While modern action RPGs have largely evolved toward massive endgame systems, sprawling open worlds, and increasingly complex progression mechanics, the original Diablo remains memorable for a very different reason: atmosphere.

Its isolated town, oppressive dungeon descent, and horror-driven pacing created a style of dungeon crawler that felt intimate, tense, and deeply immersive. That classic “one town, one dungeon” structure became the foundation for Heathen, an upcoming first-person dungeon crawler that reinterprets old-school ARPG design through a modern perspective. 

In this interview, developer Christopher Yabsley discusses why the original Diablo’s minimalism and horror sensibilities became guiding pillars for the project, how first-person presentation changes the feel of loot and combat systems, and why handcrafted procedural generation proved more effective than fully automated approaches when designing interconnected dungeon spaces.

Heathen has been described as a first-person take on the classic “one town, one dungeon” structure popularized by the original Diablo. What inspired the team to revisit that formula from a first-person perspective?

I'm mostly a solo dev, so the inspiration lives and dies with me! Anyone who has played Diablo 1 knows it is a different beast to where ARPG's ultimately headed.

Its atmosphere and horror first design felt like a great fit to explore in first person.

Which aspects of those classic ARPG design philosophies were most important for you to preserve in Heathen?

Diablo 1 has two qualities that make it stand out from its contemporaries to me, horror & minimalism. The horror aligns well with the games I like to make, and the minimalism is a great guiding point for a solo dev.

Moving the action into first person dramatically changes things. How did that shift influence your combat and level design decisions?

I have found immersion to be the biggest point of difference. A mace might only do one extra point of damage than a sword, but in first person, it should still feel very different.

What engine and core technologies are powering Heathen?

Heathen is built in Unity 6. It has been my go-to engine for over a decade now. Knowing your tools well makes them fit any style of game.

How are you approaching progression and item design in Heathen to make loot feel impactful and exciting in a first-person format?

The look and feel are brought sharply into focus. That cool, flaming sword you found is now being wielded in front of your face and lighting your way through the dark.

Loot affixes are streamlined into a tight list, so that everything is meaningful in some way. Unique items will be the stars of the show, offering up abilities, playstyles (and let's face it, fashion) outside of the norm. 

From a production pipeline perspective, how do art, design, and engineering teams collaborate when building interconnected dungeon spaces intended for replayability and long-term progression?

The dungeon generator works with tile chunks to allow for greater artistic input over pure procedural. Essentially, this means composing aesthetically pleasing individual tiles, something far more tangible for artistic expression.
Pure procedural is hard to get right with 2D, let alone that extra third dimension.

So I decided to tackle that element by hand, allowing me to feed the generator winding staircases, death pits, raised platforms, and whatever else I feel like throwing at the player.

How did you balance old-school sensibilities with modern player expectations?

Mostly by feel. Anything that is tactile in nature, like movement and combat, I approach with modern sensibilities. I want the game to feel good to play.
While conceptual or background stuff like attributes, inventory, and aesthetics get given a more classic treatment.

How are you approaching replayability and dungeon variation in Heathen?

As I mentioned before, the dungeon generator works with tile chunks. These chunks can overlap and intersect in interesting ways, allowing for more variety than your standard hall and door connector approach.

In addition to this, Heathen uses a node graph system similar to Enter the Gungeon. This allows me to tightly control the pacing and complexity of the levels I generate. Mindless maze generation would likely not be very appealing in first person, so I knew I needed some kind of structure.

From an art direction standpoint, what were the biggest influences behind the game’s dark fantasy aesthetic?

Diablo 1, of course. If you go back and play it, it is a surprisingly colourful game for how dark the tone is. The work of Frank Frazetta is also a big influence on my colour sensibilities.

I also started working with an artist going by the alias Grim (@grimalisk_). He has an amazing classic fantasy style reminiscent of John Blanche of Games Workshop fame. The baby monster in the trailer was our first collaboration.

Looking back at development so far, what have been the biggest technical or creative challenges in translating an isometric ARPG-style gameplay loop into first person?

Mostly, the workload that comes with making a game feel great in first person, combined with the additional mechanical depth that comes from being an ARPG.

I stand on the shoulders of giants, though, Dark Messiah and Vermintide showing everyone how it's done.

Christopher Yabsley, Developer of Heathen

Subscribe to our Newsletter, join our 80 Level Talent platform, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, and Instagram, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

Are you a fan of what we do here at 80 Level? Then make sure to set us as a Preferred Source on Google to see more of our content in your feed.