What genre do games like Diablo 2 belong to?

[Eric the Orange]

Recently we've been having a lot of good games patterned off the Diablo 2 model. Like Path of Exile, Torchlight 2, Diablo 3, and Grim Dawn. But what genre do these games belong to?

The most direct answer is to call them "Diablo clones". But while this is accurate, it feels kinda silly like when we used to call FPSs "Doom clones", or open world games "GTA clones".

Another common name is "ARPG" standing for Action Role Playing Game. And while technically true, ARPG is an incredibly broad genre. It encompasses things ranging from Mass Effect to Secret of Mana. Because of this doesn't make a very good genre for these games because the point of a genre is to say "all the things in this genre are similar" so if I say X is an FPS you have a basic understanding of what it plays like.

Another possible term is "Hack and Slash". This comes from table top RPG games where the focus was mainly on combat. But I feel this is inaccurate, because a game like Diablo 2 doesn't HAVE to focus on combat, I would argue that it is more defined by it's play style and focus on random loot drops than on combat.

The final term that I have heard used is a "Dungeon Crawler". Which honestly makes me think of games like Legend of Grimrock more than Diablo 2.

So my question to you is, What genre do games like Diablo 2 belong to?

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Loot-based ARPG works for me. Loot-based is a sort of qualifier which can apply to various genres, even fpss like Boarderlands fit that bill.

 

[Wakey87]

Probably a isometric dungeon crawler

 

[shrekfan246]

I just call them isometric ARPGs.

Granted, some of them aren't exactly isometric, but in my mind it conjures up the proper sort of image anyway; an extreme camera angle that gives a near-bird's-eye-view of the map for controlling the player character. Anybody who knows about games like Diablo or Baldur's Gate should be able to glean your meaning, even if the actual game in question is more top-down or whatever.

In my opinion the biggest difference between them and something like, say, Kingdoms of Amalur is the camera, after all. (Disregarding the open-world thing.)

"Loot-driven ARPG" isn't a bad one either, though I personally tend to focus a little more on the hacky-slashy and all of the equipment management is just the cherry on top.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Ya as the genres morph you need to get more and more specific. ARPG is pretty good as a rough direction, but more accurately I would probably call them Top Down Loot Grinder Action RPGs, or TDLGARPG for ease of use

That is until someone makes a TDLGARPG that is somehow completely different from Diablo style games.

 

[dangoball]

I always called them "Hack & Slash RPG". All you do is kill pixels so they drop loot so you can kill more dangerous pixels which drop better loot allowing you to kill even deadlier pixels and thus the circle never ends.

Calling them "isometric RPG" would put Diablo on the same play-field as Baldur's Gate and that's like saying STALKER is a same kind of game like Deus Ex. Each are played for a completely different reason.

 

[Bocaj2000]

It's a hack 'n slash and always has been. There is no role playing involved and you don't spend the entire game slowly pacing around a dungeon so, therefore, is neither an RPG nor a dungeon crawler. I can expand on this more of you want.

 

[Eric the Orange]

It's a hack 'n slash and always has been. There is no role playing involved and you don't spend the entire game slowly pacing around a dungeon so, therefore, is neither an RPG nor a dungeon crawler. I can expand on this more of you want.

Well it also runs into the same problems that ARPG does. For example I would also say a game like God of War is a Hack and Slash game.

Also what do you mean by "no role playing involved". I mean you get more character customization and dialogue choices than some RPGs I can think of in Diablo 2. If that isn't what makes an RPG an RPG what is?

 

[nomotog_v1legacy]

Looter or maybe loot based game seems like the best fit, but you can argue that the genre is small enough to sill be in the clone phase. I would want a definition that includes borderlands.

 

[GabeZhul]

I think we should coin a new term for them along the lines of "Loot Grinder". It's a type of game, usually RPG, where you are mainly focused on killing enemies and looting container for better randomly generated weapons and other items. Anything based on the Diablo 2 formula would be "pure Loot Grinder" the same way as BG2 or Pillars of Eternity is a pure CRPG. Then you could also apply it as a qualifier for other type of games; like say, Borderlands being a "Loot Grinder FPS". And finally you could also use the term as a element qualifier, so that most MMORPGs would "have Loot Grinder elements".

Also I just like the way "Loot Grinder" sounds. It's simple and descriptive.

