Ex-Blizzard man Bill Roper has said he ”liked the darker, grittier” palette to Diablo, that for him developer Irvine’s visual approach doesn’t ”ring with Diablo.”
He’s adamant he didn’t ”look at it and go” that’s horrible, Roper said it ”looks like Blizzard,” the guys at Irvine’s ”interpretation of it.” Blizzard has already publically refused to alter the art style.
”Diablo was I think grittier and darker and a little more leaning towards the photo realistic. Whereas the Craft games that were being built down in Irvine were bigger and broader in scope, brighter colours, just different pallets and different presentation,” Roper told VideoGamer.com.
Blizzard North was closed after several key staffers, Bill Roper included, left to join other studios. They were in fact working on a Diablo 3 but it was dropped at the time for being too poor of quality.
”But it makes complete sense to me where they went because they basically took the Diablo universe and then approached it from the Blizzard Irvine stance for the visuals. That’s the way they approach things,” continued the developer.
”It wasn’t that I looked at it and went, oh my God that looks terrible. I was like, that looks like Blizzard. The guys in Irvine. That’s what it looks like to me. Their interpretation of it.”
A number of fans signed online petitions pleading with Blizzard to change the art style and adopt a more ‘traditional’ palette for the game - something the Blizz team have taken exception to and categorically dismissed.
”You know, I liked the darker grittier. I liked the differences in art style, to be honest. So, I think I would personally from a player standpoint prefer that,” admitted Roper.
”I think that one of the things that we always tried to get across was that Diablo was Gothic fantasy and I think there was just a need that was put in there from the visuals that I didn’t necessarily get.”
”I got it from the architecture and to a degree from the character design but not the feeling of the world. I can’t say that I dislike it. I didn’t look at it and go, oh my God that’s horrible. But I looked at it and went, it’s not really… to me as a player it just didn’t really ring with Diablo.”
Diablo III is currently without a release date, which isn’t surprising for Blizzard to keep close to their chest. Is the new art style an issue for you, gamer?
