Should I download Diablo 2?

wraith5641

I played the first one, and I remember it being really good (and challenging!) and I was just wondering if it's worth downloading the second one. I have never played it, but I hear it's the best in the series.

the_spyder

Diablo 2 was absolutely the best in the series, or even that genre in my opinion, to date.

But to better answer your question, what are you looking for in a game like Diablo 2? What did you enjoy about Diablo 1? What type of gaming experience are you expecting?

I'll say that the graphics for Diablo 2 are a bit dated by today's standards. And the online community is probably pretty sparse if you are looking for team play or PvP. And to be honest, there was a fair amount of needing to find items for sale off line that gave rise to the 'Auction house' in Diablo 3. So if you are the type that needs to have complete sets or The Best of everything, you might have to spend some time and money. Any one of these could dampen your experience.

However, if you are looking for just a fun ARPG with heavy focus on A. If you can get past the graphics. It is absolutely one of the most fun games you can play.

SethDavis

incalculable hours during my developing years lead my to say yes, or play Path of Exile if the graphics are too much of a turn off.

I tried to go back and play Diablo 1, but I don't have a computer old enough to run it properly. there are sparkly pink graphical artifacts everywhere

wraith5641

@the_spyder

What did you enjoy about Diablo 1? - The uncomplicated combat and the straightforward nature of the gameplay. You picked up your armor and weapons, and went to kill hordes of demons and undead. No gimmicks, no arbitrary quest lines. Just old-fashioned hack 'n' slash. It also had a dark ambient atmosphere and story that made you feel a part of the game.

What are you looking for in a game like Diablo 2? - The same as the above, really. I just want a fantasy game that I can play without too much thought. As much as I love BG, IWD and Fallout, much of those games require a lot of planning. For once, I'd like to play a game where I can be a little more reckless when fighting enemies.

I don't really care too much about graphics. Graphics aren't an important part of a gaming experience for me. As a semi-casual gamer, I just liked to be entertained but at the same time, I like to "feel" like I'm actually in the game.

From what you are saying, it seems like D2 takes a lot of inventory organization. Is that the case?

Dee

SethDavis said:

incalculable hours during my developing years lead my to say yes, or play Path of Exile if the graphics are too much of a turn off.

I tried to go back and play Diablo 1, but I don't have a computer old enough to run it properly. there are sparkly pink graphical artifacts everywhere

I'm pretty sure my copy of Diablo 1 doesn't even install on my computer anymore.

I enjoyed Diablo II; it had a lot of things in it that built on the successful elements of D1. Although I also have deep-seated memories of fighting with my friends about whether Diablo or Baldur's Gate was better, and I was firmly on BG's side, so I have to give an obligatory "Why would you want to play Diablo that game sucks you should play Baldur's Gate instead it's way better! You can read all about why on my LiveJournal account!"

the_spyder

Actually there isn't a lot of inventory organization involved, at least no more so than the original. Your gear does get incrementally better in almost the same exact way that it did in Diablo 1. You have to figure out what you are going to haul out and what is basically junk, but again that is pretty much what you get from Diablo 1. You will encounter more 'class specific' stuff, but other than that it is kill, collect, sell.

If all you are looking for is killing hoards of monsters, Diablo 2 is absolutely your game. There isn't much strategy, although you do have to plan a bit how your character will advance a bit more than you did in Diablo 1. There are actually skill trees and you can't do 'Everything' with one character, but that simply adds flavor to individual characters. Beyond that it is just kill a bunch of stuff and collect loot.

At the end of the day, with your stated goals, Diablo 2 is going to be Diablo on steroids. Bigger, bloodier and loads more fun.

As @SethDavis indicates, the most current iteration of the genre is Path of Exile. Personally I still like Diablo 2 better, but PoE is free to try. If you like that, you'll love Diablo 2. But since you already know you liked Diablo 1, I think you are good to go.

wraith5641

@the_spyder Yeah, sounds like I'll definitely enjoy it. From the videos I've seen, it seems like the type of game I'm looking for. Thanks a lot

I'd never heard of Path of Exile before now. It has crazy reviews though!

jjstraka34

The problem with D2 unless you play offline and install PlugY is that your inventory is abysmally small, to the point that you often have to port back to town every 3 or 4 minutes. The vanilla game without mods forces you to make mules to have any hope of inventory collection, and it is a real turn off. And I played both games when they originally came out, though I was very young.

I don't actually agree it's as good game as it's legend would suggest. I think the original is better, and I also think Titan Quest (with Immortal Throne) is also better. As a single player game. Alot of D2's legend comes from the PvP, which I have never cared about in any circumstance.

CoM_Solaufein

The good old days of PKing on Battlenet.

