The last one ended Open Beta on Diablo IVthe new chapter of the renowned series of Diablo Of Blizzard Entertainment That will be released on June 6, 2023. In this Diablo IV beta, the last one before its release, we tried, thanks to Blizzard, the gameplay mechanics of three of the five classes that will be available, the technical sector and part of the story. Let’s find out how it went!
Before continuing, however, we must remind you that being a Beta version, everything we have seen does not fully reflect what the full game will be. Any technical glitches or character imbalances may be resolved before the full game is released. Obviously for a complete opinion, we will meet again on these channels with the review of the game.
Tried Diablo IV with the Open Beta
The history of Diablo IV perfectly follows the macabre and intriguing style of the previous chapters. The world of Sanctuary is now threatened by its own maker, Lilith, daughter of Mephisto and queen of demons. Freed from her prison, her intent seems to be to “free” the inhabitants of this world by bringing them closer to evil and using them to win the eternal battle between angels and demons.
Our character’s story begins nearby Nevesk, a small village already corrupted by evil influence. In fact, here we will have to face the first difficulties and begin our new and dangerous journey. This will lead us to Kyovashadthe main city of the game which will also act as a central hub from which main and secondary missions branch out.
Obviously we won’t go further on the “plot” issue, also because the Beta allowed us to complete only the first actbut the conditions for a new great Diablo are all there.
Barbarian, Enchanter and Cutthroat…
…these are the classes made available in the Beta version to which will be added, in the full version of the game, the Druid and the Necromancer. Like every Role playing game self-respecting, the choice of class follows a character creation which really amazed us. Although the top-down isometric graphics, characteristic of all Diablos, don’t let you glimpse too much of the physical appearance of the characters, the customization is very detailed and varied.
Our choice fell mainly on the Cutthroat e on the Enchanter (sorry barbarians listening) which turned out to be extremely different and fun. Each class has basic attacks accompanied by a series of skills and spells to be unlocked in the rich and personal skill-tree. This provides for a large number of skills, their upgrades and passive skills that will greatly enrich the character’s move set.
Il cutthroat he will be able to choose whether to approach directly with close, rapid and lethal attacks or stay at a distance by exploiting the versatility of arrows or daggers. The charmer he can harness the various elements and use the additional effects of spells while fighting safely. The Barbaro instead he is able to equip up to 4 weapons at the same time and quickly switch between one and the other, adapting to any eventuality.
After all we found the classes to be quite varied and extremely fun to use. We especially liked the ability to redistribute skill points up to level 15. This will give us time to figure out which path we actually want our hero to take.
However, some doubts remain. The difference in power between the characters is just too much. Our spellcaster, for example, was able to eliminate a large number of enemies with devastating damage unlike the poor cutthroat. Balance is a problem that has hit the franchise over and over again and we sincerely hope that it is a momentary problem. Beyond the gap during the campaign, we dare not imagine what could happen in the PvP areas.
Good dear Diablo but…
All in all, returning to the world of Diablo was truly spectacular. The premises, after the initial burn of Diablo III and the spin-off of Diablo Immortal which leaves time testing, we were really craving for a good old Diablo. The game mechanics, the settings and the completely revised graphics compared to the previous chapter have rejuvenated the franchise. Unfortunately, however, his personality is far too strong to allow real changes.
Don’t get us wrong, smashing hordes of demons and the like and recovering the precious loot is really satisfying, but after a few hours we realized that we’ve been doing the same thing for at least 10 levels. All in all some goodies there are like the shipments oh World bossesbut we are not sure that these will be able to entertain us too much.
Obviously we trust the full version in the game and the things we haven’t seen yet.
How did it perform on PC?
Being a Beta version, graphical glitches and technical slowdowns were expected and we were not disappointed. In addition to a couple of crashes that closed the game (bringing us back to the end of the hated login queue), we encountered a lot of slowdowns and frame rate drops especially in the busiest situations. Likewise, when changing maps, the slowdowns were many but few actually affected our gaming experience.
When the situation was peaceful, we appreciated the large amount of graphic detail and especially the overall graphic style. Much darker and gloomy than the previous chapter, in perfect Diablo style. The settings are also remarkable although the maps of the first act have not yet made us scream at the miracle in terms of variety and beauty.
On the other hand, the music and the dubbing of the characters (in English) were excellent, which completely immersed us in the atmosphere of the game.
Our tried of Diablo IV in a nutshell
Diablo IV has all it takes to “go back to being Diablo”. This however could result in a dearth of novelty making the game “too similar to itself”. Granted that this is not necessarily a bad thing, we are really curious to find out what the full version of the game will offer us.
We trust above all in the ability to Blizzard not to abandon, in terms of updates and balances, its titles and to be able to solve the problems that we will inevitably see in the full game.