Diablo is an action role-playing video game developed by Blizzard North and released by Blizzard Entertainment in January 1997, and is the first installment in the video game series of the same name.
Set in the fictional Kingdom of Khanduras in the mortal realm, the player controls a lone hero battling to rid the world of Diablo, the Lord of Terror. Beneath the town of Tristram, the player journeys through sixteen randomly generated dungeon levels, ultimately entering Hell in order to face Diablo.
An expansion pack, Diablo: Hellfire, was released in November 1997 by Synergistic Software. In 1998, Electronic Arts released Diablo for the PlayStation. This version, developed by Climax Studios, featured direct control of the main character's direction using the PlayStation controller, as opposed to point-and-click movement. A Sega Saturn version was considered by Electronic Arts but never released. Diablo has been considered one of the greatest games of all time for its randomized assignment of quests and enemies on each playthrough, online multiplayer, and graphics. The game's success led to several sequels: Diablo II in 2000, Diablo III in 2012, and Diablo IV in 2023. In 2022 a mobile-device-oriented version, Diablo Immortal, was released.
Gameplay
Diablo is an action role-playing video game. The player moves and interacts with the environment primarily by way of a mouse. Other actions, such as casting a spell, are performed in response to keyboard inputs. The player can acquire items, learn spells, defeat enemies, and interact with non-player characters (NPCs) throughout the game.
The dungeon levels are procedurally generated with themes for each level; for instance, the catacombs tend to have long corridors and closed rooms, while the caves are more non-linear. The players are assigned a random number of quests from several tiers; these quests are optional but usually offer powerful unique items as rewards and help to level up the character and/or reveal more of the backstory. The final two quests are mandatory in order to finish the game.
Classes
Diablo has three character classes: the Warrior, the Rogue, and the Sorcerer. Each class has a different level of assigned attributes along with a unique skill. Each class is capable of using almost all of the same items and spells, in contrast to later titles in the Diablo series which have class-specific items and spells/skills. However, the limitations in the attributes for each class reward play that utilizes them efficiently; for instance the Warrior's low maximum level of Magic prevents him from learning the higher levels of powerful spells like the Sorcerer, instead the Warrior is best suited to melee with a faster weapon swing plus a "critical strike" for bonus damage. Warrior: The most physically able of the three classes. The Warrior is a close-quarters fighter and can generally take the most physical damage. The Warrior's primary character attribute is Strength. The Warrior starts with the skill to repair objects in his possession at the cost of overall durability. Rogue: A master of ranged weapons. While not as strong as the Warrior, the rogue is very effective at attacking enemies from a distance with the bow. A jack-of-all-trades class, the Rogue has higher Magic than the Warrior so she can better make use of spells, while she also fares better in melee than a Sorcerer. The Rogue's primary character attribute is Dexterity. The Rogue's unique starting skill is the ability to disarm traps. Sorcerer: A spellcaster being the most physically weak of the three classes, but can learn the most spells at the highest levels. The Sorcerer's primary character attribute is Magic. The Sorcerer's unique starting skill is the ability to recharge spell staves at the cost of lowering the maximum number of spell charges that the staff can hold.
In the expansion set, Diablo: Hellfire, the Monk was added. The Monk is proficient at melee combat with the staff. Two other classes, the Bard and Barbarian, were unfinished but remained hidden characters in Diablo: Hellfire, and could be enabled using a hack. Using the in-game sprites of the Rogue and Warrior, respectively, the Bard is capable of dual-wielding weapons while the Barbarian was a two-handed axe specialist.