Comments on: Thoughts: Victor Vran

By: innokenti

innokenti — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 14:19:12 +0000

Yeah, I definitely like that the basic attack is configurable/variable (many + points for Blizz there), but in the grand scheme of things, the other 5 skills are just far more useful and frequent in use in my experience.

Mind you, I haven’t played the Barbarian yet, and the Monk was relatively heavy on the basic attacks, but for the other classes the damage output of everything else means that you only really have to crack out the basic attack in particularly protracted fights.

I guess mileage may vary!

By: Darren

Darren — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 13:40:46 +0000

What do you mean by, “use basic attacks fairly rarely?” One thing that threw me off a bit at first is that, unlike every other ARPG I’ve ever played, the default attack in Diablo III isn’t just a vanilla attack with your equipped weapon, but a modifiable skill. Since they often are resource-generating skills, they are very important for every class.

By: innokenti

innokenti — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 10:33:30 +0000

Although I’d still be interested in trying, I’m not sure I could switch to the controller system given how much time I’ve spent on D3 with the mouse and keyboard. For me, given the skills and the fact you use basic attacks fairly rarely, the tank-driving approach doesn’t gel conceptually. There are certainly games which work with that setup (and Victor Vran I think is right to have that as the method, just needs more polished execution) but Diablo, even 3, doesn’t seem like one of them.

I will find a way to try it out though just to appreciate what they’ve tried to do to make it work.

By: Darren

Darren — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 18:06:52 +0000

The very first time I heard about Diablo III’s skill system, I thought, “That sounds like a system built around a controller’s limitations.” I’m not sure why Blizzard decided to jump aboard consoles for Diablo III, nor do I know if it paid off for them, but they clearly put a lot of effort into making it work.

As for the lag, maybe I tried the demo on a bad day or something. But having played countless hours on the controller, I know I could never switch over.

By: Hentzau

Hentzau — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 12:30:28 +0000

Suddenly the plot makes a lot more sense.

By: Hentzau

Hentzau — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 12:29:37 +0000

I’ve not had those lag problems on PC – but I keep hearing that the console version of D3 is actually an incredibly good conversion that plays to the strengths of the format. It almost makes me want to try it, except I’d have to buy a PS3/Xbone to do so.

By: Ninja Foodstuff

Ninja Foodstuff — Tue, 18 Aug 2015 19:12:58 +0000

Perhaps the plural of Victor Vran is Victor Vran.

By: Darren

Darren — Mon, 17 Aug 2015 12:50:38 +0000

Re: Diablo 3 on console

It actually plays really, really well! I played the PS3 version first and, when I finally found myself back in a place with decent internet, downloaded the PC demo to compare. There’s a big difference. The always-on nature of the game produced a slight but noticeable stutter, even though my PC could easily handle the game and didn’t have similar problems with Blizzard’s own Starcraft II online matches. And the controls just felt…wrong. The controller is by far the better option. It doesn’t feel much like a typical ARPG, but instead becomes the best version of Gauntlet currently available.