Diablo 2.5

    I was sitting at the computer, talking to some other older gamers and we got to talking about Diablo and how we'd never really figured out how to make a full RPG out of it, as it just didn't have all the bells and whistles for making it happen. I suggested that perhaps that was just a failure of imagination on our part rather than blaming the game for not being what it wasn't ever meant to be.
    One thing led to another and we were all soon loading up the "new" version of the game and logging in to play in a shared game. The game was pretty much the same as I remembered, except there were some new critters to bash. Having the audio helped and soon we were too absorbed in trying to stay alive to keep everything in character.
    "This just doesn't stop, does it?"
    "Well, yes, in a way, we just have to fall back a bit."
    "Still, I have to admit that the action pace doesn't allow for much RP to happen," I admitted. "I guess I'll stick to my idea of 'fast turn based' for any Online RPG I design."
    "The new critters are pretty, and the colors and particle effects are cool."
    I had to agree, the look of the old Diablo had been updated with a much richer color palette and better shading and lighting effects, not truly dynamic, but a very good approximation. I also thought the critter animations were much fuller and weightier feeling. When the angelic critters landed to fight, the ground shook and their legs flexed, their clothing and hair had bounce and follow-through, very convincingly done.