My brother and me are playing same screen coop on Diablo 3 on his console. We originally played coop on Diablo 1 on the PS1 back in the 90's. (which we liked so much that made us buy the PC version plus Diablo 2) As we play Diablo 3 we notice how they made the game too easy,.. linear. ( no real exploration of environments,.. as it seems to be just a wide pathway instead of a map/maze).. and seem to have designed it for "lazy" people?

Loot is automatically given to the proper class regardless of who picks it up. Inventory space is so large it makes the loot chest in town pointless. Equipment is auto- equipped when picked up. There is a "repair equipment" option at the blacksmith but we never notice any degradation of equipment status. All the skills are overpowered and it feels like we're playing Smash TV instead of Diablo. There is too much "rare" and "special" equipment with buffs. We rarely find equipment that requires a higher level, and thus gives us something extra to aspire to when leveling up. I often find myself equipping worse equipment just so there is some more danger in fighting.

I heard that Torchlight is developed by the guys who made Diablo 1. Is it a "true" Diablo style with the balance/exploration and difficulty?

Torchlight is basically Diablo 2 in Diablo 1's environment. Torchlight 2 add some stuff and removes other stuff. But yes, when given the question, I'd say playing Torchlight is preferrable to D3. Oh, and do give Path of Exile a try - it's free to play, only contains cosmetic microtransactions (so yes, the only way to gain power is to play the game) and IMO it's the real continuation of Diablo series in complexity, difficulty and style.

Diablo 3 is BY FAR the best aRPG out there right now. It handles the best, it is the most accessible, and it is just plain fun. It is a fantastic game. But it comes with several prices.

A) The basegame is bleh. You really need Reaper of Souls.
B) It is online only.

The first part does not apply to Path of Exile, which is great from the get go. It is a true sequel to Diablo 2, more or less. It is pretty much Diablo, but with skill system/advancements extracted from Final Fantasy 7 and 10 respectively. It is fantastic. But it is also online-only.

Torchlight 2 is a really good, really long D2-like. But it gets samey, and the abilities are nowhere near as "meaty" as D3 and PoE's. It is moddable, and not online-only, but it gets somewhat dull.

D3 has shed all the baggage it had from D2, the story is shit (well presented and with good production values, but shit), but it is by far the most fun of those 3.

Comedy/Serious option: Marvel Heroes. It is also fantastic, but the hits are not meaty at all

Totally agree. For me D3 felt completely wrong. I hate the simplified game mechanic & a love the extended complexity of builds possible with PoE.

Are you playing D3 or Reaper of Souls (RoS)? Play RoS, it is better. I started playing D3 and didn't really like it, but then got RoS cause I heard it was awesome, and it was.

I have beat the game twice with the doctor and hunter and am doing a hardcore run with the monk. I've also played a good bit with the crusader, and that is by far my favorite class.

I agree that the loot drop is meh. You seem to always get appropriate good loot, and that made me a sad panda too. However, if you crank the difficulty WAAY up, and I mean way the hell up cause normal is stupid easy, you will have fun. Plus, after beating the game 1x (RoS) you open up a whole new set of things to do in game and get a Gheed like character. RoS also leads to a new, and I think interesting, story line. I am actually excited about the next expansion.

Torchlight. Meh. Yes, it's by the dialbo creators, but if you are looking for something dark like Diablo, look elsewhere. The cartoony graphics and pet system are all right, but I just got bored with the whole thing. I can't even remember the storyline. Same thing with Torchlight 2, though I did like it better than 1. Boring bore-fest. The skill tree isn't too too bad though and the drops are large and varied. I don't remember it being particularly challenging though.

Path of Exile (PoE) is by FAR the best diablo clone I have some across. The skill tree is INSANE, the drops are interesting and varied, plus you can modify them via in-game drops (gems, scrolls, tokens, etc), which is also fun. The setting is dark as and the mood is good. I have really, really enjoyed this game. Plus, it is a true F2P, the only things you can buy are cosmetic. Also, you don't have to go through steam, I believe you can download the game from the website. Plus, they have goatmen :)

Torchlight 1 feels a lot like Diablo 1, to the point that it seems a little derivative. It's a quality game, mind you, but if you've played a lot of Diablo 1 it's just a little too familiar. It also has no multiplayer functionality.

