Having recently played Diablo 2 again and started playing Diablo 3
       again as well, I finally realized why the story and the performance
       feel so much weaker in Diablo 3.
       
       One of the biggest complaints I've heard about Diablo 3 is how the
       story is so weak, especially compared to the previous games. It
       wasn't until my most recent play through that I think I figured
       out where Blizzard went so wrong, or, rather, what they tried to do
       differently, but failed.
       
       In Diablo and Diablo 2, all exposition and storyline is told to the
       player. It is very much a story-telling, a one-way conversation.
       This lends itself well to the mood of the games, I think, and
       leaves the personality of the player's character up for much
       interpretation and imagination. Additionally, since there were no
       real-time conversations in the game, there was no need for any
       character dynamic between the different characters of the game.
       Everything was simply prose, exposition, fed to the player bit
       by bit over time.
       
       Diablo 3 attempted to branch out. The story is told via
       conversations between the characters, including the player's
       character. In theory, this seems awesome and a natural progression
       to add more depth to the story and personality to the characters.
       Unfortunately, in reality, it fell through. I don't know if it
       can be blamed solely on the writing or solely on the voice
       acting. Both are pretty sub-par, to be honest. However, I really
       feel like this was Diablo 3's downfall. 
       
       I applaud Blizzard for trying something new, and I hope in any
       future games, Diablo or otherwise, they are able to improve
       upon this technique. I like the idea of the characters all
       interacting and having conversations with each other and with
       the player. I think the somewhat novelty of that difference
       from previous Diablo games masked the terrible execution the
       first few times I played through the game.
       
       Anyway, this is just my two cents. The next time you play through
       Diablo 3, imagine if all the dialogue was one-way, and the next
       time you play through Diablo or Diablo 2, imagine if all the
       dialogue was a conversation. I think some, if not most, of you
       will agree with me.