This is interesting to me, because I always figured the Diablo series was prized for its moment-to-moment gameplay, rather than for its story or cinematics.

What? The cinematics are absolutely incredible. Would definitely pay to watch a full Diablo movie.

Pretty much this +1 it was less about story or cinematics. I really enjoyed the build dynamics in D2

Blizzard cinematics have always set a high bar. The WoW expansion teasers are always phenomenal.

Or just Warcraft III

Their cinematics are pretty, but their plot is basically “spin the roulette wheel to find out which protagonist catches The Corruption.”

They were pretty but I mostly just wished to skip them..

You get through the story in a few days maybe a week or so, then you have the rest of the end game.

Compare it to Path of Exile and the difference is night and day

What about compared to PoE in the first week it came out? D4 will get better as they iterate on it based on gameplay and feedback just like they did with D3 and D2.

I'm sure they will expand on gameplay but there's no indication they'll come close to scratching the surface of PoE's depth, and I don't think they're trying to. D4 is supposed to be a simpler game with a lower barrier to entry that is more accommodating to casual players. You can't get a whole lot out of PoE as a beginner without third-party resources, there's certainly a tradeoff to its many layers of complexity.

D3 and D4 are games made for people in their 30s who grew up playing D1 and D2 and now only have a couple of hours a day to play, and that's fine

I really hope you are right, because I love Diablo and Diablo 2. I spent so many hours in D2.

Let’s see what happens I suppose

A game without actually fighting Diablo, that looks like an endless zone grind, based on what I saw on multiple Twitch streams.

No thanks.

It's literally an endless grind because enemies scale with you as you level up, so all mobs feel the same and there's no sense of progression.

idk, i feel like items are how you progress - My character at 48 with upgraded legendaries is a badass compared to 28.

This, part of building your character is the power fantasy you get when you go to weaker zones and absolutely obliterate everything.

With the current system, you actually end up getting weaker as you level up

But why should I do that? I don't get that argument. I've never went back to a low level zone in any game just for the purpose of "obliterating everything". If there is a quest I missed, sure. But what's the point doing that?

Diablo 4 makes you go back and forth across zones, GTA-style.

When you pass through (or even go back to, since D4 is full of side quests) a zone you've been in and the monsters are tougher it feels awful.

AFAIK D4 does that in some capacity. There are zones that scale from 50-100 for example and if you are below 50 you'll have a bad time. It's correct that once you visit a former zone the monster scale with your level but as soon as you have the mount you don't have to put up with them. And because of the game design (a lot of dungeons, world bosses, legion events etc.) it's a welcome thing that they happen all over the zones and are not restricted to some high level area.

That has not been my experience. Yes, at certain moments, I am pressed to optimize. However, I'm currently wrecking WT3 with my necro. I know it won't last forever as I scale up, but that's fine with me, otherwise I'd have nothing to look forward to.

The story in D4 is fantastic "for a video game". It's still a shitty video game story that wouldn't succeed in any other medium.

To be honest, if I was interested in stories I would read a book, not play a HnS.