Diablo, I want to like you!

[scythe]

OK, so feel free to flame me to hell and back (pun intended :D). I never played the original Diablo... or Diablo 2. There, I said it. Sorry.

So, when Diablo 3 was teased a while back I thought it would be a good time to try them out. After all, everyone says these games are basically crack in videogame form. Fully expecting to get hooked and play until my eyes bled, I fired up the original sometime last year. After wading through all the technical issues associated with playing it on Win7 (which I'm not complaining about... this game is fucking old), I finally sunk an hour or so into it and got to the Butcher... who proceeded to rape every orifice of my body into oblivion.

To make a long story short, I lost interest but ended up coming back and trying it again a few times since then. I finally beat the Butcher last night (he really wasn't that hard, I just had to use a different approach), and played for another 30 minutes or so.

Excuse my long-windedness, but I've now arrived at my point: why do I not like this game? Is it one of those games that requires the nostalgia of playing it when it came out? Are there other people out there who aren't Diablo fans (I've never met one)? Have I not played long enough to get hooked? Should I just give up on D1 and move on to D2, because it's better?

Help me, CoG! I want to enjoy this game because I feel like any self-respecting PC gamer should, and honestly there are only a few major PC games that I haven't played (Diablo was one of the last notable exceptions).

[ClannerDelta]

I loved D1 and D2 (especially D2), I've probably logged more hours into D2 than any other game. That's coming from an MMO player.

However... I hadn't played it in years, so I went back in early 2009. The game is just not fun to me anymore. The interface is ass tastic and the graphics have aged like the cheese you harvest from betwixt your nuts. And the awful sound effects...

I also hate clicking to loot anymore. After D1-D2 I kind of lost interest in any game where I spend more time clicking to loot than I do clicking to kill. Borderlands rode a fine line with this and it was only playable because of ammo regen.

[SilentScreams]

The original Diablo was awesome for it's time, but I think it's well and truly dated now.

I bought Diablo 2 on release day and I didn't play Diablo until a couple of years later and I didn't like it either. I finished it just to see the story, but Diablo 2 is better in every way in my opinion (and I know some people will disagree with me there).
Diablo 2 also stands the test of time a little better I think. Just remember to play it in windowed mode to avoid ugly stretched out graphics and definitely install LoD so that you can bump the resolution to a mighty 800x600. :)

In short, try Diablo 2 before you write off the series. The differences between the two are significant.

[Doogie2K]

Bear in mind that the Diablos are 14 and 11 years old at this point: nostalgia will allow us to enjoy (or at least put up with) things that would otherwise be considered archaic or clunky today. I would suggest more recent games in that vein like Torchlight or Sacred 2 instead.

[NoName]

Or if you just want to get in the mood for Diablo 3 you could try playing Titan Quest, which is basically an updated Diablo. :)

Edit: Ooo, forgot about Torchlight since it's still on my "to play" list, that would probably be better than my suggestion.

[SilentScreams]

I thought Sacred 2 was more clunky than Diablo to be honest. :)

Edit: I also thought Titan Quest was a step backwards from Diablo 2.

[Troggles]

Diablo is easily dated, but Diablo 2 is still fun now. It may look like ass, but the core gameplay is much improved over the original Diablo. If you pick it up, I'd even play through it with you. Multiplayer is where the game really shines.

[iHap]

I've been going through Diablo 2 again. Only on the second chapter. If you can go fast you might be able to catch up to me/play with me.

[Troggles]

I've been going through Diablo 2 again. Only on the second chapter. If you can go fast you might be able to catch up to me/play with me.

Are you on US East or US West? I have a Necro on East right now about to enter the Cathedral.

[BigJonno]

Diablo is just one of those games that some people just don't like. At the end of the day, the basic gameplay is incredibly simple, the real hook is in the looting and levelling. If they don't pull you in, you're not going to enjoy the game.

[violent]

Get a CoG session going and I'll join. We'll fix you right up.

[Doogie2K]

I thought Sacred 2 was more clunky than Diablo to be honest. :)

Yeah, but I give it some leeway on account of charmingly stereotypical central/eastern European PC RPG jank (yeah, it's Germany, but close enough). Plus, my fireball follows enemies for a couple of hundred feet, which is pretty rad.

