Hi there!

I know you are expecting a movie review. Sadly, I didn't watch a movie this tuesday because I
was forced to endure a family meeting, which would have not been very bad if they actually knew
how to cook a decent dinner. Before yesterday, I thought it impossible to ruin bacon. I
actually feel very bad because of that pig that got killed so he could be turned into bad
bacon. But I digress...


Today's review is going to be about Diablo, an Action RPG which happens to be All Action and No
RPG. Specifically, I am reviewing the ORIGINAL Diablo, instead of Diablo II. For some reason,
everytime I mention Diablo, people thinks I am talking about the sequel, which actually became
extremely popular (to the point of plunging Diablo I into obscurity).

The game's plot is simple as it gets. The Hero (You) arrives to the town of Tristram, which is
a dying settlement. Demonic forces have taken over the local Church and are using it for their
their dark purposes.Once you venture into the Church, it becomes apparent that there is a
gigantic labyrinth under it, which the dark forces are using as their base.

It is your job to venture into the depths of this underground dungeon to free any of the
villagers who are said to be held captive inside, learn the origins of this evil, and destroy
it for good!

To be honest, this plot is not going to earn any award. The designers managed to make it
somehow effective because they use a mechanic similar to those of survival-horror games: they
leave written journals and cues scattered arround the dungeon, each one of them telling a
little piece of the story. Read enough of them, and you can puzzle the actual events together.
The non-player characters also give you some information in this regard from time to time.
Still, ths is definetively not a game you play for their amazing plot.

If you play this game, it is because you like the idea of a valiant hero who descends into the
deepest of hells and paves his way tearing demons appart.

The gameplay is where the juice of this game is. You venture into a labyrinth, which consists
in 16 procedurally generated levels, and kill everything that looks to have been spawned from
Hell (aka everything) in your way. You find the starways to the next level, and repeat. The
game, actually, does not feel like an action packed gorefest, but as a pot which is gradually
heating up until it explodes in your face.

Why I say this? Because the game makes use of a very grim athmostphere. The reduced light
sources, the soundtrack, the convincing (for the 90s) graphics and the fact you are alone in
your quest... they make it so the experience of delving down is a very personal trip in which
you are on your own against the unknown. You move slowly through the dungeon, because you know
you may find an horde of demons behind the next door you open. The whole thing works as an
horror game which builds up quite effectively.

Essentially, what you do in this game is move as deep as you can until you run out of
resources. Then you return to town and heal yourself, get your equipment repair, and try to
gather some information from non-player characters. The towns people may also give you quests
which are randomly generated for you, and are usually about retrieving an item for somebody,
getting some particular demon killed, or plundering some treassure room controlled by demons.
The quests are different everytime you start a new game, which is a nice touch.

The resourced that generate for a given game are finite. There is no monster respawn nor
unlimited supply of items. This means there is no monster farming in this game. If you clear a
given level, the only way to get better gear and experience to level up is to march forward.
Also,since the items and resources you find are randomly generated, it is possible for the game
to throw too good or too bad gear for you. It is possible to deplete all the stuff the game
gives to you to the point you have no resources to continue - but, IMO, you have to be very bad
of have very bad luck for that to happen.

There are three character classes you can play as. You can be a Warrior if you want to chop
heads with a big sword, a Rogue if you want to pierce demons with your arrows and cast a spell
every now and then, or a Sorcerer if you like to roast demons with fireballs. Every class can
learn to do what the others do, so if you want to be a spellcasting Warrior, you may try.
Still, the game is far from being a character building exercise, as modern ARPGs seem to be
nowadays. There are no skill trees, no complex attribute interactions or anything of that sort.
I think that is refreshing. Some people thinks this is too simple and limited. To each their
own.

