Diablo creator says fast leveling up in modern ARPGs spoils the experience

Diablo creator David Brevik thinks recent Diablo games and modern RPGs have "cheapened the entire experience" by focusing on speedy leveling and tons of loot.

Tom West

Published 10 Feb 2025

Diablo's creator thinks modern RPGs have been cheapened with mechanics focused on slaughtering hordes of enemies for speedy leveling and a plethora of loot. While many players chasing the Diablo 4 achievements are now carving their way through the forces of Hell with Diablo 4: Season of Witchcraft, it seems the franchise's creator isn't a fan.

Diablo creator thinks player progression in modern RPGs is cheap

David Brevik has shared his thoughts on modern RPGs
Brevik was the lead programmer and senior designer on Diablo, as well as project and design lead on Diablo 2

In a recent interview with VideoGamer, Skystone Games head and former co-founder and president of Blizzard North, David Brevik, shared his thoughts on the ARPG genre. Brevik was the lead programmer and senior designer on the very first Diablo (which recently joined PC Game Pass) and the project and design lead on the fantastic Diablo 2. While the Diablo games Brevik worked on still had high enemy counts compared to other games in the genre at the time, he thinks the modern games have become "kind of silly."

"I think that RPGs in general have started to lean into this: kill swathes of enemies all over the place extremely quickly. Your build is killing all sorts of stuff so you could get more drops, you can level up, and the screen is littered with stuff you don't care about," Brevik said. "I don't find that as kind of personal and realistic as like Diablo 2.

"The pacing on Diablo 2, I think is great. That's one of the reasons it's endured. I just don't find killing screen-fulls of things instantly and mowing stuff down and walking around the level and killing everything, very enticing. I just don't feel like that is a cool experience. I find it kind of silly.

"When you're shortening that journey and making it kind of ridiculous. You've cheapened the entire experience, in my opinion."

It's not just RPGs like Diablo 4 and Path of Exile 2 either, as Brevik also feels like it's starting to become a similar trend in MMOs too. "I think that MMOs have definitely pushed in that direction," Brevik said. "How fast can you level? How fast can you kill everything? It's all about speed and things like that, but, in reality, I just think that makes a kind of a worse experience. And I tend to shy away from that direction."

Tom's take —

I think speedy leveling has its place in the RPG genre

While I find myself agreeing with Brevik — I don't want every ARPG to turn into a slaughterfest — I think games like Diablo 4 have their place in the genre and can be a blast to play. After diving back into Blizzard's beast following the launch of the Vessel of Hatred DLC, I was instantly hooked and have returned for Season of Witchcraft for a run-through with a Necromancer.

Do I want every RPG to offer overpowered mechanics and fast-paced leveling? Certainly not, but these games can act as fantastic palette cleansers between slower-paced and immersive RPG experiences like Skyrim and The Witcher 3. Sometimes it's nice to turn off my brain, slap on some heavy tunes like Kublai Khan TX, and unleash a wave of devastation on countless enemies to watch heads and loot roll.

How about you? Do enjoy games like Diablo between playing some of the other great Xbox RPGs? Drop a comment below and let us know!

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Written by Tom West

Tom has been playing video games since he was old enough to hold a controller, experimenting with a number of systems until he eventually fell in love with Xbox. With a passion for the platform, he decided to make a career out of it, and now happily spends his days writing about that which he loves. If he’s not hunting for Xbox achievements, you’ll likely find him somewhere in The Elder Scrolls Online or fighting for survival in Battlefield.