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Is anyone else disappointed that Diablo II severely downplayed the almost "survival" horror aspects of the first game?
- Thread starter CenturionNami
- Start date
That first time you fight The Butcher in Diablo freaked the hell out of me. You come across this room filled with blood and dismembered bodies and this enemy who is much larger and faster than anything you see comes out of the shadows and starts swinging his cleaver at you. Scary as shit.
Diablo 1 is definitely the best Diablo. You actually feel like you are working your way into Hell.
Torchlight 1 kind of. You have one town and just descend levels.
Diablo I and Diablo II were both Chef's Kiss for me for their own reasons. While I love the series and will always play it, I am always hopeful of a Diablo game that can feel like both I and II. That would most definitely captivate me. Hopefully Diablo IV can be like this... then if not... hopefully Diablo V?
Yes, I also recommend Torchlight I to those wanting a similar experience to Diablo I. Highly adored game.
Oh... thanks for the recommendation. Unfortunately, I really can't get into Torchlight's aesthetic.
I agree with you OP. I mean Diablo 2 is one of my favourite game of all time, but Diablo 1 has something special that was lost in Diablo 2 (also in Diablo hellfire)
I really need to go back and play D1 thinking about it, the game absolutely oozes atmosphere, so much so that it scared me off as a kid. Just hearing and seeing the butcher do its thing was enough.
Right up my alley nowadays.
Right up my alley nowadays.
1 or 2? The only reason I ask is that I feel like 1 is a touch less cartoony and darker than 2 almost like Diablo 1 to 2.
The atmosphere and style is one thing, but people still line up to play Diablo 2 ladder season starts today (even for its mods like Path of Diablo and MedianXL). Diablo 1 simply isn't a game with the mechanical depth or complexity to support such investment and devotion from its playerbase. Path of Exile is modeled more on the Diablo 2 side for exactly that reason, and nobody would even think about PoE today if it had simply tried to copy Diablo 1.
To put it another way, Diablo 1 is a game for the niche Era member who really loves a short, concentrated single player experience. Diablo 2 is an early entry in the endlessly replayable multiplayer genre that truly dominates the gaming market today.
To put it another way, Diablo 1 is a game for the niche Era member who really loves a short, concentrated single player experience. Diablo 2 is an early entry in the endlessly replayable multiplayer genre that truly dominates the gaming market today.
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Speak for yourself, i would love it
Even if it was just one league mechanic like delves
Diablo 1 definitely had a Dark Souls feel to it. I loved it. What From Software created with the Soulsborne games is amazing. I've been playing all of them non-stop for 2 months now. THE ABSOLUTE DREAD I FEEL at times when playing these games is something I've rarely felt before. I sometimes dread playing the game. I put it off because I know the area I am in is full of hard enemies that want to destroy me. I've woken up many nights and mornings and the first thought in my head is what can I do different to beat a certain boss or enemy. None of the other Soul's like games does that for me. I tried to play Hellpoint yesterday and I was like "meh" (I'm sure that is a good game, I gave it only a quick look) What I'm saying is it is all about the atmosphere and Dark Souls atmosphere is hard to top. That was Diablo 1 as well, I went to sleep and woke up thinking about that game too.
Diablo 2 is different and built to be replayable for years and Diablo 1 isn't. There is no measure of quality in that statement, Diablo 1 is not a worse game because it isn't still regularly played today.
This!
Diablo felt like a personal journey. I played it on PC at launch, but when D2 launched I didn't have a PC anymore so I can't comment on it (counting the days for the remake!).
But I loved how grounded D1 felt, yes it's a fantasy game with magic and shit but for 15 year old me it still felt grounded.
D3 on the other hand takes you too heaven and your characters felt super powerful like super heroes.
I still liked the game, but I prefer D1 style.
I love both games for different reasons. I can't say I'm disappointed by the changes in D2 when it ended up being one of my favorite games. I would love another D1 like experience since I've never played anything quite like it but not at the expense of D2.
Both, I don't mind cartoony games at all, but I'm really not into their particular style.
Co-op might sort of neuter that sense. It was somewhat limited at any rate. The Butcher was probably it at its height.
Diablo 1 and 2 is so like Shadow Hearts 1 and 2. First game is more horror focused. Sequel steps down the horror element but still retain some of it, and still come out as the superior and more popular game.
I really liked singular den of evil/ dive to hell through the church of the first one; but I also really liked following in the footsteps of evil to hell in the second one as well. I don't remember much of anything from the 3rd one to be honest.
I guess it would obviously depend on the execution, but I don't know if I would have been as excited to dive into hell from a single location again way back then. While I'm super ready for a singular super detailed and atmospheric town and accompanying dive to hell through a basement now, back then I remember wanting to see diablo walk the Earth.
I guess it would obviously depend on the execution, but I don't know if I would have been as excited to dive into hell from a single location again way back then. While I'm super ready for a singular super detailed and atmospheric town and accompanying dive to hell through a basement now, back then I remember wanting to see diablo walk the Earth.
I was at the time. It didn't help that the friends who I would play Diablo with online migrated to Diablo 2, and my computer couldn't run it. By now I've accepted that Diablo is much more of an action series than a horror one. Not coincidentally, my interest in the series has dropped with each game.
I was thinking about the same thing just the other day. While Diablo games since have gotten more varied and larger in scope, they definitely lost something important that made the first one so impactful. It was like going from a carefully crafted, slowly unfolding horror story to a horror-themed roller coaster. Everything is just cosmetic set dressing now with the sense of challenge intact, but without the sense of dread and looming threat.
