[...]Back to D3 and its assorted clones, I think you have to be overly nostalgic or have a particular bias against Diablo III to say anything other than "it's a better game than Torchlight/Path of Exile" - more polished, better production values, better interface, better skill and difficulty scaling, better monster designs, better narrative progression (though still essentially nonsensical - there's no reason at all for Belial or Asmodan to stick around while losing instead of going back to the Hells they came from) - one of the Torchlight turnoffs for me was the fact that most quests seemed to be rather disconnected, MMO-style "since you're passing through, could you please rescue my cat? Only it's been stolen by a dragon" deals... The question then becomes "Is it better by enough to justify the difference in cost?" For most players who aren't avowed fans of the Diablo series or of Blizzard, the answer will probably be "no".
Thanks to this thread, I fired up Diablo III again to see how the "new" game played (level scaling, better loot, etc.).
Before the update, Diablo III was rubbish. Item progression outside of the auction house (i.e. loot) was broken in so many ways. After the update, I find item progression to be fine (on normal difficulty, at least), but the level scaling makes for a completely different gaming experience. It's so radically different from before the update, that it simply plays as a totally different game. If the "original" Diablo III was a good game, I would have felt screwed over by Blizzard, because the game I bought is no more. It wasn't a good game, though, so I guess I don't care.
Is the "new" Diablo III a good game? Not particularly, but I guess it's a huge improvement anyway--which unfortunately doesn't say much. Diablo III is still a boring an uninspired game
That's also the main reason why I see no justification in saying "it's a better game than Torchlight/Path of Exile". Hell no! Sure, Blizzard has produced a more polished game, with superior narrative presentation and overall production values (I'm inclined to think the sound design superior as well), but those things don't make a good game.
Although I've probably put far more than 200 hours into the
Torchlight series, I find it particularly difficult to grasp. The art style is alien and the skill progression limiting. The difficulty is wonky and the game feels soulless and ultimately pointless to me. Still, I had as much fun (if not more) with Torchlight as I did with Diablo III, and Torchlight's story doesn't make me cringe. (I should note that Covetus Shen is a brilliant exception in Diablo III.)
Path of Exile, on the other hand, is a great game! The recent posts in this thread also suggest that it's a misunderstood game. I play exclusively solo (hardcore), and in no way am I forced into any kind of multiplayer play or interaction. I've had no crashes or technical issues since the game was officially released.
The main attractions in Path of Exile are the skills (active), the hilariously huge skill tree (passive), and the itemization. Granted, this leaves the learning curve rather steep, but if you're a fan of Diablo II style ARPGs, then it's all worth it. Passive skills, active skills, and items all potentially synergize, and this makes character development extremely flexible and potent--regardless of preferred playing style. None of this is really present in Diablo III and the Torchlight series. On top of this, combat is visceral and the difficulty scales well.
To be fair, I think comparing Diablo III and Path of Exile is very difficult, because they are very different games. Diablo III is a simplistic action game with linear item progression across all classes, and doesn't require much investment from the player; Path of Exile has complex variety, no distinct classes, no real short term rewards, and a significant player investment requirement.
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