For a long time, I felt like the racing dog chasing the hare at the racetrack. Always turning behind Diablo IV; a game that was lagging and the inertia to rush forward made me wonder if I would ever be able to play it. How funny life is because of the turns it takes: in the end we ceased to be the dog and the hare; the planets lined up precisely enough for us to was able to participate in the closed beta of the game which took place last weekend.
My first feelings with them are of a caution that wants to be overwhelmed by hype; as if I had to do a containment exercise not to trust completely a proposal that, obviously, steers me from the first minute in a specific direction: Blizzard, good old Blizzard, is back with Diablo IV and here are the three reasons why I think so:
Diablo IV feels like the first game in the series you fell in love with
My story with the Diablo saga is not the most common of all: I started with the third episode after Blizzard had fixed all this mess on the auction market and when I felt that their proposal was not right further, I decided to take a spiral jump backwards and Headshot on the wall that depicts how Diablo II aged until it broke.
Diablo IV is, in that sense, the hug of someone you know who welcomes you with open arms when you’ve been home for a while.. Like a good Samaritan who opens the door of his house to you to shelter you from the cold storm that has raged around the Blizzard in recent years and to settle in warm by the fire. A flame that was also reignited in my heart with the subtle contrast of feeling in a familiar place and, at the same time, completely new:
- Diablo IV has everything you can expect at the playable level of the saga (from when I was healthy) 1️⃣
- I tried all 3 beta classes and they all have differences compared to those inspired by other episodes 2️⃣
- The pace of the game, grinding, upgrading and unlocking skills are very gratefulso that once in a while you have something new to look out for 3️⃣
Diablo IV quits cartoons and returns to horror
Taking into account that Diablo III was my first game in the series, I have a special fondness for his on-screen appearance, but I also love dark fantasy, so imagine how crazy I get with Diablo IV. I’m no longer just talking about the character models or the way the landscapes are designed, but also the tone that has been given to each plot event that unfolds in the game.
The world of Diablo IV It’s darker than ever, coming to show us such great decline that it seems like everything but our character and his great antagonist has ceased to matter. The pre-apocalypse phase led to the maximum number of possible revolutions and always conveyed the idea that something terrible is about to happen. So, in essence, what the Diablo saga represents and this fourth opus knows how to transmit it from the first minute.
A game without weird formats or weird experiences
Diablo Immortal This is a game that gives me mixed feelings. While it is true that I can come to understand its value as the main product of the saga, it is inevitable that it will distract me with its microtransactions and with a monetization loop that has made me uninterested in the all in the game. This is why I have so much faith in Diablo IV; a burning desire to return to a franchise that has given me so many good times without having to constantly whip out my wallet to be able to play a game smoothly.
conclusion
Is the old Blizzard back? I think it’s still early to tell, but there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel. Of course, I don’t forget all the legal and human problems the company has been involved in in recent months, but I understand that there are also honest and decent people working in Diablo IVso in this case, the best I could do was to separate the author from the work so that I could enjoy it without too much hindrance.
Diablo IV made me regain my confidence in Blizzard for several moments and now it will depend on how it turns out to return to the fandom or end up as I have been for the past few years: watching the franchise from afar obsessed with what it could be again.