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I bought the game off GOG.com purely out of curiosity, because i've never played the original (allthough i did complete Diablo 2: LoD a decade ago), with the expectations of a fiddling experience for an hour and then being done with it.

It took me an entire week, but i finally beat the game.

Technically it's about as outdated as you would expect, the Quality of Life features that polished future installments, addressing the original's shortcomings, do not exist here. Character progression is accomplished with a level up system, a loot finding system and a spell system. The level up system is done through distributing 5 points to your base stats each time you reach a certain number of experience points, that you accumulate by killing enemies. Loot variation/modifiers is narrow with a small pool of unique items to pick. Spell system is done through collecting various spells that you may use. Overall, character progression is rudimentary, it's all quite simplistic.

But what struck me unbelievably hard is how different this video game is compared to the entire genre it sparked into creation.

Diablo's progression is slow and methodical, thanks in part to the fact that there's no run feature and because it's a very difficult video game; not paying close attention to the position of your character and the enemies you encounter can easily lead to death in the blink of an eye. This slow progression creates a strong sense of tension throughout the entire game, and that permeating tension is further enhanced by Diablo's fantastic sound design (enemies, weapons, etc.), brilliant soundtrack (i'll link my favorite below) and gothic-architecture inspired artstyle strongly imbued with macabre and grotesque imaginary. The scarce plot, experienced through quests and voiced text serves to aid in even further amplifying the above mentioned; The writing is on-point with the theme conveyed by the nature of its design. And that theme is pure, aggressive horror with a good measure of hopelessness thrown in; The original Diablo is a very, very dark video game with an incredibly good atmosphere.

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The rudimentary character progression was enough of an incentive to progress through and explore. I think the original Diablo is my favorite of the series, purely from a single-player perspective. Diablo II, III and Path of Exile (currently playing ever since 2.6) are undoubtedly in another stratosphere of quality as far as character progression is concerned, but the original Diablo is something else entirely.

Where the above mentioned are fast-action loot collectathon experiences, the original Diablo is a methodical horror-gothic rogue-like experience. Funnily enough, the only other video game i can compare the original Diablo to is Dark Souls. And i'm not a fan of the Souls series and their spiritual offsprings, at all.

Here's a great insight into how the original Diablo came to be, regards to Helios for posting the video in the thread (i'm currently watching it).

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[anthraticus]

Yea, not really a fan of that genre at all cause it bores me, but I would play a proper cRPG with the setting/atmosphere/music..... of Diablo 1 any day. Best aesthetics in that series by far.

 

[amigastar]

Beat all Diablos my favourite is Diablo 2. Especially with Eastern Sun mod it's even better.

 

[Hudo]

Never played the first Diablo and dropped Diablo III after the first playthrough (was bored with it). Diablo II is a solid game, though. But I've always preferred Nox. That being said, the devs of Nox themselves compared it more to Gauntlet than Diablo.

 

[Starhowl]

Why can't I vote?

 

[xpresstuning]

Why can't I vote?

As you engage more with the community through posts, more account features will unlock. As far as i recall, as a "Neo Member" you cannot make threads or vote in polls.

 

[Helios]

I think Diablo 1 has the best atmosphere out of them all. Which, in my opinion, is only amplified by the fact that you can't run.
POE is pretty much the natural evolution of D2 but still retains the horror elements of 1 in some places. End of ACT 3 and 4 for example.
If you want more insight into how this game was made, David Brevik has GDC talk about Diablo 1.

Why can't I vote?

Neo Members can't vote in polls I think. If you want I can give you my vote since I can't decide between D1, 2 and POE

 

[xpresstuning]

I think Diablo 1 has the best atmosphere out of them all. Which, in my opinion, is only amplified by the fact that you can't run.
POE is pretty much the natural evolution of D2 but still retains the horror elements of 1 in some places. End of ACT 3 and 4 for example.
If you want more insight into how this game was made, David Brevik has GDC talk about Diablo 1.

That's a great video that i haven't seen before, i've also linked it in the original post and i'm currently watching it.

 

[stranno]

The Devilution port is close to be released on OG XBOX.

 

[Lucumo]

Diablo is a very difficult game? Not really. I've found it to be quite easy and I played a Warrior, the class that is considered to be the hardest.

 

[xpresstuning]

Diablo is a very difficult game? Not really. I've found it to be quite easy and I played a Warrior, the class that is considered to be the hardest.