The game is replayable up to a point. Since every level is generated at random every time you
restart the game, and the quests you are given are different, there is some variety to be had
by playing through the game a couple of times. Each class plays differently enough from the
others to be a different experience on its own, so there is always that. Also, the torn notes
and journals that tell you what is going on in the Church are different and tell the story from
a different point of view each time you restart. There is also an expansion, Hellfire, with an
official extra class (the Monk, for people who wants to punch things to death), two extra
dungeons with 4 floors each, and some extra items and spells.

The game supports multiplayer up to 4 players, via Blizzard s Battle.net or LAN. Perfect if you
are the sort of person who likes casting area of effect spells and roastig your friends at the
same time you roast the demons.

Diablo is old, but I think it is worth a try if just because it popularized ARPGs on its own.
It has its bunch of problems, product of the times (save scumming is a possibility in single
player mode, online multiplayer is cheatable to the point that you will need your own game to
ensure only honest friends play with you). Still, it was very effective at scaring the kids -
some monsters are LEGENDARY in this regard - and some of the bad guys are just too satisfying
to kill.

Diablo is available at GoG and also playable using the DevilutionX engine, which is a FOSS
source port which runs on Linux and BSD. So try it out!

--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

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■ Synchronet ■ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL

Quoting Arelor to All <=-

I know you are expecting a movie review. Sadly, I didn't watch a movie this tuesday because I was forced to endure a family meeting, which
would have not been very bad if they actually knew how to cook a decent dinner. Before yesterday, I thought it impossible to ruin bacon. I actually feel very bad because of that pig that got killed so he could
be turned into bad bacon. But I digress...

It sounds like you were actually in a horror film.

*shudder* "Bad bacon". Just the term makes my skin crawl.


... Pardon me, but would you have any Blue Poupon?
___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30

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Re: Diablo (1997)
By: Arelor to All on Wed Jul 28 2021 10:02 am

Today's review is going to be about Diablo, an Action RPG which happens to be All Action and No
RPG. Specifically, I am reviewing the ORIGINAL Diablo, instead of Diablo II. For some reason,

I remember the orginal Diablo, exploring Tristram and being genuinely afraid as as I made my way through the entrance of the Butcher's den. I played through the game a couple of times on my own as a kid but then was able to go online and go through the campaign cooperatively with one of my school friends on my trusty 56k modem. Those were the days!

Blizzard are releasing Diablo II: Resurrected in a few months which is a remastered version of the original with enhanced graphics. It's still 2D isometric so your perspective won't change or anything... my friend and I are planning to pick it up for a few playthroughs later this year. I hope they remaster the '97 version also!

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Re: Diablo (1997)
By: Andeddu to Arelor on Thu Jul 29 2021 10:52 am

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: Arelor to All on Wed Jul 28 2021 10:02 am

Today's review is going to be about Diablo, an Action RPG which happens t be All Action and No
RPG. Specifically, I am reviewing the ORIGINAL Diablo, instead of Diablo For some reason,

I remember the orginal Diablo, exploring Tristram and being genuinely afraid as I made my way through the entrance of the Butcher's den. I played through the game a couple of times on my own as a kid but then was able to go online and go through the campaign cooperatively with one of my school friends on m trusty 56k modem. Those were the days!

Blizzard are releasing Diablo II: Resurrected in a few months which is a remastered version of the original with enhanced graphics. It's still 2D isometric so your perspective won't change or anything... my friend and I ar planning to pick it up for a few playthroughs later this year. I hope they remaster the '97 version also!

Lol the Butcher. "Fresh Meat!" I bet people still has nightmares from facing that guy. Everytime you talk about Diablo, one of the following things happens:

* Somebody mentions the Butcher or screams "Fresh Meat!"
* Somebody looks intensely at you and says: "Stay a while and listen."
* Somebody recites a very well know poem which starts with "I can see what you see not..."

Since Blizzard has granted full distribution rights of both Diablo and Hellfire to GoG, I think they don't plan to release a remaster themselves. To be honest, Diablo I was not bult for the sort of multiplayer experience people seeks nowadays and it is therefore harder to profit from. Also, Blizzard managed to screw up and lose most assets and code of the original game.

