After a certain number of references, oughtn't a game title just be used as the genre title? Oh sure, the industry prefers to refer to games like Diablo as action/RPGs. But this reviewer believes the industry forfeited its right to name stuff when it decided that games like EverQuest are to be called MMORPGSUVASAPs. So when your friends ask, "What kind of game is Sacred? Is it a shooter?" You can cock a sneer at the industry and tell your buddy, "No, it's a Diabloer." And it seems fitting when discussing Sacred to think of Diablo as a genre because "Diablo clone" doesn't quite do Sacred justice. Ascaron has taken certain guiding principles that define Diabloers and attempted to inject some fresh ones of its own. Unlike most Diablo clones you've played, whose chief innovation rests on external trappings ("It's Diablo, but it's sci-fi/Chinese/Mary Kate and Ashley."), Ascaron seems to have given some thought to contributing to the development of the genre.