Blizzard shocked the ARPG community last month with the surprise reveal of Diablo 2’s first new class in 25 years, leading to speculation that a whole new act could be on the way. However, according to former Diablo 2 lead character artist Phil Shenk, there’s “no way” that could happen.
In a recent interview with Path of Exile co-creator Chris Wilson, in which Shenk is joined by Diablo 2 programmer Peter Hu and designer Erich Schaefer, Shenk says just the idea of a new class is “a really big event,” but that “everybody wants an act.”
He continues, “I hadn’t even considered an act. Like, classes have become one way that ARPGs easily produce more content. Like, we’re doing a new class, right? So that’s kind of a common thing that people see, and even new act content, too.”
That said, a new act is a whole different beast, according to Shenk: “The thought of Diablo 2 getting a new act kind of blew my mind when you said that, because, I’ve always considered it as like, there’s no way you could ever do that. How would you retcon all the lore that’s happened since then? You know, where would it be? Would it be in a location that Diablo 3 or Diablo 4 has already fleshed out?”
Of course, Shenk knows a thing or two about Diablo 2 expansions, having served as art director on Lord of Destruction, which added two new classes and a fifth act to the original game. According to his LinkedIn, he left Blizzard in 2000 before the expansion’s launch the following year, which he now says caused him great pain.
“It was super, super bittersweet and painful when that came out, because I just felt like, man, I wish I could have been there for a part of it. I left voluntarily, but I still really had my heart in it, and maybe that’s where I made peace with, well, Diablo 2 is just going to be whatever it is.”
Ultimately, Shenk says he’s “anxious” to play Diablo 2’s new Reign of the Warlock DLC, even though he thinks it’s “really cool” to have “a new way to experience” the game he helped bring to life so many years ago. “I’m not a hardcore player though, so I’ll just be casually bopping through the world,” he admits.
Shenk, Wu, and Schaefer are now at Moon Beast Productions cooking up their own ARPG, Darkhaven, described as having “Diablo-like progression, skills, and itemization matched with open-ended, procedurally generated, dynamically responsive, sandbox worlds.” The game’s demo was one of the most-played at this year’s Steam Next Fest, even if GR’s Austin Wood didn’t exactly fall head over heels for it.
Ex-Diablo 2 leads have “tons of conflicted feelings” about going up against the iconic ARPG with their new indie competitor Darkhaven.
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