Is Diablo 2 better than Diablo 3? Maybe not, but it defined the genre

By Matthew Rossi

Every so often, someone resurrects the Diablo 2 vs. Diablo 3 arguments.

When this happens, I almost always groan. Half the time, the argument talks about Diablo 3 the way it was at release (five years ago) and it’s frustrating because the game we have now, post Reaper of Souls, is by far one of the best games of its type ever to exist. Yes, it’s even better than both Torchlight games, and I liked both of those games.

So is it better than Diablo 2?

Asking if one game is “better” is asking the wrong question

There are two ways to answer this question. One would be to go through a detailed comparison of all the factors involved in each game. But the more important question is whether the games are fun for you to play.

I would say Diablo 3 is way freaking better than Diablo 2. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaay freaking better. I actually have fun playing Diablo 3. And that’s it. That’s the only real question to this discussion: do you have more fun playing one than the other? Then as far as you’re concerned, that game is better. It doesn’t matter what I say, because what’s fun for you is fun for you and there’s nothing anyone could say to change that. For me, I love the voice acting, the snark you and your chosen companion exchange, and even the storylines (especially in Reaper of Souls), which is why I want a new D3 expansion so badly.

I bring this up because of many threads that come up on the matter (with some even arguing for Diablo 1 over either of its sequels). But this older Reddit thread is a good frame for the now hoary debate — and what our constant participation in this argument says about us all (including myself). The thread isn’t all Diablo 3 bashing by any means, with a lot back and forth on things like itemization in Diablo 2 and how it affected the game. But a point by one poster stands out: players age and change, and the simple fact that we were much younger when we played Diablo 2 changes our perspective. What was fun then isn’t necessarily as much fun now.

But I also think we need to consider the pure power Diablo 2 of being the game that set the standard for dungeon-crawler RPGs.

Diablo 2 was the mountain from which streams flow

Diablo 2 is the game that defined the dungeon crawl. The original Diablo started the ball rolling, but let’s be honest: it was just level after level of the same huge place, a mega dungeon set in one little town on the verge of destruction. To use D&D terminology, Diablo 1 was a single big adventure, but Diablo 2 is a campaign that takes you across the world of Sanctuary hunting down the Prime Evils. If Diablo was like the Temple of Elemental Evil, Diablo 2 was the Secrets of the Slavelords or Against the Giants. Diablo 2 was a huge, sprawling adventure with a wide variety of places to explore and monsters to kill for loot.

It changed the way these games would work. There are various tracks to modern RPGs. There are old school Infinity engine games based on titles like Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale — which are seeing a renaissance today with games like Tyranny and Pillars of Eternity. There are JRPGs in the old school sense, including your Final Fantasy/Chrono Trigger/Xenogears style games and their descendants. Many RPGs today are hybridized, like the Mass Effect games which draw on shooter elements. But Diablo 2 was the purest distillation of a specific kind of RPG that focused more on gear acquisition and constant visceral combat — and it’s never going to be replaced because we don’t have time machines. It’s always going to be the game that a whole generation discovered and learned from.

This is more than just nostalgia: it’s a formative experience. I can recognize that Diablo 2 is where many of the elements of action RPGs came from. It’s the wellspring that almost all dungeon crawlers derive their basic DNA from, to the point where the Wikipedia page on action RPGs lists no less than thirteen game series as direct clones of Diablo 2. I think that’s slightly underselling it, but it makes the point. If you’re asking the question “What does Diablo 2 have that Diablo 3 doesn’t?” the easiest answer would be your childhood.

Who are you, Nephalem?

Now, I played and enjoyed Diablo 2, but Diablo 3 has gained my loyalty and affection over it for a variety of reasons. I can play as either gender, there’s more diversity in terms of gameplay, and more things to do (instead of D2’s endless Bhaal runs). But I don’t deny that without Diablo 2 and its runaway success we wouldn’t be here having this discussion at all, nor do I deny that Diablo 3 screwed up with its launch in a way that has poisoned player opinion on it ever since. The Auction House debacle left scars that have never healed and many players that might well love the game it is today have never even seen it because of that moment.

As good as Diablo 2 was, going back and playing it now is painful for me. Did I just age out of the experience? Diablo 3 gives me the gameplay I want without a lot of superfluous nonsense, I can get in, run some rifts, do some bounties, and stop. That’s the place I’m at in 2017 and I expect it’ll be the place I’m at in 2018, too.

I’m far from the only gamer who finds gaming to be something that has to fit in between other experiences. But I’m also aware that in many ways that’s why Diablo 2 has such a strong hold over us and the hobby: it’s a pure relic of how gaming was shaped, a primordial piece of the past that defies, or even creates, our modern expectations. I prefer playing Diablo 3, but I’m not fool enough to think it will ever replace Diablo 2. Nothing will ever replace that game because it game made a genre, coalescing elements into what people think of when they think the words “action role playing game.” Diablo 3 is a superior game, but Diablo 2 is an icon.

In a way, I think of Diablo 2 as the Beatles of the genre. The game, like the band, didn’t come first and may not be the best (plenty of artists and bands pioneered rock before the Beatles and a host of musicians are superior to any member of the band as pure players, singers, even songwriters). But it doesn’t matter. The Beatles don’t have to be the best band that ever existed because they’re the Beatles. It doesn’t matter what any of us say or think of them at this point, they’ve transcended the need for our approval or goodwill.

And Diablo 2 is the Beatles of action RPGs.