Top 17 Games Like Diablo, Ranked Good to Best

Updated:

23 Aug 2024

Loved playing Diablo? Here are the top 17 games like Diablo that you need to check out

Diablo is a popular action-adventure game developed by Blizzard North that was released in late 1996, in which players take control of a lone hero fighting hordes of demons in a war between Heaven and Hell. Though players manage their character traits and various equipment as in an RPG, all actions are performed in real time. Here are the top 17 games to play if you love Diablo.

17. The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing is an action RPG that was released in May 2013. The game follows the son of legendary vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing as he travels through a gothic, steampunk-style world based on 19th century Eastern Europe, exterminating monsters and strange creatures as he goes.

The gameplay combines keyboard and mouse commands in combat to blend weapon usage with various spell-like abilities. Though it is technically an RPG, players do not have the option to choose a class of character, instead being limited to the ‘warrior’ or ‘hunter’ type characterized by Van Helsing. This discrepancy is remedied in the game’s sequels.

Our hero stands near the massive skeleton of a monster, assumingly one he has killed.

As well as bloodthirsty monsters, players will have to fight off mobs of thugs that rule the streets of dismal Borgova.

16. The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing 2

Van Helsing II - Launch Trailer

Released in 2014, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing 2 is the sequel to The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing (see #16), and is a continuation of the character arc of the first game.

The game is often seen as an improvement on its predecessor, and retains all the finer points of this action RPG. Many hail the game as having a charmingly anachronistic and comedic atmosphere, and introduces more varied classes of character and skill sets that improve on the RPG aspect of the first game.

A combination of mouse and keyboard commands makes the combat fun and effortless, and new skills and items continue to enrich the action RPG experience.

Van Helsing's companion is Lady Katarina, a banshee that the player can also take control of and guide through skill development. Here, she is in her 'Ranged' form (right). She also has a 'Ghost' and 'Melee' form.

On the left you can see the overlay displaying the skill development of your character, formatted in the traditional RPG style.

15. Victor Vran ARPG

Victor Vran Fractured Worlds Trailer

Victor Vran ARPG was developed by Haemimont Games and released in 2015. It is set in a gothic fairytale-like world where the player takes control of Victor Vran, a demon hunter who arrives in the city of Zagoravia to assist its inhabitants in fighting off a demonic infestation.

The game’s combat combines aRPG elements and reaction based moves that allow players to dodge attacks. It also features a jump mechanic that can be used in combat, solving vertical puzzles, and reaching secret portions of the map.

The hero has no assigned character class, allowing players to freely change between different classes of weapon, consumables, and demonic powers. Each weapon class offers one basic and two special attacks, and these attacks can be combined for special point bonuses. The game also features a cooperative multiplayer mode.

The game's exceptional jump mechanics can be used to a player's advantage in combat.

Vran's demonic abilities are used much like spells in other aRPGs.

14. Nox

Nox Gameplay

Developed by Westwood Studios and released in 2000, Nox follows the story of Jack, who has been pulled into a high-fantasy parallel universe and must now defeat a powerful sorceress to return home.

The player selects from three classes of character at the beginning: Warrior, Conjurer, or Wizard. Depending on which selection the player makes, the game can follow three distinct storylines, each with its own unique ending.

In multiplayer, players have the option of several competitive game modes, including death match and capture the flag. A free downloadable expansion called NoxQuest also adds a cooperative multiplayer mode. Originally, the developer ran an online ladder ranking system of Nox multiplayer matches, but this has since been taken down.

Despite its birth in the genesis of PC gaming, Nox features a very detailed style of graphics.

Considering that many of Jack's enemies are necromancers, a trip to the Land of the Dead was inevitable.

13. Bastion

Bastion - Official Trailer

Released in 2011, Bastion is a single-player aRPG where the player takes control of a character called ‘The Kid’ and moves through various floating environments in which they fight enemies.

The game has a level structure, and between each level the player can return to the Bastion, where fragments - the game’s currency - can be spent on materials and upgrades. Additionally, players collect items called Cores and Shards at the end of each level; Cores are used to add structures to the Bastion, such as the Distillery (a building that allows players to select upgrades) and Shards are used to expand these structures.

Whenever players choose to leave the Bastion, they can either enter regular levels, or challenge courses that test a player’s proficiency with their weapons, called the Proving Grounds. In addition to these, players can choose to battle waves of enemies while listening to the game’s narrator tell a character’s backstory, by traveling to a realm known as ‘Who Knows Where.’

After the game is completed, a player can begin a ‘new game +’ mode, where they replay the game while keeping all the experience, weapons, and fragments that they gained the first time they played the game; this mode offers more options inside the Bastion’s structures and two extra journeys into Who Knows Where.

