With the recent rumors of a potential Netflix Diablo series in the works, many have been wondering what exactly a series based on the game franchise might look like. Assuming the show would be an animated series rather than live-action, we actually might already have a good idea of what a Diablo show could look like thanks to the 2012 short, Diablo III: Wrath.
Valor Shall Turn to Wrath
Wrath was released shortly before the launch of Diablo III and used as an introduction to some of the new faces players were about to encounter in the game. Anyone who hadn't read the novels would have never heard of Auriel, Itherael, Imperius, or Malthael, and this animated short gave some quick insights into the characters and their motivations. This short also served as a back drop to the beginnings of the Prophecy of the End of Days that foretold many of the events of Diablo III.
Wrath itself takes place at some point thousands of years in the past during the Eternal Conflict. The forces of Heaven are assaulting the Pandemonium Fortress that is currently held by the minions of Hell. Little did the Angiris Council realize that they had fallen into a trapped laid by the Prime Evils to try and break the unity of the Council by preying upon Imperius' rage and cause him to fall to wrath. This was a perfect way to introduce new characters, personalities, and motivations. Blizzard has since gone on to frequently use non-game media like comics, shorts and more for storytelling purposes throughout their game properties, most notably for Overwatch, a game in which the narrative is told almost entirely in out-of-game fiction.
What's Next?
I don't expect Blizzard to shy away from storytelling within the game and completely following Overwatch's model, but the rumored Diablo series could very much be a way to take an expanded look at the history of the universe. Whether it takes place during the Eternal Conflict, the Sin War, the creation of Sanctuary, or even as the Hunt for the Three, it could give potential insight as to where Blizzard will be taking the story for the future of the franchise. I don't expect it to fill the gap between Reaper of Souls and what comes next, but to be used more as an introduction to characters or events that will be utilized in the future, much like how Wrath or the Overwatch shorts are used. We could then make some guesses as to where the future will go for Diablo IV or any of the announced multiple projects may be. Finally, I would also expect this to be more of a mini-series than an actual fully fledged show, this would be setting the stage for next part in the storyline rather than being an actual entry in the main story itself.
Of course, it's always possible the show could be a loose adaptation of previous game storylines themselves, much like the Netflix Castlevania animated series which is soon to be in its second season. Or this rumor might simply be just that — a rumor, and there's no show to look forward to at all. Regardless, it's still fun to think about what a Diablo Netflix series could look like. If it turned out to be anything like Diablo III: Wrath, fans would be in for a real treat.
Neinball (@NeinballGamer) is a content creator for Diablo Fans and a horadrim in training. Whether he's relaxing on Zegema Beach, fighting servants of the Corpse-God in the 41st millennium, or quelling Rebellions in the Outer Rim, his passion always brings him back to slaying Demons in Sanctuary.
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Posted Sep 12, 2018I don't have much faith it'll turn out well. Chris Metzen was the brains behind most of the lore, and hes retired now.
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Posted Sep 12, 2018D2 had a "setting" where Diablo and the forces of hell are overrunning the mortal world, and an Angel helps us mortals to stop evil from destroying the world.
All the Books and "Lore" were created after D2LOD.
Metzen is from Blizzzard South, Diablo and Diablo 2 are from Blizzard North.
Blizzard south was tasked with creating cinematic material for the diablo games, that's it.
Realizing of how awesome D1 and especially D2LOD is, Blizzard South immediately started to clinch their paws around the franchise, and are ultimately responsible for Blizzard North closing, by imposing ridiculous demands and trying to dictate things.
D3 has nothing to do with D1 and D2, because D3 was designed by Blizzard South, and Blizzard South has never created an ARPG before, let alone an ARPG of the caliber of D2LOD.
Personally I am glad that Metzen is gone, because "Lore" in D3, is what nearly destroyed the franchise with D3 Vanilla, and is also responsible for all the ridiculous design decisions that harmed D3 tremendously. D3 vanilla was designed around "Lore" and that Lore was forced upon the player, and to make it all worse, the story of D3 is truly pathetic. That being said, there are people out there that like a vast and expansive Background lore, but in D3, it was at the cost of the other 95% of the playerbase that didn't receive a proper D2LOD successor, because of the oppressive and bad "Lore".