Honestly, I know I'm in the minority but I vastly enjoyed the OG Diablo more than the sequel even though technically I guess the sequel was the better game.
The horror aspect of going deeper down the cathedral absolutely had more to do with it.
That first time running into the butcher and the crapping your pants feeling set up the foreboding atmosphere for the rest of the game.
The horror aspect of going deeper down the cathedral absolutely had more to do with it.
That first time running into the butcher and the crapping your pants feeling set up the foreboding atmosphere for the rest of the game.
Reminds me of what happened to DMC. The first game had very clear survival horror roots since it started out as the original RE4. The sequels did away with the horror aspects and focused far more on action and combat. This wasn't really a bad thing, as I love where the series went with DMC3 and DMC5, but something neat was lost in the process.
Dat music. Also the voice over for the lore tomes you could find was awesome.
"Take heed and bear witness to the truths that lie herein"
Funny, that's almost what I told a friend one time. Well, I didn't say I was disappointed by Diablo 2 but I did say that I vastly prefer the atmosphere in the original game: it was dark, thick, oppressive. For me, Diablo was like a blueprint for Dark Souls, in terms of tone and atmosphere. And the first time I met the Butcher I legit jumped out of my chair.
As a non-fan of hack & slash, Diablo is the only game of the genre that I like.
And I still remember the lines of the blacksmith even though I played it like 20 yeas ago : "Hello, what can I do for ya?"
A truly apt comparison.
As a non-fan of hack & slash, Diablo is the only game of the genre that I like.
And I still remember the lines of the blacksmith even though I played it like 20 yeas ago : "Hello, what can I do for ya?"
A truly apt comparison.
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The first Diablo certainly left a bigger impression, as excited as I am for the remake of the sequel I'd love to see one for the original. The atmosphere was downright oppressive in the first, everything felt like a threat. The music in the sequel is still quite good but some of the themes in the first stand out more, particularly the village piece and that menacing ritualistic drumming for the dungeons. Just amazing atmosphere all around. The presentation of The Butcher was legitimately creepy with all the bodies on stakes surrounding his lair. Definitely the sort of game I wish I could experience again for the first time.
I played both games when they came out. Diablo was an early experience that only Dark Souls has given me later in gaming. It was the first game I stayed up late late nights for playing by myself and sometimes with a friend over a modem. I very much agree to the survival and atmostpheric dread that each layer gave me, and I just couldn't stop going further. I still remember the first time I heard the butcher say "Fresh Meat". It freaked me the hell out at 1 AM that morning. Diablo 2 was a big disappointment to me when it came out, and the series never recovered for me sadly.
Not in the slightest, because Diablo 2 is the far better game overall. Not that Diablo is a bad game, it's just that D2 improved in all of the vital areas and matured the genre beyond just being a basic dungeon crawling experience.
Diablo was never really my thing; I only played the first two in a very casual sense. But I do recall quite clearly that the first evoked a mood that drew me in repeatedly despite my mild aversion to its gameplay.
It'd be unfair of me to dictate where the series should have gone instead, given my general ambivalence towards it, but I definitely think I'd still be curious about it if they'd built upon the original aesthetic instead of just cranking the World of Warcraft dial way up when they got to number three.
It'd be unfair of me to dictate where the series should have gone instead, given my general ambivalence towards it, but I definitely think I'd still be curious about it if they'd built upon the original aesthetic instead of just cranking the World of Warcraft dial way up when they got to number three.
I mean I was disappointed for a couple of weeks after Diablo 2 came out but that pretty quickly disappeared once I realised Diablo 2 is the much better game. My mum still occasionally does a Griswold impression though so that's nice.
An opposite experience was Diablo 3, where I basically never got over how they made it look like WoW
An opposite experience was Diablo 3, where I basically never got over how they made it look like WoW
Diablo 1 holds up really well - so well in fact that I replay it regularly. Done two runs of the GoG release so far. But it'd still be a stretch to say I was disappointed by Diablo 2. It's really what everyone (at the time) wanted: A bigger "overworld"; more environment/dungeon and enemy variety, more unique character classes (D1 classes are like Dark Souls classes - except for their one unique ability they just determine looks, starting equipment and initial stat distribution), more systems for customization, better multiplayer infrastructure, vastly better itemization, and infinite replayability. The three latter points are very important facets of Diablo 2's massive success, and also (imo) where it diverges the most from Diablo 1s "one-and-done" campaign structure.
The oppressive atmosphere of D1 is, I think, largely a consequence of the game doing a lot with a relatively small bundle of basics. The maps, while randomized, aren't that big, and only hand-crafted in certain areas, so they rely on darkness, line of sight and horror-ish music to lend them a dynamism that's largely smoke and mirrors, but still very effective. The relatively timeless aesthetic (shared with D2 but not so much D3) helps too.
The oppressive atmosphere of D1 is, I think, largely a consequence of the game doing a lot with a relatively small bundle of basics. The maps, while randomized, aren't that big, and only hand-crafted in certain areas, so they rely on darkness, line of sight and horror-ish music to lend them a dynamism that's largely smoke and mirrors, but still very effective. The relatively timeless aesthetic (shared with D2 but not so much D3) helps too.
Not exactly true.. there are many more differences between classes, but most of them are hidden. For example the warrior has better recovery time from blocking or being hit so he's less likely to get stunlocked in melee, while the sorcerer has faster spellcast animations
Diablo Characters - Diablo Wiki
There are three characters in Diablo, the Rogue, Sorcerer, and Warrior, and three more were added in the Hellfire expansion pack, the Monk, Bard, and Barbarian. This page provides basic information about the characters. This information can also be found on the individual character pages, along...