 

[FPLOON]

A loot-based isometric ARPG... I think that covers all of Diablo 2's general basis in terms of gameplay...

Other than that, didn't the whole "Diablo clone" term mainly focused on the loot and/or isometric portion of other games that are not Diablo?

 

[laggyteabag]

Dungeon Crawler or Isometric ARPG are the genres that I would link Diablo-like games, to. Sure, they are very broad genres, but so are most others.

 

[dangoball]

It's a hack 'n slash and always has been. There is no role playing involved and you don't spend the entire game slowly pacing around a dungeon so, therefore, is neither an RPG nor a dungeon crawler. I can expand on this more of you want.

The thing about the "RPG" label is that it largely lost its meaning anywhere else but the table top variation. Nowadays "RPG elements" means "look, there's numbers and some numbers grow as you kill more stuff!". Sad as it this, that's what the term means now.

 

[Bocaj2000]

It's a hack 'n slash and always has been. There is no role playing involved and you don't spend the entire game slowly pacing around a dungeon so, therefore, is neither an RPG nor a dungeon crawler. I can expand on this more of you want.

Well it also runs into the same problems that ARPG does. For example I would also say a game like God of War is a Hack and Slash game.

Also what do you mean by "no role playing involved". I mean you get more character customization and dialogue choices than some RPGs I can think of in Diablo 2. If that isn't what makes an RPG an RPG what is?

I agree that there are problems with mislabeling. The traditional definition of an RPG is a game that resembles D&D. That is it. This means that you can be an ARPG by simply having a level system and visible statistics. To me an RPG is more than that.

There's nothing wrong with being a hack 'n slash. I would consider GoW as one just as I would for the D&D beat 'm up titles. There's no shame in being focused around killing hordes of enemies with traditional weapons. It's just that an RPG expects a lot more from the player than Diablo II does.

An RPG is when a game requires lore immersion to play it. This can possibly be done by making world changing choices and having dialogue options, but does not include every game with these elements. For example, I would consider Bioshock and Infamous straight up action games but Mass Effect 1 an ARPG. There's a difference in tone, player expectations, and design focus that separate them. Don't get me wrong, all three are good games, but they're all played for different reasons.

It's a genre and, like all genres, can be debated. By the end of the day, it's only about how we organize our Steam Library.

EDIT:

The thing about the "RPG" label is that it largely lost its meaning anywhere else but the table top variation. Nowadays "RPG elements" means "look, there's numbers and some numbers grow as you kill more stuff!". Sad as it this, that's what the term means now.

I know

I've been trying to right this idea for years. I just have to wait until I become super famous and have a dangerous amount of influence... maybe then my opinion will matter on the Internet.

 

[Hawki]

ARPG is my first choice, hack n' slash my second. However, I think we're past the point of "Diablo clones" being a term anymore. No-one uses "Doom clone" nowadays, "GTA clones" have become "sandbox games," and in the MOBA/ARTS genre, you don't hear the word "DOTA clone" thrown around as much nowadays either. So for a game that came out in 1996 (or 2000, as D2 was arguably more influential), I think the idea of a clone is redundant.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Action RPG ("isometric perspective" optional); alternatively, "Baldur's Gate clone".

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

Isometric 3D RPG. It's a fantastic genre, and what that I will dedicate at least one game a year to play. I know this covers everything from Planescape to Fallout, Torchlight to Dungeon Siege and Titan Quest, but it's still a genre on it's own. Within that I'd say you can break it down into: party-based, narrative-driven, hack'n'slash, looty dungeon crawler, and many others. But I think Diablo set the precedent with the inventory/equip screen, with the health on the right, mana on the left, quick slots in the middle.

 

[ryan_cs]

I just made up Isometric Hack-and-slash, I wonder why has no one else suggested this?

It seems to describe Diablo 1-3, Torchlight 1-2, and other games like it; additionally it also excludes games that are similar, but plays differently such as the Borderlands series or other isometric RPGs.

 

[The Madman]

I always go with hack & slash myself, just because it's more fun to say and type than another stupid rpg acronym.

Action RPG ("isometric perspective" optional); alternatively, "Baldur's Gate clone".

Do you mean Dark Alliance? Because Diablo and Baldur's Gate aside from both being isometric and having leveling mechanics aren't much alike at all.