Oh it was an incredibly difficult video game, that's the reason why it took an entire week to finish. As a regular Path of Exile player, i had an idea of what to expect but unfortunately my expectations completely missed the reality of the original's design, so i had to properly adapt and learn how to effectively hike its difficulty.

I don't agree with the notion that the Warrior class is considered to be the hardest. From what i have understood as a general consensus in my week long endeavour is that the Warrior class is the easiest to start with, but hard at the end. The Ranger is sort of like the middle ground. And the Sorcerer is hard to start with, but very powerful at the end. My experience with the game falls in line with the general consensus, i had trouble playing with the Ranger class. I quit around level 11, and started with a Warrior. The Warrior class was significantly easier to get into, but punishingly hard at the last 4 levels.

 

[Starhowl]

Neo Members can't vote in polls I think. If you want I can give you my vote since I can't decide between D1, 2 and POE

Them I'm voting for D2!

 

[Spukc]

Tried d2
That 20 fps thing ?
Yeah fuck that

I still refuse to put time in PoE
Because i fing hate their paymodel

Grimdawn was ok but got boring fast

Titan quest was mildly amusing.

Loved destiny 2 (not a single dlc)
Best gameplay in a fps to date.

Hated destiny 1

Played that warhammer chaosbane
Loot sucked

Dreamcast record of lodoss is great

Every single borderlands is great ( not you presequel)

Torchlight 1 is fun
2 not so much.

Diablo 3 is my waifu

 

[Lux R7]

Diablo II no contest

 

[Katsura]

Titan Quest hands down though i had a lot of fun with Victor Vran too

 

[Helios]

For those that haven't seen it I recommand Carbot's animated series on D1. Funny stuff.

Them I'm voting for D2!

Done. Great choice !

I still refuse to put time in PoE
Because i fing hate their paymodel

The stash model is annoying but the rest are purely cosmetics. I'm 45 hours in with no dime spent and I still have space in my stash.

 

[Cracklox]

Oh ye of little faith. Why hath I cast the only vote for Grim Dawn.

4 and a half thousand hours (and counting) since launch according to Steam. Its my comfort blanket game I go back to when there's nothing else to play

Its the true evolution of D2 when it comes to creative build diversity, does away with the needless, layered rng of PoE, and is far more 'arpg' then D3 ever was. That basically turned into an arcade game at some point. Now don't get me wrong, I've a few thousand hours on d3 and enjoyed most of them but it just didn't evolve over time, and trying to do anything outside of Bliz approved set builds was pointless, unless you wanna be running torment 3 all day.

I don't have near as much time on PoE, and enjoyed it for the most part, but just didn't like the fact that gearing up for endgame basically meant trading for gear, rather then, you know, it actually dropping in game. GD strikes a nice balance between the handouts of d3, and the why-does-nothing-fucking-drop of PoE

I didn't spend alot of time with the first Diablo. I remember my parents had it on their pc back when it came out (by way of my older brother I believe). I was prob too young and stupid to understand the gameplay loop though so never really got into it. I remember being impressed by all the voiced dialogue in town though. Not a lot of games had that much voice work back then.

Also, GD is made by Crate who are a great bunch of guys. Team of 12 people and they're still supporting the game to this day with 2 expansions (which are great and add a lot)and another big free content patch in the works, and not too far off

Grimdawn was ok but got boring fast

Heathen. Like what I like please

 

[Handy Fake]

I adored the first two. Enjoyed the the third up to a point but I think they went in the wrong direction with it.
I think Path of Exile was the natural route the series should have taken - stick to the core but expand upon the mechanics. Rather than aim for a glitzy, chunky gameplay and watered down RPG elements.
For a game primarily about loot, I think PoE excels where Diablo 3 dropped the ball a bit by having repeated uniques but with different level stats.

 

[Spukc]

where Diablo 3 dropped the ball a bit by having repeated uniques but with different level stats.

yeah that stuff got fixed ages ago.
imo diablo 3 has the best loot in any loot game.
it really changes your gameplay.

also in a new upcoming patch they remaking old legendary items to be better

 

[rofif]

I remember dad buying Diablo for our 1997 pc. (I am 30 now, was 8 then).
I remember being impressed by installed and music but was otherwise unimpressed by graphics and style of the game... now I appreciate it much more and I think it's a fantastic game. Simplicity of it combined with atmosphere and not overdone loot is just perfectly balanced.

