Once upon a time, in a dark and gloomy fantasy realm, a single player cut a blood-soaked path through dungeon after dungeon on a violent spiral down toward Hell to confront the Lord of Terror.

Hey! Thank you, Blizzard Entertainment, for giving us this award-winning action-adventure, role-playing dungeon crawler game!

Seriously, thank you! We have been playing this series since the late 90s! I know, some of you were not even born yet, but us old-school soldiers were there, back in time, clicking away with our mouse and keyboard till our fingers bled. All since day one!

And guess what? Diablo IV is set to be released on June 6th! We could not be any more excited!

What Makes the Diablo Series so Popular?

Two words: Replayability and Gear (or the constant search for better weapons and armor) (we see you treasure hunters!).

Diablo sends its players off on quests filled with hacking and slashing. Each battle will feel new, based on the character classes and randomly generated maps. The way one class faces battle will be different from another, and the way the player builds each class adds another layer of customization which allows the game to be played from different angles.

But to be totally honest, anyone who has played a Blizzard game, such as Diablo or the MMORPG World of Warcraft, knows that it is the burning desire to seek out, find, and equip better gear that drives you the most. “Just another hour…” “Maybe that (sword) (armor) (shield) will drop next time!” “One more try!” “Let’s do that dungeon again.” These are things players are saying or thinking when they play games like Diablo.

Admit it. You have done it too. And we can’t blame you, so have we!

Quick Background to the Story

Set in a dark medieval fantasy world, the Diablo series is broken into three realms, Hell, Heaven, and the Human Living World.

Diablo, the series’ main antagonist and the reason for the title of the game, is basically a high-level demon who has succeeded in growing in power. He leads the demon hordes that the players are battling during the series.

The Games of the Series

Diablo (1997) – The players enter sixteen randomly generated dungeons beneath the town of Tristram. If they are skilled enough, they will eventually enter Hell and face Diablo. In the original game, you could play as Rogue, Warrior, or Sorcerer classes. The expansion added a cool Monk class. Many people consider this as the best game in the series.

Diablo II (2000) – The players follow a linear path with randomly generated forests and dungeons along the way.  You enter a nice variety of environments in this game from medieval towns and fortresses to Egyptian-like tombs in the deep desert and ice tunnels which provides fun contrast. Again, your goal is to reach Hell. In Diablo II, you can play as Amazon, Necromancer, Barbarian, Sorceress, or Paladin classes. Of course, an expansion was provided, and Druid and Assassin classes were added.

Diablo III (2012) – In the third game, players start off in the world of Sanctuary, twenty years after Diablo II. In fact, you start in Tristram Cathedral, throwing it back to Diablo. Diablo III is much stricter in its linear progression with less randomization of maps in the game. But you can depend on random items and placement of monsters. Diablo III starts off with the most playable classes with: Barbarian, Demon Hunter, Monk, Witch Doctor, Wizard and with Crusader and Paladin added in later.

Diablo IV (2023) – Added into this series is a new open world. Don’t worry, players will still have tons of randomization and the game is touted as being very replayable like its predecessors.  The resurrection of Mephisto’s daughter Lilith is the catalyst for this game and has playable characters from the Barbarian, Sorcerer, Rogue, Druid, and Necromancer classes. Five regions and Hell await the players.

Epic Diablo Sales and Legendary Awards

Sales as of 2022

Diablo – over 2.5 million.  Computer Gaming World “Game of the Year” award. Metacritic (PC) reviews hold at 94/100.

Diablo II – over 4 million. Interactive Achievement Awards “Game of the Year.” Metacritic (PC) reviews hold at 88/100.

Diablo III – over 30 million.  D.I.C.E Awards “Game of the Year.” Metacritic (PC) reviews hold at 88/100.

Conclusion

You no longer need to play on the PC. Now, you have many options and cross-platform play. Diablo VI even offers PVP play. So, if hacking and slashing your way through thousands of beasts, monsters, and undead enemies sounds like fun to you (and we know it does) then you are probably playing Diablo right now. If for some reason you aren’t, we suggest you give one of them a try.