Bastion is styled like an old-school cartoon, with beautiful scenery and bright colors.

All the level environments are floating, and they form paths when a player reaches the edge.

12. Eitr

Set within a mythic Norse world, Eitr follows the story of the Shield Maiden, who must save the world tree Yggdrasil and uncover her destiny by venturing through the nine Norse realms.

The game features a variety of weapons, strategic movement mechanics, accurate arrow strikes, and spell attacks. The developers have also replaced the traditional experience point system with a Favor system, in which players must choose between a permanent level upgrade and more powerful, but fleeting, perks that are awarded upon player death. The game is due for release sometime this year.

The Shield Maiden was born under strange circumstances, and is now on a quest to discover the meaning of her destiny.

Each of the nine realms has a unique set of monsters to overcome.

11. Torchlight II

Torchlight II Official Launch Trailer

This is the sequel to the 2009 game Torchlight, and takes place in a fantasy world where the player takes the form of a hero who intends to banish all evil.

The game features randomly generated dungeons, as well as numerous monsters that players can fight for experience and loot. It maintains the same basic gameplay concepts as Torchlight, but features new overland areas with multiple hub towns and a longer overall campaign, as well as a time of day cycle, weather effects, and a completely redesigned user interface.

Players can customize their character’s sex, face, and hair style and color, as well as a selection of 4 character classes: Engineer, Outlander, Berserker, and Embermage. Each class has three skill trees to choose from, which allows further customization within each class.

There is also a cooperative multiplayer mode for both LAN and internet play; each multiplayer server can host up to six players.

The graphics for the game are hailed for their incredible usage of light and dark elements.

Depending on what character class the player selects, special abilities can be fostered and made stronger.

10. Titan Quest Anniversary Edition

Titan Quest Anniversary Edition GamePlay PC

The tenth anniversary of Titan Quest hails the creation of this new aRPG. It combines both Titan Quest and Titan Quest: Immortal Throne into a single game, and has undergone an extensive overhaul, including improved multiplayer functionality, built-in voice chat and NAT resolving.

There is also support for modders through new modding options and a fully integrated Steam workshop. The developers have made improvements to all Masteries, damage types, unique items, and sets, added increased challenges, heroes, bosses, and improved enemy and pet AI.

Originally published in 2006, Titan Quest allows a player to create their own protagonist, who then navigates Ancient Greece, Egypt and China after escaping from an ancient prison.

Players face off against many mythical beasts as well as regular enemies.

When players die, they respawn at rebirth fountains found throughout the world, though they will lose some experience points.

9. Book of Demons

Book of Demons - Reveal Trailer

This game pays tribute to Diablo and other genre classics while introducing new and unique mechanics for the modern player. The game was released as an early access edition in July 2016, and revolves around the player selecting a party of four and delving into a series of dungeons.

A flexiscope system has been added to allow the player to set the approximate time spent in each dungeon by dividing the story into chunks, much like caves in Diablo 2.

A card system is used instead of the classic ability system; by juggling cards and mana, players create builds to fit specific situations.

The game prides itself on its unique 'pop-up book' graphics style.

A card system replaces the traditional active/passive ability system.

8. Project Zomboid

Project Zomboid - You Got Red on You

Developed by The Indie Stone, Project Zomboid combines the aRPG genre with the most popular type of game today: the zombie survival game. Players are challenged to survive as long as they can before they inevitably succumb to the apocalypse.

Players must manage such factors as hunger, fatigue, pain, and mental stability to stay alive; this is achieved by scavenging supplies while avoiding roaming zombies.

The game features two modes: survival, in which the player creates a character and attempts to survive, and sandbox, which allows players to change mechanics such as the speed and number of zombies, weather conditions, and item availability. The game also features an additional set of ‘challenge’ scenarios that vary greatly from the original survival mode.

Players must navigate the town to find suplies, all the while trying to avoid the undead horde.

Players can also build a base in the game, making it a unique blend of aRPG and survival.

7. Wasteland 2

Wasteland 2: Director's Cut E3 2015 Trailer

Wasteland 2 is the first official sequel to the 1988 video game Wasteland, and was successfully crowdfunded on Kickstarter. The game is a turn-based party RPG with tactical combat. The player can select up to 7 players for their party; this includes 4 player-created characters and up to 3 NPCs.

The game is set in an alternate history timeline, in which a nuclear war between the US and Russia took place in 1998, and the player takes control of a squad of newly recruited Rangers (a sect of survivalist rebels from the first Wasteland game) investigating the death of one of their own.

