Almighty Video Game Designer

Chapter 199: Analysis of Diablo

Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

The industry professionals reached a stunning conclusion from all their analysis.

If they wanted to make the most satisfying hack and slash experience, the way Diablo did it was absolutely the best way.

Third person, singleplayer, abilities that don’t lock on, and a dark gloomy artstyle. The experience would be significantly worse with any of these points missing.

That means that Chen Mo didn’t make a third person game because of his lack of abilities, but he thought of it from the start. He wanted to make a game that focused on hacking and slashing to fill the gap in the market.

The viewers finally understood how Diablo managed to achieve this number of sales after their analysis. It was a groundbreaking, unique game with extremely high quality graphics and story. It’d be weird if it didn’t sell well.

As they let out their collective sigh, there was only one question left to answer.

What was the lifespan of a hack and slash game like this? Would the players get sick of it pretty early on?

-On Diablo’s official forums.-

“Help, which one of these equipment is better? Which one should I equip?”

“Anybody understand Diablo’s story? Could someone gather all the information in the game regarding the settings and provide us with some analysis?”

“How much health should I have at higher difficulties?”

“I just started playing a week ago but I’m completely addicted. Anyone wanna add me and play together?”

“How should I utilize this orange piece of equipment?”

“Best areas for high quality drops, from personal experience.”

—

Other than the respective posts about the story and gameplay, most of the other posts were about equipment and builds. Most of the players have reached the last stage of the ‘donut principle’ to become hardcore players.

These players were encouraging new players to join them too.

“I recently saw Diablo’s promotional cinematic. I really like games like these as I can’t handle 3D games. I’d like to ask if the game is just about killing mobs? Isn’t that boring?”

“Yes it’s only killing mobs, but it’s not boring at all. As for why it’s not boring... I don’t know either, but you’ll know after you try it.”

“Yes, it’s just grinding, and it’s enough to last you a month.”

“The later stages of the game are mainly about figuring out builds for characters as well as playing at higher difficulties. The game is extremely rich in this aspect. If you are aiming for the highest difficulty, this game will last you the rest of your life.”

“Gather round, let’s welcome the new guy! Once you’re max level I’ll help you grind equipment and get a decent build!”

—

Various videogame media were releasing articles about how Diablo succeeded.

“The reasoning being the attraction of hack and slash games.”

“Niche audience at first glance, but immensely popular.”

“The secret behind Diablo’s huge sales.”

“How did the severely underestimated Diablo launch its counterattack?”

“The art of Diablo’s numbers.”

“Chen Mo’s first RPG game gains huge success.”

There are even special articles published by the game media to analyze the entire plot structure and deep cultural connotations of Diablo.

“The charm of Diablo’s story comes from its perfect representation of a world, a cold world filled with burning fires of hell and hopelessness.

“In the Fields of Misery, the farmer clung to the remains of his dead wife, insisting that she was just ill and resting.

“In the city of Caldeum, servants who fell to death as they were sentenced by the emperor.

“In Bastion’s Keep, filled with soldiers you can’t all save from Archangels.

“There are also corrupted fallen angels you can’t save in the High Heavens.

“There are also the scenes that are always pitch black, with the only two lit scenes being the hopeless desert and the corrupted High Heavens. The world lived in the shadow of the Demon Lord, from the start to finish.

“We all know that Leoric became the Skeleton King after he lost his mind. During the process of defeating him, you will gather numerous sources of information, and understand his hopelessness and madness in the days before his death through his diary entries.

“There are also the diaries and letters collected on your path. Each of them reveal a tiny bit of the world.

“The diaries filled with hopelessness written by the criminals in the Cellar of the Damned before they turned into Ravenous Dead, Captain Haile who refused to back down after his army was wiped out, and the book that was dropped into cellars that drove prisoners to consume one another...

“This is a world filled with horror and hopelessness. You take up the role of being the saviour, killing thousand upon thousands of monsters, yet not making any changes to the world.

“This is a story about hopelessness, yet it manages to keep all of us immersed. This was probably the most attractive part of Diablo.”

There were also articles analysing the hack and slash aspect of the game as a groundbreaking discovery to RPG games.

“A significant advantage of Diablo is the efficient use of fragmented time.

“This is an adventure game that supports up to four players. You can join and leave anything during the adventure. If you wanted to, you could play no more than ten minutes per session.

“Therefore, although it looks like a boring single player game, it’s actually a incredibly friendly game for casual players.

“Moreover, Diablo’s unique style allows it to differentiate itself from the other RPG games on the market.

“In MMORPGs, players maintain a close relationship as they are required to interact with one another frequently, participating in various events. This wasn’t a huge concern in Diablo.

“There wasn’t a worry of fatiguing from 3D games or a long time investment. You could play a bit of Diablo if you could spare ten or so minutes in your day. And no matter how you spend that ten minutes, you are bound to discover your next objective. It could be a certain equipment or a certain difficulty, but there’s always a target to aim for.

“This was a game that isn’t all that complicated, and all the credit for its strong life goes to simple hacking and slashing. The view we have on RPG games that we’ve had for so long.

“By going off script yet again, Chen Mo tells us that you can make RPG games in a different way. Third person RPG games aren’t out of style, but just misunderstood.

“No matter how well it sells, it is still one of the best RPG games just from its unique style, and could even pave the way for other similar games!”