The similaritees between D1 & D2’s OST don’t bother me so much, as they I view D2 as a continuation of the same universe. And both are distinct and very strong, IMO. I actually like that many of the themes bleed into the sequel. The parts of D3’s music that I like are the parts that remind me of Diablo as a whole.
That is why you can have decades of James Bond movies using the same theme only with variations, they build on the same universe. It’s when other movies/franchises start using that theme that it becomes rip offs.
TBH, I didn’t pay that much attention to the story of TL2, I understood that the hero of the first game become the villain of the sequel, but I didn’t like the story telling that much. I liked the gameplay and pace of the campaign. Okay atmosphere too, just not super magic.
Diablo II uses .wave files actually both for music and sound files (FX and voice lines).
I think one of the major differences between DII and DIII is that the first one has many more live instruments which makes not only the sounding even better but also the whole feel and music.
I always got bored with this. For instance, a good way of doing it is how vanilla WoW’s main theme was “mixed”/“remade” to become Burning Crusade’s. Afterwards, the newer ones didn’t sound as good and were mainly cliche or just medleys.
Not familiar at all?
For me it has a special place. I tend to get imbibed in game atmospheres if they are welcoming and the one for the Torchlight games is quite neat. It’s not just the graphics.
I can understand what you mean about reusing the same theme, still the rip off factor becomes higher when another franchise start using it.