Yesterday, after twelve years of waiting, fans of the Diablo series of clicky, bloody, magic-y, hack and slash video games were finally able to get their fingers and eyeballs on the retail release of the latest game in the series: Diablo III. Diablo… well, it’s just one of those games. Superlatively popular, addictive and memorable to a generation of players. Our own Becky Chambers has said that while the restrictions of the previous two games on gender (each class had only one accompanying avatar, rather than giving players a choice of gender) were the some of the first times she felt pressured into a mode of gameplay because of her gender, as games the Diablo series was still a huge and treasured milestone in her hobby experience. And while at this point we can’t tell you much about the game’s plot or themes, what we can say is that 1) for the first time, choosing a class in Diablo and choosing your character’s gender aren’t the same decision, and 2) the character models for the women of those classes are really pretty great.
So great, in fact, that there’s already been a ton of cosplay for them in the four years that Diablo III has been in official development. We’d like to pay tribute to some of those cosplayers in this post. And lets face it, even if you managed to get yesterday off to play the game, now you’re probably back at work and need that sweet, sweet Diablo III fix.
The Wizard
Svetlana Quindt is a master cosplayer who loves to do cosplaying tutorials and workshops, and she’s obviously a huge fan of Blizzard games based on her past exploits at BlizzCon. Her Wizard cosplay is clearly based on this piece of concept art.
Here she is with her “cosplay partner Selina” as Diablo III‘s Barbarian.
Which brings us nicely to:
