Diablo 4 – The Diablo We Want, the Diablo We Deserve

DIABLO 4 IN A NUTSHELL:

1. An isometric hack'n'slash (don't know about you, but I'm already relieved)
2. The game will be released on PC, PS4, and Xbox One
3. A powerful network component reminiscent of Path of Exile, Destiny, or Guild Wars
4. We'll be able to play solo, but if offline? We don't know
5. Open world
6. Rune words make a comeback
7. The character development system combines Diablo III and Diablo II
8. The return of darkness and evil
9. And weapons. Truly, a whole lot of weapons.

Blizzard has got some air to clear. And something to prove. Recently, they suffered both major and minor blows to their reputation. Players were not thrilled with Battle for Azeroth; we’re bare witnesses of the slow and painful demise of Heroes of the Storm, Diablo III was saved, but only eventually, which gave others time to brew up a serious competitor: Path of Exile. Diablo Immortal was revealed in the worst possible moment. But the faltering quality of their products was just the prelude. On top of that, there were also reports of poor treatment of employees, and the recent nail to the coffin, i.e. the Blitzchung scandal, which fueled newsrooms across the world for weeks. And maybe it's true that the old, player-friendly, Blizzard is forever gone. But it's also possible – and we certainly hope that to be the case – that they're finally getting out of the pit. And they sure know how to get the hype train rolling. Diablo 4 looks like a hack'n'slash dream come true, a game we yearned for ever since Diablo II.

This series has always had one problem. No matter how good the subsequent iterations were, they always seemed to fail in realizing their biggest promises. Clans, guilds, a proper PvP, refreshing the formula without breaking the spirit – those things were either not there at all, or came half-baked. Those were still solid games that would revolutionize and improve the genre – with one exception. The problems of Diablo III were legendary. And it seems somebody has finally done their homework. Everything we’ve seen, BlizzCon presentations in particular, seems to confirm that assumption.

This article is based on materials released by Blizzard on November 1 – the conference, the trailers, gameplay, and demo impressions. The roadmap on the website allows to assume that by the time you read this, more details will have become available – details that we could not include in this piece, for our precognition skills are too low.

A journey through the darkness

The stereotypical opinion about Diablo and all the diabloids is that they're all one, big grind fest that boils down to collecting items and clicking your mouse to death. And the truth is, addictive gameplay is the reason we come back for another fix. But that's not all there is. Because the reason for the first Diablo being so unique was something else. Something very important that Jay Wilson didn't get when he proudly announced Diablo III. The Gothic horror was diluted with Middle-Eastern tropes and superhero undertones – our main characters are practically demigods, and humanity is the fruit of the mésalliance of demons and angels.

A bit colorful. Just for a moment.

This translated into soggy aesthetics of a cartoonish dimension of gloom, which would be better suited for Darksiders or Warcraft than Diablo. I remember the first time I launched Diablo II. The child's mind was more prone to horror on the screen, but even years after, the same impression prevails. This story was a trek through thick darkness and corruption. It was a journey to hell, head-on. It acted on feelings, tasted bitterly, and showed that even the strongest hero of the noblest heart can eventually succumb to viciousness.

And it looks like Blizzard was finally reminded of how it's done. The cinematic trailer shows Diablo 4 taking absolutely no prisoners. The gloom is back, it's real, brutal and bloody occult; people are evil and treacherous. There's a hefty dose of horror, and a pinch of gore. But what did you expect from a story focused on Lilith – the daughter of Mephisto and the creator of the Sanctuary? Little is known about the details, but I'm beginning to wonder what role she'll play in the plot. Will she be just another boss, or maybe more? Someone to sow doubt in the minds of our heroes? In the end, the priest in the trailer urges her for help and protection, rather than the imminent destruction of the world (besides, the hellish family already has a specialist on this – Bhaal).

And it's hard to wonder – ravaged by the conflict of Heaven and Hell, humanity has no one to turn to. The sky closed the gates and turned away from the Creation. And Lilith seized the opportunity. The apocalyptic influence of the new ruler should be tangible at every step. We shall witness the consequences of her reign and influence on the very human nature. The creators have announced that it will be the most immersive installment in the franchise, where players travel through a shattered world filled with Gothic horror, biblical motifs and regular human malevolence. I also have a hunch that we will see a lot more ambiguity – perhaps even at the heart of the game’s pivotal conflict.