I am yet to try Diablo II. For what I have heard, it is a better "game" (less savescumming, more strategy and character building) but a worse "experience" (lots of people handling you the plot instead of letting you discover it, the player becoming a one man army instead of being a loser facing alone the forces of Hell).

--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

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■ Synchronet ■ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: Arelor to Andeddu on Thu Jul 29 2021 04:42 pm

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: Andeddu to Arelor on Thu Jul 29 2021 10:52 am

Today's review is going to be about Diablo, an Action RPG which
happens t be All Action and No

Thanks very much for your review of Diablo. I have a question for all you gamers. I joined Steam about 8 months ago. Why can't a find Diablo on there? Does Blizzard keep all their games to themselves? If I'm correct didn't they also make "World of Warcraft" and "Starcraft"? I'd love to check out Diablo but I'm not willing to pay cash for an old game. I've played WOW. How does Diablo compare? Thanks again Arelor.

|4HusTler

... The four stages of man are: infancy, childhood, adolescence and obsolescen

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■ Synchronet ■ Havens BBS havens.synchro.net

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: HusTler to Arelor on Fri Jul 30 2021 03:04 pm

Thanks very much for your review of Diablo. I have a question for all you gamers. I joined Steam about 8 months ago. Why can't a find Diablo on there? Does Blizzard keep all their games to themselves? If I'm correct didn't they also make "World of Warcraft" and "Starcraft"? I'd love to check out Diablo but I'm not willing to pay cash for an old game. I've played WOW. How does Diablo compare? Thanks again Arelor.

Not sure what you mean when you say Diablo isn't on Steam and you're not willing to pay cash for an old game. Steam is a game store, and the games they have there aren't free. Also, there are a lot of old games on Steam (which even run in a pre-configured DOSBox session) which cost money to buy..

If you want a game, you'll have to pay money for it whether it's on Steam or somewhere else. Unless you want to go the 'warez' route and acquire it by other means..

Nightfox

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: HusTler to Arelor on Fri Jul 30 2021 03:04 pm

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: Arelor to Andeddu on Thu Jul 29 2021 04:42 pm

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: Andeddu to Arelor on Thu Jul 29 2021 10:52 am

Today's review is going to be about Diablo, an Action RPG which
happens t be All Action and No

Thanks very much for your review of Diablo. I have a question for all you gamers. I joined Steam about 8 months ago. Why can't a find Diablo on there? Does Blizzard keep all their games to themselves? If I'm correct didn't they also make "World of Warcraft" and "Starcraft"? I'd love to check out Diablo but I'm not willing to pay cash for an old game. I've played WOW. How does Diablo compare? Thanks again Arelor.

|4HusTler

... The four stages of man are: infancy, childhood, adolescence and obsolescen

are you talking about diablo3 or diablo? old diablo is on GOG

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■ Synchronet ■ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: HusTler to Arelor on Fri Jul 30 2021 03:04 pm

Thanks very much for your review of Diablo. I have a question for all you gamers. I joined Steam about 8 months ago. Why can't a find Diablo on there? Does Blizzard keep all their games to themselves? If I'm correct didn't they also make "World of Warcraft" and "Starcraft"? I'd love to check out Diablo but I'm not willing to pay cash for an old game. I've played WOW. How does Diablo compare? Thanks again Arelor.

|4HusTler

If you'd like to play Blizzard games you have to download their own Battle.Net client which is where they sell all their own games.

Yes, Blizzard are responsible for World of Warcraft, the Starcraft series along with popular shooters such as Overwatch.

Diablo and WoW are nothing alike... Diablo is an isometric action RPG which has a defnied beginning, middle and end whereas WoW is an MMORPG which is simultaneously played by millions of people and has an extensive "end game" -- both are great games in their own right!

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■ Synchronet ■ BBS for Amstrad computer users including CPC, PPC and PCW!

