The infamous dashboard of the Diablo II gameplay where you have the life level on one side and the manna level on the other side with endless fights, rewards, and upgrades of skills has now been revised in the Diablo Immortal. Image source: Blizzard
Disclaimer: Some of the contents in this post were generated using ChatGPT
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Diablo Game Background
A summary of the Diablo game series:-
Diablo is an action role-playing dungeon crawler video game series developed by Blizzard Entertainment that covers three core games: Diablo, Diablo II, and Diablo III.
Expansions include the third-party published Hellfire, which follows the first game, Lord of Destruction, published by Blizzard and released after the second game, and Reaper of Souls, which follows the third game.
The series is set in the dark fantasy world of Sanctuary, and its characters are primarily humans, angels, and various classes of demons and monsters. The first three games in the series take place in similar geographic areas, with several common areas including the town of Tristram and the region around Mount Arreat.
Other notable settings include the High Heavens and the Burning Hells, two separate realms with ties to Sanctuary. The series primarily focuses on the ongoing conflict between the humans living in Sanctuary and the demon hordes who are led by Diablo, the series’ overarching antagonist. The humans are occasionally aided by angels, notably the Archangel Tyrael.
The video game series’ popularity and success have resulted in the publishing of several books relevant to the Diablo setting, covering a wide range of timelines of the universe. There are also comics that explore various stories within the world of Sanctuary.
As of May 30, 2012, the series has sold over 24.8 million copies worldwide.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Diablo is not the only role-playing game out there and the one that I have played but thus far, it is one of the more engaging with a great storyline, visual effects, reward system, and ability to join others on the same mission in the early years.
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One of the great points of Diablo including Diablo Immortal is its cinematic and considering that Diablo has been around since the 1990s, one hopes that it is made into a blockbuster movie one fine day with all the characters involved one way or another fighting off different demons and monsters before coming together to fight Diablo & Prime Evils.
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Diablo Game Timeline
The Diablo game series has been evolving since the 1990s and the storyline continues with better visuals & gameplay with the latest interaction in the mobile version titled Diablo Immortal.
Diablo I – January 1997
Diablo is a dark fantasy-themed action role-playing game developed by Blizzard North and released by Blizzard Entertainment in 1996. In the game, you play as a hero who must defeat Diablo, the Lord of Terror, and his minions who are attempting to conquer the world of Sanctuary.
The game takes place in the town of Tristram, located in the kingdom of Khanduras. The player begins the game by selecting one of four character classes: warrior, rogue, monk, or sorcerer. Each class has its own unique abilities and skills.
As the player progresses through the game, they will journey through various locations and dungeons, fighting a variety of monsters and bosses. Along the way, the player will find powerful items and equipment to help them in their quest.
The ultimate goal of the game is to defeat Diablo and restore peace to Sanctuary. However, the game has multiple endings depending on the player’s actions and choices throughout the game.
Diablo II – May 2012
Diablo II is a dark fantasy-themed action role-playing game developed by Blizzard North and released by Blizzard Entertainment in 2000. It is the sequel to the 1996 game Diablo.
In the game, you play as a hero who must defeat Diablo, the Lord of Terror, and his three powerful lieutenants known as the Prime Evils. The game takes place in the world of Sanctuary, a dark and dangerous realm that has been ravaged by a war between the angels and demons.
As the player progresses through the game, they will journey through various locations and dungeons, fighting a variety of monsters and bosses. Along the way, the player will find powerful items and equipment to help them in their quest.
The ultimate goal of the game is to defeat Diablo and the other Prime Evils and restore peace to Sanctuary. However, the game has multiple endings depending on the player’s actions and choices throughout the game.
Diablo III is the latest version of the Diablo game series and is due to be updated with Diablo IV which is due to be released this year in July. Image source: Blizzard
Diablo III – November 2018
Diablo III is a dark fantasy-themed action role-playing game developed by Blizzard Entertainment and released in 2012. It is the third installment in the Diablo franchise.
In the game, you play as a hero who must defeat Diablo, the Lord of Terror, and his minions who are attempting to conquer the world of Sanctuary. The game takes place in the city of New Tristram, located in the kingdom of Khanduras.
As the player progresses through the game, they will journey through various locations and dungeons, fighting a variety of monsters and bosses. Along the way, the player will find powerful items and equipment to help them in their quest.
The ultimate goal of the game is to defeat Diablo and restore peace to Sanctuary. However, the game has multiple endings depending on the player’s actions and choices throughout the game.
Diablo IV – June 2023
Set in the Diablo series world of Sanctuary, Diablo IV takes place following the aftermath of Diablo III: Reaper of Souls. Cultists have summoned the main antagonist and daughter of Mephisto, Lilith. After the events of previous games, the forces of demons and angels have been depleted, allowing an opening for her to establish power in Sanctuary.
