Stay a While and Listen

?In 1997, I got my first personal computer. An Intel Pentium I processor with no additional graphic cards or anything. Back then, it was easy to play games. No complicated PC building or estimating budgets. My computer was a flat case with a huge and heavy CRT monitor on top. It did come with a keyboard and mouse, which was nice.

I was in fifth grade and knew a little about PC video games from my friends. I had an OK understanding of how to install, run, and play video games despite the complications of computer keyboards, mice, and all Windows software in the 1990s.

As soon as they set up my computer, we turned it on, and it took like 5 minutes before we logged into Windows, which was an OK time to wait for the era. Now, all I had to do was go to the video game store and get some good video games. Little did I know that these choices would affect my entire life, especially my video game taste and choices till this day.

The very first CD-ROM I got in my hands was a game called Diablo. I had no idea what it was back then, and honestly, it did not look interesting either. There were some screenshots on the back, and it looked like it had to do something with dungeons and fighting evil, so I grabbed it. You gotta understand; this was a 13-year-old kid with no English and no internet trying to decide on a game from its cover picture and a couple of rumors from his friends. Then I grabbed the next thing my eyes caught. This dude with a sailor hat was facing a green monster. It looked intense. You guessed it, it was Warcraft II. I thought to myself since this is Warcraft II, there has to be a first one, and this had to be better than the first one, so this was a good pick as well. Since they made a second one, the first one must have shown some potential. There it was, me holding my very first PC video games, chosen by me, in a small plastic bag, on my way home, imagining what they are going to look like.

Let's start with Diablo. From the get-go, the menu sounds, models, the font and character selection - it was a moment of ''Oh my goodness, my friends have to see this''. Diablo was just incredible. The graphics, UI, sound effects, music, gameplay, and the story. Everything was so simple to understand and entertaining.

By entertaining, I mean it was scary. I was scared of my life. I couldn't play it at night, couldn't pass levels on my own. At some point, I couldn't even progress without a friend with me. Just the dungeon loading screens were enough to intimidate me. I can't forget those loading screens - dark dungeons with monsters jumping at you, running around trying to survive and facing my first-ever dungeon boss, the ''Butcher''. Him yelling ''Fresh Meat'', me screaming out loud and running. This was pure madness. I guess the problem was that I had no idea about the age rating of this game, and because of that, it probably entertained and scared me (maybe left a big psychological scar) more than it should, but I had to keep on playing. I would keep inviting my buddies from the neighborhood to keep on playing. I couldn't do it alone.

That is how we invented the co-op playing on one device, by a complete accident and adaptation to the situation. You see, if there was a friend with me, I would feel more confident and keep on playing, casually chatting. But that person would get bored eventually so we decided to play together. Taking turns didn't do it. We had to be involved together but how? That is when we decided to share game play hardware.

One of us would be the utility master, taking the keyboard. This person was to command potions, suggest navigation around the dungeons, decide on the main course while the other person would fight the monsters, loot things, stack the inventory. This worked so perfectly that we were enjoying it, taking turns and making the most out of it. It was a great experience that developers probably didn't intend to do. For this reason, I think I still enjoy multiplayer games more than I enjoy the single ones.

David Brevick’s video on youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huPF3Gid7DE&ab_channel=ArsTechnica) by ArsTechnica reveals that this game was originally designed on a turn-based mechanic. However, developers voted to make it real-time, and just like that, over a weekend, this game turned out to be one of the best ARPG games of all time, if not the best.

I mean if you are making a video game that is so easy to understand for a 13 year old with limited computer knowledge, it means you are doing something right. The UI was clean, the story was easy to follow, and the game play was so fluent that you just wanted to keep on grinding. Hats off the entire development team of Blizzard North.?

In the following years I played many Diablo series and still today, I have beta tested Diablo IV and can't wait for it to release in June. I think Diablo is one of the best games ever made, and had a huge impact on me (and my friends lol). This was truly a game that changed me, a game that made me the person I am today, and I am proud of that!?