I would agree with you in the case of Diablo 2 (and probably 3, though I haven't played that one). But the first Diablo holds a special place in my heart precis

I would agree with you in the case of Diablo 2 (and probably 3, though I haven't played that one). But the first Diablo holds a special place in my heart precisely because of the atmosphere. Gameplay-wise it was actually pretty broken. Gold takes up space in your inventory, and there was no concept of a stash, so you'd just dump your gold on the ground in town. The best strategy was to fight through the dungeon until your inventory fills up, then go back to town, sell off everything, buy the best stuff you can see, rinse and repeat. Online multiplayer wasn't much better, mostly because of the "duping" bug which allowed players to easily duplicate items. That said, it's still a fun game to play through, because of the atmosphere of it. Multiplayer is also great with friends so long as you don't break the game. And you can set challenges for yourself to make it more fun (e.g. "Ironman" mode, where you can't buy items or go back to town without dying). Diablo 2 and 3 are great games in their own way, but as you say, they rely on that addictive random loot-fest, which I never really liked.