Editorials Reviews Previews Essays Worth Playing

Essays

Essays 13 November 2021, 13:00

6 Things Diablo 4 Needs to Learn from Diablo 2

Diablo 2 might not be perfect, but it's still a classic game, which did a lot of things really well. I'm probably not the only one who would be happy if Diablo 4 borrowed some specific solutions from the cult-classic part two.

Table of Contents

A plot with understatement and a heavy tone

The story in Diablo 3, at least on paper, had some powerful advantages. The main one was the power of the protagonists. Although many things were handled by others, we were usually the ones at the center of the action, not just cleaning up someone's mess or checking to see what had just gone wrong. The problem is that this, combined with superheroic themes (our heroes are descendants of Nephalem, the first humans, and descendants of angels and demons) killed all the horror and mystery. And some parts were just plain silly or overblown. Some interesting and daring motifs were abandoned (transformation of archangel Imperius from an asshole into a monster) – but maybe they will appear in Diablo IV. It's not too late.

Diablo 2 – together with part one – teaches an important lesson in how to weave a story. Mystery, at least apparent, is needed throughout the story. The atmosphere of horror, even in a hack'n'slash game, is built through uncertainty and understatement. Many of the plots and characters only threw in suggestions of how the world works or some bogeyman we just dug up. It didn't put anything straight. What's more, we controlled strong, unique individuals, but at no time did the game inform us that they operated with tools that other experienced representatives of their profession did not have. That's why – despite the slight dissonance of murdering thousands of monsters – we could feel like fairly ordinary mortals marching into the jaws of overwhelming evil. In the first Diablo this generated a wonderfully overwhelming effect in general, but this is something the series is unlikely to return to.

However, the case is different when it comes to the mechanics from Diablo 2. Designers' statements and materials indicate that the team responsible for Diablo 4 has at least partially done their homework. They just need to remember that the real horror (and the human heroism that stands against it) beats out of Sanctuary when we're not playing as super-Saiyans with auras firing off, but ordinary, determined mortals.

Hubert Sosnowski

Hubert Sosnowski

He joined GRYOnline.pl in 2017, as an author of texts about games and movies. He's currently the head of the film department and the Filmomaniak.pl website. Learned how to write articles while working for the Dzika Banda portal. His texts were published on kawerna.pl, film.onet.pl, zwierciadlo.pl, and in the Polish Playboy. Has published stories in the monthly Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror magazine, as well as in the first volume of the Antologii Wolsung. Lives for "middle cinema" and meaty entertainment, but he won't despise any experiment or Fast and Furious. In games, looks for a good story. Loves Baldur's Gate 2, but when he sees Unreal Tournament, Doom, or a good race game, the inner child wakes up. In love with sheds and thrash metal. Since 2012, has been playing and creating live action role-playing, both within the framework of the Bialystok Larp Club Zywia, and commercial ventures in the style of Witcher School.

more

Diablo IV

Diablo IV

Diablo II: Resurrected

Diablo II: Resurrected

Diablo II: Lord of Destruction

Diablo II: Lord of Destruction

Diablo II

Diablo II

"Returning to the Roots". Blizzard Devs Talk Diablo 4

Diablo 4 is coming. We know the date, what it looks and feels like, but before the release, there’s still more aspects of the famous ARPG to uncover and discuss. That’s exactly what we did in this interview with the creators of the hack’n’slash behemoth.

See/Add Comments