Is Blizzard the Best in the industry?

[Scisca]

Azzanation said:

Scisca said:

I love StarCraft, I follow the progaming scene, etc. But in all fairness, I have to admit that SC2 never would have achieved its position, had it not been the second part of a legendary phenomenon. It took Blizz very, very long time to turn this game into something that could finally replace Brood War. Lets face it, Wings of Liberty multi was terrible, I found it totally unwatchable for years. HotS was finally fine, LotV is interesting, but currently the game needs a lot of serious work, cause it's painful how obvious the lack of balance is. So... They are trying, but the only reason they can do what they are doing is because they are taking advantage of the success of SC:BW. Unfortunately, classical RTS games are dead nowadays, so Blizz has no competition in this field anymore There is only Total War. But I think it can easily be said they dominate a dead genre and only because of their legacy, not because the game was that good. They are riding their previous success.

Diablo 3 - it was a mess on release. The graphics were universally criticised, the weird mechanics were... weird. The marketplace... Ok, they've managed to turn it around, but just like in the case of Starcraft 2 - the only reason they ever had the opportunity and had the sales they had was because it was Diablo. The new part to the game that created the whole genre and that dominated it for over a decade. Moreover, I think that many people consider Torchlight 2 to be better than Diablo 3. I don't think that this game is anywhere near to where Diablo 2 was.

WoW is the best, but it's so old already...

I don't know if Overwatch is that good, time will tell. It sells like crazy, but will it have a lasting impact? I've heard that on a technical level it's underwhelming and doesn't have what it takes to turn it into an e-sport (even though Blizz will no doubt push it). They've managed to beat Valve's 9 year's old game - lets not read too much into it There is no way they even touch CS:GO.

I know they are amazing. I love their old games, starting with The Lost Vikings, all the way through Warcraft 2&3, Diablo 1&2, Starcraft (which is on my top5 ever list), even Starcraft 2, but after that... I am about to finally try Diablo 3 out, but Blizz lost the magic in my eyes, and as you can read from many people here, others feel the same. They make very, very solid and well polished games and they are great at selling them. But they lost the magic. And there still are companies that have that magic, that are pushing the industry forward. Unfortunately, Blizzard is no longer among them and that causes many people to not put them on the top spot. They surely are on the shortlist, but it would help their cause if they finally released something groundbreaking.

I respect your opinion on Blizzard games, but you seem to fail to understand what my post is about. It’s not about whether or not you like there games. My point is that when Blizzard make games they tend to be the market leaders in there categories. SC2 being a good example, it’s the best if not one of the best RTS games on the market. Doesn’t matter if gamers love it or hate it, I can safely assume many more love Blizzard games then hate them. We can’t deny the fact that SC2 is an amazing RTS game. D3, WoW, Overwatch, Hearthstone, and even Heroes set the standards and are the games to beat now. This is why the whole ND, Rockstar are better than Blizzard arguments make no sense. ND and Rockstar only make one type of game. They are the best at what they do, however until I see more games that aren’t based on the same formula and crown themselves as the best in there tiers then it’s not even a comparison. (I am not talking about the past but if you’re going to bring up Crash and Jak n Daxter, not even those games were top tier in there time. Many other platformers eclipsed them quite easily.  Yes I am talking about Mario 64, Banjo Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64 just to name some etc) I can’t say I can name a better game than Diablo 3 in its category. Torch Light (Which had Ex Blizz Devs help make it) came close. That’s my point.

Blizz has its place as a top dev, but then again, I disagree that Hearthstone or Heroes set any standard. In fact I'd go as far as to say that Heroes barely make a top 10 list in their genre and possibly soon won't even be making such lists. Hearthstone is ok, but nothing amazing either, it didn't set any new standard and isn't really noteworthy. Overwatch? We'll see in a couple months, it's good, has potential, but sure isn't flawless. D3 is on par with Torchlight 2 - so it failed to separate itself from the only compatitor in the genre. Nothing breathtaking really.

The thing over which people argue here is whether you prefer companies that are great craftsmen or artists. ND, CDP RED and R* push the industry forward with their every new game. Their games are always an important event. Blizzard was like that, but kinda lost that magic. In fact, Overwatch is their first brand new IP since 1998!! They went for almost two decades of only making sequels and spin-offs. That has to weigh negatively when comparing to other companies and shows just how conservative they have been.

I see where you're coming from, they make really good games, but in my opinion they have a lot to do win the top spot. They make very solid games in different genres, but when was the last time they made a landmark game? WoW? There are flaws on their resume that make crowning them controversial. They kinda became mediocre among the elite - if that makes any sense