So just what was Belial's plan there?

[ViralSpiral]

Now I haven't heard Diablo talking yet (I'm still in A3) but regarding the "less is more" - I think that's something in retrospect I can kind of get. I mean in D2, Diablo says to you directly one thing ever - "Not even death can save you from me." Which is kind of funny since he's probably the second easiest act boss after Mephisto. But admit it, the first time you heard that, you probably thought he was pretty hard core (and I probably would have found him scarier if I hadn't been forewarned about his bone cage ability.) Not to mention all the cinematic dialogue he had was serious and low key - and there wasn't very much of it.

Baal, on the other hand, opens up the expansion cinematic with a LARGE SIDE OF HAM AND CHEESE. I didn't respect Baal for five seconds after that. Which is a shame, because he came off as damned cool for the closing cinematic of D2. The only respect I could ever give Baal is back when his orange missile did something other than MP damage. Which retroactively made the opening cinema make no sense. Did the barbarian explode into ludicrous gibs because he ran out of mana? C'mon now. He's practically a joke character in my book now. I mean Duriel was a giant goddamned bug and I respect him way more than these two clowns calling themselves demon lords in this game.

Re: Interactivity - I like how walking by townsfolk causes them to comment on your recent doings and the like. That was a good touch. Turning demon lords into Bond villains? Less so.