A plot with understatement and a heavy tone. 6 things Diablo IV could learn from Diablo II
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The story in Diablo 3, at least on paper, had some powerful advantages. The main one was the power of the protagonists. Although many things were handled by others, we were usually the ones at the center of the action, not just cleaning up someone's mess or checking to see what had just gone wrong. The problem is that this, combined with superheroic themes (our heroes are descendants of Nephalem, the first humans, and descendants of angels and demons) killed all the horror and mystery. And some parts were just plain silly or overblown. Some interesting and daring motifs were abandoned (transformation of archangel Imperius from an asshole into a monster) – but maybe they will appear in Diablo IV. It's not too late.
Diablo 2 – together with part one – teaches an important lesson in how to weave a story. Mystery, at least apparent, is needed throughout the story. The atmosphere of horror, even in a hack'n'slash game, is built through uncertainty and understatement. Many of the plots and characters only threw in suggestions of how the world works or some bogeyman we just dug up. It didn't put anything straight. What's more, we controlled strong, unique individuals, but at no time did the game inform us that they operated with tools that other experienced representatives of their profession did not have. That's why – despite the slight dissonance of murdering thousands of monsters – we could feel like fairly ordinary mortals marching into the jaws of overwhelming evil. In the first Diablo this generated a wonderfully overwhelming effect in general, but this is something the series is unlikely to return to.
However, the case is different when it comes to the mechanics from Diablo 2. Designers' statements and materials indicate that the team responsible for Diablo 4 has at least partially done their homework. They just need to remember that the real horror (and the human heroism that stands against it) beats out of Sanctuary when we're not playing as super-Saiyans with auras firing off, but ordinary, determined mortals.
