I keep telling myself buying games is a time waster - I just spend far too much time with them if given the opportunity. But the excellent “good old games” site make it so easy (and cheap) so I set off into the dungeon to hack and slay my way through this old classic.
Although everything happens in real-time the isometric point-and-click approach makes it possible to reward thoughtfulness rather than quick reflexes. And planning pays off as your character faces hordes of demons that will quickly overwhelm you if you just charge in. By careful movement the fights can be more controlled and winnable. Gradually obtaining experience as well as better armour and weapons your character is able to descend deeper into the dungeon until eventually facing the escaped Diablo himself.
First run through I played as a sword and shield warrior. Warriors have sufficient health and protection to go toe-to-toe with the monsters and once the character was sufficiently strong it was great fun to thwack a room-full of enemies. By the time Diablo was faced Gunter had amassed serious amounts of gold and was equipped with fantastic kit. Diablo was chopped up fairly easily if crudely.
A second run through was with a far more fragile mage. Toe-to-toe fights were out of the question so spells were used to strike from afar. And as Grandalf became more powerful the spells enabled them to deal with multiple mobs at once. Again very challenging but satisfying. Grandalf was a lot poorer seemingly spending most of the gold on recharging spells and mana (spell power) potions. Nobody becomes a wizard to get rich it seems.
Diablo I was released in 1997 so by todays standards the graphics are fairly limited, but don’t let that put you off. Any game that creates a hard but doable challenge that begs for one-more-try is a winner.