 

[Handy Fake]

yeah that stuff got fixed ages ago.
imo diablo 3 has the best loot in any loot game.
it really changes your gameplay.

also in a new upcoming patch they remaking old legendary items to be better

Shows how long ago I played it then.
Have you played PoE, just out of interest? I really can't see any loot game outshining it?

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

I have to say, this thread came at the right time. I have been mad at PoE and not wanting to play, because I feel my game progress gets wiped after every new nerf. I just want to play alone without trading.

Maybe Grim Dawn could finally scratch that D2 itch. A game I had rebought 4 times.

 

[Cracklox]

The thing about d3, is it doesn't require any creative thinking to make a build. Just get your set items and supporting bits for the sets and your golden. That takes, what 4-5 hours or so? Quicker if you have someone boost you for leveling.

That will take you so far in 'endgame'. Then if you want to go further, have fun grinding gem and paragon levels.

yeah that stuff got fixed ages ago.
imo diablo 3 has the best loot in any loot game.
it really changes your gameplay.

also in a new upcoming patch they remaking old legendary items to be better

Please explain how it was fixed? Honest question. I haven't played in a while

I stopped playing around the time primal ancients were added which were the same item with better roles, over the already in game ancients, which were same items but better rolled legendarys. And any legendarys found while leveling, were the same items but with lower roles.

Maybe Grim Dawn could finally scratch that D2 itch. A game I had rebought 4 times.

If solo plays whats your after, then no question, GD should act as the perfect itch scratcher. In fact playing multiplayer sort of breaks the game a bit. Its not really designed around it

 

[Velius]

I think Diablo 1 has the best atmosphere out of them all. Which, in my opinion, is only amplified by the fact that you can't run.
POE is pretty much the natural evolution of D2 but still retains the horror elements of 1 in some places. End of ACT 3 and 4 for example.
If you want more insight into how this game was made, David Brevik has GDC talk about Diablo 1.


Neo Members can't vote in polls I think. If you want I can give you my vote since I can't decide between D1, 2 and POE

The entire setup of the story is unnerving. It's top notch horror. In Diablo III you've got millions of demons flying out of the sky, LoTR style wars. It's sensory overload.

Diablo is nothing like that. It's a small town, next to a small kingdom, and strange things have been happening at the cathedral. At first it was just people getting sick or acting weird, and it got progressively worse and worse. People went in and disappeared. Then a fucking skeleton walked out.

And each level you descend, you get farther and farther away from anyone who could feasibly help you or even cares for you at a basic human level. It was a lonely, lonely descent into madness.

Christ I loved that game

 

[Memorabilia]

Is it possible to play it on modern computers? I'd really like to check it (and D2) out.

I can't believe Blizzard hasn't put together a remaster of them both in a 2fer package....

 

[Spukc]

The thing about d3, is it doesn't require any creative thinking to make a build. Just get your set items and supporting bits for the sets and your golden. That takes, what 4-5 hours or so? Quicker if you have someone boost you for leveling.

That will take you so far in 'endgame'. Then if you want to go further, have fun grinding gem and paragon levels.



Please explain how it was fixed? Honest question. I haven't played in a while

I stopped playing around the time primal ancients were added which were the same item with better roles, over the already in game ancients, which were same items but better rolled legendarys. And any legendarys found while leveling, were the same items

Diablo 3 legendary items force you to change up your build on the fly.
And now we will get even more legendary legacy items redone.

The common mistake people make in d3 is not to switch up builds.

Game is made to do that. We can even save builds.

Shows how long ago I played it then.
Have you played PoE, just out of interest? I really can't see any loot game outshining it?

Played PoE day 1 and later on xbox.
The game got way way to convoluted for beginners. If you dig sure there is fun to be found. But like i said the f2p shit.
I would prolly invested more time. If it was just full priced.

 

[xpresstuning]

Is it possible to play it on modern computers? I'd really like to check it (and D2) out.

I can't believe Blizzard hasn't put together a remaster of them both in a 2fer package....

It was recently released on GOG.com, that's how i managed to purchase it and play it, i never had a hard copy of it. The GOG version works on modern machines.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Diablo 2 pre 1.10.

 

[Saber]

Diablo 1 is pretty lame. Only played because a friend of mine gave one to me. It was a pretty dragging experience.

Now Diablo 2, that one is pretty enjoyable. Lot of classes and sweet mechanics. The best of all, rare/unique monsters with rare/unique equipment.
Nothing like that trash Diablo 1 makes.

