Diablo IV is one of the most anticipated games of this 2023. The return to Sanctuary is marked in red on the calendar of many players, since we are talking about the return of one of the most influential ARPGs in history. And to go test and test the servers, from Blizzard they offered two trial periods.
The first was over the weekend of March 17-20, during which those who reserved the game were able to access it in advance. A first contact that allowed us to enjoy the prologue and the first Act of the game, as well as three of its classes. Of course, in this house we have spent hours on it and we will let you know our first impressions after this contact.
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Diablo IV returns to origins
The beta begins in style with the opening cinematic of the game. A sequence that we had already seen a few years ago, where we see the return of Lilith, the main antagonist of this fourth installment of the franchise. A sequence that makes us understand that this Diablo IV is a much darker game, which seeks to return to its purest essence and which we have already been able to revive thanks to the remake of Diablo II.
After this presentation, it’s time to select our hero. In early access, we were able to choose between three: Warrior, Rogue and Sorcerer. We chose to start with the Warrior, although as always we can create different profiles and try them all, which we also did. After that, we go to our character editor. It’s not the panacea or the most complete we’ve seen, but it does help us change some basic aspects: sex, hairstyle, facial beauty, tattoos, etc.
Thus, with our character created, we begin our adventure in the Broken Peaks, the first of the four large areas. And this already clearly shows that we are facing a massive game. The breadth and number of options in this area are overwhelming, and as we said, this is just the first of four. Without a doubt, we are facing one of Blizzard’s most complete works. Above all, because it doesn’t feel empty, you always find something to do. Side missions, basements to investigate, world events or boss fights where we need a good level.
It is in these wastelands that our first steps begin to follow in Lilith’s footsteps. We won’t reveal anything so as not to fall into spoilers, since next week you can enjoy the open beta of this debut. We will only say that the characteristic narrative of Diablo is very present and we can predict that it will leave us with a good story. Of course, this time we are faced with a much darker and more mature argument.
A tone that is felt from the first moment and that we really liked. Diablo IV returns to the franchise’s purest origins, with a darker, sinister, and gory style.. Thus, we find Broken Tops with a very dark appearance. Not only because of the snow and cold that abounds in this biome, but also because of the ghastly appearance of the abandoned villages, half-frozen corpses, and generally the dark environment that exists in this area. An ideal environment for the ascension of demonic hosts. And wherever there are demons, we will be there to fight them.
And we’ll do it with a game system that’s truly wonderful. Yes, we are facing the umpteenth evolution of Blizzard’s formula for success. It remains as addictive and fun as ever and adds new features. Thus, we can assign up to six skills to use in combat, which we can unlock in a generous skill tree, where we find endless options, each with different improvements, in order to adapt our game as we wish. So, for example, with the Rogue class, we can choose to focus on ranged attack or kill in the shadows and cause status ailments. Or a combination of both. With the Barbarian… well, the Barbarian is a specialist at crushing enemies with powerful abilities, fueled by their fury. But no, that doesn’t mean we can’t choose and adapt this class to our playstyle.
With this, we have a classic game formula with many options, to which is added a new one: the option to dodge. This one, which has cooling, adds one more point to perfect gameplay, allowing for new options. Not only defensive, but also offensive. For example, we can use this movement to approach a group of enemies with the barbarian to start kicking and slashing left and right.
With this beta, it’s clear that Diablo IV has great potential ahead of it. The one who is also huge. We are overwhelmed by the first of four large areas that we will be able to explore in a darker and more mature sanctuary, with a return to the darker tones of the saga. Yes, technically it can still improve (texts that appear in English, a menu that still has work to do, etc.) and that shows that it still has some good work to polish certain aspects. But graphically the game is already a delight, running on Xbox Series X (Console where we played) at 4K and 60 FPS without any issues.
And of course, you still have to know what the endgame, player versus player and class balance will look like. Lots to discover in June, no doubt. But this first contact could not have been better.
Diablo IV will be available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, PS4 and PS5 on June 6, 2023.