[kyrieee]

I've never enjoyed Diablo in single player. I guess it can be fun if you use a trainer and get level 100 firewall and stuff, but otherwise it's a game that should be played online with other people, at least 3-4. It also gets better and better as you get cooler higher level skills. When it's hard (which it is in SP) it's never any fun. You're supposed to go through enemies like dominos.

If I went back to DII now and played on my own I wouldn't enjoy it one bit, so don't worry, I'm sure you'll love Diablo III.

[Vigil80]

D2 is way ahead of D1, and when D3 comes out in 2015, it will be way ahead of D2.

I wouldn't worry about not enjoying D1. It was good in its time, but it was 13 years ago. It shows its age.

[iHap]

Are you on US East or US West? I have a Necro on East right now about to enter the Cathedral.

I'm on US West. :(

To bad you can't transfer characters across realms.

[mightbe]

Bear in mind that the Diablos are 14 and 11 years old at this point: nostalgia will allow us to enjoy (or at least put up with) things that would otherwise be considered archaic or clunky today. I would suggest more recent games in that vein like Torchlight or Sacred 2 instead.

Torchlight is Diablo improved to the nth degree. It's polished, customizable, and downright fun. The only thing it's missing is multiplayer. And that should be out in a year or so.

[violent]

Torchlight is Diablo improved to the nth degree. It's polished, customizable, and downright fun. The only thing it's missing is multiplayer. And that should be out in a year or so.

I think Torchlight is a good game. I really do. But until they get multiplayer in there, it will be inferior to Diablo. I eagerly await that day to arrive.

[Panthera]

Diablo is just one of those games that some people just don't like. At the end of the day, the basic gameplay is incredibly simple, the real hook is in the looting and levelling. If they don't pull you in, you're not going to enjoy the game.

Yeah, I don't really think it's a matter of nostalgia. Now, someone used to more recent graphics will probably have unusual friction - a kind of reverse nostalgia - to playing older games like that.

Diablo also has a lot of appeal for its atmosphere and story. It's also better played co-op multiplayer. It still is damn near the top of my favorite LAN games.

[Squidbot]

Persecute the heretic.

[Savok]

Just play Torchlight with this mod (http://www.runicgamesfansite.com/torchlightmods/node/139).

[biosc1]

the real hook is in the looting and levelling

This is what it is all about. If you don't like games that revolve around this, then you'll dislike Diablo and all it's brethren.

Games in this vein that I love and that you may want to check out:



Torchlight (great style, easy to play) <= Recommend you try this next.
Titan Quest (quite a gorgeous game...and tons of loot)
Champions of Norrath (PS2...don't know why, but I really loved this game)
Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 (XBox/PS2...again, just plowed through these)



Those are the ones I've played and really enjoyed, but it all comes down to killing a bunch of enemies, sorting through the loot, upgrading what you can...rinse and repeat. It's kind of like grinding in an MMO, but in single player.

[scythe]

Thanks for the comments. I think it's probably a combination of 1) not playing it online (which I plan to remedy with D2) and 2) the nostalgia factor. I'll still poke away at it for the story and just to say I've played it, and I'll let you guys know when I start up D2.

[Doogie2K]

Is there really much to the story of Diablo 1? The ending sets up Diablo 2, but other than that, and a handful of random quests, there's not really much to know.

[Vigil80]

That's true. There's a lot more story in D2, even about the events leading up to D1. Just more world development in general.

[Panthera]

Is there really much to the story of Diablo 1? The ending sets up Diablo 2, but other than that, and a handful of random quests, there's not really much to know.

Not a lot of story in the sense of a twisting and turning plot, but if you took the time to talk to all the characters about each quest and read the books in the dungeon, there was plenty to absorb. I really got into that.

[Hawkzombie]

I've never finished Diablo OR Diablo 2...I always got bored of it. Then I'd come back, get bored again, and repeat this until I had restarted D1 6 times (never got to Diablo) and quit D2 at the 3rd Act.