Diablo 3 was pure hype, myself included. But end up nothing but a bore fest.
Its so boring that I never finished the game.

 

[Gargus]

Beat all Diablos my favourite is Diablo 2. Especially with Eastern Sun mod it's even better.

It was my favorite also, it's only downfall was how boring some of the chapters were. Especially the swamp and desert. I dreaded those areas because I just got tired of seeing them very quickly. I don't know if they just didn't have enough variety to keep them interesting to look at, wasn't enough to do in them, or they were too big. I know especially the desert one had me just wandering around so much I got tired of it. I still enjoyed the game, I just dreaded those 2 places.

I loved 1 but man when I finally got to diablo he tore me to shreds. I only beat it on battlenet with help from others.

3 was good but really I couldn't go back a 2nd time and by the time the expansion rolled around it was so highly polished and so focused on leading you along it wasn't fun, it felt more like a ride I was just on instead of a game I was playing.

 

[Orenji Neko]

Aside from Path of Exile, which I have never played, I like all of these games. I'll give my vote to Grim Dawn because it's fantastic and deserves attention too.

Edit: The amount of time I have put into D1,2, and 3, plus Grim Dawn is disgusting though. Just terrible lmao.

 

[Terenty]

I just recently tired to play Diablo 2 with my brother and unfortunately the game is just too damn easy. Its obviously made with care, but the difficulty is not there at all, at least in the first map.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Considering how popular roguelike + [genre] has gotten in the past 5 years, I'm surprised they haven't brought it back. It's still an excellent action roguelike.

 

[BenSherman]

ofc diablo 2, but why I can't vote?

 

[xpresstuning]

ofc diablo 2, but why I can't vote?

Because your account is new, the more you post the more features unlock for that account such as the ability to make threads and vote in polls.

Edit: The amount of time I have put into D1,2, and 3, plus Grim Dawn is disgusting though. Just terrible lmao.

I can't even imagine counting the hours i've put into Path of Exile.

 

[Ravielsk]

What fascinates me about Diablo as a franchise is that it basically created its own genre. A genre that to this day is about 90% just a Diablo reskin. Whether its all the clones or even more innovative stuff they all follow the same formula with all its faults and benefits.

Borderlands despite being a shooter still follows the same basic formula of cannon fodder enemies(with little to no AI) and loot hoarding that was solidified by Diablo 2(and invented by Diablo 1). There is so little deviation from that formula that you wouldn't think the OG diablo is from 1996.

 

[Ceadeus]

D1 back then on the PS1 was revolutionary! My vote go to this one.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

I miss the artstyle and nudity. Nu-Blizzard can go die in a ditch for all I care.

 

[amigastar]

It was my favorite also, it's only downfall was how boring some of the chapters were. Especially the swamp and desert. I dreaded those areas because I just got tired of seeing them very quickly. I don't know if they just didn't have enough variety to keep them interesting to look at, wasn't enough to do in them, or they were too big. I know especially the desert one had me just wandering around so much I got tired of it. I still enjoyed the game, I just dreaded those 2 places.

I loved 1 but man when I finally got to diablo he tore me to shreds. I only beat it on battlenet with help from others.

3 was good but really I couldn't go back a 2nd time and by the time the expansion rolled around it was so highly polished and so focused on leading you along it wasn't fun, it felt more like a ride I was just on instead of a game I was playing.

If you want to refresh your taste in Diablo 2 i recommend Eastern Sun Mod. More Content without alienating the original game and many new features like gambling etc. It's really a nice mod. Just a suggestion.

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

It was mind-blowing to me that the game was turn based during development and was converted to pseudo real time by shortening turn duration to 1/30th of a second.

Huge fan of the series.

 

[Tesseract]

i actually prefer the psx version because you can run

d2 however is a goddamn masterpiece on pc

 

[Belmonte]

I wish Diablo 4 could reintroduce and evolve some concepts from Diablo 1. Like how you need to pay attention to your position and need to control space to win. It would be great if enemies were a limited resource again, so the total XP is limited and you need to plan your character with more attention but I know I'm in the minority here. Diablo, since 2, is a power fantasy.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

D4 should have hunger, praying at altars for random (sometimes negative) effects, every item can be used as a projectile, and item corrosion.

 

[Gargus]

If you want to refresh your taste in Diablo 2 i recommend Eastern Sun Mod. More Content without alienating the original game and many new features like gambling etc. It's really a nice mod. Just a suggestion.

