You were no hero, you were no bullshit nephalim. you were an unnamed adventurer who didn't know what he was messing with, you were seeking treasures(rogue), arcane knowledge(sorcerer) or raw glory(warrior). you were fighting a hopeless crusade against an evil that can not be vanquished. this is the diablo I know, and will always prefer to know.
Yea, you don't even win at the end of D1. You got a fucking soulstone hammered into your forehead, doomed to carry Diablo inside you for eternity (or until you fail and release Diablo upon the world again...)
The sense of being a little desperate and there being something terrifying just outside your little circle of light... or behind the door... always ready to flee at a moment's notice. Walking into a room and seeing where some unfortunate souls met a gruesome end. Honestly I think half of it was the music - the weird noises that sound like wailing, or to quote lord of the rings, "drums... in the deep..." sort of thing. The music from D3 does not capture the same feeling.
Diablo 1 is arguably the best of the Diablo series, mainly because of the soundtrack and sound effects the enemies make when they die. Little demons have the funniest death cries ever. "BLLLEEHHHHHHHHH!!!"
I played a Demo of diablo in 1996 when i was 13. you Start of in that village and walk around...I didnt know a thing about the game back then. I thought its an adventure...I will never forget that Moment when i entered the church. that music....my character pulling his sword and telling me the sanctity of this place has been fouled. the First Skeleton clappering around (not those stupid voice sounds they have in d3)....it was pure Horror...but i couldnt get my hands of it anymore. Best game ever.
I let my cousin play it back in 1997 at night, I am sitting beside her. She was so scared. after she venture into level 2. I touches her hand, it was cold. 😂
@@EventCrimson well, life isn't a quick quest like the golden bird. More like the search for Tal Rashas Tomb ... ongoing, stressing but many things come around.
2:17 that skeleton laughing like sounds in the background man, tracks on this game are marvelous... when I was a child I played a lot of diablo with my brother; always having nightmares with this game but that was an awesome feeling; being drown together in the atmnosphere and story of this game... I miss that times
I remember the 12 me playing alone and in full darkness with this soundtrack for the first time. I am 38 and still gives me chills lol. the following Diablos were a joke, the first one is so dark, pure perfection.
True, but I think different expectations and the more PC mass appeal culture has forever changed gaming. They just dont make games like this anymore its a different market. You need little kids to buy them now
This song is absolutely brilliant. It perfectly captures the atmosphere of taking those first few steps into the dungeon, the feeling you get of being in the place, then at 0:30 is when you have your first encounter with a dark creature... the atmosphere becomes hostile... then at 0:40, battle ensues. The song seems to lead you through an experience every step of the way.
That’s because D3 seems to be more of an action game than horror. Sure the darkness element is there and the demons look impressive but sometimes you find out about them beforehand. In the first two games, other than the 3 Prime Evils, you didn’t know for sure what you were in for so sometimes you could get surprised whenever a new boss appeared.
I remember going from the catacombs into the caves and the music changed, the hairs all stood up on the back of my neck and I got flashbacks of my first encounter with the Butcher (it didn't go well).
Yea it really exemplifies the theme of "spiritual war" thats in the game. It gives humanity a theme in the track that gets to represent the hero saving the cathedral. While heroic it is still uncanny and unsettling as the tension isnt resolved until the music loops and the dark tones take control again (the spiritual war)
A friend of mine and I used to play Diablo modem-to-modem so much, and for so long that a couple times even after we stopped, we were both still hearing this music and the death sounds of a couple of the demons. Never experienced that audio illusion effect before.
The drumming starting at 2:45 is absolutely genius. The drumming is deliberately out of beat and out of sync. It brings images of skeletons and zombies limping towards me in a naturally perverse, sickly and deformed way. The "windy" voices in the beginning is also genius. Its as if it strips the clothes of you and places you in the entrance to a dark deep and dingy catacomb where one doesn't know what lies beneath. Frightening.
Dejan Popovic Damn that's exactly what I always thought as a kid. The weird drum/clap beat makes me think of a bunch of skeletons getting ready to rip my ass apart.
+Dejan Popovic I think it's a simple time signature with a very syncopated beat, but I think it is in time i.e. if I was to turn on a metronome, there is a pattern to it.
That's a hard one for me. Diablo II fixed a lot of the issues that plagued Diablo I, and improved the portion that made it genre-defining. But just by hearing and seeing Diablo I, you know that they put their hearts and souls to make this game as visceral and disturbing as they could. Diablo II, gameplay-wise, is better, but Diablo I is all about atmosphere, and it fucking delivers.
Nothing against 2 or 3, but nothing will beat the soundtrack or sound effects this game had for it’s time. I still remember how old I was when I first saw it. 8 years old, my mother played it nonstop and I’ll say this that even though that I didn’t get to play until I was ten I enjoyed watching. The catch was that the music(all of it) can give you nightmares unless you have a steel spine which I wasn’t that brave at that time. The dungeon music is really impressive because at one part it changes key and you hear that choir in the background. Considering that you’re in a desecrated church this game, that just adds to the experience.
She’s doesn’t play it much anymore but she’s the reason why I got into horror in general whether that means video games or movies. That’s what I loved about DOOM and Halo. Both had elements of suspense and if you didn’t keep your guard up you’d get your butt kicked. I’m not saying Diablo 1 is the best, Diablo 2 takes that, but as far as the audio goes it’s freaking awesome.
