Diablo 4 is one of the highest-anticipated releases of the year, but after two beta weekends granting access to a sizable chunk of the game, many players are concerned about the repetitive dungeon structure. Blizzard announced that over one million players reached level 20 during the early access beta alone, speaking volumes to the popularity and hype for the upcoming Action RPG. While overall reception to the Diablo 4 beta has been positive, a few significant concerns have arisen within the community that could demonstrate a troubled future for the title.
The Diablo 4 beta gave players access to the entire first act with a level cap of 25, and while most agree that the core components look, sound, and feel great, dungeons appear to be one of the game’s weakest points. After running a dungeon just a few times, it becomes easy to predict the basic layout each time, and the objectives within dungeons consistently halt progress, leading to repetitive and frustrating backtracking. With dungeons reportedly being the cornerstone of the end-game experience, many feel these foundational design flaws paint a grim picture of the long-term appeal of Diablo 4.
Diablo 4’s Biggest Issue Based on Beta Feedback
Diablo 4 offers a fully explorable and shared open world where players travel seamlessly between five distinct zones alongside other players, with one zone even being dedicated to PvP. This makes Diablo 4 feel more like an MMO than any previous title in the series, allowing players to interact with each other while questing, completing public events, and fighting world bosses. Additionally, Diablo 4 implements a system that scales enemies to each player, though this can often make players feel weaker as they level up until they get better gear, encouraging players to complete more dungeons or public events.
Beta players were given access to over 20 dungeons in the first zone, and since dungeons were typically the fastest and most consistent way to acquire new gear, players looking to obtain the best gear would grind dungeons. Dungeons in Diablo 4 operate similarly to previous Diablo titles and other ARPGs in that they are procedurally generated, but they seem to be much more straightforward this time around. Within the first zone, dungeons follow the same basic layout of one main path with minor deviations until players reach a locked door that can’t be opened until they complete a specific objective.
Objectives in Diablo 4's dungeons essentially fall under one of only three categories that boil down to killing all enemies in the area, killing three enemies or nests, and finding keys to unlock the door. This limited structure makes dungeons extremely repetitive and regularly halts all momentum, as some cases require players to backtrack through a dungeon once or twice over in order to progress. Though they weren't available during the beta, Nightmare Dungeons unlock at Diablo 4's World Tier 3 and will essentially be modified versions of the normal dungeons with various ailments and enhancements applied to players and enemies.
There is still much to be learned about what Diablo 4’s endgame looks like, and though dungeons are known to play a major role, it’s unknown whether these will provide more depth or complexity at higher levels. Other ARPGs like Path of Exile will combat repetition by adding more random elements to encounters that keep players on their toes, but many are skeptical that Diablo 4's Nightmare Dungeons will offer enough variation to keep them interesting for years to come.
Diablo 4 Likely Won't Catch Its Stride Until Well After Launch
The game is releasing within a much more competitive space than Diablo 3, and Diablo 4 should learn from games like Path of Exile, Last Epoch, Grim Dawn, and Lost Ark in order to provide high-quality experiences for fans of the ARPG genre. Those expecting the complexity of Path of Exile will likely be disappointed by Diablo 4, leading fans to worry that players will leave the game after a few weeks or months. Considering Blizzard will likely spend that time working on technical issues like bugs, crashes, balance, and performance, fixes to foundational issues like dungeon layouts and objectives will likely come much later.
As is to be expected with any modern live service game or MMO, the endgame and seasonal content is where most of the final verdict on Diablo 4 will lie. Blizzard is expected to provide more details on Diablo 4’s endgame content soon, but if dungeons simply retain the same basic structure with more difficult enemies, players may end up leaving the game quickly after release. Still, with the solid gameplay foundation that Blizzard seems to have nailed in this latest installment, long-term support could keep Diablo 4 active longer than any other title in the series.
Diablo 4 releases June 6 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.