There is a tremendously tall legacy that Diablo 4 seeks to live up to, and its latest gameplay breakdown shows plenty of promise in that regard, offering combat with more grounded visuals and better clarity compared to its predecessor. In a lot of ways, the overriding vision for the developers of Diablo 4 has been a thorough and respectful return to the franchise roots. The tone in Diablo 4 is darker, the world of Sanctuary is less whimsical – it is moody and atmospheric, and greater for its understated direction.
However, this design philosophy extends past the art and story direction of Diablo 4. The monsters of Hell inhabiting the game's regions are not the paper tigers seen in Diablo 3, but rather strike a fine balance akin to the enemies of Diablo 2. At its roots, the Diablo franchise has always been a power fantasy of taking on the infernal foes of Sanctuary as one of its unlikely heroes, gradually getting stronger along the way. Though Diablo 3 eventually found its footing through Greater Rifts, its difficulty at launch left a lot to be desired, as a simple breeze could knock out most enemies on Normal difficulty.
Diablo 4 developers Joe Shely and Rod Ferguson sat down with IGN to showcase their intent on how Diablo 4 would avoid falling into the same trap. From the get-go, Diablo 4's combat is designed with clarity and heft in mind. Players should be able to see the surrounding battleground, and utilize it for a tactical advantage, be it through choke points, scalable cliffs, or destructible objects. It's significantly less fun when the combat boils down to players mashing through a formless mass of enemies with extremely flashy abilities.
One thing where Diablo 4 differs from past Diablo titles is the inclusion of mounts. The world of Sanctuary in the fourth Diablo game has a much grander scale than anything players have ever experienced in the franchise. A fair bit of time between intense battles and daunting dungeons will have players come across nothing but gorgeously rendered scenery (and the occasional player), which is where mounts will serve them in better traversing these empty spaces.
Diablo 4 is currently in a Closed Beta that ends on November 18, but players who haven't been invited yet should keep an eye out in the coming months for a proper chance to test out the game. While no launch date has been officially confirmed by Blizzard, it is rumored that the game is set to launch in April next year.
Diablo 4 will launch in 2023 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.