Aoki Haruhi had actually already made improved designs for Diablo I.
In the original Diablo I, there were no skill trees; every character could learn skills through spellbooks.
However, these spellbooks were basically prepared for the Sorcerer; the Warrior and Rogue could not unleash their full power, and the magic they could wield was also quite limited.
Although there were many skills in the game, most of them had little practical value and were barely usable just for fun.
Therefore, in this version, Aoki Haruhi directly added a skill tree system to Diablo I.
At the same time, he improved many pieces of equipment, especially the set item functionality.
Players could freely mix and match, utilizing equipment and skills to build their own playstyles.
For example, the Warrior's "parkour" build, the Sorcerer's "kiting" build, the "one-shot" build, and so on...
This set of skills and equipment configurations was equivalent to setting up various different chemical elements within the game.
As long as you studied it carefully, you would discover the subtle chemical reactions between them.
This is also the most fascinating aspect of Diablo.
Furthermore, to enhance the user experience, Pokeni invested a great deal of effort into creating an outfit-changing feature.
The only trade-off was that the scene assets and the total number of equipment items in Diablo I had to be reduced.
After descending to the fourth floor of the Labyrinth and pulling the lever, a blue magic portal appeared in the dungeon.
For some reason, the eerie blue light felt so out of place against the gloomy, dark tones of the dungeon and the bloodstains on the ground, as if the color blue itself were more dangerous.
Hirozawa Furukawa's heart skipped a beat for no reason.
He replenished his health and then walked into the blue magic portal.
Boom! The door slammed shut.
The loud noise startled Hirozawa Furukawa, and he almost dropped the controller in his hands.
The image on the TV screen switched, revealing a cold and eerie wall. Massive chains hung down on either side. On the wall, there was the shadow of a terrifying monster.
The scene cuts back. Standing in a massive room is a gigantic monster.
He is holding a huge meat cleaver in his hand, with a hulking body and two horns growing on either side of his head.
His name is [The Butcher].
Before Furukawa can even react, this big guy charges straight at him.
His health bar instantly drops from full to empty.
"Ah! Yabai, yabai."
Furukawa hurriedly tries to heal while running away.
I have to say, the sense of oppression from the boss is really intense.
Especially for a boss in this kind of top-down real-time combat game.
If you're not careful for even a second, you could get killed.
Hirozawa Furukawa has already died many times before.
He's even developed a bit of a stress response to it now.
So, he quickly brings out his professional skills and starts kiting The Butcher around the walls.
After running for a bit, he gets cornered into a dead end.
Just as he fires off two bolts of lightning, The Butcher arrives right in front of him.
Hahaha...
The Butcher swings his cleaver, cutting him down as easily as chopping vegetables.
With a single scream, Hirozawa Furukawa collapses into a pool of blood.
Nani?!
He froze for a moment, as if he hadn't yet realized what had happened.
Or perhaps, even though he had realized it, he still couldn't believe it was actually true.
After two seconds, his right hand suddenly trembled.
Damn it!!
No wonder it's a BOSS, right?
Is it really this strong?
But after entering the next level, Hirozawa Furukawa realized one thing—
The BOSS is not the most terrifying thing in this game.
What's most infuriating are those elite monsters with suffix modifiers.
If you run into puppies with a chain modifier...
You might just get scorched twice by their group, and your soul will have already departed this world.
Hirozawa Furukawa gasped...
This...
Do you have to be like this?
Is the game's producer out of their mind?
Even the minor mobs are this strong?
Doesn't the BOSS need some face?!
Dying to a BOSS is one thing, but dying to a minor mob? Can I, Hirozawa Furukawa, master of video games, even show my face anywhere anymore?
It wasn't even this hard when I played Ninja Gaiden.
There was no other way; Furukawa had to return to the previous level to farm the Butcher.
The gear this guy drops has a high probability of being golden, and he even drops set items and such.
Although the level isn't very high, if I want to get far, I have to farm him more to upgrade my equipment.
When he reached the second boss, [The Frail Skeleton King] Leoric.
He checked the time; it was already past 4 PM.
What? It had actually been over three hours.
It felt like he hadn't been playing for very long.
Plus, he hadn't even eaten lunch yet. Hirozawa Furukawa rubbed his empty stomach and went to the kitchen to make a bowl of instant noodles.
After finishing his food, he continued the game.
At least there was still plenty of time; this game wouldn't take a huge amount of time to beat, would it?
Hirozawa thought to himself.
By the time he fought the sixth boss, the Succubus.
It was already past 10 PM.
Just one more level, and then I'll sleep.
Hirozawa thought to himself.
What?
It's dawn already?!
Hirozawa Furukawa raised his head, looking at the daylight outside with bleary eyes.
Oh no!
I have to work today.
Even though he had pulled an all-nighter, Hirozawa's brain was still buzzing with excitement.
During work, he even managed to slack off and plan out his gear and skill build.
Hmm.
With this skill combination, a kiting build should be really strong.
Or maybe, should I go for a high-burst build to one-shot monsters?
The mere thought of getting swarmed and killed by mobs made Hirozawa Furukawa frown.
The game continued into the night.
After defeating layers of enemies and obtaining the best available gear, Hirozawa Furukawa arrived at the entrance to the 16th level of Hell.
Beyond this point, he was about to face the final boss of the game—
Diablo.
At the mere thought of this, his hands couldn't help but tremble.
Had he finally reached this step?
Unlike previous games developed by Pokeni, Diablo featured many side quests in addition to the main storyline.
Only by completing these quests and piecing together the information conveyed by NPCs could you assemble the complete story.
The character he played was a nameless warrior who had come to Tristram.
He had dealt with the local demon, The Butcher, and defeated the fallen angel Izual, who had been corrupted after being defeated in the Eternal Conflict.
The savior ventured even deeper into the catacombs, slaying Archbishop Lazarus and the Skeleton King.
Leoric, the Skeleton King, was once a great knight and king in life, but he was corrupted by Diablo and turned into the cruel "Black King."
Even after death, he found no peace, enslaved by Diablo to guard the entrance to Hell as the Skeleton King.
Leoric's daughter, Princess Leora, had been lured deep underground by the Archbishop.
This became his eternal regret.
Even as the Skeleton King, he still stood within the labyrinth, calling out his daughter's name.
Witnessing this, Hirozawa Furukawa felt an indescribable sense of sorrow.
The hero promised Leoric's corpse that he would find his daughter, but in truth, Princess Leora's body had already been possessed by Diablo.
Now, it was time to defeat the demon, Diablo.
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