Another relic of a bygone era, Diablo II compelled gamers to keep point-and-clicking, hack-and-slashing for years after its release, only ever really fading into the background when its long-awaited successor launched in 2012. At the time, Diablo II stretched the definitions of what it meant to be an RPG. Until that point, the genre was associated with complex gameplay mechanics and rich dialogue systems, but Diablo II pared down on all that deep and meaningful pap, instead offering a violent, no-nonsense fantasy experience that helped popularise the term, action-RPG. This game pretty proved to the world that RPGs weren't just for tabletop RPG diehards, but could be played by anyone - and compulsively at that. The simple gameplay, combined with rich character development system and, of course, piles of awesome randomly-generated loot, made it one of the most addictive games of all time (not that you'd expect any less from the folks who went on to suck millions of souls into World of Warcraft just a few years later).
Gamer, Researcher of strange things.
I'm a writer-editor hybrid whose writings on video games, technology and movies can be found across the internet. I've even ventured into the realm of current affairs on occasion but, unable to face reality, have retreated into expatiating on things on screens instead.
