Diablo continues to be a series close to our hearts. But can we still trust Blizzard?
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Ah, Diablo Immortal. The Free2Play Diablo has been discussed and criticized a lot, of course also at GameStar: Whether Diablo Immortal rewards us wrongly. How Blizzard lures us with addiction mechanisms. Why Pay2Win isn’t the biggest problem at Immortal. Diablo Immortal did not do well in our test either – not only because of the monetization, but also because of playful stumbling blocks.
Part of the criticism of Immortal – a mobile hack and slay that is quite successful in terms of play – is rooted in disappointment with Blizzard. For example, because game director Wyatt Cheng promised before the release that no equipment would be sold for real money, but then rowed back that he did not mean legendary gems by equipment. Which are an important part of Immortal’s progression and can be obtained with real money.
Can you still believe Blizzard in light of this? And most importantly, can we still look forward to Diablo 4 after all the hassle over Immortal?
Micha talks about this in the podcast Twitch Necromancer Maurice and Kalle Koschinsky, whom you of course also from Twitch and Youtube knows, and who loves Diablo (2) at least as much as Maurice and Micha.
When Rod Fergusson, Blizzard’s overall brand director for all Diablo games, states that Diablo 4’s microtransactions are intended to be purely cosmetic and that there will be full story-driven expansions instead of Pay2Win, is that really true? Or will we be in for a similar surprise after Wyatt Cheng’s statement about the unpurchasable gear in Diablo Immortal?
On the other hand, everything Blizzard has shown of Diablo 4 so far seems like the action role-playing game is on the right track: the talent trees are returning, the Paragon system is becoming more multifaceted, there are runes again (albeit different than in Diablo 2), And above all, the mantra of “Build Diversity” hovers: Blizzard’s promise that we can play our world saviors and monster hunters the way we want – including experiments with legendary items, skills & Co.
Just like back in the good old Diablo 2.
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