Sacred 2 is perhaps the most massive Diablo clone ever created. Despite its size, the game is thinner than even Diablo, which might actually be a feat all its own. To talk about this kind of game from a standpoint of story or direction is impossible, the mechanics and ritual of the Diablo clone are better discussed for purposes of breaking down what makes a good Diablo clone. Perhaps most importantly the development of a character as an identity or signifier of achievement.
To achieve within a videogame is a rather loaded term, particularly with so many discussions of achievement relating to literal, technical “achievement” systems. These systems are playing on compulsions to imagine progress, but actual achievement in these types of games is a drive about goals established before and after the fact, a continual build up of self-generated inspiration. Not merely taking a spell, but taking the spell perhaps because it was the first one introduced to you, to see how far it can truly be taken. To see if it ends up being overused or not used at all, to see if a technique set conforms to the belief structure that goes along with it.
Fire is one skill set of caster classes within Sacred 2, and though there are many others available, obsessing over the single minded power and aggression of fire is often something that videogames emulate well. At the same time, there is little consideration for retention of purpose within these types of games. While continuing to empower one’s abilities is certainly a fundamental videogame aspect, it is not, in itself, an actual skill. Rather, it is a result of the natural progression of elongated periods of play, and thus it is more like exercise than ritual interaction.
If anything, what is more highly ritualized is the state of mind a player may wish to reside within while playing a game. Habits themselves are of greater relevance to the purpose of the exercise contained within. Sacred 2’s exercise, and its purpose is only self-referential, and not intentionally inculcating an interplay of meaning with the audience. Despite this, Sacred 2’s intentionality in the exercise itself is reiterated to a degree far more drastic than its peers.
Sacred 2’s appeal is thus a narrow scope of those interested in the interaction, including the various settings that a fantasy Diablo clone entails. For the game itself, this largely means that all actions are recapitulated for the purpose of serving the player’s sense of relative power in an extraordinarily hostile world, yet ultimately their relative powerlessness in relation to affecting or being included in the environment. The game’s problems lie within the problems the genre has always had trouble addressing, which relates almost exclusively to purposeful, rather than redundant interaction.
Recommended: No