Posted December 01, 2015
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Unfortunately none of these titles are described in any way as Diablo-clones or Diablo-likes. The description on Darkstone, which has been mentioned in this thread as a Diablo-clone, does list one of it's features as "four difficulty levels that use the well-known Diablo-style formula of each level being the possibility of further progression for you character". I literally have no idea what that means so I wouldn't otherwise know if this were a Diablo-clone or not.
I guess this is more a question to the larger gaming media as a whole and not so much to you or my fellow GOGgers, but if Roguelike can be it's own genre then why can't we have a Diablolike catagory as well? That would make things easier.
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That's not to say that all ARPGs that use the Diablos' visual perspective are "Diablo clones", though. [i]Inquisitor, for example, has been mentioned, but from what I've heard from those who've played it extensively, it wouldn't qualify as a "Diablo-like", since it has a heavy focus on investigation and story. Likewise, from what little I've played of it to date, Divine Divinity is about as close to a "real" RPG as it is to the "hack 'n' loot" games we've talked about here, yet it is very similar, in visuals and in general interface, to Diablo. Still, worth taking into consideration.
Personally, I prefer terms like "hack 'n' loot" to Diablo clone, as the former is a little more inclusive, while the latter is only truly useful for describing straight-up imitations.
What really separates an action-rpg like jade empire and a diablo clone like titan quest is that there are 3 things-
Titan Quest doesnt have a story while jade empire does
Titan Quest has random item qualities and drops-jade empire has set locations
Titan Quest has choices in statistics and weapon-Jade empire has choices in how they want things to happen and how they are affected by the characters actions
As JIrenicus said- "You live, you affect your world..."
You might even be able to say Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim Fout3 and 4 are all somewhat clones. No problem solving, No story, just hack and slash and leveling up. Sure there are factions but you its really just hack and slash with a few tidbits.
I will say this though, so far they are all good if that is what you are in the mood for ;)