Might try it. I bought diablo 1 on gog last week. So I'm playing that now since it comes with the hellfire expansion that I never played originally.

D4 should have hunger, praying at altars for random (sometimes negative) effects, every item can be used as a projectile, and item corrosion.

Item corrosion?

Don't take this personally but I hope you rot in hell sucking demon cocks for all of eternity for even mentioning that.

 

[TexMex]

Fantastic game and one of the best PC experiences in my memory. Going to Comp USA (on a SCHOOL NIGHT!!!), getting that big box and playing it. Nothing else like it for me at the time. The atmosphere, the music, the voice acting. So good.

Anyone dig Torchlight II? I've heard great things but never tried it myself. May give it a shot to scratch the itch.

 

[Helios]

Anyone dig Torchlight II? I've heard great things but never tried it myself. May give it a shot to scratch the itch.

I do but I know I'm in the minority. A lot of people dislike it because it's cartoonish and it doesn't have the same depth as other diablo clones but I still loved it. The presentation is top-notch as long as you like the artstyle. The zones are beautiful and varied, the animations are smooth and the spells have a lot of impact to them.
There are also a lot of mods out there, with Synergies being the most popular one since it adds a lot of end-game content.

 

[Dada55000]

Diablo 1 was fucking awesome. The atmoshpere, the sad, dark tone, the world building, the dialogue of the people in the village, the music. There's so much more to it than just a loot collecting dungeon crawler. It wasn't just a soulless MP machine to waste time in, there was something beautiful you could latch onto earnestly. It lacks a lot of QoL features and B.net wasn't nearly as good as 2, and it's more of a roguelike so there's no in depth skill trees as such. Hell, separate chars were added pretty late in development if I recall, it was originally just the warrior, whom you could spec as a mage or a ranged char.

It's a shame that D1&2 are remembered as the games that pioneered shitty skinner box colored lootwhoring garbage. In D2, endgame was closed B.net, but before that you played the game solo, and it was also intruiging and memorable. It's a shame new people don't treat it like a real game when playing it for the first time.

I do but I know I'm in the minority. A lot of people dislike it because it's cartoonish and it doesn't have the same depth as other diablo clones but I still loved it. The presentation is top-notch as long as you like the artstyle. The zones are beautiful and varied, the animations are smooth and the spells have a lot of impact to them.
There are also a lot of mods out there, with Synergies being the most popular one since it adds a lot of end-game content.

It's also ungodly boring. There's very little personality to it, was it in 2, you meet an NPC that says nothing besides recommended lvl in the dungeon next to him, here's your quest? They got the composer from D1&2 for both Torchlight games, and it's a waste. Also, the specific 'cartoonish' artstyle Torchlight has, is the quintessential boring generic WoW like stuff people were sick of when T1 came out, and since then it has become even worse as the goto for cheap mobile games. It's saturated to the point of being blending together all the games that use it.

I wouldn't recommend Torchlight to anyone who can't just subsist on the most base loot hunting experience and nothing else. Numbers, colored text, that's it.

 

[TexMex]

I do but I know I'm in the minority. A lot of people dislike it because it's cartoonish and it doesn't have the same depth as other diablo clones but I still loved it. The presentation is top-notch as long as you like the artstyle. The zones are beautiful and varied, the animations are smooth and the spells have a lot of impact to them.
There are also a lot of mods out there, with Synergies being the most popular one since it adds a lot of end-game content.

Thanks. It just came out on PS4 so I'm probably going to try it there actually. Diablo 3 was a great couch game.

 

[Germaine]

I would recommend Hero Siege to anyone who played a lot of Diablo 2. It's on sale on steam right now, I have been addicted to it ever since I found out about it last week.

 

[Dada55000]

Might try it. I bought diablo 1 on gog last week. So I'm playing that now since it comes with the hellfire expansion that I never played originally.

Hellfire is poo, but as a curiosity it's fine once. You can jog in the town! Reusing cut content from D1, items and monsters mainly, not sure about tilesets, and some unused dialogue plus some sloppy new content by Sierra, sadly unfinished as the thing was rushed and some welcome QoL features. Like you need to text edit one of the quests for it to become available. It also used an earlier version of the game as a base, so some of the fixes are missing.

A shame nobody made a mod that backports the 8 extra levels and enemies back into the base game. There's like 8 quests that were cut from the game before release, you could pepper them in the 8 levels.