The locations look fantastic and really gloomy.

Yes indeed, the corruption, blood, violence, Christian symbolism and the pentacles make a big return. Some more outlandish ideas will certainly make it into the game here and there, but both the trailer and the gameplay show that this will be a definitive departure from the stylistics of the third part. It all seems to shout, in capital letters: welcome to hell. Over the abyss. With the promise of reaching the deepest circle.

A brave, new, corrupt world

Given all the info so far, it seems we're looking at a revolution in the genre. Blizzard has evidently been keeping an eye on the trends; they saw Grim Dawn and Path of Exile capture – to the best of their abilities – bigger and bigger portions of the market. And somebody in the company took notes. In Diablo 4, the world will be completely open. We'll be able to explore it quite freely and jump between tasks rather than follow a predetermined path. I'm curious how much freedom we will have in terms of making decisions related to the world and the story. Will it be just about the order of completing the quests, or – pipe-dream time – will we make some serious decisions? Time will tell.

"What sort of an abomination is this, Watson? Should we proceed to destroying it?"

One thing is for sure – the Sanctuary will be enormous. It's big enough that we will have to use some wicked mounts. Of course, navigation points will also help in the journeys, thanks to which we will quickly and conveniently move between discovered locations. Don't fix it if it's not broken, eh? Since the classic division into acts will be no more, we just get five, huge and diverse lands right off the bat. These are typical variations on well-known themes. Desert, tundra, swamps and forests are the must-have environment types, but it's clear from gameplay snippets that the designers are really committed to the job.

This world looks insanely good. And frightening. This is the same level of degeneration that was so captivating in Grim Dawn or Path of Exile, only soaked with darkness, which these – otherwise great – productions tried to imitate. Well, money talks. Especially now, when Blizzard has finally brought out the big guns. And, damn, those guns can roar. The presentations show that we will be able to interact with the environment, too. Many of the elements can be destroyed. The locations will also be more vertical.

The force of evil

In Diablo, it was always about playing online. The designers revealed that we will be able to go through the whole game alone – although some of the challenges will be much more difficult, for example the World Events – but still, the bulk of their efforts went into designing an online experience. This means that in cities, just like in pureblood MMOs, we will meet random players with whom we will be able to trade, look up their builds (this is not a euphemism), invite to the team, or kick ass (or get ass kicked) in the PvP zone... Oh right. Didn't I mention? Full-fledged PvP is coming back to Diablo! It may be available on launch day. In the very first gameplay trailer, you can even see what looks like a duel between two players.

The demos don't give a clear-cut answer about the ability to establish private lands, where no one will bother us. I hope that such an option will be available, and I also hope that the quipsters at Blizzard won't give it to us in similar form to the truly inspiring Fallout 1st (I can already hear that: "What, don't you guys have credit cards?") And while I'm hyped for the Path of Exile, or maybe even Destiny-like structure, the lonesome journeys through the dilapidated Sanctuary are a mandatory part of any Diablo experience. Because that's how you can feel the full horror of this world.

A review the main menu showed that there will be options for creating clans at the beginning of the game, although we do not know in what form exactly. Maybe – as it was supposed to look in Diablo II – they will get special headquarters? For now, we can only guess. The Wold Events will surely remain the online part of the game – fights with big bosses, such as the creature presented in the demo, called Ashaya. Such a battle can involve many players – I counted at least a dozen.

"Hey, how can I make this dude look way tougher?" "I dunno, give him antlers or something."

Symphony of destruction…

The artistic direction taken with Diablo III caused a real tempest, which shook the foundations of the Internet – a few people lost their jobs, even. They're not making the same mistake with Diablo 4. Things can still go wrong, but the game oozes with the dark beauty familiar from the first two games, while taking them to a new level. The game runs on a new engine and allows you to create large, impressive locations and characters with lots of details, in a really high quality.

