Top 50 Video Games: Number 22

Stats of Import

Platform: PC
Absurdly Specific Genre: It Gets Worse: The Video Game
Difficulty: On the default difficulty, probably a 6. Higher levels were more of an 8.
Beaten: On normal and nightmare difficulties, though I never get obsessive over it like some folk.


The Diablo series asked you to believe in a formula. It's the same formula that various RPGs and hack'n'slashers have been trading on for years, but Diablo distilled it to its most base form: kill gear, get weapons, kill bigger stuff, get better gear - loop infinite. It was essentially an MMORPG, minus all that pesky human interaction (though it was actually a fantastic co-op game, my brother and I beat it together several times). I bought into the formula with every bit of gusto that I could muster.

Looooooooooooooooooooooooot...

The game's story was only serviceable to the point that it gave you an excuse to kill lots and lots of baddies, but Diablo 2 could be incredibly cinematic when it cared to be. I already mentioned one of my favorite video game fakeouts in the other list, but the whole game had lots of those kinds of moments. The final cutscene of the expansion was the most amazing cutscene I'd seen in a video game to that point. The scene and epilogue after killing the game's title devil was fantastic, but in reality, any time the game decided to flex its cinematic muscle, it succeeded.

Many (many, many, many) other games have attempted to do what Diablo 2 did, but I've never been as captivated by any of them. Diablo 2 made the grind a joy, a feat I would've thought to be impossible.

Other Notable Games in the Series: The first Diablo was a fun way to pass the time in Professional Development class. It was everything Diablo 2 was, but less. When I made up the full list, it fell somewhere in the 70s. Torchlight isn't technically a Diablo game, but let's face it, it may as well be. It's lots of fun, but would probably fall somewhere in the mid 50's.