We Rediscover the Best, Forgotten Hack'n'slash Mechanics
Inspiration, imitation, carbon copy or even plagiarism. Game developers are constantly drawing on the achievements of their predecessors by picking up certain schemes, mechanics. Sometimes, oh horror, in the frenzy of duplication, they overlook some gems.
Table of Contents
- We Rediscover the Best, Forgotten Hack'n'slash Mechanics
- Painter, plasterer, necromancer
- Show me your wares
- Stay awake, explore, level up
- Skirmish on thin ice
- Five swords are better than one
- Nothing about me without me
Nothing about me without me
Others also tried to diversify the gameplay. Whether we call it a source of inspiration or a warning - I leave it up to you, dear young developers, to whom, of course, I am addressing in the text. You can add tower defense sequences in the game ( The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing ), introduce survival elements ( Vikings: Wolves of Midgard ) or put everything on one card and base the entire game on one class, say - a necromancer ( Undead Horde ) or bard ( The Bard's Tale: The Bard's Tales ).
To conclude my lengthy thought escapade, I will cite one more example. Finally, a text about hack'n'slashes and so little about Diablo ? How is that? That's not okay... Well, there you go. As if to confirm my assumptions and the theory that there are great, but forgotten mechanics hidden in the darkness of history, Diablo 4 appears. Blizzard has accustomed us to the fact that each subsequent installment in its action RPG series almost always climbed the corpses of competitors to a pedestal, distilling the best of the genre and adding its own ingredients to this explosive mixture.
Based on the beta and press reports, it can be said that this time Blizzard collects only the best solutions, crystallized and established in the genre, and then introduces it to its game, making it as current as possible and being the best possible variant of what hack'n'slashes offer in 2023. As it turns out - not only. It also reaches for many patents, which - no different - used to delight, so that no one remembers them today. What I managed to catch on the occasion of the beta is, among others: the open world from Sacred and the possibility of traversing it on mounts, development through practice in the case of the barbarian and his armory, and finally development through exploration. Will there be more? We'll find out soon.
