Diablo + Hellfire

I loved Diablo 1 ever since the time I played it's demo back in the day and I still have 1 stuff I love about it more, than 2 or 3: atmosphere. I encounter the Butcher in Diablo 1 and I sh.. I mean lay bricks, I encounter the Butcher in Diablo 3 and .... nothing. Now do I recommend it for anyone? Maybe, it depends if you can ignore clunky gameplay mechanics, because that's pretty much the only downside of the game. If you can, worth buying for this price or wait for a discount/sale, if not then maybe watch a play through instead.

Okay, let me get this out of the way. This game is a slow paced, 3rd person Dungeon Crawl with rogue elements. It's nothing like Diablo 2, or 3 except the setting, and to me, this is the best one. It's creepy with the lights turned off and your headphones plugged in. It's slow paced, the monsters will mob you and kill you, fast do expect to die. This game is hard on even on the normal setting. Loot is great and randomly generated, but it's not a loot fest by any means. This game will kick you while you are down if you expect it to be lman action game. Take your time and "stay awhile and listen.."

Im not exactly an ARPG veteran, having only played Torchlight 1 and most of Torchlight 2 this is my 3rd ever ARPG game. Recently I got interested in playing old 90s games after playing AoE2 and Fallout 1 so decided to give this one a go. Diablo released in 1997 and became an instant hit and It's not hard to see why. This games atmosphere is thick and heavy, and greatly enhanced by this games phenomenal OST. Action is quite satisfying even for todays standard and the basic loop of collecting gear, then using it to defeat increasingly difficult and scary foes as you descend down a terrifying blood soaked dungeon to eventually reach Diablo's lair is definitely fun. Unfortunately this game is very basic and repetetive for todays standards. From the first level all the way down to level 16/17 you do the same thing over and over for at least 8 to 9 hours. It wouldn't be so bad if there at least was some kind of enemy variety, but there isn't. You will mostly fight two (maybe 3 if you count teleporting mages) enemy types that get reskinned from floor to floor. Your basic melee enemy that comes up to you and hits you and a ranged unit that most of the time will spawn in large numbers in one room and spam the shit out of you with projectiles that stun lock you. The last few floors also do get very tedious as this games main way of increasing difficulty is just throwing more enemies at you. The last level is probably worst with this, because there the designers probably just straight up gave up and decided to spawn like 20 mages who shower all you with fireballs off screen and teleport away from you as soon as you get close. Still, despite it's flaws you can't deny how influential this game was. It was soo good It essentially spawned it's own genre and series is still going strong (with a few hiccups *cough* Immortal *cough*) with it's 4th installment releasing next year. I Definitely recommend for anybody interested in retro games to at least five it a try.

I got Diablo when it first came out way back in the mid-90s. I remember asking what DirectX was back then as this was the first game I bought that required it. This GOG version is pretty much the same 90s version with the Hellfire addon included that was made by Sierra. You can play either the original version on its own or with the addon. Hellfire really only adds 8 levels with a semi-boss at the end (who is rather weak compared to Diablo). You play as a warrior, rogue, sorcerer, or monk (Hellfire class addon). Honestly, the monk is redundant to the other 3 and not worth the time. This is a great way to get into RPG games without all the D&D excess of parties and what not. What makes Diablo different back in its time (and somewhat today) is that each level is completely random in the layout. You cannot really follow a walkthrough except for the big quests that take place throughout the game. There are basically 4 levels for each "section" of the original game - Cathedral, Crypts, Caves, and Hell. Hellfire adds The Hive and The Crypt sections. 24 levels in all. If you play on Normal difficulty throughout killing everything, you can level up to 27 with each character. You can then return to play again on a higher setting to get even higher levels. One thing I found in this game was the Storage Area you have at Gillian's place lets you store anything and is accessible between characters! I beat the game first with the warrior, and all his stored items/money were accessible by the other characters at the very beginning. The only cons I have: - This game wears out your mouse like something else with all that clicking. :) - Diablo himself is a PITA unless you have collected specific items/spells throughout the game for each class that allows you to hit him fast enough in the end. -Story is vanilla RPG Overall, Diablo still fells like a great/simple game today. I recommend the DevilutionX patch to add current resolutions and widescreen aspect ratio.

This is one of my favorite games of all time. Sure it's old. Sure it's clunky, but there's just something about it that still holds up. I play through it at least once a year, but with how hard it is to run on modern OS, and how hard it is now to get a legit copy, it can be a pain to play especially for new comers to the game. There isn't much story, but there doesn't need to be. t's just a fun weekend loser where you journey into Hell, and grind for some sick loot. I'd say especially if you have some friends to play this with this is a must buy.