Diablo is a dungeon crawling action role-playing video game series that consists of three major games:Diablo, Diablo II, and Diablo III

Diablo is a dungeon crawling action role-playing video game series that consists of three major games:Diablo, Diablo II, and Diablo III

Due to the popularity and success of the video game franchise, various books set in the Diablo universe have been published, covering a wide spectrum of universe timeframes.

Updated on January 12, 2022 19:00 PM by Andrew Koschiev

Diablo (also known as Diablo I) is an action role-playing game created by Blizzard North and released on December 31st, 1996 by Blizzard Entertainment.

Diablo is a game set in the kingdom of Khanduras, in the world of Sanctuary, in which the player takes control of a lone hero or heroine who begins their journey outside of their home in town to rid the town of Tristram of the titular Lord of Terror and his horde of demon minions lurking in the shadows beneath the Cathedral on the outskirts of town.

Diablo was a best seller, and an expansion pack built by Synergistic Software, named Diablo: Hellfire, was released in November 1997 by Sierra Entertainment, despite the fact that it was unauthorised. Blizzard Entertainment followed up with Diablo II, which was released in 2000.

why don't we take a look back at a time when they got it right against all odds? Let's take a look at the  Diablo game.

Diablo wasn't meant to make it because it was made by a tiny, largely untested team working in a genre that wasn't popular at the time, but it did, and in doing so kindled a spark that would eventually blossom into current MMOs. So, stay a long and learn a few interesting facts about one of the most influential PC games of all time...

Without The Justice League, Diablo would not exist

Diablo was created by Condor Games, a tiny indie firm based in the United Kingdom. Condor worked on a few forgettable licensed games before delving into demon-slaying, including a terrible DC Comics fighting game for the Genesis called Justice League Task Force.

Condor wasn't the only firm scrounging for cash in the realm of licensed games at the time; Blizzard, a small, up-and-coming studio, was hired to work on the SNES port of Condor's Justice League fighter. Condor and Blizzard's leaders initially met through this collaboration, which led to Condor pitching Diablo to Blizzard. The rest, as they say, is history, though the Diablo Blizzard was initially shown to them in a far different form than the game that was subsequently released.

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The game was supposed to be turn-based initially

Yes, the classic mouse-mashing action RPG was supposed to be turn-based firstly. Diablo's early versions were Roguelikes, in which you and the dungeon's creatures took turns — you took a step, they took a step, you swing a sword, they swing a sword, and so on.

You were supposed to have a backstory for your character

Diablo games' protagonists are always generic cyphers, although that wasn't always the intention. Diablo's hero was initially meant to have grown up in Diablo's main town of Tristram and was returning to revenge the loss of his family, according to Diablo previews, including those in WarCraft II. Instead of pursuing down random objectives assigned to you by townfolk, most of Diablo would have been devoted to discovering the mystery of what happened to your kin. But there's a reason this was changed...

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Diablo had only single class for the most of its development

Classes were introduced late in Diablo's development. The game initially only included one warrior-like class, with the emphasis instead on allowing the user more opportunity to create their own character. This explains why the hero had a more thorough past before several classes were introduced, and why that backstory was abandoned later in development. It also explains why the warrior is the only class visible in many cutscenes, and why, according to official canon, the warrior is the one that kills Diablo.

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The game's material was drastically reduced

While classes were added at the last minute, significantly more content was cut from the final edition of Diablo. Hundreds of spells, monsters, and objects were eliminated from the final game, but the majority of them remained on the disc for hard-working hackers to find. Some of these objects would appear in later expansions and sequels, while many of them would never be seen.

Diablo had a time limit at first

The Map of the Stars was one of the more intriguing objects eliminated from the final edition of Diablo. The map was a quest item that predicted a time when the stars and planets would align, boosting Diablo's power. In terms of gameplay, this meant that the game had a time constraint – if you didn't get to Diablo within a particular amount of time, he would become much more tough. The developers eventually removed the Map of the Stars and the time constraint since they hindered exploration, although the process was far from smooth. Those who have completed Diablo know that the final boss is a pushover, which is likely due to the version of Diablo that was left in the game.

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If Diablo's developer had their financial house in order, Battle.net would not have been added

Battle.net was Diablo's most lasting legacy (apart from all the cases of debilitating carpal tunnel syndrome it created). Battle.net was an online service that allowed Diablo players to band together and hack their way through dungeons via the Internet. It was a revolutionary concept at the time, and there's a clear link between multiplayer Diablo and modern MMOs like World of Warcraft.

Condor had no intention of including anything like Battle.net in Diablo, but they ran out of money as the game neared completion. Condor was rescued by Blizzard, who bought the studio and renamed it Blizzard North. Diablo's creators now had more money and resources to work with, and they wanted to extend the game. Their new overlords at Blizzard recommended an online multiplayer feature, which the Diablo guys thought was a great idea, so in the final months of development, they hurriedly threw together Battle.net, and history was created yet again. So there would have been no Blizzard North, Battle.net, and quite likely no World of Warcraft if Condor had managed to stay financially healthy. Three cheers for irresponsible spending!

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Every level in the game was designed to be played in multiplayer mode

Although Battle.net was rushed, the original goal was for all 16 levels of the game to be available in multiplayer. Unfortunately, due to a lack of time, only four levels were playable, but that was enough to make Battle.net a hit in 1996.

 Diablo is still playable online

By the way, nearly 20 years after its initial debut, you can still play Diablo online on Battle.net, making it the longest-supported online game of all time.

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Diablo wishes for you to consume your vegetables

Diablo says something in frightening demon-speak at one point – most likely some sort of horrible soul-flaying spell! Actually, if you reverse the sentence, he's really saying, "Eat your vegetables and brush your teeth after every meal." My 9-year-old self was correct! Broccoli was the devil's creation.

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 A Game Boy version of Diablo was once in the works

Diablo wasn't the most graphically demanding PC game, but a Game Boy port would have been a long shot. However, that didn't stop Blizzard from giving it a shot in the 1990s. Hmmm, it might not have worked on the Game Boy, but on the 3DS or Vita, I'd gladly play some Diablo.

 A Diablo movie was/is in the works

While no one has heard anything about it recently, Legendary Pictures owns the rights to Diablo, and a film is reportedly in the works. I'm guessing Diablo won't go into full production until producers see how the Warcraft movie, which has been plagued by development hell, performs in theatres.

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Diablo's creators were huge fans of Natalie Portman

A couple of secret messages display if you change the colours on your PC during Diablo's boot screen. The first is "Buy War II," while the second is "Natalie Portman Rocks." By the way, Natalie Portman was just 15 when Diablo was released, which could explain why this statement of love was kept under wraps.

There is no such thing as a cow level

Now it's time to discuss the cow level. Isn't there a cow level somewhere? When someone says "Diablo trivia," the first thing that comes to mind is "Oh, wasn't there a weird cow level in the game?"

There wasn't any of that. There was no such thing as a cow level.

Perhaps it was a result of Diablo's addictive nature — players devoured every last bit of the game's material and craved more — that tales emerged that abusing the game's cows in specific ways for specific lengths of time would elevate you to a MAGICAL COW LEVEL. The existence of the cow level is still "common knowledge" today. It exists in Diablo II, but not in the first game, so quit torturing that poor cow for the love of God.

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