Things To Know Before Playing Diablo IV
Story
Origin Story: Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden
Given how rare it is for us to get a new “Diablo” game, it can be a bit tough to follow the continuity and overarching narrative of the series. Thankfully, the distant events can let you jump into any one of the games, and “Diablo IV” is no different. The game takes place thirty years after the events of “Diablo III: Reaper of Souls”, and due to those events, Sanctuary has found itself under the thumb of Lilith, the daughter of Mephisto. You, the player, will take the role of a Nephalem, a being who is neither angel nor demon but can possess the powers of both. Of course, your existence is the only thing that can bring down Lilith and her army.
Character Classes
Top 10 Games With the Freakiest Character Faces
As with many RPGs, you’ll need some idea of what each character class is capable of before jumping in. Last thing you want is to be stuck with something you may not enjoy later on. “Diablo IV” will have five character classes for you to select from at the start of your quest: Barbarian, Druid, Rogue, Sorceress, and Necromancer. Barbarians specialize in melee combat while the Sorceress can utilize elemental magic to neutralize targets. Druids can use the elements of nature to defend themselves and shapeshift into different animals for unique attacks and maneuvers. Rogues can do the usual rogue stuff - daggers, bows, landing critical hits frequently and almost unfairly. And then, you have Necromancers, dark magic-users that can conjure up creatures to fight for them and drain their enemies’ life force.
The Jump to 3D
10 Things To Know Before Playing God of War Ragnarok
One of the biggest milestones for “Diablo IV” is its visual evolution. While “Diablo III” did bring the series into the realm of 3D visuals, it still utilized a lot of 2.5D visuals for its environments, level design, and cutscenes. “Diablo IV”, on the other hand, is making the jump to using 3D assets for just about everything. Worlds have been designed not only to fit gameplay, but also to allow for captivating cutscenes within the game itself rather than restrict things to a box or pre-rendered cutscenes.
An Effective Chance
10 Things to Know Before Playing Gotham Knights
Another first for “Diablo IV” is the addition of three brand new attributes that will alter your playstyle: Angelic, Demonic, and Ancestral Power. The Angelic attribute will affect the duration and strength of effects that will benefit you whereas Demonic will affect how strong your debuffs are against enemies. As for Ancestral Power, this attribute will determine how often you apply certain effects on your targets. From the sound of it, these might play a significant role in creating a strong build.
The Marketplace
10 Things to Know Before Playing Elden Ring
One of the biggest trainwrecks we saw with “Diablo III” was its marketplace, more specifically, the auction house. For those unfamiliar, this aspect of the game allowed players to trade just about anything they could nab in the game for real-world money or in-game currency. However, it caused all sorts of problems with the game’s economy. “Diablo IV” will be incorporating a marketplace, but no auction house. Additionally, the marketplace will have tighter restrictions to maintain the game’s balance and economy.
A Couple of Asterisks
10 Things to Know Before Playing Sand Land
Speaking of money, “Diablo IV” comes with a couple of asterisks you should be aware of. First off, the game will have microtransactions, which will be used to purchase season passes and cosmetics rather than item upgrades as we saw in the mobile spin-off “Diablo: Immortal”. But the biggest setback for some players will be the game’s online requirement. In order to play “Diablo IV”, you will need a constant online connection regardless if you’re doing PvP or just progressing in the main campaign. So, take your data plans and ISP’s consistency into consideration before you go dropping money on the game.
Beta Woes
Back in March 2023, “Diablo IV” saw two weekend closed betas made available for only those who pre-ordered the game. During this time, Blizzard ran into some hitches that raised the alarm for some. Queue times left players waiting for minutes to hours on end waiting to jump in. PC players, on the other hand, experienced improper balance between GPU and CPU usage. Blizzard has stated that the beta has helped them identify the problems and adjust accordingly. However, if you’ve been paying attention to the recent decline in the quality of PC ports, it might be worth waiting until launch to see what people are saying if you really want to play on your computer.
Development Woes
Top 10 Games in Development Hell
“Diablo IV’s” beta hasn’t even been the biggest headache for Blizzard. In the middle of development, Blizzard Entertainment found itself at the center of a massive lawsuit regarding its work environment. With employees reporting on insensitive and inappropriate behavior both personal and widespread, Blizzard became embroiled in a lawsuit filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. It was here that Blizzard fans discovered many of the studio’s leads had been involved in this vile behavior. This led to the departure of two key leads on “Diablo IV”: Jesse McCree, who was “Diablo IV’s” lead designer, and Luis Barriga, the game’s director. In their places are Joseph Piepiora, who worked on “Overwatch 2” and “Warcraft III: Reforged”, and Joe Shely, who spent much of his early years playing the first two “Diablo” games before joining Blizzard in 2007 and working on “Diablo III” as lead game designer.
Post-Launch Support
Spider-Man PS4 Post Credit Scene Explained
“Diablo IV” is planned to have post-launch support, but if you’re someone with not a lot of time on your hands, it might give you pause. Part of its post-launch support will come in the form of Battle Passes, and they are extensive. According to Piepiora himself, Battle Passes will take around eighty hours to fully complete, and reaching Level 100 with your character might go beyond that. One thing Piepiora did want to clarify was that campaigns will not be tied to Battle Passes whatsoever.
Launch
Games Switch 2 Should Launch With
As we mentioned at the beginning of the video, “Diablo IV” has gone gold already, meaning that the game has finished development and is ready for printing. “Diablo IV” will launch on June 6, 2023 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series XS, and Windows PC. A standard copy will cost $69.99 USD with other editions inflating the price by throwing in digital goodies at $89.99 USD and $99.99 USD. Remember to be mindful with your money, and maybe we’ll see you in Hell this summer.
