Could you at least give me a compelling story?
It seems like it's a developing trend with Blizzard games. Highly polished, sophisticated gameplay and technology. Hackneyed, contrived storytelling. And I've had an internal debate with myself about whether or not I play Diablo for the story or for the gameplay. And after completing Diablo III, I'm definitely leaning toward the former. It's ironic, that as the gameplay becomes more sophisticated, the story becomes increasing mundane and simple, trading suspense and mystery and horror for explosions and action without tension, which is flat out boring. It all culminates in an ending so incredibly opposed to what I expect from a Diablo game that it left me with a kind of sickening bewilderment. Bottom line, I could not be more disappointed with the story in Diablo III.
And still, I still gave the game three stars. And it could potentially earn another back as I explore the "end game" a bit more. The gameplay is pretty fantastic and if the next three difficulties are tuned as well as they proclaim, then I can easily imagine many long nights with my friends battling endless hordes of enemies. In fact, there is so much polish that it blows my mind that more effort couldn't have been put toward the story. My fear is that I'm so disinterested in the events taking place that I will not bother to continue playing the game. Time will tell.
Edit: Time has told me that this game is flat out not good. Mistake after mistake was committed by Blizzard in its development. The auction house was a mistake. There isn't a compelling endgame. Itemization is a joke. And yes, the story is awful. If you're thinking about getting this on consoles, please don't.