I only have a little experience with Torchlight 2 but it's been fun. I haven't played Diablo 3.

Torchlight 1 is nothing like Diablo II, it just gets all this hype because some of the Diablo creators worked on it. The environments are boring, the classes are just your three standards fighter, mage and rogue and even the skills are not really interesting. There is no overworld, just one dungeon with occasional wallpaper changes. The lore and story are forgettable as well.

All that said, it's not a bad game either, just kind of OK, the kind of game you get on a sale. Slaying monsters is inherently fun, and Torchlight does not do anything to ruing that, there is no convoluted BS. Just slaying monsters all day. And to be fair the game was developed on a tight budget in a short time, so considering that it turned out all right.

Are you trolling here? There is no single player option because Blizzard thinks we're too stupid to know that we don't want to play single player and as a result it's impossible to play by yourself without it constantly being connected to their servers.

And let's not forget about the real money auction house, the horrendous graphics, the poorly optimized shit of an engine while we're at it. You do realize that they made a sequel, right? I found TL1 to be rather tedious after a while, but TL2 is much better in that regards and quite a bit more fun.

The OP asked about Torchlight, so I answered in regards to Torchlight. I know there is a sequel, but I haven't played it since there is no DRM-free release. It could suck, it could be great, it could be somewhere in between, I don't know.

Diablo 3 for anything aRPG. All RoS features are available in the base game, except for the level 60+ content.

It is important to let go of all the public hate that manchildren have for the game, and play the game for your own enjoyment.

There is no single player option because it was designed as an online-only thing. I don't agree with that decision and I think it hurts the game more than it helps (though it does help to make online sessions easier, automatic matchmaking, etc). It is not impossible to play by myself, but I need to connected, yes.
It is annoying.

Real money auction house is gone, the geaphics are actually VERY good, and it is VERY well optimized. It runs like a dream on my Intel HD 3000 machine, better than Torchlight 2 by far.

Your complaints are for the most part outdated, or just factually wrong except for the complaints about the connection. Silly.

Torchlight is distilled tedium.

Truly, they boiled the Diablo-style game down to its mechanically efficient essence, and it's like playing a spreadsheet. Talk to one of several characterless town residents and receive an uninspiring fetch or look-up table kill quest. Complete it and you are guaranteed to receive a piece of equipment which is between 0.25% and 0.27% better than the last uninteresting item you ignored on the dungeon floor. Be sure to stop by the weapon shop. You'll see half a screenful of choices. Exciting, til you discover that the same boring algorithm generates the selection each time you return from the dungeon. N weapons that don't apply to you, M weapons that are shop filler out of your useful range, and P weapons which are comparable to your present equipment. It doesn't matter which comparable weapon you choose. They're not meaningfully different.

The game is all plodding, incremental progress. Your level increase has made you n% stronger, the monsters become n% stronger, and the loot drops are n% stronger. There are no ups and downs, no climactic moments, and at no point will you grin to yourself thinking, AWESOME! Because big, exciting changes don't occur. Everything is perfectly designed such that one moment matches the next in terms of expectation and reward. It's a sleeper.

Of course, all such games are algorithmic. But this one has been carefully tuned to offer the player a completely flat experience.

That said, if you'd like a Torchlight GOG code, I have a spare you're welcome to have.

I lol'ed when I read "AH". Every time I see a post from him, it seems to be him wanting to start some crap. And I agree, the graphics are good.

It's not well optimized, have you looked at the system requirements? TL2 runs on much slower hardware without any trouble. Glad to see that they eventually removed the real money auction house, but you're not at all right about the online requirement, the only reason it's online only is because they don't think we're smart enough to know that we want to play single player. They said as much when explaining why they didn't have the option.

Considering that it runs way better on my low range hardware than Torchlight 2 does (FAR better,much smoother and with more onscreen mobs, even with the larger encounters mob), I can claim that D3 is far better optimized. Plays better, too. Even if it is rather simplified.
I never defended the online-only bullshit. That's my biggest complain about the game, but even with THAT, I consider it to be the current best aRPG out there.

That being said, if I have a ping spike or any lag (it happens), it is infuriating.