Are Mythos/Torchlight the reason for the new art direction of Diablo 3?

By on February 18, 2011

Ah, Diablo. This is a game that most of us either love, or hate. It’s a franchise that’s been with us since 1996 and as with almost all of Brizzard’s games, it always keeps us interested to it. There was a lot buzz about the new art direction of its third part. Instead of the gothic and dark mood of its first, early version that was similar to both Diablo 1’s and 2’s art, the latest build seems more colorful. Hold that thought for a second and let’s move on.

According to Eurogamer, the Diablo 3 team seems to love Torchlight. Torchlight is a hack n slash action game from Runic Games, was released in October 2009 for the PC and made a huge impact to the entire gaming industry. It was successful because it was fun, it had some nice ideas from Travis Baldree’s previous game, Fate, it was colorful and pretty ‘easy’ to the eyes.

Now let’s summarize. Diablo 3 will look colorful and the team loves Torchlight that is, as well, colorful. Ring any bells? It is sad for all Diablo fans that Blizzard decided to abandon the dark mood of that early build. What saddens us even more however, is the blend between Diablo’s and Torchlight’s art direction. It could be possible that Torchlight’s success influenced Diablo 3’s team. Of course someone might say that Torchlight was released in 2009 and the early build of Diablo 3 was canned in 2006-2007. But then again, there were already games with Torchlight’s similar art, like Mythos that was also developed by Runic Games.

Are Mythos and Torchlight the reason for Diablo 3’s new art direction? Only Blizzard knows. We can only hope that Diablo 3 will be at least a better game than both Mythos and Torchlight!

About David Scarpitta

I am a critical guy, and love to review and give my professional opinion on just about anything. Though have a love for tech/gaming and music alongside the cinema. You can catch me consulting and developing the net any day of the week.