aspect from the wizard shocking things in distance , you just feel that your character is on Adrenaline Rush and you just keep pushing and hoping for more to stack up , I am waiting for the arrival of this orb to the PC , in groups it is just amazing when you get these.

Controls : On console to my surprise the controls are great , I can move my character much easier than on PC with Mouse and Keyboard , Evade I think is OP making you immune during the roll and I think it is really not needed at all , I can easily move away from Freeze or stand exactly where I want on the field with my controls , the buttons can be confusing with Elective Mode but after you make your build and play it for a while it gets better , I miss my Spacebar button to skip the useless long dialogues.

Multiplayer : It is ok , the lack of communication without Headsets is annoying , you just feel that another guy is in your game and you hope he knows what he has to do , you can't link items(couldn't find this option if it is available) , I don't know , the PC Online Multiplayer is much better.

Local Multiplayer: Amazing and alot of fun , just had friends over , we were like 7 in my room which barely 3 guys can fit in , we were all playing , each taking the controller for abit of time and having fun , we played for like 3 hours straight and didn't even get bored and none of them has a clue how to use the controller or play diablo , they were all newbies to console and gaming and diablo and still had a blast.

Graphics : Didn't notice that the pc was better , the game felt polished though sometimes my Sweeping wind would do crazy stuff like not appearing or showing as big pixels and squares , but overall the game looks very good on Xbox.

UI : Looks good , though I wish there was an option to move the Health Bar to the Top or atleast convert it to an ORB.
it is hard to notice the bar in the bottom also in multiplayer the map moves to the middle of the screen and all the experience gains from chain kills or chain destruction appears on top of it and blocking most of it and sometimes you have to wait for it to go away so you can see the map again , I wish they would fix that.
The Skills UI is good , but not being able to see the Runes without actually choosing the skill to go in your bar is alittle bit annoying , it can cost you some Nephalem Valor buffs in Inferno.
Items browsing is alittle bit time consuming but it works and that what matters.

TL DR : Console is better than expected , it works great and plays great , even for somebody who has been playing since release of PC D3 , the game feels fresh with the new itemization and gives hope for RoS and loot 2.0.

 

Quote from Rankil who I'll be chatting with on the podcast this weekend, if all goes as planned.

That dps and hps at lvl 58 is insane. You could do that in D3 with a bunch of -req items, but self found? Not even remotely possible. Perhaps this isn't just the console item quality, but also a sign that Bliz has recognized how underpowered gear is in the 50s, when you're newly into Hell and monsters are scaling up and you are not? As Rankil said, he started finding great legendary gear upgrades once he was into Hell.

 

Context:

• Long time Diablo2 player.
• PS3 version.
• Two player with local multiplayer with a coop-partner who pre-ordered the PC version... and thoroughly hated it. (He was also a long-time D2 player.)
• I've never played the PC version. Hate online-only; hate action houses. I don't play MMO's, I'm not going to play a wanna-be MMO.
• Played barbarian and monk as a team.

Observations:

• Completed act one and enjoyed most of it.
• 'Hard' difficulty is easy. Obscenely easy. Only three deaths on softcore despite the fact that neither of us were really paying full attention to it, and neither of us are console gamers (I have it to play JRPGs).
• Recovering from dying is too painless to the point of you have to wonder why bother even causing death? But maybe this is the same problem with the PC version.
• No particular complaints about items being found; only found rares though, no legendaries. But I started with three rares (and a 4th to be used at level 30) due to playing the PS3 version.
• Blacksmith is unexpectedly useful. Disassembled a few blues, invested 5000 gold, and built two solid upgrades (probably 50% better at least) of items for each of our characters.
• Finally level 10, so can finally enable the 'Master I' difficulty level and hopefully have a least a slight bit of a challenge.
• Doesn't seem to be worth buying non-rare items from vendors (then again I recall this being the same as D2 where only gambling was worth the effort). However making blue magical ones with the blacksmith is beneficial.
• The 'quick equip' ability is stupidly implemented. You have to pick up the item before you can tell if it's better then your current one or not. So you spend too much time every 10 minutes or so digging through your inventory for new items, and dropping and swapping them over to your local coop-partner(s) who then have to do the same thing back.
• I haven't found any way to 'trade' items to your partner, so you have to the stupid drop-then-pickup dance. Isn't this a regression from D2?
• Also the information provided with the 'quick equip' is almost totally useless; I end up ignoring it and dropping into the inventory every now and again and properly re-equip. The game is slightly more complicated then 'more health/armour/damage'; even if only slightly.
• Gameplay very simplistic is console button mashing; I'd say there's pretty much no tactics so far with the exception of end-of-act boss fights. Maybe this is a side effect of playing a 'melee only' pair, but even the melee characters in D2 you had to use some tactics depending upon chosen skills. We spent the entire act one basically doing "run into large group of monsters, alternately hit primary/secondary attack until dead; repeat; occasionally drink potion if low on health". Again, this is supposed to be 'Hard'?
• Targeting is annoying for AoE-ish effects. Like "damage everything in a cone in front of you"; it's fiddly to get good coverage of that skill so you actually hit more then one or two monsters unless you block them in a doorway or similar.
• I miss the inventory-tetris. The current inventory has a 60 item limit, and I don't think I even got close to it before being forced to return to town for worthless update to poxy story. Other then that the inventory is pretty well designed.
• Speaking of the story, I never really believed the story was as bad as it was made out to be; I thought it was just standard "exaggerating for effect"! But good grief... terrible story and every 20-30 minutes they drag you out of the game to slap you in the face with it.
• I seriously miss a decent resolution though. 720p with no AA is awful! Jaggies are everywhere, especially visible on the character select screen. Also the drawn/'paper' cutscene movies are terribly compressed I continually see compression artefacts in them. Honestly if the story wasn't horrendous, I'd be rather irritated.
• I was initially annoyed at how hard it was to notice your health getting low without a health orb; but the controller vibrates when you get down to about 25% to give you a warning and even on 'Hard' so far it seems easy, so it hasn't ended up being all that important. However I imagine as you ramp up the difficulty it might become more annoying later.

