Member the games you used to play? We member. The basement at the Hardcore Gamer office has a section known as the Crust Room, with an old grey couch and a big old CRT TV. All the classic systems are down there collecting dust, so in an effort to improve the cleanliness of our work space, we dust off these old consoles every so often and put an old game through its paces, just to make sure everything stays in working order. We even have a beige computer with a floppy disk drive.
The gates of hell are preparing to open for Diablo IV on 6/6/23 (or 6/6/6 if you convert to 6/6/(2*3), nice one Blizzard). Following the recent Beta weekends the Diablo fan community has reignited into debating on whether Diablo II or Diablo III is the superior game. Both are great in their own way, though many of feel one is superior to the other. The sequels have been dominating the discussion while players are waiting to see what all Lilith has in store for Sanctuary, but one title is rarely brought up in these discussions. The original Diablo that started it all rarely gets a mention despite laying the groundwork for hunting the Lord of Terror.
Tristram is a tiny village that wouldn’t be on anyone’s radar were not for the fact it contains a gateway to Hell. Long ago angels and demons fought against each other in a bitter war until a group of magi known as the Horadrim were able to imprison the three Lords of Hell in soulstones. Diablo, the Lord of Terror, was one such lord to be imprisoned and buried deep into the earth. A monastery was built over the site, which eventually fell into ruin. Tristram was built near these ruins, and in hopes of making it an even greater town, King Leoric decided to rebuild the dilapidated monastery as a cathedral. During this process Diablo was able to manipulate the archbishop Lazarus into freeing him from his imprisonment. Diablo used his newfound freedom to possess Leoric and unleash his wrath on peaceful kingdoms, causing a mass exodus from Tristram as this once-quiet hamlet had become a nexus to Hell.
The player arrives in town and meets with the elder Deckard Cain. Compared to later Diablo entries the three possible character choices are more basic, but still cater to different playstyles. The warrior is best suited for players that want to get up close and personal with Diablo’s minions, donning heavy armor and fighting with swords and axes. The rogue is for players who like agility over tankiness, and would prefer to keep some distance between them and their enemies. The sorcerer is lacking the physical abilities of the other classes, but more than makes up for it with the access to different magic spells. Each class has their pros and cons, but getting friends to play different classes helped round out the experience during online multiplayer sessions.
The hero’s role is to enter the damned Cathedral and make their way down to Hell to put an end to Diablo. The descent is divided into a few different sections, each with a few floors to clear. Whenever the player reaches a new area an entrance to the first floor of that area will appear somewhere in Tristram. Starting in the cathedral the player will go into the dungeon of the church which almost seems comically large considering the size of the actual church and surrounding area. After all the imprisoned are dead they’re moved down a few floors into the catacombs. Beyond the catacombs remain the caves that haven’t been repurposed by man’s architecture, and after spelunking down a few layers of caves the player will end up in Hell where Diablo is patiently waiting for them. The descent into hell isn’t easy as each area is filled with horrific beings waiting to usher the chosen hero into hell, whether it be in the form of the undead or a demon. Corrupted forms of Lazarus and King Leoric will also be fought, as will the iconic Butcher who greets the player by uttering “fresh meat.”
Anyone who has played any Diablo game knows the gameplay is largely point and click. Click where you want your hero to go, click on which enemy you want to kill and so on. It’s a repetitive formula but works well. One of the underlying aspects about Diablo games is the hunt for better loot, and while this system was greatly expanded in the sequels, the drive to keep playing in hopes of finding some randomly better piece of equipment had players pouring countless hours into this franchise. In one aspect it kind of reduces Diablo games to playing dress up for people who don’t like dolls, but any Diablo fan will tell you getting the best loot to create the ultimate character is a huge draw for playing these games.
Diablo’s legacy lives on in its sequels the same way any game with sequels does, but there are a couple specific aspects to this claim that are uniquely Diabolic. Diablo II introduces a completely new cast of characters to play, but what happened to the original three heroes that ventured to Tristram? Even though there were three choices, canonically speaking it was decided that the warrior was the one who slew Diablo, and drove the Lord of Terror’s soulstone into his own forehead. Having injected himself with Diablo’s essence (intelligence was not the warrior’s primary attribute) he then becomes possessed. The rogue and sorcerer don’t fare much better, as they also make their appearances as enemies in Diablo II as Blood Raven and the False Summoner, respectively.
While Tristram had a scant population numbering in the single digits, they also had a few cows in the area. Many were the players who tried in vain to attack the cows, and rumors circulated about what purpose the cows served in Diablo. In truth the cows were merely decorative, as the citizens of Tristram needed to get food somehow. But in an age where going online to learn every secret and debunk every rumor wasn’t readily accessible to everyone, rumors about the cows circulated and they had some greater demonic purpose. This is believed to have reached back to the developers who created the secret cow level in Diablo II as a response to this nonsense.
Like most games that are over a quarter century old, Diablo shows its age and may feel simple an primitive compared to its sequels and other isometric action RPGs, often referred to as Diablo clones. While the sequels did expand on the general premise and add many quality-of-life improvements, the basic formula remained intact because it was a great system. In 1997 Diablo was considered an amazing game, and people who were around to play it can recall many late nights playing with friends and using in game text messages to communicate. Whether the series peaked at Diablo II or just keeps getting better with Diablo III is still hotly debated, and while everyone is hoping Diablo IV ends up being the best Diablo, it’s undeniable that this amazing game from 1997 is the spark that ignited the hellfire that is the current Diablo fandom.
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