I’ve grown to enjoy the story behind the Diablo franchise and how it can pull in newcomers and fans alike into the game. Diablo IV was first announced back during BlizzCon 2019 and many people showed excitement about the franchise’s continuation. For me, I skipped out on Diablo Immortals since Diablo IV was on my radar. The last Diablo game I played was Diablo III, which to this day I continue to put in tons of hours on the Nintendo Switch version.
Many of us have watched the Diablo IV trailer and some have played the beta and understand that the game revolves around Lilith coming back. For the title, I approached the game with only that knowledge and my experience playing Diablo III. When it came time to play I got a feel for the controls, since I was using a controller rather than a keyboard and mouse.
As for the charters I picked for my playthrough I chose to start with the Sorcerer in Diablo IV, which was unfamiliar to me since I had played the Necromancer as my main in Diablo III. Once the opening scenes ended, I eagerly explored the vast world before me to see what I could find. It was truly huge and took a lot of time and I learned more about the characters I would get to talk to and the events happening around me as I progressed.
As an action role-playing game, there were numerous side quests available within each Act, which I focused on completing to level up. With each level, you do gain ability points to spend on upgrades to increase various stats, depending on what you want your character to develop. One plus side with these ability points is that you can “return” an ability for gold, or refund all points to re-spec your character to your liking as a different build. Once I felt prepared, I began my thrilling adventure.
Learned From Previous Entries
Diablo IV‘s gameplay did a great job of taking feedback from previous games and bringing some of their features, without alienating inexperienced players. As with the Diablo series, expect to spend a lot of time leveling up and improving your character as I did. At times, I believed I was fully prepared for the challenges that awaited me in the dungeons, only to realize my mistake upon exploration. It’s worth mentioning that when I accompanied some colleagues from the media, we had a great time laughing as we faced defeat in the game as explored the world.
I had the opportunity to play the Xbox Series X version of Diablo IV, and I joined a co-op game with players who were using PlayStation 5 and PC. It was quite easy to join another players instance as you could add them through their BattleNet ID or if friends on your console. Once you do so, it’s easy as navigating to that area ofbthe UI and selecting a name and either inviting or joining their game. During this crossplay, I did not detect any lag or framerate issues while playing with others. It’s important to keep in mind that everyone’s experience may vary due to factors like slower internet connections.
Level Scaling
When playing with others, you may have friends who are either higher level than you or lower level. In Diablo IV, the game is instanced, meaning enemies are scaled to each player’s level. When it comes to loot, it is dropped for each player separately. This feature will make sure that players don’t have to worry about joining a game with a higher-level player and dying within moments. When trading or dropping items within the co-op, they will scale to the level at which you picked them up. For example, if you picked up a level 25 staff to give to your friend for their build, it will be the same level for them. The same goes for when your friend trades or drops items that are perfect for you.
In-Game Communication
The game offers in-game voice and text chat options, allowing players to choose their mode of communication. Players can also form their Clans within the game to easily track each other’s progress or be able to line up when all are online so a co-op adventure can kick off between friends.
As for the UI for Diablo IV does take some time to get used to as it has been revamped from other games in the series. Navigating through the main screen while playing is less intuitive until you have the chance to learn how to get through to the menu area you want. With more user feedback, a future quality-of-life update could grant those who feel like they are all over the place to get to navigate to the correct area.
Challenge Awaits
Within Diablo IV, you can customize your character’s appearance by equipping various items that affect their overall look, and stats. For me, I start off being focused on finding the best items for my character at the time. Though there were times I kept lower-level items, which had great perks until something better dropped.
While there is a transmogrification feature available in Diablo IV, some players such as myself prefer to save it for later/post-game and instead focus on finding much-needed items to increase your attack, defense, and other user stats. As you journey through the world, you’ll encounter a variety of enemies and opportunities to acquire new gear, whether it’s from defeating foes, opening chests, or purchasing items in towns that raise in price the father you get into the game as with most RPGs.
