I would say 3/4 Isometric View Action Oriented Loot Based Role Playing Game would sum it up nicely. Though 3/4 Isometric is somewhat out these days, but if you are referring to D2 and the horde of clones it spawned, that would be apt terminology.
What genre do games like Diablo 2 belong to?
- Thread starter Eric the Orange
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I've always used the term ARPG and I rarely meet anyone who doesn't know what I am talking about. It isn't fair to say they aren't RPGs as some people in this thread have stated. Typically a lot of customization, finding loot, lore to discover, and most have choices to make and character growth. If that isn't an RPG, I don't know what is.
In the end though, the label really doesn't mean anything. Genres are pointless and by arguing semantics you could argue that all sorts of things can be excluded or included into just about any label. That is why I prefer short descriptions versus trying to label everything with a single word. A bit like how I prefer a review to number based scoring for game quality as well. Single labels just don't work.
In the end though, the label really doesn't mean anything. Genres are pointless and by arguing semantics you could argue that all sorts of things can be excluded or included into just about any label. That is why I prefer short descriptions versus trying to label everything with a single word. A bit like how I prefer a review to number based scoring for game quality as well. Single labels just don't work.
Yep, Dark Alliance II. The one and only Baldur's Gate I ever played, hence my (wrongful?) impression.The Madman said:
Kinda. It's a bit confusing since they both start with Baldur's Gate as their title, but the PC series and the Dark Alliance series are entirely different. Since the PC series is just called Baldur's Gate though and the console ones also have the Dark Alliance title you'll often hear the two separate series called by those names.Johnny Novgorod said:
In any case the Dark Alliance games are pretty similar to Diablo but as you've noticed from all the quotes, the PC series is quite a bit different.
Stupid weird naming conventions making things all awkward.
Isometric Dungeon Crawler, or just Dungeon Crawler, since games of the type that aren't played from that perspective are quite rare (niche old school games like Legend of Grimrock). If you say "dungeon crawler" to anyone who's caught up on their genre terms, they'll know what you're talking about. When you break it down, you could call the Souls series dungeon crawlers when you compare the individual elements, but who calls the series that?
This is what my suggestion was going to be if you didn't like the term "dungeon crawler" (which is the genre that I've most often her the Diablo games being placed into). Indeed, the entire point of the game - if you really don't care for the story - is all about finding loot. Finding that next piece of gear that bumps your character's stats up by 3 points so you can show off to your friends by saying "check out this sweet legendary that I got last night!"GabeZhul said: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.
Isn't Diablo the quintessence of Hack'n'Slash? Of course the name does not capture the full scope of what you can do in-game, but it does characterize the main mechanics nicely.
I wouldn't call it a rogue-like, because it implies a very dated concept, something with minimum of graphics if at all. Some goes for the name "dungeon crawler", when I hear the name I imagine Wizardry or Might & Magic.
As for the name Action RPG, it is a catch-all term really. But I'd reserve if for games with more RPG elements in it, like Dragon Age or Mass Effect.
I wouldn't call it a rogue-like, because it implies a very dated concept, something with minimum of graphics if at all. Some goes for the name "dungeon crawler", when I hear the name I imagine Wizardry or Might & Magic.
As for the name Action RPG, it is a catch-all term really. But I'd reserve if for games with more RPG elements in it, like Dragon Age or Mass Effect.
TwistednMean said:
Hack n Slash for me is more in the realm of something like Bayonetta or Devil may cry. Games where stats and skills and progression isn't as important as the actual combat skills and doing combos and stuff. Diablo is very much an RPG in that you have to manage and update your gear while gaining new abilities perpetually and those are much much more important to success while in a game like DMC you can easily beat the whole thing without updating or unlocking anything just out of being really good at the hack and slash mechanics.
Isometric RPG. That's how the first Diablo was cataloged. But later people began to subcategorize RPGs. Diablo games became isometric action role-playing hack and slash games (sometimes without the isometric part). That's why is easier to say Diablo games and Diablo clones.
PS: Also, for a while, FPS in PC were actually called DOOM clones.
PS: Also, for a while, FPS in PC were actually called DOOM clones.
I think i've been on the arpg train for a while now
@gundamn gp01
They might have been compared to back in the day just due to visual similarities, like borderlands and fallout were upon release.
The doom clone train had a little validity due to the excessive use of id tech or nearly identical engines. Quake clones on the other hand had a little less validity due to the larger amount of engines that where used.
@twistedessnce
No, hack n slash would be ninja gaiden, dmc4, godhand, bayonetta, and MGR. Unfortunately the genre doesn't have a cooler name. It's just as damned as mobas are, having an inane genre name.
@gundamn gp01
They might have been compared to back in the day just due to visual similarities, like borderlands and fallout were upon release.
The doom clone train had a little validity due to the excessive use of id tech or nearly identical engines. Quake clones on the other hand had a little less validity due to the larger amount of engines that where used.
@twistedessnce
No, hack n slash would be ninja gaiden, dmc4, godhand, bayonetta, and MGR. Unfortunately the genre doesn't have a cooler name. It's just as damned as mobas are, having an inane genre name.