As you probably know, Diablo 4 will be released on June 6th and will once again bring the fight against darkness to our screens.
In fact, the fourth part of the series looks back on a 26-year tradition.
Do you still remember all the parts?
If not, enjoy the nostalgia ride and let's move back in time...
1997
Once upon a time there was a small development studio called "Blizzard North" ... although, no, actually it was different.
At the end of 1995, Blizzard Entertainment took over the company "Condor Inc.", which was working on a title called "Diablo", and henceforth worked under the name Blizzard North.
The real-time gameplay and the meanwhile typical point-and-click control were not originally intended.
In fact, Diablo was supposed to be a turn-based DOS game. urgh
It was only under Blizzard's leadership that Diablo was re-imagined as a Windows real-time game as we know it today.
Later the same year the expansion "Diablo: Hellfire" was released.
Some elements like the inventory, character slots and stats are still present today img src
The game received several awards and is still considered the founder of the Hack'n'Slay genre.
The gameplay of Diablo is largely unchanged so far.
Like today, Diablo 1 is about freeing a world from the powerful eponymous demon Diablo. The player character fights through mazes on 16 different levels in which he must fight monsters to finally face off against Diablo himself.
The character gains experience by killing monsters and thereby increases in character level.
The four main character values "strength", "dexterity", "vitality" and "magic" which can be increased per level increase define the strength of the character.
Typically, a warrior primarily fights with melee weapons, a mage with magic, and a huntress with ranged weapons.
2000
In the year 2000 the glory "Diablo II" was released with iht's even more glorious expansion "Lord of Destruction" coming 2001.
The plot of Diablo II knows little to surprise and ties directly to its predecessor. Diablo was defeated in the first part, but not finally destroyed. Such a pity. So in the world that is commonly called "Sanctuary" you set off again to put a stop to Diablo and his brothers Mephisto (Act 3) and Baal (Act 5).
The game is basically divided into four acts, but the expansion "Lord of Destruction" adds a fifth act. On the one hand, the player can earn various rewards via rudimentary quests in the respective files and, on the other hand, the storyline is advanced.
At the end of each act there is a particularly powerful boss to defeat: Andariel, Duriel, Mephisto, Diablo and Baal.
The overall look and feel keeps the same as in Diablo 1 img src
The first major change compared to Diablo 1 is the hero selection. Up from 3 to 7 different classes are now available (including the expansion pack).
The Barbarian, the Sorceres, the Amazon, the Druid, the Necromancer and the Assassin and the Paladin.
The second big change coming with "Lord of Destruction" were runes that can be found ingame. Combining these to special runewords powerfull items can be created changing the complete gameplay of a character.
the famous Enigma runeword with particulary hard to find runes img src
2012
Players have been waiting for a new Diablo for 12 years. In 2012 the time had come. Diablo III has been released.
The action takes place 20 years after the events of Diablo II and - how could it be otherwise - again we go into battle against Diablo.
Diablo III has seven playable classes. The barbarian, witch doctor, sorcerer, monk, demon hunter, crusader which was added via the "Reaper of Souls" expansion and the necromancer which is only playable via a paid DLC.
In contrast to the predecessors, there is no longer a gender lock, but a female and a male version for each class. The talent system has been heavily overhauled.
The player automatically receives new talents or passive abilities after leveling up.
The typical skill tree has also been completely replaced.
The game tends to be co-op, using a new version of Battle.net that was already introduced for StarCraft II.
However, the group size is limited to a total of four players. The game adapts to the number of players in the group, making the opponents stronger or weaker.
The game can be played alone without any problems as well.
The level system was later expanded to include so-called "Paragon Levels", which allowed the player to become even stronger.
An originally announced new player-versus-player (PvP) mode was deprecated shortly before the game's release. Creating a balance that also allowed competitive play, if necessary, did not seem possible.
bossfights in Diablo 3 were more sophisticated than in D1 or D2 including phases and more complex boss mechanics img src
Another controversy was caused by the real money auction house that was available in the game at launch, where players could buy game items with either the game currency gold or real money.
However, the auction house did not exist in the South Korean version, as such would have conflicted with South Korean anti-gambling laws.
