Why Diablo 3 is 'Meh'

I picked up Diablo 3 on account of my friends playing it and having just been a huge Diablo 2 fan. Going in, I did not expect to be blown away. With each of Blizzard's releases, it becomes more apparent they're gliding off solid franchise history and less on their current talent's ability. Still, I wanted to give it a run. After playing quite a few hours and many characters, I came to the conclusion that the game is simply 'meh'.

The game becomes a drag because the items are boring. In my opinion, it really is that simple. Go take a look at the items on the modifier list. Especially if you don't know the mechanics of Diablo, they're all boring. All the bonuses are just basic stat boosters.  And even the variety is 'meh' because each character focuses one stat as well as vitality. Oh sure, there are intricacies to the items when maximizing your damage output, but I don't always consider that fun. It's doubly annoying because Diablo 1 and 2 had lots of fun modifiers. Chance to proc skills, vision, movement speed, poison ticks, etheraelity and a whole wad of stuff. Other games have even introduced new item concepts like levelling items, auras and increased healing. I think the developers dropped one of the best parts of the ARPG.

Look how exciting this legendary item is!

Okay, so everything else (except the story) is actually pretty awesome. Combat is fluid and exciting, lots of the monsters are engaging, and the game looks great. Why can't I enjoy that? Because every 15 mintutes I have to do the equivalent of washing the dishes and if you've been to my place, you know I hate washing dishes.