Diablo 4 is in open beta, and players have eagerly flocked into the world of Sanctuary to see what the latest installment in the franchise has to offer, as the user interface has seemingly left many fans hoping for something better. The topic of user interface in Diablo games yields a remarkably varied set of opinions coming from all corners of the community, with many fans clinging to the nostalgic look of Diablo 2, while others preferring the sleek redesign of Diablo 3. Though Blizzard has been transparent about its deep dives into Diablo 4 and the world of Sanctuary, the UI largely remained under wraps until now.
It's no secret that players and Twitch streamers alike have been enjoying the open beta, despite encountering several frustrating bugs along the way such as Asmongold having his Diablo 4 beta character deleted through a network disconnect crash. The key pillars of a Diablo game have arguably been gameplay and atmosphere, and though many fans agree that Blizzard has nailed these aspects in Diablo 4, the major gripes seem to revolve around the game's dungeon design, as well as the user interface.
A thread made by GoofyMTG on the official subreddit for Diablo 4 sparked a discussion about the game's choice to forgo the use of Diablo's iconic font in favor of a generic Arial lookalike. It quickly evolved past its initial point of discussion into a broader critique of Diablo 4's user interface, with many players such as cubes158 using the thread as a platform to point out the flaws present in the current UI's design. From an unremarkable font that clashes against the game's aesthetic to overly large buttons and text, the user interface in Diablo 4 feels inefficient, with a ton of wasted space and a lack of customizability.
The user experience side seems to suffer from a lack of logical options as well, given that Diablo 4 allows players to salvage all items with the click of a button, but fails to provide an option for selling all items in parallel. Other listed grievances include the inability to choose a sorting method for a game famous for its loot piñata moniker, a bare-bones quest journal fly-out menu in Diablo 4's map screen, and a Challenge menu that begs for a more compact design. Diablo 4 fans playing with friends in a clan may also find difficulty adjusting to the game's chat box being situated on the bottom-right, with no ability to reposition it to better match personal preferences.
The foundation put together by Blizzard for Diablo 4 certainly speaks volumes about the game's potential, but players may take some time to adjust to the game's user interface. Though the developers are primarily focusing on fixing Diablo 4's login issues and errors, it may go a long way if its UI becomes more customizable and open to player personalization either at launch or within its first few content patches.
Diablo 4 releases June 6 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.