Diablo Alternatives

So one of my favorite games of all time, that I still have the disks for, was Diablo II.   I played the crap out of it, used the game editor/hack to make it crazier, and like so many was enthralled by it.    When Diablo III was released I impulsively went out to buy it...for PS3.  Hush, I know, bad me for using my system!   Anyways, since I didn't get the PC version, I have no idea what happened on that end.  I heard they had some server issues at the start, but that didn't affect PS3 at all which was nice for a change.  I did however have the issues that many others had: no multi-player, seemingly limited level lengths, and indeed repetition.  Honestly the original was repetitious as well, so that's a bit of a null agruement for me.  It was also one of the last semi-affordable games I brought for PS3 before gettting a PS4 which ushered in the $80 game era, so I was pretty happy to treat it as the equivalent of buying mindless shovelware.

Should have been advertised as "Redux" o"Redo"  "Reprint"
or "Rebuy this because we totally messed up and trust you
to pick up the bill" Edition

Than they released the expansion.  It suddenly came clear to me that  I had purchased the wrong version of Diablo as the PS3 expansion, both disk and download was not an expansion.  It was full price reprint with the all the missing nuts and bolts added in.   If I had been offered a coupon for the new game or fair trade in for the original disk (which tanked prices locally because of the new "upgrade") I might of have said yes.   But, I will not pay again because someone messed up putting in closed architecture or other problems that prevented an actual expansion DLC for PS3.  Nope, no sale, sorry.    So I was stuck what was my alternatives?

Dungeon Hunter
Ah, Diablo's little clone...I mean cousin.  I actually had the first version and despite its sub-par
graphics, some glitches and limitations, I loved it, and it cost a fraction of Diablo.  With its transfer to portable devices, I had to wait to get an upgraded portable before playing it again.  DH IV is my recommendation for anyone looking to play it, Its fast paced, balanced, and while it does have some micropayment and "earn gems" nonsense, its an easy play.   I just started DH V, from the Win 10 store, which looks pretty good graphically, but has lots of issues.  It no longer has the class system, powers are based on weapons and items which skews its gameplay quite a bit.   Micropayments are EVERYWHERE, and while you can earn gems and the like, it has way to many parts that will definitely bring your gameplay to a grinding halt at higher levels unless you fork over cash.  And while a subscription (really? for shovelware?) is available to remove some barriers, at the time of writing this the chest store (where you use all those gems) is totally broken, with no messages on their site or boards of any notions of the issue or if they are looking into it.   And despite many players offering fixes (none of which have worked for me) any notions of supporting it with cash are now completely abandoned.  You do not spam me "buy this pack for $30.00" while your store is broken and think I'll trust any purchases with your company.     Value: $ with broken store, $$$ when fixed  Enjoyment:  ">__<"  

Gauntlet Slayer Edition
Oh man, when I saw this on the PS store for $14 Canadian, I pounced.  I'm old enough to remember
playing Gauntlet 2 in the arcade, a lot.  But instead of a pick up arcade hack and slash, slayer edition was different.  It has power unlocks and upgrades, weapon optimization and other common dungeon tropes.  However, those are actually good additions I quite enjoy.  What is a bit bad is its dull brown graphics, a camera that is just a little to far out and fonts WAY too small to read from more than

Blurry and out of focus because of crappy
camera on phone.  Yep.
Pretty much the same when playing.
Yep.

1 inch from the TV and...I don't know...just missing something.  There is also a surprising learning curve, which each class having a different controller layout.  While I get why they did this, it makes playing the game not very intuitive or arcade like.  However, I still play it and spent money on the Necromancer, which totally kicks ass.    Value: $$$   Enjoyment:  V__V


Mages and Minions

Well here's my new love from the app store.  Its pretty much what I had hoped that Gauntlet was going to be, quick paced, colorful, a little retro, and easy to pick and play for a few minutes than back to work.  Unlike all the others, this is strictly designed for touch screen, so just touch to move and attack.  Powers are activated by drawing shapes on the screen over your enemies or targeted areas, so

OMG color not washed out browns pretending
to be HD.  Stay true Mages and Minions.

drawing "V" or "Z" with your finger will activate different powers.  you get companion AI slots, your minions, that further grant powers (like the Z draw power) and aid you in battle with unique powers.  It uses shards to upgrade weapons (like Diablo simplified runes), as well as fusing lower level weapons together.  It pretty much has all the tropes you'd expect.  It uses a gem system as well to purchase some store items and speed up item and power upgrades (which are by far the worse part of the game...90 hours to max level my chain lightning...what up!  At least I can still play as it does so).  Gems can be purchased, picked up randomly (a few here and there) and from watching ads from loot boxes.  Now this sounds bad, but honestly compared to other games its pretty harmless.  If you don't want the 5 gems from watching an advert, you may ignore the loot box and never get the popup, which is great!  View enough adverts and they stop popping up in loot boxes for a while, revealing other treasure.  It's great model for other companies to mimic for soft selling over hard selling.  Its lack luster graphics, limited classes (only 2), lack of multiplayer are its major flaws...plus the carpal tunnel I think I'm getting from playing it.  I also, so far, have found it a little to easy, but otherwise  I recommend a try.    Value: $$$$   Enjoyment:  ^__^