[Heretic Machine]

Personally, I loved the original Diablo. I thought it was very atmospheric, everything from the music to the graphics. At the time, it really made an impression on me. I bought Diablo II, but I did not like it; the game felt muddy, and the world did not pull me into it. I prefer Torchlight to either of them, these days, as it keeps a lot of what I like about Diablo and meshes it with some of the better points of DII.

I still have high hopes for Diablo III.

[Savok]

I hated Diablo 2 until like the 3rd or 4th patch.

Music was still better in Diablo 1.

[LongStepMantis]

Looking at either of the Diablo games makes me want to vomit. Mostly because I've beaten both of them dozens of times. Together, they probably account for several hundreds of hours of playtime.

If you aren't sick of them from sheer overplaying, you need to work on that. ;)

[violent]

Music was still better in Diablo 1.

I mentioned this fact to the guys on IRC just this morning.

They really need to put Diablo for download at the Blizzard store.

[SilentScreams]

Diablo 2 dominated my last two years of high school and all of my college years. Overplaying is an understatement.

It's probably the only game that beats Ultima Online, the Civilization series and WoW for total playtime.

I've already told my boss (who happens to be a gamer) that I want three weeks off work when Diablo 3 hits. :)

I mentioned this fact to the guys on IRC just this morning.

They really need to put Diablo for download at the Blizzard store.

Wow, I'm actually surprised it isn't. You'd think it would be an automatic inclusion. It's not like Blizzard are spoilt for choice with their games catalogue.

[violent]

The game didn't use CD keys. That is likely a reason. Make me buy another copy that I could download whenever I want. Easy money right there, big man.

[Hawkzombie]

Looking at either of the Diablo games makes me want to vomit. Mostly because I've beaten both of them dozens of times. Together, they probably account for several hundreds of hours of playtime.

If you aren't sick of them from sheer overplaying, you need to work on that. ;)

That's what happened to me. I never got past the 3rd act in D2, because something would happen (comp crash or forgetting when I format) that would make me lose my saves.

[SilentScreams]

That's what happened to me. I never got past the 3rd act in D2, because something would happen (comp crash or forgetting when I format) that would make me lose my saves.

I guess the obvious solution would be to play through it online with some friends. Mainly because it's so much better multiplayer, and secondly because you wouldn't lose your progress then. :)

[Savok]

In retrospect, Diablo 2 is probably where things started going wrong. It was released utterly broken, at 640 res the game looked like mud and it ran like shit because they didn't want evil loading screens. Then we got WC3 which literally had the same story as SC before it, then the bizarre expansion that was just a setup for WoW, then the last of their talent burned up in the WoW launch, just been coasting on reputation ever since.

[Hawkzombie]

I guess the obvious solution would be to play through it online with some friends. Mainly because it's so much better multiplayer, and secondly because you wouldn't lose your progress then. :)

It was at a time I knew NO ONE who played (this was around when it came out too) aside from Savok...and when we COULD play together wasn't often, so I played SP. Then I wouldn't want to play MP because I'd already have done it.

It was a vicious cycle :p

[Codicier]

Putting in plugs for the the MedianXL (http://modsbylaz.hugelaser.com/) mod and MultiRes (http://www.filefront.com/14112529/D2MultiRes-v102.zip/) (high/widescreen resolution support) patch.

These are for D2 mind you.

[SilentScreams]

MedianXL is a lot of fun, as is the Eastern Sun mod.

[Hawkzombie]

Yeah, MedianXL is awesome. I even found a way to cheat in it and endlessly dupe items, especially the XP ones :p

[Narradisall]

To me the fun of Diablo was always in playing with others.

You got a good group going and you were GOLDEN.

Esp considering this was in the days where group co-op type gameplay was rather rare, Diablo really allowed you to have a good team based romp through a dungeon.

I loved D2, but couldn't get far playing it solo. MP was were it was at.

[Shjinta]

Bit of warning, if you're going to play it online? Have a finger near the n/m button. The spammers have taken over bnet. You'll get them constantly joining games and spamming adds. It can drive you nuts.