It’s trying to affectionately send up Diablo at the same time as stealing all of its ideas, but Book Of Demons very definitely doesn’t believe in the “less is more” approach to comedy, never letting a player get the reference on their own when it can hit them around the head with a crashingly jarring joke delivered with all the sophistication of a brick through a plate glass window. It has probably never even heard of subtlety. Book Of Demons copies Diablo’s structure exactly, from the character classes to the village characters to the dungeon theming to the bosses, to the point where I’m slightly surprised they haven’t been hit with legal action as there’s even a Tyrael knockoff that shows up later on who looks exactly like him.

Never fear, though Book Of Demons is here to forcefully remind you that Diablo is a game that exists by charging out in search for the line separating “tribute” and “ripoff” and then using it to beat you within an inch of your life. It was a niche game released by tiny indie dev Blizzard studios back in 1996 you’ve probably forgotten all about it by now since there certainly haven’t been any other games released like Diablo in the intervening twenty-two years. Book Of Demons is an ARPG with a very important question to ask: did you like Diablo? You do remember Diablo, right? Oh, maybe you don’t.

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