Paul Dean takes a look back at Blizzard Entertainment's classic action-RPG, Diablo, in this week's retrospective on Eurogamer.
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What's more, you probably had a fantastic time throughout. Diablo wasn't so much a shot in the arm for PC RPGs as it was a kick in the balls and an order to man up. A fast, furious reinvention of the roguelike, it had the pace and the atmosphere of Doom, but was still built around the stats and quests of traditional roleplaying games and proved to be a dangerously addictive combination. Brought up on a genre that was heavily influenced by Dungeon Master types, I was used to RPGs being a sedate, comfortable experience, often plodding and turn-based. Diablo was like cosying into this familiar sofa once again, only to find someone had transformed it into a rocket sled.
I always resent the description of Diablo as an RPG. At its best, it's an action-RPG. But it's not a true RPG. That clickig-spamfest doesn't hold a candle to, say, Baldur's Gate, which has aged far better than Diablo II, by the way.
It is definitely an RPG, because it has super deep roots in the roguelikes, especially Moria and Angband which are demon-heavy. I remember playing this game and its expansion Hellfire something like 7 times over. I've never, even replayed a game more than once except for Diablo.
I only wish Diablo 2 lived up to Diablo 1 in terms of the single player experience.
As I was a fan of Rogue on the PC as well as most dungeon crawlers, this is most definitely an RPG. You had quests, battles, and loot. Oh sure, you could argue that its missing the intricate dialog most people expect from an RPG, but Diablo and their ilk represent the "cut through the bullshit and play" type of gameplay.
I remember how excited I was when first introduced to the original. I got my name on the "cast of a thousand" section of the disc for helping on the beta. Diablo only had 1000 beta testers, and I must have played the shit ton out of it even though you had eight levels to fight through. Loved it then, and I love it now. Tuesday can't get here soon enough for me.
Absolutely LOVED this game. When I played this, it was one of the first titles to really blow my mind. And multiplayer/co-op? Absolutely astounding. Had so much fun. And getting my first ear...
first of its kind. pretty muxh every rpg and mmog out there has copied the loot system from this game and diablo 2. i still have the box for it sitting on my bookshelf. tomorrow its time for part 3. cant wait!
I suckered my grandparents into buying me a computer for school with the singular intent on using it for Diablo. I remember I shoplifted it from office depot a couple of days before my computer arrived in the mail. I sat there looking at it over and over in anticipation. Actually it was kinda like how I feel right now for D3.... =)
I always resent the description of Diablo as an RPG. At its best, it's an action-RPG. But it's not a true RPG. That clickig-spamfest doesn't hold a candle to, say, Baldur's Gate, which has aged far better than Diablo II, by the way.
I agree. I played the hell out of D1 and D2 but it is more of an adventure adventure game with some RPG trappings. Just because it has stats doesn't make it an RPG just as an game with intricate dialog doesn't make that game an RPG.
That's why I appreciate the clarifiers like "j-rpg" and "adventure rpg". It helps set expectations of what the gameplay experience will be.
I hope i am not the only one who ENJOYED the rampant hacking, and third party exploits on battle net. never again will i have F1 resurrect ALL , or the ability to dupe/clone OTHER peoples characters items just by joining the game and making a save of their profile.
on a more legit note, i miss all the wacky shrine effects from the first game! randomly decreasing 1 stat while increasing the rest, or adding/destroying the durability of your items were more exciting than mana shrines.
As much as I loved Diablo 1 and 2, from what I played in 3's beta, it just doesn't feel quite right. I dunno if it's the much smaller amount of skills or the new "rune" system but it felt off. Granted it's only up to level 13 and primarily Act 1, the rest could be super awesome but by the time I finished it I think I had like three total skills with not a lot in the way of choice.
Personally, unless the rest of D3 really makes up for that, I'm backing Path of Exile. It offers insane customization, you can choose to stick to a predefined class or go ape shit and make a dual wand wielding melee guy, a variety of ladders like Diablo 2 had but with much better options (open pvp ladder like UO's, ironman, hardcore, etc). It just feels right. It's a long way from being complete, I know but it really struck a chord with me.
I agree. I played the hell out of D1 and D2 but it is more of an adventure adventure game with some RPG trappings. Just because it has stats doesn't make it an RPG just as an game with intricate dialog doesn't make that game an RPG.
That's why I appreciate the clarifiers like "j-rpg" and "adventure rpg". It helps set expectations of what the gameplay experience will be.
So being able to equip new armor/weapons, stat raises, learn new spells, go up levels, gain experience, loot, loot, quests, defeat bosses/mini-bosses, choose a class. Those don't add up to a RPG? What classifies as an RPG then in your mind? Cause Diablo imo is one of my favorite RPG's.
As much as I loved Diablo 1 and 2, from what I played in 3's beta, it just doesn't feel quite right. I dunno if it's the much smaller amount of skills or the new "rune" system but it felt off. Granted it's only up to level 13 and primarily Act 1, the rest could be super awesome but by the time I finished it I think I had like three total skills with not a lot in the way of choice.
So being able to equip new armor/weapons, stat raises, learn new spells, go up levels, gain experience, loot, loot, quests, defeat bosses/mini-bosses, choose a class. Those don't add up to a RPG? What classifies as an RPG then in your mind? Cause Diablo imo is one of my favorite RPG's.
As I said I think Diablo is more an adventure game with some RPG trappings. IMO you can't just create an RPG in a paint-by-numbers checklist.
The primary reason is that the character is already there and evolved which to me voilates the central tenet of an RPG where you get to create and breath life into the character. In Diablo you get to make a few choices but there is no infusion of life into the avatar. The characters are all created by Blizzard, not you. You get to inhabit a character with a generic and pre-defined past, present, and future that someone else crafted for you.
Events happen around you, not because of you. You don't drive events, you are funnelled to the conclusion in a completely reactive way. You don't have freedom of environment except within the liner path you travel from one end to the other.
The character isn't your's the character is Blizzard's and you don't really have a say. That's what keeps it from being a real RPG in my mind. I'm still buying and playing it, but I have no illusions that this is a nice meaty RPG. But it has always been a fun loot generator.
That image is bias as hell. It doesn't include all the skills available to a Sorc, and alot of the skills in Diablo 3 are the same just with different spins on them thanks to the "rune" system, such as the Witch Doctor's spider jar turning into jumping spider jar? Thats not two skills its one with a different effect.
