Diablo is one of the greats, a game which came back when there weren’t any good games. Anything playable will be declared as a great game. Diablo marks one of those firsts games where a studio with a passion, resources and some good, old hardcore crunch had managed to pull of an amazing project which became legend. After playing Diablo I, I know that Diablo II only expanded on its core gameplay aspects. By know knowing the source, I can tell that all games to my knowledge had tried to copy Diablo and failed. They sure might do this or that better, but overall package is worse. Did Path of Exile had more in depth customization? Sure, but its atmosphere and writing sucks in comparison. Music doesn’t stand out as it did in this game nor loot drops are balanced in such natural and pleasing way as in original Diablo games. Same story is with every other game, they might had surpassed the original in some areas, but fall short as a whole package.
Why it is a better experience than Diablo II
I believe that Diablo I is a better ‘game’ in a sense that has superior immersion to a second game. It is more intimate journey which tends to pull people in better. Second game feels like watered down version of a first game in ways which makes game special. However, it is far more expansive with a lot of end-game content and quality is still superb. This is why I believe that first game is better as an experience to play it once and forget it and second game is superior for long-term play.
One of the reasons why it is so, is because of an atmosphere. Tight, clear quest which doesn’t deviate from what you have to do. Tight story telling through environment of descending ever deeper into the cathedral and source of evil. It creates a feeling of one long quest. Atmosphere is concise, it doesn’t deviate wildly between zones or lose target. Environments are more claustrophobic and scarier.
Pacing of a game was also more tactical and slower. You could kite enemies, dodge their attacks. It was more meaningful in a first game. In Diablo II, this mechanic was heavily nerfed. Many characters can face tank it in favor of potion drinking. There only few select attacks in second game have to be dodged, the rest becomes about your gear check, if you grinded enough to have sufficient resistances.
In a first game money management plays a lot more important role while in the second game it is missing as you will be swimming in gold and just gambling all of it away. In first game however, money is a lot tighter and you don’t have that problem of having to fill your entire inventory with potions and just burn through it as you go through the level. First game relied a lot more on dodging, kiting and clever use of resources. If you played first game as you do second, you would struggle.
I really enjoyed the atmosphere of climbing down the levels to face evil. Getting greeted by the Deckhard and guitar solo. Journey felt intimate. I never lost track of what I was doing and journey didn’t felt dragged out like in every other such game.
Game also is of higher quality than Diablo II. Diablo II had a downgrade in writing. It sure had more of it and far bigger development budget. However, story ended up being that Prime Evils are really evil and we must stop them. That is literally it. It also makes some writing mistakes. It suddenly introduces new concepts without properly developing them. Worldstones, stones being corrupted, plan to twist them all along. Just what? Diablo I on the other hand had some spotlights with Goatman giving you quests only to betray you. With Imps obsessing over sign as it is some symbol of great power. Quests for NPCs were generally a lot more personal and colorful. You could speak to all of them about the quest and it often wasn’t about ‘great evil is going to destroy us all, you must stop it’ kind of quest. In Diablo II, a lot of quests are just different takes on that trope.
No King is Perfect
Diablo I feels like a mini version of Diablo II. It has less of everything. Environments, enemies, skills, bosses, items, quests, variety, crafting and modification, end game progression. It feels a lot smaller, self contained game. Diablo II expanded drastically on the scope as it is just more of the same.
Unfortunately, both games suffer from rather cumbersome inventory system. Diablo II made some improvements like books to store your teleportations and identifications, but at the same time, it made those mechanics a lot less relevant by making them too inventory efficient and thus removing a choice of deciding how many of those items to store. For example, in Diablo II teleporting in and out is trivial. In first game however you only store few of those teleports in the inventory and naturally tend to teleport out when you need it more. Second also didn’t went enough with the potions. While it has belt system which allows for easy access to potions, it also doesn’t automatically place them (not always) into your belt. This often results you having to open your inventory in a middle of a fight all the same.
Is it worth playing now?
As of 2025, game is in a weird state as second game had received simply excellent remaster and the first one is antiquated in a lot of ways. Primarily, terrible resolution on bigger monitors. I did enjoyed my journey and it was fun. However, I’m game connoisseur. I have a taste and desire to experience what is best and Diablo I didn’t disappointed me. I would recommend people who didn’t got a chance to play this game to play it if they are interested in the vibe of a game, its atmosphere and occasional giggle. As for everyone else, just getting of their asses to try Diablo II would be better as now it is vastly more playable experience in completely faithful remaster. It just plays so much effortlessly and is a lot more addictive due to smoothness and abundance of gameplay.