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“Satisfying” is the keyword there. The feel of a Diablo game is often its most important quality, and Diablo 4 feels as good as any game in this genre has ever felt. Attacks are pleasantly weighty, classes are wonderfully unique (and allow for various viable character builds), the soundtrack is phenomenal, and Diablo 4‘s emphasis on the gore and darkness Diablo 3 initially downplayed is just the cherry on top.
Even Diablo 4‘s loot feels good. I recently ranted about the negative impact gear scores have had on gaming loot, and Diablo 4 shows that there are indeed better ways to do things. Most items in the game have a purpose and abilities that make you carefully consider their merits rather than just go for the biggest gear number. Even lesser items are valuable in the game’s manageable resourcing “scrap” system that contributes to your character’s growth in meaningful ways.
I can’t overemphasize how much fun Diablo 4 is. It’s one of the most viscerally satisfying RPGs I’ve played in a long time, and I’ve played a lot of them. For long-time Diablo fans, this game’s opening hours will feel like that impossible trip back home. The one where so many things are almost exactly how you want to remember them. For new or lapsed fans, Diablo 4 will show you why this series is always spoken of with a blend of reverence and fear. Like a graciously flayed fetishist I found in a forest during the beta, Diablo 4 will leave you howling for more even as it steals hours of your life and beats you down time and again.
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Again, though, that’s always been the Diablo experience. This time around, though, Diablo‘s addictiveness is baked into its MMOARPG elements in ways that raise unanswered questions about the game’s future.
Yes, for all the ways that Diablo 4 improves upon the Diablo Immortal experience, both games share one crucial aspect: a persistent shared universe that requires a constant online connection. You don’t necessarily have to group up with players (solo play is, at least early on, perfectly viable for the most part), but you will certainly see other players as you continue your adventure. You’ll see them in towns, out in the world, and you’ll sometimes even “accidentally” participate with them during special world events you encounter. Diablo 4 also features easily accessible clans, world bosses, and even enemies that scale with your character level, which ar all things we often see in modern MMOs.
None of that is inherently a bad thing. Diablo has always been fun (even better, for some) with friends, and the idea of Diablo 4 expanding upon those community elements is appealing. A fundamentally satisfying ARPG that you can also experience with others? Diablo Immortal didn’t make that work, but the potential for the best version of that experience is clearly there.
