The dungeon crawler genre that Diablo helped pioneer isn’t known for getting up close and personal with its characters. An overhead view and point-and-click control scheme puts you in the role of a dispassionate observer, viewing a diorama of humanity’s struggle against the hordes of hell. Diablo IV is different. It pulls you closer, demands a front row seat, and makes a big difference in how the game feels and plays.
This is most immediately apparent in one of the early cutscenes in which the hero appears. After performing heroic deeds and clearing out demon-filled dungeons, you return to your small village and ask to celebrate with a delicious drink. I watch him up close as he gets dizzy and faints. The crowd mumbles and quiets down, and another villager comes in with a stretcher.
The opening twist helps explain the crux of this story: more than any other Diablo game, humanity itself is the central threat. From the first scene, Lilith represents unbridled seduction. From scholars who reluctantly agree to perform summoning rituals, to a group of bloodthirsty villagers who cave into the skull of a local priest, the villains of this game have a way of turning people toward their worst impulses and excesses. I’m here. This doesn’t seem like the story of humanity braving hordes of demons with you as an avatar. Humans are greedy, violent, and selfish creatures. The camera in the cutscenes in which the character we created acts as a connective tissue to the other cinematic scenes in which Lilith appears as her angle approaches.
The closer view of the world also extends to the gameplay itself. This isn’t an over-the-shoulder adventure game, but the camera stays close to the hero and takes up a significant amount of screen real estate. The color palette is more subdued than Diablo III and matches Diablo 2’s more earthy hues. Also, close-up camera angles help you see the world better. This is just gorgeous. Everything from the creatures to the design of the world creates environments that require exploration. At one point, while I was taking out a bloodthirsty warg and a rattling skeleton, I saw two squirrels chasing each other around a mountain ridge, leaving little footprints in the snow behind them. I was.
As terrifying and harrowing as the storytelling is, the dungeon-crawling loops are just as fun. bottom. I especially liked the new take on Chain Lightning, which has less bloom effect than the previous version. Instead, you fly around the battlefield like a dodgeball fired from a cannon, clearing a crowded room in an instant. Diablo IV seems to understand the importance of granting modifiers his options early. Because each of my abilities started giving me access to enhance or modify them almost immediately. For example, the aforementioned Chain Lightning can be fixed with a boost that deals extra damage if it bounces back through me again.
Another big change was the introduction of dodge rolls in the Diablo III console port, which made a huge difference in how movement felt in that game. In Diablo IV, that move is also available on PC, but comes with a relatively heavy cooldown. As a result, you’re planted in a better place, and dodging is meant to be the last resort. My build was sturdy enough that this didn’t affect me too much. For example, Lightning Sorc builds will eventually have access to a teleportation ability that serves both combat and evasion roles. You can reduce the cooldown or get extra roll charges with other items, but the default ability is for fans of the more agile class who may feel like their feet are glued to the floor. It can be difficult for
Diablo IV makes it very easy and cheap to reconfigure your character and experiment with different builds. Rather than simply allowing anything to be unlocked, Diablo IV has various connected spokes that unlock in sequence like the wheels of a bicycle. Filling one spoke enough will open another. (This also has a cool thematic connection to the opening cutscene, which evokes the symbolism of the blood runes that summoned Lilith. That said, some builds are naturally better suited for different purposes.The huge beam of fire that can be used for Fire Sorc is ideal for taking down large single entities like bosses. Similarly, Frost seems aimed at crowd control. Lightning was my happy medium, allowing me to destroy crowded rooms and pack punches against bosses.
In fact, this overhaul of the entire skill tree system looks pretty polished. The spokes of each section of the skill tree fan out, allowing you to freely combine different abilities. Fully upgrading a particular skill is always stronger than partially using many others, but the versatility is worth it. I hope you come up with some really great concoctions.
All of this is complemented by the real reason we come to Diablo and other loot games: fashion. It seems to have learned from its predecessor and strikes the right balance from the start. What’s even more impressive is how the different types of equipment seem so cohesive whether they’re part of the same set or not. The one that looks awkward on my Sorceress or he had a hard time finding two outfits that, aside from the two parts, didn’t look good together. Somehow they seemed to match, even though I knew they didn’t really match.
Of course, since this is a beta, we weren’t able to try out the higher level Legendary gear and class sets that act as templates for skill building. But if randomized loot drops are this high fidelity and look good, I’m excited to see what kind of full set of drops will be pursued throughout the game.
Diablo IV seems to honor the series’ lineage, borrowing influences from previous Diablo games and building on a modernized approach to storytelling with truly impressive visuals and set designs. I’m here. It’s a strong foundation and we can’t wait to take another seat at the next beta test to open up the Druid and Necromancer classes. front and center.
Learn more about the Diablo IV Beta and how to participate.
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