Squire

No you shouldn't, because it sucks!

Just kidding...I personally don't like it, but I guess some people like that kind of thing. As people have previously stated, it is, literally, just a mindless hack-fest. Ridiculous numbers of monsters, no character interaction at all, very little character customisability (even the 5 classes' genders are fixed)...not my cup of tea but it was very popular in its time, so I guess it must have some appeal to some people.

O_Bruce

No. You can buy it, however.

jjstraka34

Squire said:

No you shouldn't, because it sucks!

Just kidding...I personally don't like it, but I guess some people like that kind of thing. As people have previously stated, it is, literally, just a mindless hack-fest. Ridiculous numbers of monsters, no character interaction at all, very little character customisability (even the 5 classes' genders are fixed)...not my cup of tea but it was very popular in its time, so I guess it must have some appeal to some people.

I'm one of the few who finds D3 infinitely better since they decided to focus on making it a strictly PvE oriented game. Which isn't to say D3 was even moderately good at launch, because it was horrible. The 200th time I got a Strength Witch Doctor helm I said screw it until they fixed the loot system. Once the expansion came out the game was awesome for what it was.

reedmilfam

I think Diablo II was a great game, but am also biased toward the far better clone, Titan Quest/Immortal Throne (available cheaply on Steam). Fantastic game.

jjstraka34

reedmilfam said:

I think Diablo II was a great game, but am also biased toward the far better clone, Titan Quest/Immortal Throne (available cheaply on Steam). Fantastic game.

I agree completely, Titan Quest is vastly superior, and I would also recommend the new Grim Dawn (early access but nearly done and very polished). It's Titan Quest in a Lovecraftian/Victorian zombie apocalypse. I'd recommend both before any Diablo game, or any ARPG period.

Torchlight 2 is fun for a few hours. Path of Exile is very well made but not my cup of tea. I find the Sacred series to have sub-par gameplay. I have wanted to try the Van Helsing games, those look fun as well.

reedmilfam

@jjstraka34 My problem with Torchlight 2 is that all classes seem uber powerful. Also, the effects cause this huge cloud that covers combat, making it hard to see anything. That's why I give a huge nod to Titan Quest (don't bother - just play Immortal Throne, which is all Titan Quest (improved) plus more.

Van Helsing was such a horrid movie that I've resisted trying it. The game gets amazing reviews, though.

the_spyder

For my part, I didn't find the inventory thing to be that big a deal. You do start out with a small(ish) inventory but eventually pick up something that almost doubles it. I definitely was not Town Portaling every 2-3 minutes. You just have to pick and choose what you bring back. Most of the stuff isn't even worth the effort as it only sells for a very small amount. Early on, anything that you can use, you pick up. Anything that is BLUE? is magical and so is probably going to be better. Eventually, you can stop picking up the mundane stuff as it isn't worth the haulage cost. Then you start keeping an eye out for Gold stuff. Once that starts appearing, even the Blue stuff becomes pretty useless (eventually). Sure, you don't get unlimited space, but I don't think that it was a "Problem".

Titan quest was also a good game and had better graphics (having been created several years later). If you are into the whole Greek Myths, it absolutely is a fun game. For my money, Diablo 2 was still better but I can't speak ill of the game because both are massively fun "ARPGs". Either would be hours of entertainment.

As for Path of Exile, it also is very fun. My personal problem with Path of Exile is that it is an always online game. I am an old foggie and don't see the need for a game to be online if you are only going to play solo (which is all I ever did). But it is very polished and quite fun as well for all of that.

At the end of the day, I love Diablo (2) because it was pretty much the origin and the best. I also love the atmosphere and I can't think of any negatives. But it is true that all of the above (and Torchlight to a degree) are all very enjoyable games. I wouldn't speak ill of any of them.

reedmilfam

Where I give the nod to TQ is the much better class building system. Also, the environments are amazing - seriously lovely art as you go to the regions. There is Greek mythology, but the story takes you to other lands and everything 'fits'.

Also, if a monster has a good drop in TQ, he/she/it is using that good drop against you. You'll see, for instance, an enemy with an amazing bow - it will drop and be what you get. That's an amazing touch, if you ask me.

Don't know price of Diablo II, but Titan Quest, with Immortal Throne is very cheap on Steam. I got the CD's cheaply (gold edition) from Amazon. $11.40 (with Prime shipping) USD right now - that is a bargain.

jackjack

Just bought Titan Quest Gold–thanks people!

