The Story Timeline Order of Diablo Games
Diablo is a world-famous franchise of action role-playing games (RPGs). The first two Diablo video games, Diablo and Diablo II, are arguably two of the most important RPGs in the video games industry in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Diablo is also an established RPG franchise, with the first Diablo game being released in 1997. The Diablo games, specially the first two ones, have had quite a significant impact on the video game industry, to the point of incluencing isometric action RPGs for many years after their initial launch.
What Are Diablo Games Like?
Diablo video games typically feature isometric action RPG gameplay. This is so much true, that, in fact, the Diablo series of games is often credited of having defined the whole isometric action RPG genre, to the point where most of the subsequent games in that genre were influenced by the Diablo games. Perhaps, the influence of Diablo in the isometric action RPG genre is comparable to the influence of World of Warcraft in the MMORPG genre, as well as the influence of Resident Evill in the survival horror genre.
To be more precise, gameplay in Diablo games usually features an isometric camera perspective, which means a camera that is not top-down, side view, first-person or third-person (while technically isometric camera could be considered third-person, usually third-person and isometric perspectives are considered different perspectives, gameplay-wise). Besides this unique camera characteristic, Diablo games generally have randomly-generated dungeons, randomly-generated item loot, hack-and-slash combat gameplay and a somber atmosphere.
Why Were the Diablo Games Groundbreaking?
While the success of the Diablo video games is probably due to many different factors, it is possible to hypothesize about some of the most important elements that made Diablo stand out and become an influence in the video games industry. Considering that the first Diablo game was released in 1997, to understand the impact of such game, it makes sense to look into the context of the other RPGs of the late 1990s.
During the 1990s, some of the most famous mainstream RPGs were Dragon Quest IV (1990), Phantasy Star IV (1993), The Elder Scrolls: Arena (1994), Chrono Trigger (1995), The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall (1996), Final Fantasy VII (1997), Fallout (1997), Baldur's Gate (1998), Fallout 2 (1998). It is impotant to note that while Dragon Quest IV, such as the other Dragon Quest video games, was immensely popular in Japan, but not as known in North America and in Europe.
As we look into the list of the most famous RPGs of the 1990s, there is one common element that becomes apparent: most of these RPGs are turn-based, or feature a system similar to turn-based (such as in the case of Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VII, which use an active battle system, which still resembles a classic turn-based system). While technically The Elder Scrolls: Arena, The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall and Baldur's Gate feature a real-time combat system, these games could hardly be described as hack-and-slash games. In the case of Baldur's Gate, players select an enemy for their party or character to attack, and then watch the action take place, being able to pause at any time to issue more commands, such as using skills, spells or items. However, the action part is mostly observed by the player in Baldur's Gate, in the same fashion as in real-time strategy (RTS) games of the time, such as Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (1994), Age of Empires (1997), StarCraft (1998), Age of Empires II (1999), among other RTS video games of the same decade. While the addition of real-time combat in games was a step in the direction of the action genre, bringing these RPGs and RTS games closer to the more typical action games such as first-person shooter (FPS) games, beat' em up games and fighting games, these games still didn't have the typical fast-paced action gameplay usually found in a more typical action game, such as one of the genres mentioned. Some examples could be Double Dragon (1987), Golden Axe (1989), Final Fight (1989), Streets of Rage (1991), Street Fighter II (1991), Mortal Kombat (1992), Doom (1993), which are all games pertaining to sub-genres typically associated to the action genre, and which feature a must faster-paced gamplay when compared to most of the RPGs of the 1990s.
Considering that most of the RPGs of the 1990s were turn-based, or didn't feature a fast-paced combat gameplay, it should come as no surprise that one of the first games to feature an action combat gameplay in the RPG genre would be impactful on the video games industry. Indeed, Diablo (1997) featured a much faster-placed combat gameplay when compared to most of the other RPGs of that decade. It also was a well-executed game in regards to atmosphere, gameplay and storyline. Due to the impact the first Diablo game had on the video games industry, it is often credited for defining the isometric action RPG genre.
Some time later, with Diablo II (2000), the core gameplay formula that started with Diablo (1997) was perfected, while staying true to its roots. Diablo II featured the same fast-paced action gameplay first seen in Diablo (1997), but now it was faster, with more options, skills, items, enemies. The gameplay combat and movement was also more fluid when compared to the first game, which was an important improvement considering that the action gameplay is central to the Diablo video games.