IMO Diablo games dont need a oppressive and massively complex "Lore" like "The Lord of the Rings" etc. What Diablo games NEED is a strong Gothic Medieval Hopeless Setting, where the courageous mortal adventurer dares to cleanse the world of evil. Occasional Quest involvement of an Angel adds to this setting, but D3 beat you over the head with angels and borderline retarded "Demons". It was and is to much! Diablo needs to focus around a insanely deep and elaborated Itemization. character development, and vastness of world to adventure in. This is what Diablo needs! D3 failed at all of this, by going into all the wrong directions while lacking severely in all the areas that actually matter in a Diablo game. This is because Blizzard-South knows nothing about the "Diablo Franchise" apart from owning the franchise itself. They are like Outside-Observers that interpret Diablo, rather than actually being the original creators.
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Posted Sep 12, 2018While most of your information is pretty accurate, I don't think you realize how much Metzen was involved with the story development of the entire franchise.
Metzen was involved with, and one of the major driving forces of, the story from the very beginning. He and Bill Roper were credited with much of the writing of the original game as well as the background in the manual (which contained the majority of the story of the game). He was also a pretty big factor in story for D2 (both the cinematic script and the ingame story direction, which as you said had a bit of a rift between Blizz North and Blizzard) and even moreso for LoD.
The design, art, music, gameplay, etc. were all very much driven by Blizz North with a little help in testing and suggestions from Blizzard, but a huge amount of the story, lore, and setting was directly developed by Metzen. That being said Metzen actually less direct involvement with the story of D3 than he had in the previous games, that being story director and only writing the scripts for the cinematics. While the overall narrative went in the direction he wanted, the ingame story, dialogue, and scripts were written and edited by others. So, take from that what you will.
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Posted Sep 12, 2018I like the story and characters, and I don't think the story was bad, however, the way it was handled in game left much to be desired: many characters were used as quest exposition vehicles, rather than given more character development (cough, Leah) and Belial was.....not clever at all? Despite being a mastermind and the lord of lies? Most of the dialogue was achingly bad, especially from the demon lords. There were a lot of great characters and a lot of fun lore exploration, fun items with flavor text, and interesting references to other pivotal characters, but they ruined an interesting story with VERY BAD cheesy-ass dialogue that still hurts me to listen to. Worse than World of Warcraft dungeon bosses, like...come on lol.
I actually didn't even care about Leah until after I read the book 'The Order' as it does a much better job making you love and feel for that character, and consequently, her fate becomes more painful.
D2 had a story of similar caliber, I wouldn't call it better, and I'd say that a lot of people have rose-tinted glasses for D2 (myself included but I digress lol) but because of how the story was handled in game, and how it was presented to us, it is much creepier because you aren't beaten over the head with bad dialogue. It was usually delivered in story chunks from characters, and then you'd go there and see the horror for yourself.
That said, the writing and direction/character development improved 3 fold in the D3 expansion, as Malthael was a much more scary villain than Diablo, Act V more interesting and better handled overall. I can only hope they have some great writers for their next project.
Also wasn't the netflix series dis-proven? Or is there new information?
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Posted Sep 12, 2018That's what I am saying. Metzen and Roper created the Manual and the in-game "story direction" and setting. No one was playing "The Manual", and the story in D2LOD did never beat you over the head, and you could literally skip the whole dialogues and still get the entire feel and mood of the Diablo world. The "Lore" in D2 was good not because of the "background story" but because it was voice-acted superbly, and it was just hinting at things, allowing players to fantasize their own story with the Diablo Guidelines provided in the dialogues.
Metzen himself voiced many times that in the final years he isn't so sure his Lore was all that good in retrospect in D3 and that Lore must be placed carefully and only where it is appropriate, rather than force it in every game.
Blizzard also admitted that in Diablo 3 it would have been better if they would allow people to skip the "Lore" entirely, and yet still allow players to "Feel" the world like it was done in D1 and D2. They said that D3's lore was initially very forced, and made a huge portion of the playerbase being heavily frustrated with the forced and un-skippable cut-scenes and poorly designed Lore-Encounters.
IMO Diablo games just like in D1 and D2, must focus on a very strong Setting and superb Itemization and Character development, before forcing heavy lore just for the sake of giving the "Lore-Department" something to do. D3 had so much Lore that was used to beat you over the head with it, but lacked and still lacks a proper deep itemization. Also Character Development and Level progression is hugely flawed, as leveling 1-70 is seen as a chore in D3, and paragon is nothing more than a Bot-Magnet. Last but not least the "World" is a joke in D3, as it consists of "Tunnels" only that are accessed by a "pillar" in town. D3 is pathetic in that regard, and they know it.