Qbert

I spent many hours loving D2LOD, i def. recommend giving it a whirl. My memory is a bit fuzzy about the last few patches though, is it still possible to solo hell difficulty? I know the versions i played it was almost a different game in normal vs nightmare vs hell, due to the leaps of difficulty, but i think i remember not installing later patches b/c they basically made it impossible to solo the harder difficulties. 1.09 i think is the last one i played? maybe?

I could never bring myself to delete my first necromancer, even though he was made completely unviable through patches. What a great version of the necro, my favorite iteration ever created.

reedmilfam

@jackjack - Rock It! Now you have the hard choice of picking your starting class.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

SethDavis

typo_tilly said:

Because you can only walk in Diablo 1, the pacing and atmosphere feel different. Love them caves.

I remember doing that in D2, just for the feeling of epicness as my necromancer slowly walked up mt areat letting his skeletons do all the work

the_spyder

SethDavis said:

I remember doing that in D2, just for the feeling of epicness as my necromancer slowly walked up mt areat letting his skeletons do all the work

I remember doing this as well. Pretty much the only time my Necro got involved was in Boss Battles. Otherwise his minions did all of the dirty work.

reedmilfam

Titan Quest has pets. Nature has the most. You can do the same summons->killing as you watch->Epic Win

reedmilfam

@jackjack - Any summons need to be re-summoned when you add points in them to level them up. They don't get the new damage/HP/energy unless you do. I learned this the hard way

Son_of_Imoen

This thread makes me wonder where Diablo 2 can be downloaded? I got Diablo 2 incl. Lord of Destruction on disc, but I've never seen it for sale digitally. Isthereanydeal.com only has Diablo III in the search results. It would be lovely if Diablo 2 came to GOG.

Son_of_Imoen

I found it, sort of. I've read it's only sold on Blizzard's own website. However, if you click on 'Buy Digital' on this page: http://eu.battle.net/en/games/classic it takes you to a login window, so you can't even see what the download will cost or what it's DRM is unless you become a battlenet-customer. Weird. Anyone already a member that can give info on the game?

*edit: found a link that doesn't need you to be logged in:

https://eu.battle.net/shop/en/product/diablo-ii

https://eu.battle.net/shop/en/product/diablo-ii-lord-of-destruction

lunar

Diablo 2 is one of the best games, and a lot of memories from my childhood come to mind. We were racing with my friends, we did not have internet connection but we wanted to kill diablo as fast as possible! My sorceress nailed it first, I think. She had a lot of trouble with act2's boss, a lot of painful deaths, and to this day I hate that boss more than anything in any other game. Other than that she was strong and I blasted away every enemy with cold spells.

Come some patch and LoD, there were cold immune monsters everywhere on higher difficulty, and so we started out from scratch. This time we had imternet connection and played with friends, went for ice+fire and was decent but couldn't finish hell.

In the university, I kept playing with some new friends, tried out an assasin and she had very lucky drops with super uniques and could deal the highest damage among my friends, also was very fast. Then I tried an amazon and she was so cool, too! I hate fighter types but she was great:many magical skills, dodging and good hp, and ice arrows, and my friend gave me an unique bow with nice skills and piercing attack, we were set. We killed Bhaal on Hell for the first time, and iirc my amazon never died. Heh, my pals were barbarian and a werewolf druid so they always held the front line, and they suffered quite a few deaths. Amazon is great cos she stayed back, and had the awesome dodge/evade moves and a lot of hp to survive if any attack comes her way. (Unless sorceress who could die if a monster sneezes too hard on her in hell diff.)

So yes, I would recommend D2. And I am grateful to my friends that they never called me a sissy for always playing with girl characters. Man, but those 'girls' are among the most badass and iconic characters in the fantasy genre.

wraith5641

@lunar There is a character in D2 called Bhaal? 0_0

lunar

@wraith5641 my bad, I meant Baal, Lord of Destruction, ofcourse. Not the Bhaal, Deceased Lord of Murder.
Heh, you would think a guy named B(h)aal wouldn't be the Lord of friendship, love or romance or whatnot.

jjstraka34

lunar said:

Diablo 2 is one of the best games, and a lot of memories from my childhood come to mind. We were racing with my friends, we did not have internet connection but we wanted to kill diablo as fast as possible! My sorceress nailed it first, I think. She had a lot of trouble with act2's boss, a lot of painful deaths, and to this day I hate that boss more than anything in any other game. Other than that she was strong and I blasted away every enemy with cold spells.

Duriel is incredibly difficult because of he has a freeze aura, he hits like a truck, and his room is the size of a closet. You probably need to open a town portal in his room and run away at least 2-3 times. At least when you first meet him.

This is another thing I always found ridiculous about this game. Town Portal scrolls were literally an integral part of combat. A far more cheesy mechanic than just about anything in Baldur's Gate come to think of it.