By far the most surreal thing I did today was play the original 1996 Diablo in a browser on my crappy work laptop that decidedly isn't built for gaming.
I remember very clearly being 11-years-old and having to go to a nearby friend's house to play Diablo because the actual gaming PC I had access to at home wasn't powerful enough to run the game. Now I'm playing it on a gosh dang browser and I've never felt so old in my entire life.
It's true, Diablo is a browser game now, folks. Thanks to the evil geniuses at devilution team and source code reconstructed by GalaXyHaXz, you can now boot up this timeless classic right from your internet browser by heading to this link and choosing whether to import your existing save file or play the free shareware version.
Someone did a source port of the first Diablo making it completely playable from a browser! pic.twitter.com/TJ0MBAdkqhAugust 13, 2024
It's hard to admit this, but Diablo 2 is pretty much a better game in every quantifiable way, especially with Diablo 2 Resurrected, but Diablo 1's atmosphere is in a league of its own. Wandering around Tristram, dimly lot by perpetual moonlight, taking in that haunting but also weirdly calming arpeggiated guitar, is a core memory I'm always delighted to revisit.
I'm also wholly convinced I'm not just talking with nostalgia goggles on; I legitimately think the atmosphere of Diablo 1 is one of the most unique and immersive in the entire gaming format. If you weren't around during its heyday, do yourself a favor and give it a whirl just for the vibes, and if you remember it as fondly as I do, well, stay a while and listen.
Snapping back to the present, Diablo 4 Season 5 is kicking up some deliciously broken loot and I can hear the demons shrieking out in terror from here.
