I'm sort of done of D2, but I've found Torchlight 2 to be an excellent replacement for Diablo. No auction house, and it fixes the most annoying parts (IMHO) of D3 and D2: weak, boring bosses and weak skills, respectively.

I played a ton of D2, but I always was disappointed that, with the exception of gimmick builds which could barely make it to Nightmare, you were limited to one or two viable builds for each character. Put more than one point into Firebolt? Too bad for you.

As for D3, I almost finished my first playthrough without drinking a single health potion. Not exactly the nail-biting, walking the razor's edge gameplay I had come to expect from Diablo.

I haven't played D1/2/3 but I've played torchlight 1-2. I don't like TL2. For some reason when I play TL2 I'm very aware that the next thing I'll be doing is the thing I'm already doing. Playing the game feels pointless. Yes, I'll have better gear but the bad guys will be stronger so "so what?"

The skills I'd get for leveling up seemed pointless too. I can pick between an attack that explodes this way or that explodes that way. Maybe it'll explode and freeze the enemies for 1 second. Meh.

Maybe this is me just getting old. But I didn't feel this way about TL1.

Yeah, I avoided that feeling at first, but I think its a bit of the art style being a little too cartoonish. I know its stupid, but when I see hack and slash + cartoons I just start thinking of browser games.

In torchlight I think they needed to work a wee bit harder on differentiation of the characters and places you visit. I couldn't name one character from torchlight 2. (And I am on act 2.5)

Your second paragraph is very relevant to my feelings. "Same actions, new background" is pretty much how I felt when playing. I think I may have gotten to act 2.5, too.

I finished the game.. I wont spoil the end, but it felt very anti-climatic.

More a "Oh, I am fighting the end boss? I didnt realize..." rather than a "Oh cool! I'm about to fight the end boss! Better get ready!"

If you liked D2 You should try Path of Exile. It retains a lot of the great things from D2 while bringing some unique twists of its own, like "currency items" rather then a gold based economy and gigantic passive skill trees.