I wrote many times in the past what Diablo 4 needs in order to be accepted well by each and every group of players.
Hades proved that this is indeed the right philosophy regarding aRPGs - it achieved the stunning 98% positive reviews from more than 40k total instantly becoming a classic on Steam. Hades embraced an “easy to learn, difficult to master” concept and the players loved it.
For those of you that haven’t played Hades here is a screenshot that shows its type of simple itemization which however opens very interesting min/maxing options:
There are 5 skills you can improve with the items you find - Attack, Special (2nd type of attack), Cast (spell-like skill), Dash (movement), Call (charging skill).
As you can see from the picture above, the item that’s just found forces the player with a choice between improving his Special skill, his Dash skill or his overall defense. Two options are in blue (rare version of the item) and one in purple (epic version) with epics (and other higher tiers) having better stats than rares (and lower tiers). Items could also be leveled up with other game mechanics - this again improves their stats. And the Math is such a young kid could understand. Simple and beautiful yet forcing the player to make important decisions - do I want more damage on my offensive skills or I want more defense. In different situations all 3 of the presented options would be viable and optimal.
Hades manages to easily attract the new players, but also the hardcore gamers who want to experience every gameplay mechanic and combo. The game is an unpolished gem - it could be much improved on with better randomization, more mob types and areas, new mechanics etc, but at the same time it’s fully worth its price atm. I’d recommend it to every player that loves Greater Rifts and pushing in Diablo 3.
Hades has sold like 1-2 million copies?
That is not bad, but hardly means it got universal lessons for everyone.
Honestly, as someone who really liked SuperGiants first games (Bastion and Transistor), Hades feel like a step down. Not a bad game, but less unique and atmospheric than their previous games.
A lot of the sales were before it even released. I bought it solely based on the developer behind it, long before anyone knew if it would be good (I guess it reminds of D3 in one way at least). Well, also, you could buy it for nearly nothing some months ago.
Also, Hades is not an A-RPG. It is a rogue-lite.
I can recommend the game too. Though I can recommend Bastion a lot more.
And I think Diablo can learn close to nothing from it.
I mean, Diablo 4 should have tactical combat. But that is a lesson that should easily be learned from many games. I wouldn’t really call Hades combat particularly tactical either. It has more twitchy gameplay.
I surely hope D4 got much, much more tactical combat than that.
Rogue-lites is a very narrow type of game. An extremely successful type of game these days, within its audience. But cant really conclude that it has managed to reach mass appeal (not that it is a particularly positive thing to reach mass appeal, as I guess Vargg hinted at).
It comes from a beloved game studio, and many people who wouldnt normally like the genre, probably bought it based on the name alone. But still, other rogue-likes/lites have sold millions as well, and have also had glowing reviews.
Not at all like them (action combat vs. turn-based vs. card game). Except the rogue-like/lite elements of perma-death and randomized runs of course.
But if you like the genre, yeah, definitely give it a try.
I really liked Slay the Spire. Kinda disliked Darkest Dungeon.
I guess it is somewhat more like Rogue Legacy. I really liked that game as well.
Also more like Dead Cells. Pretty good game, but yet another one I didnt like much. For some reason these games feel a bit hit or miss. Might just be random, based on when you experience them, the mood you are in at the time etc.
Anyway, as the aforementioned, highly regarded games should indicate, making a succesful Rogue-like/lite these days, is fairly common.
Heck, while writing this I was reminded of a few more; Spelunky, which just has a sequel, and Binding of Isaac too.
Won’t judge a game I know pretty much nothing about, but at first sight, both the icons and letter typography being the same of PoE give me bad vibes of lazyness.
Yeah, controls mean a lot to me, too. That game looks really twitchy. Looks interesting for sure, but I don’t think I can get past the twitch based movement or the controls.
Except for the tiny detail it isn’t an A-RPG I guess. Or is Call of Duty also offering tips on the future of A-RPGs?
That said, yeah, Hades do have some lessons Diablo 4 could learn. Like it is okay if the player is not in full control. Creating a random journey, where you have to get the best out of a bad situation can be good.
It is also a good example of someone going all in on creating a narrow game, and doing it well. Instead of attempting to please everyone.
Likewise, a good example of people liking challenging games.
But that is also about it. Gameplay wise it is so far away from Diablo, that there is not much to learn.
Hades is the game D4 can learn the most from. There isn’t currently any aRPG that can serve for better lesson since D4 already has its solid foundation. D4 however is missing some crucial things Hades isn’t. Those who know what to look for will see them, those who don’t can play some CoD.
