Grim Dawn is probably the most traditional of the major ARPG titles on the market right now. I myself have sunk hundreds of hours into it over the years. All effort has now been diverted to Diablo IV, which thus far seems to determined to do everything it can to pretend its predecessor never happened - a strange attitude to take to one of the best and most successful ARPGs of all time.īlizzard’s abandonment makes it hard to recommend Diablo III, which is regrettable because otherwise I would say this is a game that is more than worth the purchase. The story has been left unfinished with multiple major plot threads left unresolved, and it is by now clear that the game is effectively on maintenance mode, with only minor updates at best in the works. The only other problem is that is it has been all but abandoned by its developers.įor reasons that are unclear at best, developer Blizzard Entertainment effectively gave up after the Reaper of Souls expansion. It is a game that looked dated when it released, and the ensuing years have not helped matters. The developers tried for a stylized look, but it just didn’t quite work out, and in practice everything just looks muddy and blurred. The only serious fundamental flaw it still has are its graphics. It has a great story, memorable characters, flawlessly smooth combat, rich lore, a broad and rewarding endgame, and a flexible build system that actually encourages adaptation and experimentation rather than punishing it.

The problems it had at launch have nearly all been fixed. Differences that seem subtle at first can make all the difference, especially for die-hard fans.ĭiablo III is, in many ways, the gold standard for what an ARPG should be. This is a genre that likes to stay very true to its traditional paradigms of game design and aesthetics, but that doesn’t mean they’re all the same. Today I’d like to do something similar for another genre of game that is near and dear to this column: online ARPGs. A while back in the Not So Massively column, I did a piece comparing the pros and cons of some of the biggest names in the realm of looter shooters.

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