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: Arelor to Andeddu on Thu Jul 29 2021 04:42 pm

I am yet to try Diablo II. For what I have heard, it is a better "game" (less savescumming, more strategy and character building) but a worse "experience" (lots of people handling you the plot instead of letting you discover it, the player becoming a one man army instead of being a loser facing alone the forces of Hell).

I remember Diablo II being very similar to Diablo. They obviously added some quality of life improvements to the game, especially in the online infrastructure with Battle.Net, etc... Diablo is still a game that's fondly remembered by the community so I am sure a remaster would be well recieved. It would be a shame if they were unable to do it for the reasons you've mentioned.

I still recall my mate's little brother Kyle playing Diablo II and naively handing over his best legendary sword to a random player he had met online and partied up with because the guy said he would "duplicate" it... the dude then immediately logged off and vanished from the game as soon as the trade was completed and I watched as poor Kyle sat there with a perplexed look on his face before bursting into tears.

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■ Synchronet ■ BBS for Amstrad computer users including CPC, PPC and PCW!

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: HusTler to Arelor on Fri Jul 30 2021 03:04 pm

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: Arelor to Andeddu on Thu Jul 29 2021 04:42 pm

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: Andeddu to Arelor on Thu Jul 29 2021 10:52 am

Today's review is going to be about Diablo, an Action RPG which
happens t be All Action and No

Thanks very much for your review of Diablo. I have a question for all you gamers. I joined Steam about 8 months ago. Why can't a find Diablo on there? Does Blizzard keep all their games to themselves? If I'm correct didn't they also make "World of Warcraft" and "Starcraft"? I'd love to check out Diablo I'm not willing to pay cash for an old game. I've played WOW. How does Diabl compare? Thanks again Arelor.

|4HusTler

... The four stages of man are: infancy, childhood, adolescence and obsolesc

Hi there!

Diablo is available at GoG (https://www.gog.com/game/diablo). Afaik there is no Steam release. There is a shareware version you can play from your web browser I think.

https://www.diabloii.net/blog/comments/play-diablo-on-web-browser

World of Warcraft and Diablo are different beasts entirely. It is hard to decide where to start comparing. World of Warcraft is designed to be played fully online, it is much more of a character building exercise, and it is generally more complex. Diablo 1, when played multiplayer, supports 4 players at the most. There is less focus on farming (killing random things for experience) and more on exploring the dungeon. World of Warcraft also uses a big world as its scenario, whereas Diablo 1 takes place in a small place - there is the town you have to save, and the dungeon, and unless you get the Hellfire expansion, that is it.


--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

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■ Synchronet ■ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: Andeddu to HusTler on Sat Jul 31 2021 07:59 am

If you'd like to play Blizzard games you have to download their own Battle.N client which is where they sell all their own games.

You don't need Battle.Net to play Diablo (or many old Blizzard games for that matter). You don't even need it for multiplayer because you can play over LAN without Battle.Net, or use a virtual LAN to play over the Internet with friends. Plus Diablo 1 is not sold over a Blizzard platform at all.


--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

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■ Synchronet ■ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: Andeddu to Arelor on Sat Jul 31 2021 08:06 am

I still recall my mate's little brother Kyle playing Diablo II and naively handing over his best legendary sword to a random player he had met online a partied up with because the guy said he would "duplicate" it... the dude the immediately logged off and vanished from the game as soon as the trade was completed and I watched as poor Kyle sat there with a perplexed look on his face before bursting into tears.

Battle.Net is notorious for being full of scumbags who will make your life misserable for the fun of it.

I'd rather play local with friends :-)

--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

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■ Synchronet ■ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: Andeddu to HusTler on Sat Jul 31 2021 07:59 am

Yes, Blizzard are responsible for World of Warcraft, the Starcraft series along with popular shooters such as Overwatch.

Side note, as an America English speaker, it always looks werid to me to see someone say "are" with a company name. In US English, a company is considered singular, so we'd say "Blizzard is" rather than "Bizzard are".