This music truly does take you on a journey. Absolutely horrific, terrifying, eerie, and haunting. From the random screams to the bone-rattling sounds, it really does sound like a place that is cursed. The imagery I get is if you closed your eyes in the pit of such a place that Diablo 1 takes place in, that it would sound just like that.
I was 8 or 9 years old when I played this game. Everytime I entered the church, I would be so terrified of the darkness, the music, the sudden appearence of the skeletons... man.... killing those skeletons felt like intense boss battles every time.
This music always made it intense to walk around in lol. I always had some kind of feeling like I was being followed and hated to find out what was behind a door. Creepy but awesome!
Still gives me the chills!! Would be sick if it would somehow be possible to get the feeling back, which we had when we were 10 years old playing this game and almost shat our pants listening to this song and encountered the first enemies. Greatness!
Oh yea!!! I remember when I used to play this game all by myself when I was young. Man, this music gave me the creeps since I didn't know what type (or types) of enemies I was about to face. Probably one of the greatest RPG games I have ever played! To bad that it was plagued by hackers and cheaters later on :(
The very best soundtrack of any of the Diablo franchise, nothing has even come close to this powerful and extremely creative collection of music. Extremely dark, at times very sinister. But beautiful and moving as well. Its the only game I know of, that I bought a cheap cd of long after having lost track of the original, just to be able to hear the soundtrack.
"Hey! You that one that kill all! You get me magic banner or we attack! You no leave with Life! You kill big uglies and give back magic. Go past corner and door. Find uglies. You give, you go!"
This music combined when you entered King Leoric at stage 3..... "The warmth of life has entered my tomb! Prepare yourself MORTAL !!!! To server my master for eternity ! Muahaahahhahaa!
Chris Toufexidis i was 18 when i played this game again i had the king leoric quest I thought I can handle it because I was playing this game after very long time I don't even remember the boss I enter the tome listens to dialogue and *proceeds* i was like nothing can surprise me then i see a 15ft gaint skeleton with his 10ft long sword running faster than my character i was able exit the tome because of the distance it had from me even after i got out I kept running and later open a town portal at a safe place
The best game soundtracks feature music that have a narrative just as strong as the narrative you're playing through in the game. The music compliments and builds on the game action in a way that it creates an integrated experience. Diablo had that, Diablo 2 had that...Diablo 3? I can't even remember one track from that game.
this game gave me nightmares because I played it at night in a dark room also it had a strong plot: "Archbishop Lazarus betrayed Christianity and stole King Leoric's son so he can create Diablo using a strange diamond. King Leoric went himself to get his son but he was trapped and transformed into a giant skeleton." How creepy can you get with the story line, sorry for the spoiler :)
You forgot the part where they sacrifice the child. Things like that just doesn't happen in todays games.. if you get a quest to "Save Leoric's son" you always succeed. In this game, you go into the dungeon and find the child on an altar with blood everywhere, lol.
@giveagoodsong That just makes this 10x even more immersive then it already was, which is something most devs nowadays seem to have forgotten. A pity. A good story doesn't always have to tell everything to the audience from the get go, or even towards the end. Leaving a few things to mistery just adds that much more magic to the tale.
yeah I totally agree. most people dont realize how much sound & music plays in setting the mood & atmosphere like you said. i'm 23 and i still feel spooky when i first walk into the cathedral dungeon
As an older gamer (old enough to barely remember playing an Atari 2600 as a child) I wonder if the effort that went into the soundtracks of these late 90s games was in part to make up for the lack of graphics, in the same way the cover art on the cartridges and manuals of the ancient 2600 games was there to make up for the lack of graphics too - there to lead us to using our imagination to fill in for what the graphics of the day were incapable of doing. That is to say - we will not find soundtracks like this in games anymore.
When I was playing through the game, I always thought 2:45 and on was a completely different song that the game would play if it detected if you were in combat... it came in at such opportune moments that I never thought it was built into the soundtrack.
Truly, this part of Diablo Saga have best atmosfphere, which even best part of the saga (II) actually don't have it. When i was played first time, i was really scaried. Still, i i have 32 years old, and when i have installed diablo i (with bezlebub mode), i still fhritened before entering to Butcher's Hole. Music of Matt Ulemen from 1th part are masterpiece, each of tracks.
I had played a lot of Dark Alliance when I was young, and could never find a game quite like it. One day I was helping a friend move out and I found a Diablo manual. I could have kept it because my friend at this point was trying to get rid of everything. But not knowing much about Diablo other than it was old and loved by money (although I didn't know why) I threw it away and remembered to research the game when I got home that day. I got the game and loved every minute of it. 2:00 was my hook.
God I still love this game even today. The second you step into the dungeons for the first time and this music plays, you feel a weight of atomosphere that Diablo 3 just doesn't capture, despite being enjoyable in its own right.
GEV: I agree with you totally. I have been playing this game for about fifteen years and it is as thrilling now as it ever was. The music is so atmospheric and appropriate too.
This track playing after entering the church for the first time absolutely petrified me with fear. It evokes this sense of otherworldly, haunting, dread that had me running to my dad to come help me with the, "scary game." 😂