The farther into the game, it will becomes more challenging and throws tougher obstacles your way. I prefer playing on the difficulty of World Tier II as it has its advantages such as more EXP and more Gold Drops. However, unlocking other tiers will take certain steps to complete, which you’ll find out about as you get farther into Diablo IV, and each tier has its own set of pros and cons.
Controller Friendly
When it come to playing, I used my Xbox controller and found it to be smooth and user-friendly for the most part. However, the one issue I had in my preference was adjusting my character’s build on several occasions proved to be a bit challenging. As I had to reconfigure the attached attacks and spells and would still be used to the previousway I had my character setup for use. Once I became familiar with the controller buttons, any changes to my character’s abilities would require some readjustment, but I quickly adapted to the new setup. It’s important to note that the following problem doesn’t stem from the game itself. However, if you spend hours playing and adjusting various aspects of the game, you’ll inevitably need to test out your new build and see how it performs and may forget what you had set up where or make changes to fit the situation.
Atmospheric Soundtrack
As I ventured through the game’s various dungeons and regions, I couldn’t help but notice the impressive range of musical scores that would change to suit the current atmosphere. The vibrant and well-crafted soundtrack added to my overall enjoyment of the game as I progressed. This is coming from someone who was in band classes throughout High School and College and has appreciation when it comes to the demanding work on musical scores whether it be Indie or AAA.
Minor Issues
While playing Diablo IV, I encountered some minor issues where certain enemies within the story didn’t respond even after being killed. However, I was able to resolve this by simply exiting the game, restarting it, and replaying the mission. This issue may be addressed in a future patch because upon trying to replicate the same occurrence, it didn’t happen again. When playing a new game, it’s common to encounter issues like a physics collision glitch. However, when we returned to the game later, the glitch seemed to have disappeared, so it may have been a simple co-op gameplay issue. Despite a few minor occurrences, I still enjoyed my adventure.
Graphical Overhaul
I noticed some significant improvements in graphics between Diablo III and Diablo IV. The team behind Diablo IV did an excellent job of creating a more open world that feels immersive and cohesive. They put a lot of effort into making sure that the regions feel like they belong in the game when it comes to transitioning from the snow-covered lands, blood-soaked areas, and the many dungeons you’ll find.
Even before the many cut scenes that you’ll witness during your playthrough, you’ll appreciate the attention to detail that went into crafting this game. If you’re planning on playing Diablo IV with friends, expect to encounter a lot more enemies when you have more players with you. Sometimes, you and your buddies will be having a great time, only to be ambushed by a horde of enemies when trying to get to them. They might even wipe out your friends, leaving you to fend for yourself as get closer and those enemies run for you. It’s moments like these that make Diablo IV so much fun, and you’ll find yourself laughing along with your friends.
Multiple Classes
Given that there are multiple character classes to pick from, there is solid replay value to Diablo IV. With the cooperative crossplay between platforms and the wide open world, there are endless opportunities to explore the world with your friends. With future content that is planned to release quarterly, players will have even more opportunities to start fresh and play through Diablo IV. Each season will likely have new quest lines and challenges to keep players coming back.
Post-Game
In terms of end-game content, it’s crucial to put substantial effort into developing your character build and ensuring that they’re well-equipped to face upcoming challenges during world events. Although the main game does feature world events during gameplay, the post-game will introduce more challenging events such as world bosses. Make sure to adequately prepare yourself for what’s to come so that you’re ready to face whatever obstacles lie ahead.
Closing Thoughts
Diablo IV has done a good job of delivering an exciting and enjoyable storyline and providing hours of exciting entertainment, whether playing alone or with companions. I intend to create several characters to team up with friends and others I encounter online. It’s amusing to watch my cat, Ava, occasionally paw at the screen as I battled against demons and other foes and her thoughts are that the game is quality feline entertainment as anytime I had the game playing she was glued to the TV.
While the price of Diablo IV is at a high price point, I feel with the amount of content that will follow the game it’s become the new norm, but for those waiting that’s fine as well since feedback and any future things that may come up will be fixed. The game has captivated me, and I find myself looking forward to seeing how my other character builds will come out. For the time being, Diablo IV is one game if you enjoy going on a grand adventure and exploring for countless hours this would be a game to pick up.