Nightfox

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: Nightfox to HusTler on Fri Jul 30 2021 03:23 pm

check out Diablo but I'm not willing to pay cash for an old game. I've
played WOW. How does Diablo compare? Thanks again Arelor.

Not sure what you mean when you say Diablo isn't on Steam and you're not willing to
pay cash for an old game. Steam is a game store, and the games they have there

I can't buy it on Steam. They don't sell it. I was simply asking why not? So where can I buy it? The games is from 1997. Who sells it at a fair price?

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Re: Diablo (1997)
By: MRO to HusTler on Sat Jul 31 2021 02:26 am

are you talking about diablo3 or diablo? old diablo is on GOG

Diablo. That's what the review was on anyway. Thanks for the heads up. The last time I was on GOG a felt their prices for old games were a bit high but I'll check again. A game developed in 1997 should be "freeware" in my opinion but that just me. Maybe if I like it I'd buy Diablo II or III. Having never played it I'll just look for something else. The world is poluted with video games. ;-)

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■ Synchronet ■ Havens BBS havens.synchro.net

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: Arelor to HusTler on Sat Jul 31 2021 07:16 am

Today's review is going to be about Diablo, an Action RPG which

Diablo is available at GoG (https://www.gog.com/game/diablo). Afaik there is no
Steam release. There is a shareware version you can play from your web browser
I think.

Thanks. I playing it right now. Better late then never eh?

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■ Synchronet ■ Havens BBS havens.synchro.net

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: HusTler to Arelor on Sat Jul 31 2021 12:58 pm

Today's review is going to be about Diablo, an Action RPG which

Diablo is available at GoG (https://www.gog.com/game/diablo). Afaik there is
no Steam release. There is a shareware version you can play from your web

Ahhhh I've played this. Many years ago! How bout a review on something more current such as "Divinity Original Sin"?? or "Pillars of Eternity"? I'd like to see a thread on a game we all have and play. That's what we did back in the day. Things like how do I kill this beast??! ;-)

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Re: Diablo (1997)
By: HusTler to Nightfox on Sat Jul 31 2021 12:42 pm

I can't buy it on Steam. They don't sell it. I was simply asking why not? So where can I buy it? The games is from 1997. Who sells it at a fair price?

Who knows, the reason it's not on Steam could be licensing issues or any number of reasons.

If you want the original Diablo, it looks like Blizzard doesn't sell it, which is interesting. But it looks like you could find copies of it being sold on eBay, Amazon, etc.. I see this listing on eBay right now as a Buy It Now for $5.95 + $3.80 shipping - Seems like a fairly good price:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/124770683152

Nightfox

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: Nightfox to Andeddu on Sat Jul 31 2021 09:54 am

Yes, Blizzard are responsible for World of Warcraft, the Starcraft series along with popular shooters such as Overwatch.

Side note, as an America English speaker, it always looks werid to me to see someone say "are" with a company name. In US English, a company is considered singular, so we'd say "Blizzard is" rather than "Bizzard are".

i dont see people use are in the way you are speaking. this guy just used are instead of is.

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Re: Diablo (1997)
By: HusTler to Nightfox on Sat Jul 31 2021 12:42 pm

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: Nightfox to HusTler on Fri Jul 30 2021 03:23 pm

check out Diablo but I'm not willing to pay cash for an old game. I've
played WOW. How does Diablo compare? Thanks again Arelor.

Not sure what you mean when you say Diablo isn't on Steam and you're not willing to pay cash for an old game. Steam is a game store, and the games they have there

I can't buy it on Steam. They don't sell it. I was simply asking why not? So where can I buy it? The games is from 1997. Who sells it at a fair price?

because steam isnt the distributer.

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Re: Diablo (1997)
By: MRO to Nightfox on Sat Jul 31 2021 05:29 pm

Side note, as an America English speaker, it always looks werid to me
to see someone say "are" with a company name. In US English, a
company is considered singular, so we'd say "Blizzard is" rather than
"Bizzard are".

i dont see people use are in the way you are speaking.

