In the beginning, there was Diablo II

        So to talk about Diablo III, I need to first talk about Diablo II. In two words, these are my feelings about Diablo II, REDICULOUSLY AWESOME (I yell because it is true). But sadly the meanings of these words have been diluted by overuse. Please do not mistake this description for the likes of an eight year old describing his recess antics. There is sincerity and depth to my usage. I am realizing now that two words are insufficient to convey my intended message. Rather than write another description, I will describe my reasoning behind these two words.

Hanging with my boys

        First, REDICULOUS (still yelling because it is still true). Anyone who has ever played a Frenzy Barbarian, a Meteor Sorcerous, or a Multi-shoting Amazon may know what I’m talking about. I use these three examples because they are all instances of when playing Diablo II, I sat back and objectively observed what was going on in the game, and then began to laugh maniacally (I summoning necromancer could also be mentioned here, but that is the main character I play, so I’ve become jaded). Seeing a burly, half dressed man sprinting around, wind-milling two weapons like a lumberjack on speed; flaming boulders raining from the sky, leaving nothing but flames, corpses, and loot behind; or just so many arrow, just… just so many arrows. The characters and their shenanigans aren’t even the thing I find most outrageous about the game (changing up the word choice using the power of synonyms). The concept of the game and its mechanics are completely absurd. The whole game is just killing many, many things, and collecting loot, and that is what I love about it. It is just a simple concept taken to extreme measures. You can practically go through the whole game without any dialog, and all of the quests are optional (although you would have to be insane to pass up free skill point quest rewards). Another preposterous thing in the game that I love is the names. Who wouldn’t love someone named Puke Grumble the Unclean? Oh to wield the Hibernal Battle Scythe of Anthrax.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, BOOM          

        And now, AWESOME. The way I play is thusly. I have only ever played single player and TCP/IP games since I have trouble playing my characters every 90 days on Battle.net. I might have edited my game to run multiple copies at once, so that I can trade between my own characters (another reason I like TCP/IP). All of my characters can share loot, so they are all well-equipped. Normal and Nightmare difficulties are played at a frantic pace, with the difficulty cranked up to eight players. Hell difficulty is where the best loot is had, and where the game is at its best. Diablo II is almost certainly the most intrinsically fun games that I have ever played, with the only rival being NBA Jam on the Super Nintendo (but not tournament edition, because you can’t break the backboard in that one).  Just a rewarding system of leveling and looting, and fun and exciting ways to kill stuff is all that I need in a game. If I want to destroy enemies with an increasingly godlike character, Diablo II is generally the only place I go. Sometimes I like games that have story, strategy, or immersive worlds, but I have come back to Diablo II again and again for all of the nearly 12 years since I started playing it. Possibly the most stupendous thing about the game is how consistently good it is. Every single class has been fun to play in my experience, and most of them have multiple interesting ways to play. The skill system that rewards focusing on only a few skills is something that I enjoy (I have always had a respect for tools that only do one job, but do them well). Everything is so simple, yet so very good.

        Without a doubt, Diablo II is my favorite game of its type. I have high hopes for Diablo III, but to be honest also some fears. I have a history of hating sequels to my favorite games. I do know that if Diablo III stays true to the core themes of Diablo II, I will not be disappointed.