On June 29th, 2000, things would never be the same (and I would lose a girlfriend over a videogame.)  Ten years ago today, Diablo II was unleashed upon the gaming world.  Let’s take a walk down memory lane, shall we?

The original Diablo exploded onto PCs back in very early 1997.  It’s macabre enemies, chilling environments, and addictive multiplayer kept gamers up long into the night.  While the original Diablo was a groundbreaking title that directly influenced an entire genre, it was far from perfect; no stash, very limited inventory space, difficulty in finding items on the ground…the list of problems were, in the grand scheme of things, inconsequential, but they still had a noticeable impact on the enjoyment of the game.

Fast forward to June 29th, 2000.  Diablo II is set loose upon the gaming world.  Not only does it enable us to step back into the world of Sanctuary, it does so with a huge number of improvements.  A stash for our extra gear!  Socketable items!  Hundreds of new prefixes and suffixes for weapons!  The list of improvements were endless, not the least of which was the variation in environments.  The classes were subject to major changes as well; rather than being able to utilize any spell or ability based on stats, classes had specific skill trees, which required long-term planning and careful choices.  And Baal…holy crap, Baal.

Now, I spent a lot of time online with the original Diablo, but that pales in comparison to my time spent with Diablo II.  I daresay that my time /played with Diablo II online rivals that of my total time with World of Warcraft (closed and open betas, and two straight years after launch.)  Not only did I spend hundreds upon hundreds of hours playing Diablo II online, I actually destroyed a (not so great) relationship due to my over-indulgence. 

Beyond the initial game, however, Diablo II has what is quite possibly one of the best and most essential expansions ever created.  Lord of Destruction added hundreds of new items, runes and runewords, and expanded stash, an entirely new act, and a ton of fixes and tweaks.  Lord of Destruction really was an essential expansion pack, as the “vanilla” version of Diablo II felt broken and incomplete once we saw what Lord of Destruction added to the experience.

I remember constantly searching for games titled “free”, “free stuff”, “freee”, “freeee”, etc, trying to find low-level free gear for my alts (or just to sell.)  I remember making countless cow-level runs, reveling in the slaughter of anthropomorphic cows who bellowed “moo” when you smacked them.  I remember the times my mercenary literally saved my character’s life, striking down the few remaining enemies on the screen while a couple of HP was all that stood between me and a death screen.  I remember using Whirlwind with a dual-wielding Barbarian, who was sporting a Lightsabre in each hand.  I remember downing Baal with no health potions left, and only a sliver of life.  I remember listening to the soundtrack as I fell asleep, my entire world consumed by Diablo II.

My excitement for Diablo III is currently in “simmering” mode…I know it’s a long way off, so I don’t want to get my hopes up too much only to have to wait another year or two before it gets released.  Still, on this, Diablo II’s 10th birthday, as memories of gaming history rush through me, I can only hope that Diablo III lives up to the series’ legacy. 

Happy birthday, Diablo II.  There are newer, flashier, more complicated hack n slash games out there…but you are still the reigning champ.