Do you mean you'd never hear someone say "Blizzard is"?

this guy just used
are instead of is.

That's what I was saying. He's in the UK, and British English considers a business as a plural, so they'd say "Blizzard are".

Nightfox

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: HusTler to MRO on Sat Jul 31 2021 12:50 pm

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: MRO to HusTler on Sat Jul 31 2021 02:26 am

are you talking about diablo3 or diablo? old diablo is on GOG

Diablo. That's what the review was on anyway. Thanks for the heads up. The last time I was on GOG a felt their prices for old games were a bit high but I'll check again. A game developed in 1997 should be "freeware" in my opinio but that just me. Maybe if I like it I'd buy Diablo II or III. Having never played it I'll just look for something else. The world is poluted with video games. ;-)

In my opinion, poaching abbandonware is far game from an ethical point of view. If the developers don't care then I don't know why anybody else should.

Still, Diablo is not abbandonware because they have bothered to patch it to run on new systems... sure, it is old so nobody should be paying 60 bucks for it, but the work of keeping it working in modern systems has a value, big or small.


--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

---
■ Synchronet ■ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: HusTler to Arelor on Sat Jul 31 2021 01:10 pm

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: HusTler to Arelor on Sat Jul 31 2021 12:58 pm

Today's review is going to be about Diablo, an Action RPG which

Diablo is available at GoG (https://www.gog.com/game/diablo). Afaik th is
no Steam release. There is a shareware version you can play from your

Ahhhh I've played this. Many years ago! How bout a review on something mor current such as "Divinity Original Sin"?? or "Pillars of Eternity"? I'd like see a thread on a game we all have and play. That's what we did back in the day. Things like how do I kill this beast??! ;-)

My "leissure" computer is from 2007, so playing anything modern is hard to say the least. Not to mention I have a deep dislike for the modern practices the videogame industry is adopting. I don't feel like playing anything beyond 6th generation consoles. Feel free to review any game you want to talk about, though.

--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

---
■ Synchronet ■ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: Nightfox to MRO on Sat Jul 31 2021 04:25 pm

Re: Diablo (1997)
By: MRO to Nightfox on Sat Jul 31 2021 05:29 pm

Side note, as an America English speaker, it always looks werid to me
to see someone say "are" with a company name. In US English, a
company is considered singular, so we'd say "Blizzard is" rather than
"Bizzard are".

i dont see people use are in the way you are speaking.

Do you mean you'd never hear someone say "Blizzard is"?

MR> i dont see people use ***are*** in the way you are speaking.

That's what I was saying. He's in the UK, and British English considers a business as a plural, so they'd say "Blizzard are".

never heard of that shit. i've been watching uk television for decades. never heard of that.

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Re: Diablo (1997)
By: MRO to Nightfox on Sun Aug 01 2021 01:39 am

That's what I was saying. He's in the UK, and British English
considers a business as a plural, so they'd say "Blizzard are".

never heard of that shit. i've been watching uk television for decades. never heard of that.

Weird.
I haven't seen a whole lot of UK TV shows, but everyone I've actually talked to in person from the UK (or read online) has treated company names as a plural.

Also:
https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/collective-nouns

American vs. British Usage

Adding to the complexity of this issue is that Americans and Britons handle it differently.

Americans tend to treat collective nouns as single units, so it's more common to use the singular verb unless you're definitely talking about individuals. So in America you would be more likely to hear "The faculty is meeting toda" than "The faculty are meeting today."

In British usage, however, it's the opposite; it's more common to use the plural verb. In fact, some sentences that are perfectly correct in Britain would be considered incorrect in America. Take "Cambridge are winning the boat race." Although I spent my elementary-school years in London, I have been fully Americanized, so this sentence doesn't sound right to me. As an American, I would say, "Cambridge is winning."

Nightfox