It goes without saying that the 1996-1997 period had some pretty remarkable games come out, and we look back at just 15 of them in our latest feature installment.
[...]
With the so-called SPECIAL role-playing system governing things like attributes and bonuses, Fallout provided a solid gaming experience. Combine fun exploration and turn-based combat with a retro future art style, extremely dark humor, and a collection of crazy characters made the first Fallout game a home run. People all over were coming out of their vaults.
[...]
At the time, most RPGs were slow and deliberate turn-based experiences that were becoming increasingly difficult for new players to get into. Diablo was the first successful type of hybrid: the action-RPG. Players chose from three different classes, and they still leveled up, fought monsters, changed stats and gathered loot like traditional RPG's, but Diablo handled it all in real time. The result was a game that almost anyone could pick up and play. It also helped that Diablo looked terrific and had a great multiplayer mode that supported both co-op and competitive play. The game even helped to popularize terms like PK'er (player killer).​