I owned multiple boxed copies of Diablo 2 and also the Battle Chest version. That’s amazingly consistent by the standards of review scores, and yet surprisingly low given its reputation today. Gamespot gave it 8.5/10, IGN gave it 8.3, and Gamespy gave it 86/100. The scope was larger, the gameplay was more varied, and it seemed to have more of the ingredients that made the first title such a hit.ĭiablo 2 was not instantly recognized as a classic when it hit the market in June of 2000. Diablo 2 was of similar tone to the original, although the visuals weren’t quite as pervasively dark. You could argue that maybe the foreboding tone was at odds with the treasure-hunting gameplay loop, but the experience seemed to work for the folks in 1996.įour years later, Blizzard followed up with the sequel.

With its macabre scenery, haunting ambient sounds, smothering darkness, and grim ending The hero sacrificed themselves to contain the titular demon., it was a tense experience focused on creating a sense of dread. In any case, Diablo looked almost like isometric survival horror. It’s an ACTION RPG.) While I hate to see the already-muddled term “RPG” stretched even further, I suppose this is better than “Diablo clone”. (See, it’s not like all those other RPG titles. Instead the culture has decided that the genre is named ARPG. I don’t know if it was actually the first game in this particular style, but it was recognized as such to the point where the others were called “Diablo clones”.

It was so influential that it was seen as the father of a genre. Swiped from Youtube, because my disk copy is long gone and Blizzard no longer sells the game.

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