Prior to the game’s events, Lilith and the angel Inarius created the realm of Sanctuary to provide refuge for those who wished to escape the eternal conflict between the High Heavens and the Burning Hells. This demon-angel relationship led to the birth of the Nephalem, a race that the protagonist falls under; neither Angel nor Demon, but more powerful than both.
Those in Sanctuary believed that this power would bring attention to their shelter and, as a result, the inhabitants spoke of destroying them. Lilith, not wanting her children to be killed, destroyed any that opposed her, causing Inarius to banish her to the void
(Sources: Wikipedia & ChatGPT)
Imagine playing the same game with different gameplay based on your characters and each of them has its own strengths and weaknesses. Magical items differ from one character to another and that doubles up the expectation of getting unique rewards during gameplay. Image source: VG247
Engaging Diablo II Gameplay
I spent the most playing Diablo II in my early years and my favorite role has always been Necromancer who can raise an army from the undead to fight the monsters while I stand aside. In Diablo II, there are seven character classes that players can choose from and each of them has its specific skills, magical items, and strength:-
- Amazon: A skilled warrior who excels in ranged combat and uses a variety of weapons and magical abilities.
- Assassin: A deadly fighter who specializes in stealth and critical hits.
- Necromancer: A powerful spellcaster who can raise the dead and control the spirits of the deceased.
- Barbarian: A powerful melee fighter who can use brute strength to overpower his enemies.
- Paladin: A holy warrior who uses magic to heal and protect allies, and smite evil enemies.
- Sorceress: A powerful spellcaster who can harness the elements to unleash devastating attacks on her enemies.
- Druid: A versatile class that can shapeshift into different forms and use a variety of spells and abilities.
Of course, it is better to play the updated, revised version title: Diablo II: Resurrected which was released on September 2021 with better visuals & sound effects. Somehow I find that Diablo III was not as appealing as Diablo II mainly because by now, there are so many Diablo-like role-playing games and I got interested in other types of games.
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Although Diablo Immortal was made for mobile game playing, I hope Diablo Immortal remains playable on the computer because it is really good and thus far has not encountered any major bugs. The base storyline and the characters from my personal favorite, Diablo II has continued in Diablo Immortal as well.
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Brand New Diablo Immortal
I got rekindled with Diablo recently when I noticed that Blizzard had actually launched a mobile version called Diablo Immortal that is free to play with the usual availability to pay for more items. However, it does not stop you from enjoying the Diablo Immortal game in full.
Diablo Immortal is a free-to-play, massively multiplayer online action role-playing video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment and NetEase. An installment in the Diablo series, it is set between the events of Diablo II and Diablo III.
Players control a character of their chosen class – Barbarian, Wizard, Monk, Necromancer, Demon Hunter, or Crusader – who must locate and destroy hidden shards of the Worldstone, to prevent Skarn, the Lord of Damnation, from destroying the world of Sanctuary.
Development of Diablo Immortal began with the aim of creating a Diablo game centered around touch controls for those who predominantly played on mobile, but was later expanded to also support game controllers and PC. The game incorporates a business model which allows players to unlock content through microtransactions, though almost all content can also be obtained through gameplay without paying.
The announcement of Diablo Immortal at BlizzCon in 2018 was met with a largely negative response from Diablo fans, who had anticipated an installment designed for PC.
It was released on Android and iOS on June 2, 2022 for countries mainly outside of the Asia-Pacific region, with a beta release for Windows on the same date. The game’s Asia-Pacific release was delayed several days before its original date, with most releases taking place on July 8, 2022, and its China launch on July 25, 2022.
Immortal received mixed reviews, with praise for its combat, graphics, and the adaption of Diablo to mobile, while criticism targeted the plot, voice acting, and the game’s focus on microtransactions.
It became the lowest user-rated game on Metacritic in response to microtransactions and the progression system. Immortal had the biggest launch in the franchise’s history with over ten million downloads, reaching 30 million downloads by the end of July 2022.
(Source: Wikipedia)
The best part of this “mobile” Diablo Immortal version is that you can play the same Diablo Immortal on both your smartphone and the computer without the need to create a new account or game level.
Personally, there are a lot of role-playing games in the mobile world but it is difficult to play because the screen is too small and it is difficult to control using the fingers. In Diablo Immortal, the control is easy and the quality of the designs, movement, and sound is not diminished even on the computer platform.
Final Say
It was good to play Diablo Immortal again even though I am missing the Diablo II version and I may decide to buy the updated version. Playing Diablo Immortal is a great way to bust stress after a long day at work as it feels relieved killing monsters and demons and getting jewels & magical items in return. The Battle.Net seems more stable compared to one many years ago when there were a lot of complaints.
Diablo is a trendsetter when it comes to the 3rd party role-playing game and the game had continued to evolve with the latest mobile version, Diablo Immortal.