Each player-created character is highly customizable and is endowed with a unique personality based on the player's choice of stats, skills, and appearance.

Along with several side quests, the player's main objective of the game is to solve the murder of anohter Ranger who died under mysterious circumstances.

6. Shadows: Heretic Kingdoms

Shadows Heretic Kingdoms gameplay

The realm of the Heretic Kingdoms remains in an uncertain state; though the land has been free from multiple tyrants, tensions rise between the humans of Corwenth, the wolf-folk of Taymuria, and the ogres that inhabit the Sura Wastes. Players take control of the Devourer, a demon that can travel back and forth between the human and shadow realms and devours the souls of his enemies.

The game’s party system is unique in that it allows the player to switch seamlessly between the Devourer and up to three other party members, providing strategic depth to the combat. The Devourer’s ability to switch between worlds allows the player to outwit enemies, avoid traps, and solve puzzles.

The combat in the game varies greatly, depending on the Devourer's chosen weapons and the abilities of those in his party.

Party characters' skills, weapons, and abilites can all be managed within one interface.

5. Path of Exile

Path of Exile: Sacrifice of the Vaal Official Trailer

Path of Exile is an online aRPG released in 2013. Players control a single character that washes up on the shores of Wraeclast, a continent that serves essentially as a penal colony for the nearby island of Oriath. The player must face the dangerous wilderness and band together with other exiles to survive.

The game offers two permanent game modes: standard, which is the default and allows characters to respawn in the last city they visited, and hardcore, in which players cannot be resurrected, but respawn back in standard mode – this in equivalent to permadeath in other games. The game also features temporary ‘challenge’ leagues that change frequently.

The most unique thing about Path of Exile is that it lacks a currency system – instead, the economy is based on bartering with ‘currency items’: items that are usually used to modify or upgrade equipment, identify other items, or grant skill refund points.

The player initially wakes up on the shoreline, with no idea why they have been exiled.

Depending on the class of character the player selects, spell-like abilities can also be developed.

4. Exanima

Exanima - Trailer

Exanima is a prelude to another game called Sui Generis, which is still in development. It was released as an early access title in April 2015, and is said to take place in the Underworld of Sui Generis.

According to the developers, the game’s combat is entirely physics based, with accurate collisions and procedural animations; the calculated force of the impact is used to determine the damage dealt by the blow. Armor will only protect parts of the body that it covers, and each weapon behaves differently based on its weight, balance, speed, etc.

Players can fully customize their characters.

The game takes place entirely in a dismal Underworld.

3. Lineage Eternal

Lineage Eternal gameplay trailer

Lineage Eternal is an online MMORPG for which the earliest beta tests were released in 2016. There have been many delays in the game’s development and there has been very little information released, but there are a few things that we do know.

The game supports play on mobile devices, and it is an open world MMORPG with field event quests. The dungeons are randomized, and players have the option to play against one another in either an arena or open setting. There is also rumored to be an option for players to take down World and Raid bosses in large parties of 20 or more players.

Players can implement several powerful attacks.

The game is being tested primarily in South Korea, and the graphics are beautiful.

2. Lost Ark

LOST ARK G-star trailer

Players take on the role of heroes that must save the world of the Lost Ark from the demon legion of Kazeroth. The gameplay varies based on which of the 7 character classes the player chooses: Arcana, Battle Master, Berserker, Devil Hunter, Infighter, Summoner, or Warlord.

The game also features nautical combat, where players can captain a ship, gather fish, salvage goods, or explore. The game also uses a unique skill system called the Tripod System, in which players can specialize their chosen character according to their own unique play style.

Players encounter mmonsters and foes alike, with each class of character using a different form of combat to defeat them.

The game includes a fair amount of nautical gameplay, including the option to hire an icebreaker to explore distant lands.

1. Divinity: Original Sin 2

Divinity: Original Sin 2 Kickstarter Pitch

Divinity: Original Sin 2 is set to be released for Windows in 2017. The player takes control of a party of sorcerers who are on a quest to defeat Bishop Alexander the Innocent, who has just declared that all sorcerers are criminals.

Players can customize their character’s race, statistics, and origin story, and recruit up to 3 companions to assist them in their quest. The companions can be playable characters in multiplayer mode, but are NPCs in single player.

Dialogue and available quests will differ based on the character’s selected origin story. There will be a skill crafting system that allows players to mix and change their skills, as well as a ‘Love and Hate’ system that allows players to develop friendship, romance, and hatred towards other characters.

It features both a cooperative multiplayer and a competitive multiplayer, in which players are divided into two teams and fight in an arena style map.