In short, I guess, "It doesn't suck as much as I expected it would". If you don't want to repeatedly die to lag (as someone who lives in Australia this is something I continually need to contend with), or deal with terrible items dropping due to AH existing, this is definitely the superior edition. Even if it feels somewhat humiliating to have to play it on a console to get it. :?

 

Some things that I have noticed: I'm lvl 23 barb in Act 2 Normal (X360).

• In about 3 hours of play tonight, I found 3 legendaries. All were immediate upgrades.
• Blacksmith and merch's are actually useful. I've made some great stuff with the blackmsmith so far.
• I "seem" to be leveling up way quick. My infernal helm has been stashed for a while now. This is solo and MP.
• Colors are a bit off/faded/skewed a little on console. I have no doubt this has to do with the horsepower under the hood on the console vs. my PC.
• Overall, I'm having a blast. Starting a new character is actually fun knowing I will get some good drops from monsters and blacksmith.

There are my quick two cents.

 

I got two characters now at level 15 and 16 and finished Act 1 with one of them. I found two legendaries so far, both pretty good, and a bunch of decent rares.

I especially like rares as quest rewards.

 

I've never played the PC version, so I can't make a comparison there, but I've plenty plenty of D2X so I'm not a complete rookie.

- I'm nearing the end of Act I with my barb (currently level 15) and it's been a lot of fun so far. I've found some decent rares, but no Legendaries yet, even though I've explored every cave and crypt and try to break as many chests, urns and tables as humanly possible.

- Sure, the story isn't much to write home about, but that goes for D2 as well, if you ask me. The different events and random encounters keep things very interesting, I think!

- I'm surprised bu how well the controls work on the xbox! I do have to say that playing a barb means I don't have to deal with ranged attacks and AoEs that miss their intended target (apart from the occasional leap attack) as I do my damage at melee range anyway, but so far: great job! I've played a lot of Sacred 2 on the console (which is pretty much a Diablo clone, in case anyone wondered) and the controls were a lot clunkier over there, IIRC. The only thing I miss is a health orb, as was mentioned already. Pretty much every other boss fight, I'll see my Fury orb empty rapidly from the corner of my eye when I use my skills, only to think 'My health is gone, I need potions quick!' but that's prertty much my only gripe so far. Haven't played online, yet.

 

A lot of your complaints are artifacts of normal difficulty and/or the easier console version. You will get more issues of resource management and health management and such as you progress, and the *real* game doesn't truly begin until Inferno. At least that's the case on the PC; it might not be the case on the console as it's easier and you get so much better gear that the only challenge will come from turning up the MP setting very high.

I'm curious if Bliz might have made it too easy for long term play, given that people in Hell or Inferno are already in such great gear. Perhaps the idea was that most players won't go that far, and that those who do should be able to crank the MP up and find challenge that way? On the PC self found has to struggle on MP1 or MP2, barring fantastic luck on item finds.

 

Yes, the loot being too good would be my primary concern at the moment. But it's probably too early to tell.

 

Just checking, but has anyone pointed out Inferno only has 3 affixes yet and that even with the mob density boost on there's still hardly any mobs making xp gain very slow even though there's already people with the dps for MP 6-8?

 

Having the gear I had made hell difficulty a breeze. In fact I would say the game got easier as I got to 60. Inferno on easy seemed no different than hell since I was one shooting everything and getting even more insane gear. I was able to bump the MP to Master 1 and do a farming run first try in act1 and had to use a couple potions, so I'm more comfortable on a challenge.

As far as inferno loot, I feel the shock factor of gear upgrades will start to slow down but I'm only a few paragon levels in but now up to 125k damage and 90k life. There has to be that hump where finding upgrades gets slow. But I am farming WITHOUT life steal on hardcore, which I never really thought would happen on a WD.