Diablo 3 is not worth it until you've played other better hack/slash games. It's core game is too easy even on hard with occassional difficulty spikes. Diablo 3's expansion Reaper of Souls is a lot better and almost redeems the entire experience.

To best appreciate Diablo 3 you should play 1 and 2 first because there are a lot of references to the backstory; but it could probably be played as a starting point since the plot is disposable. Diablo 3 has a segmented plot, each Act introduces a new threat and it feels disjointed minimizing Diablo's role to one out of a rogue's gallary. There are silly moments were plot/quests are made out to be grand when really if you just walk down a hallway then it is complete (i.e. go find the "Well of Souls," oh - there is is around the corner).

Since D3 requires always online connection there are times where single player will twitch/lag or suddenly the background will stop responding because the connection lulled and is reconnecting.

D3 has a good assortment of monsters but after a while it started to feel stale because none presented a serious challenge.

There's a good amount of customization within each class (i.e. Demon Hunter can throw at least 4 types of primary weapons with different result).

Not worth it in the least. You only get a few character abilities and a few other choices and the rest is your gear. Can't find that item with a .01% chance to drop? Too bad, you can't use that build you wanted to.

Also, here's how it is with Blizzard games: You either "keep up with expansions" (buy every expansion on launch) or you get little/no content and get shoved to the back of the queue for balancing.

Just get Torchlight 2 instead. Torchlight 2 has mods, a one-time code activation per installation (with no further DRM), better character/gear design, and you can supposedly mod it. On the other hand, Diablo 3 has always-online except if you have a console-exclusive expansion (I think it's called the Ultimate Evil edition), the balancing is utter crap, and Blizzard has no clue how to fix or balance their game.

Diablo 3 plus the expansion is around $80. If you just want a demo, there's the starter edition. But I should warn you that the starter edition isn't an accurate representation of the game - as you level up, the game balance gets progressively worse and you get pigeonholed into a few "flavor of the patch" builds.

FYI: I have D3 with the expansion, with a geared hunter (6-piece Marauder + another set + Ring of Royal Grandeur) and a wizard (with several good legendaries and 6-piece Firebird set). I have also played the Torchlight 2 demo.

My vote is on NO.

I played the game without the expansion and it took me about 6 hours. I was not hurrying, did every sidequest I came across, got all but 1 of the companion acheivements and I feel robbed to be honest. Blizzard are still asking basically FULL RETAIL for the game even after all this time. Added to that the always online, its nothing more than a moneygrab.

Story wise too, it is not worthy of the Diablo name.

The only redeeming feature is the lore that the game provides, all of which is available on the interwebs