But that's not what this is about. The engine may have its capabilities, but the question is how they're utilized. Fortunately, John Mueller, the artistic director, seems to have made sure that the new Diablo is approached as a coherent piece of art. Which should cause goosebumps. This can already be seen in the truly unsettling cinematic trailer. It's not, however, primitive in its gruesomeness; it was done with mastery, allowing the characters to really resonate.

Gathered 'round a bonfire? This reminds me of something.

The animation is pure Blizzard poetry. It even manages to depict the difficult stuff – life fading away, and the resignation visible in the eyes of the characters. In the game proper, everything also seems to shine with dark luster. The characters move quite naturally, the blows have their weight and momentum. The combat animations foreshadow that it will have a fluidity and feel that will dwarf even the previous installment, which was pretty polished in this respect. Monsters are disgusting, mighty creatures, with details that raise the hair on your neck.

And the sound design? The music? God, it's been a long time since I've heard such disturbing tones in a hack’n’slash. Damn it people, we're in for a field day in terms of sensual experiences.

…And its instruments

Diablo 4 will make sure you never run out of new iron for chopping anyone who dares stand in your way – and the gods of hack'n'slash are pleased about it. All those armors, axes, amulets, swords and hedgehog-like helmets from metalhead's wet dream are just waiting to be discovered. Only that they'll take a darker, Gothic form. There's a ton of equipment waiting.

Unique properties of legendary items we've seen in Diablo 3 will return, but this time, we shouldn't have real trouble obtaining them. In the presented demo, each of the characters got at least one, decent legend. We can also hope the Auction House doesn't come out of the closet. In addition, unique and magical (signed in blue) items should be useful on more occasions that a visit to the clerk. I curious how Blizzard will achieve this.

The cinematic trailer is just bonkers.

Now fasten your seat belts. The runic words, favored by players, are back. Items will have sockets, in which we will be able to place not only gems, but also runes – and combine them into words. This is also the reason for abandoning the runes that allowed customizing each skill.

At first glance, the development system is similar to the one we know from Diablo 3. But before you start throwing rotten tomatoes, listen. We will be able to juggle active skills at will, but this time, there will also be a tree of passive bonuses that we will raise each level. This looks like a more intuitive hybrid of character development models from Diablo II and the trees of Path of Exile, but in a less overwhelming form.

Either way, our choices will make a difference (though probably some form of respec will be there anyway). The creators want to offer maximum diversification. They try to design the game so as not to impose too rigid character builds on players, which so annoyed the Diablo 3 community. And maybe they will, who knows? It's a dodgy endeavor, but maybe they'll manage.

On launch day, we will choose from five heroes. So far, we've only seen some familiar faces – barbarian, druid and sorceress. The sorceress unleashes the forces of nature carrying the impact of a nuke, the barbarian carries a bizzilion swords, just in case, and the druid controls animals and can shapeshift into beasts. Their skills are diverse, and resemble those know well from previous installments. Only that they're all buffed-up.

Some enemies will be really challenging.

High hopes low

This game can still go both ways. Some mean microtransactions can still lure on the fringe of our perception. First off, hack'n'slash games have so many aspects that are perfectly suited for micopayments that it's always a risk, and second – despite the shift of artistic direction – Blizzard won't give up Asia, where this payment model seems to work just fine. The plot, despite the assurances and presentations, may turn out to as wacky and overblown as in the third part (the theme of the almighty Nephalem still gives me headache).

Fell the power of Mother Nature?

Server problems are practically a given – players will probably rush at the gates as soon as it's only possible. We can also be certain there will be moaning about balance of items, skills and characters. Perhaps the loot system is won't be as honest as we were promised. Constant connection to Internet will almost certainly be required. We can also expect a few PR flops both with regard to the game itself, and the current situation at Blizzard.

During the presentation at Blizzcon, the spectators were rather careful with enthusiasm. That's understandable after what they have seen in previous years. Blizzard still has a long way to go to regain players' trust. It's funny, almost ironic, that their biggest step toward redemption could be through a story of sin and darkness. A story we should have gotten seven years ago. But better late than never, I suppose. Especially if it's really that good.