In my opinion, while the combination of the action combat gameplay and RPG elements is certainly one of the reasons for the success of the Diablo video games, I also believe that one possible reason for that is the fact that Diablo games usually adopt a somber atmosphere, something that is not quite frequently seen in RPGs. In fact, if we take a look again at the most famous RPGs of the 1990s: Dragon Quest IV (1990), Phantasy Star IV (1993), The Elder Scrolls: Arena (1994), Chrono Trigger (1995), The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall (1996), Final Fantasy VII (1997), Fallout (1997), Baldur's Gate (1998), Fallout 2 (1998). Of these nine RPGs, only three of them featured a somber atmosphere comparable to Diablo, which are: Final Fantasy VII (1997), Fallout (1997) and Fallout 2 (1998). All of the other games are set in a high fantasy environment, which even if it does have evil forces threatening the world, the world itself is not a somber environment like the one in the Diablo games. Indeed, a somber atmosphere like the one of the Diablo games would not be found often in RPGs even in later years, and in my opinion there were very few games that featured a similar somber atmosphere, among which are The Witcher (2007) and Dark Souls (2011). In the late 2000s and early 2010s, there would be more RPGs which adopted a somber atmosphere for their environments, including the aforementioned The Witcher (2007), The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (2011), Dark Souls (2011), and, of course, Diablo III (2012).
It is notable how Dark Souls (2011) is another game which features a groundbreaking action combat gameplay in an RPG, set in a somber atmosphere, and that has had a quite significant impact on the video games industry. Even though Diablo (1997) and Dark Souls (2011) have quite different gameplays, as Diablo (1997) is an isometric action RPG and Dark Souls (2011) is a third person action RPG, both of these games belong to the action RPG sub-genre and both of these games were groundbreaking to the RPG genre and to the video games industry, both of these games feature a somber atmosphere and both of these games have a legion of dedicated, hardcore fans. It is quite interesting the effect that a game can have when it experiments with new gameplay elements and when it features some kind of atmosphere that is largely different than that of most of the other games. This result can also be observed in the case of the Silent Hill video games, which instead of relying solely on scary enemies like in most horror games, instead featured a menacing, mysterious fog.
In What Order to Play the Diablo Games?
Diablo video games can be played in any order, because the story of each game is self-contained, meaning that you do not need to have played previous games to be able to understand the story of a specific game. However, the Diablo games are set in the same world and continuity, and for this reason, for RPG players and fans who want to have the most comprehensive story experience, as well as experiencing the most they can from the lore of the Diablo games world as well as the backstory of each game, it is suggested to play the Diablo video games in story order. In this list, I wrote this chronological story order.
The Story Timeline Order of the Diablo Video Games
This is the story timeline order of the Diablo video games. In other words, this is the chronological order of the story events that happen in each of the Diablo games. Playing these games in this order is suggested for players who want to have the most comprehensive story experience possible by playing the Diablo video games. Playing these games in this order is certainly going to improve the story experience and allow players to learn as much as possible from the backstory of the Diablo games world, as well as the multiple events across different games and the order in which they happen. It is important to note that this chronological story order of Diablo games is very different from the chronological order of release date of the Diablo games.
Diablo
Diablo II | Diablo II: Resurrected
Diablo Immortal
Diablo III
Diablo IV
Diablo II: Resurrected is a remastered version of Diablo II (2000). Even though Diablo II: Resurrected improves the gameplay and makes different changes to the original Diablo II video game, the storyline remains intact. For this reason, considering that both of these games, or versions, tell the same core story, it is reasonable to suggest to playing either of them for the same story experience in the Diablo chronological story order.
The Story Timeline Order of the Campaigns of the Diablo Video Games and Expansions
This is the chronological story order of the different campaigns and acts across different Diablo games and expansions. Quite often, an expansion to a Diablo games adds more story content. For example, Diablo: Hellfire, which is an expansion to Diablo (1997), adds a new storyline. Diablo II: Lord of Desctruction adds one more act to Diablo II (2000). Generally, story-wise, it is recommended to play the story content of the base game first, and then play the story content of the expansion, for the best story experience.
Diablo
Diablo: Hellfire
Diablo II | Diablo II: Resurrected
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction | Diablo II: Resurrected
Diablo Immortal
Diablo III
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls
Diablo IV
If you are interested in the story timeline order of RPG video games, you may also be interested in checking out the story timeline orders of Dungeons & Dragons, Final Fantasy, The Elder Scrolls and The Witcher.
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