The OG iso-dungeon crawler! This game is a must have for any 90s RPG player! Nothing plays quite like the original!

Honestly, considering the fact that this game is a year older than me (so it's basically an ancient fossil), I had more fun with it than I thought I would, but it still isn't really that outstanding of an experience in 2025. I have basically no incentive to distrust anyone that tells me this game was a game changer back when it was released. Ignoring the fact that it basically pioneered an entire new genre of game into existence, almost three decades after its release Diablo still oozes its oppressive atmosphere every second that you're playing it. From the downright demented soundtrack that only shows glimpses of levity in the hub town to the fact that you never see a single ray of sunshine, Diablo is dark, bleak, and haunting even to this day. On the gameplay side of things, a lot of this game really doesn't feel that great to play. Left-clicking on enemies a bunch while hopefully having a door to funnel them through is about the extent of gameplay variety. And the few spells that I did manage to cast with my warrior character really didn't feel all that satisfying to cast. Hell, I don't even know if I hit anything with them. Again, keep in mind that I'm saying these things in the context of an almost 30-year-old game, but you can just feel that Diablo was made in an era of games where difficulty was used to prop up the runtime. From rooms where every single square spawns an archer to the spam fest of blood knights in the final few levels, Diablo shows the player no mercy. Even if they get softlocked, the game might as well just respond with, "Too bad, time to start a new character and do all of that all over again." And while I may respect the game with all my heart, that doesn't change the fact that I didn't have a particularly good time with it, which is the basis for all of my reviews.

(As for some reason Metacritic cannot rate PlayStation 1 version this is a review of PS1 version. Sorry!) Couch-co-op dungeon crawling will always feel like magic.I’m not a big fan of hack & slash games, but I’ve always loved the first Diablo and playing it cooperatively on a single console. Strangely, you can play Diablo 1, 3, and 4 in couch co-op — but not Diablo 2. And for some reason, the PlayStation version of Diablo 1 has never been properly re-released. Which is a shame, because it’s a genuinely good ****, the interface is slow, and the framerate tanks when you open the map. And yes, you should ideally use a controller that emulates analog movement. But at its core, this is still the original Diablo: the horror, the atmosphere, the action built on top of proto-turn-based logic, the foundation of the **** PS1 version adds its own flavor: new visual effects, different pacing due to controller limitations, a unique co-op feel, and a quirky save system that lets you store your character and campaign separately (and exploit it if you want to). It has aged, mostly in terms of technical quality and quality-of-life features. But in story, music, and raw gameplay feel, I still consider it the best version of Diablo — and, alongside a few PC mods, the most interesting way to experience the game today.