It was later removed from the game without replacement after heavy criticism.
2021
Long time no see, my friend, but here comes "Diablo II : Resurrected"
Basically, there is not much to tell here. Diablo 2 in pretty, you could say.
The content based on Lord of Destruction, the core mechanics and balancing of the game are identical to the original Diablo II from 2000. Which was and still is very popular.
Modern 3D graphics with up to 4K resolution were laid over the old 2D graphics.
The effects have also been adjusted and are correspondingly more complex.
Nothing new to see here... but it looks nicer. img src
However, Diablo II: Resurrected has received good reviews internationally and among the player base.
2022
Nothing!
Nothing happened in 2022!
Okay, I guess I have to go through it...
Diablo Immortal... sigh
The game was unveiled at Blizzard's in-house game fair, BlizzCon, in 2018. It was primarily developed and presented as a mobile game, which led to sharp criticism from fans at BlizzCon, who were hoping for new information about Diablo IV. Famous quote: "Is this an out of season April's fools joke?"
In contrast to the previous titles, Diablo Immortal is free-to-play and includes an in-game shop with real money payments, which is typical for mobile games.
In addition, an (optional) chargeable Battle Pass is offered.
Although Diablo Immortal is viewed positively in terms of technology and content, the way it was monetized caused harsh criticism.
Pay-to-win allegations are increasing, especially with regard to the endgame.
Game mechanics make it not really worthwhile for free-to-play players to continue playing after a while due to hidden loot restrictions, as they only get a limited amount of good rewards.
This mechanic should motivate them to pay real money for loot crates.
A big NOPE from me at this point!
Users reacted to the release with review bombing.
Currently, the PC version is the lowest rated game on Metacritic with an average user rating of 0.3 out of 10 possible points.
Well done Blizzard...
2023
A new hope is rising!
After the awfull Diablo Immortal release players seek for a new true Diablo experience.
All five initial classes are now known. There will most likely not be any other classes for the release. However, it is possible that new classes will be integrated into the game later, as it was the case in Diablo 3. We start with the barbarian, the sorceress, the druid, the huntress and the necromancer.
In Diablo 4, each class seems to stand out from the others again, but there aren't many big surprises.
The Barbarian remains a brutal melee, plowing through his enemies.
The sorceress is a typical mage shooting ice and fires.
The druid, on the other hand, relies on a healthy mix. He casts his nature spells from afar, but can also excel in close combat in bear or wolf form, similar was we know it from Diablo 2.
The huntress is even more interesting in terms of gameplay. She can deal damage with daggers and swords in close combat but also relies on (cross)bows for ranged combat
She also has powerful shadow magic and can lay out traps. Seems like the Demon Hunter from Diablo 3 with extra steps.
Last but not least, the Necromancer. As expected, summon the dead is his bread and butter but also uses blood magic and bone spells to attack enemies.
Among several changes, as e.g. the open world aspect of the game, which is new for the Diablo franchise, the good old skilltree is back.
But not only that. On top of the normal skill tree, the paragon system from Diablo 3 has been reworked and adds up an own paragon skill tree...
I feel Path of Exile vibes img src
The YouTuber Fextralife summed up the gamplay and look and feel for each class pretty neat.
You may want to check it out:
Contrary to what was originally announced and from previous titles, Diablo 4 does not distribute points to your primary attributes. At least not from the beginning and not via classic level ups like in the past. You can only specifically increase strength, intelligence, dexterity and willpower with the help of the Paragon board.
Before that you have to hope for the drop of the right items.
For the first time in Diablo history, you have creative freedom to customize your hero's appearance. While there are no sliders like Skyrim, you can choose between different face and skin types and determine gender.
In addition, you can apply tattoos to your character, change the color of your eyes or dye your hair.
Even though it is already a quite extensive post, I have the feeling that I left out a lot.
However, I hope you got a good overview of Diablo's journey so far :)
See you next time!
Always my favourite game was game II, your post made me want to replay it again
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When someone tells me about a dungeon RPG I think of this classic video game, I have not yet tested Diablo Immortal but I know that it will not reach the feet of the first Diablo.