What always bemuses me is how, if I were evaluating this pitch in 1994 and had absolutely zero future knowledge, I could very easily have brushed this aside wit

What always bemuses me is how, if I were evaluating this pitch in 1994 and had absolutely zero future knowledge, I could very easily have brushed this aside with a "meh." And Diablo is one of my favorite franchises ever. It really could have flopped or just barely breezed by as a passing game. You'd never really know for sure. Leap of faith.