Diablo III

My first experience with this game was back in the Philippines. Diablo II. At that time, I was just starting to get into PC games and my experience in that platform was quite limited to just Counter-Strike and Red Alert. Two games which I wasn't the best with. At all. But I suppose it's not a fair assumption to say that I was terrible in Counter-Strike, although I didn't think I was any good either. But just like anyone jumping to a new platform, you are destined to encounter moderate amounts of adapting issues and/or perhaps none at all. In my case, I was just very clueless as to how I was supposed to play using a keyboard and a mouse.

I remember getting hooked to Diablo II. I played as a Necromancer. Then realized I wanted to be a druid. I can't remember much of those nights anymore, but I do remember not being very good at it. I was just so filled with confusion and uncertainty about a lot of things and I believe it had a lot to do with being introduced to such a type of game. I remember not even being able to defeat Andariel. And she was the first act's boss or something.

(This game took me away from Call of Duty. It's a nice break from FPS.)

After waiting in so much anticipation, the game finally came out and two weeks passed already. I've chosen to play as a Demon Hunter. The reason being is that it is the closest class to what a ninja could be. Given the skill set available for the class, I could not resist to play as the crossbow/bow wielding hunter of darkness. You have your typical ninja techniques like traps, smoke screen, vault, throwing knives and shuriken. Although they didn't really call those last two skills like that. They referred to them as 'Impale' and 'Chakram'. And well, I'm quite more than satisfied with my decision and in fact, it was a great deal to finally play as a different class from what I normally do. I usually choose the warrior archetypes and avoided magical or ranged classes. Since I like swords. But this time around, I've decided to go a different path. I suppose at some point, we all change.

I've reached level 60 quite a few days before my friends. Not sure if this means the +exp gains I had on my armor set actually paid off or I was just a no-lifer who had way too much time on his hands. Maybe both.
Playing through Normal to Hell wasn't so bad. Hell just made me utilize my kiting prowess a bit more than I had to during the earlier difficulties. And I'd like to think Nightmare mode was supposed to be the Normal one and that Hell is actually the Hard mode. But that's just me. After all, a lot of people are saying that the ranged classes, due to balancing issues, have a way more survivability in this game. Though, while playing on Hell difficulty, I also had to rely on the auction house. Since the drops I've been getting weren't just cutting it to enable me to play the mode efficiently. And it's nothing to be ashamed of.

(My Demon Hunter at level 60. Act I finished on Inferno mode.)

Now, Inferno mode has been a completely different story. Even though I can kite, it seems like there were times when I felt like there was no way I'm engaging in a winning fight. The enemies were just too powerful for my current gear capabilities. And so I've started to think that I may not be well geared enough for that difficulty just yet. And I was right. A lot of people are complaining and crying about how broken the classes are and that the mode is quite unbalanced. Perhaps they are right. But I'd like to keep in mind that Inferno is not supposed to be easy. And you will definitely have to grind if you want to hit the amount of gear requirement for a specific act on Inferno. After all, this is a game about grinding for gear.
Though, I'd like to clarify that in no way do I deny the validity of people's claims about how the game is unbalanced or broken. They might be right and the game surely, without a doubt, could use a little tweaking. And it's very normal to have these issues when a new online game comes out. I'm not really that surprised about any of these technicalities that are happening. And I hope they fix them soon.

The experience has been very satisfying and the game sure was worth the money. There were some issues but then again, I'm the calm and relaxed type of guy. I don't rage nor whine as easily as other people. And so I patiently wait for when they actually perfect the game through patches and hot fixes. The story wasn't so great though. And there were events that took place in this game that left me scratching my head or in awe. But we can't forget the fact that this game isn't about the story. It's essentially about the gear grinds whether we like it or not.