Welcome to Hell 

The long-awaited return to Sanctuary is slowly knocking on our door. Lilith, the daughter of Mephisto, walks among us, manipulating and seducing humans of weak hearts and faith. Her plans are still unclear to us, but one thing is certain: She wants the Nephalides at her feet.

Blizzard Entertainment's big franchise is scheduled for release on June 6, 2023, and is confirmed for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC. 



Never forget: Stay a while and listen 

Everything in Diablo IV converges to create an atmosphere of failure and melancholy. The humanity that insists on existing lives like cattle waiting to be slaughtered. In a world where pain accompanies each and every life form, any sigh of relief is like an eternity in paradise. 

And Lilith knows it. 

In Diablo IV, we are introduced to a seductive villain who enters the hearts and minds of her victims with terrifying subtlety. She dominates humans as if they were willing to be dominated, and with false promises, she makes them instruments for her macabre plans. Those who resist her will are left with the most sadistic and brutal death possible. 

In what was made available to us for testing in the Beta version, we noticed a narrative evolution unprecedented in the franchise. The game returns to a somber atmosphere of eternal hopelessness, with few colors and a lot of darkness, which translates into dense and immersive storytelling.

We are introduced to powerful characters, who clearly hide secrets and nuances to be revealed during the course of the story. I was very involved with the initial journey of Lorath, a horadrim who made an appearance in Diablo III and now returns as the centerpiece. He reminds me a lot of Sir Jorah from Game of Thrones. I expect him to be a great protagonist in the course of the campaign. 

Besides him, we will cross paths on our journey with Vigo and Neyrelle. I will not go into detail about their stories, but I can assure you that they are fundamental in inserting us into this desperate atmosphere that has been built for Diablo IV. 

Besides the main story, which since its prologue shows us what this episode of the franchise is about, we have a world rich in contexts and stories. The world will tell you that Sanctuary was not a place made for humans. There are many consequences, and you will experience some of them. 

Of all the Diablo editions, in terms of storytelling, Diablo IV is the one that seems to me to have the greatest potential to tell a truly mature story consistent with its theme. The game is aimed at an audience over 18 years old, which already tells us a lot. So, if I could summarize what I perceived in the beta, I would say that Diablo IV is the narrative translation of the Diablo II setting. 



And speaking about Diablo II...

Regarding the gameplay, I felt that Diablo IV reminds me a lot of the agility of Diablo II, even if technically it looks more like its predecessor, Diablo III. I noticed that the game has an incredible fluidity, even with graphics and animations that could impact negatively, given its level of complexity and refinement. The combat is very pleasant and dynamic, which is fundamental for a game whose focus is to spend hours and hours sending hordes of demons to the place where they came from. 

The abilities, from classic to completely new, fit very well into various types of gameplay styles, which makes the experience unique and customizable. In addition, we have a table of talents and skills that allows us to test them all the time since we can reset them at the cost of gold coins. In this version, what I did most, not only for the creation of this content but because I was motivated to do so, was to test and try out various skills and forms of combat. Although the customization options are not as complex as in Path of Exile, they are always full of meaning and practical usefulness. 



The combat relies heavily on the narrative and grows a lot because of it. Various elements in the scenarios or presented by characters give meaning to the combat. The game is not about killing demons just because of who they are, but because of the contexts that will be presented to us. So at various times, combat will become much more meaningful and profound. 

Beyond combat, Diablo IV has a very positive diversity of content, which has the potential to turn its open world into a living ecosystem, where players from various regions will be able to meet to perform various activities in events scattered throughout the scenarios. I've annihilated monsters in an area within a certain time, faced bosses, and hunted rare creatures. All this alongside people who joined my battle. I hope that this kind of content is replicated a lot in the course of the game because it was something really positive in my point of view. 



We also have new modes of movement and movement in combat, which expands the gameplay and the world. We will be able to climb walls, sneak through narrow passages, jump cliffs, and more. In addition, all characters have a form of dodge, which aids in combat. And the newest addition of mounts will make the game more dynamic and interactive, as mounts and transportation are always welcome features for the overall player experience. 

Diablo IV also features several customization possibilities, ranging from varied options in character creation to the transmogrification of equipment. For those who like to create a unique character, or to give narrative meaning to their character's appearance, as I do, you can spend a considerable amount of time among the options on offer.

Diablo IV also brings a new crafting system that will allow us to create items for our characters. The crafting system seemed quite complex to me since we will be able to build weapons and armor, jewelry, potions, and enhancements for our equipment. Despite the complexity, I think it is still too early to evaluate it accurately. However, I feel that it will be something really present and will have an impact throughout the life of the game. 

To complement the crafting experience, in Diablo IV the collection of some materials is done automatically, which will save the player time. Within this collection system, we will have herbalism and mining. 

I will not present the technical problems faced as negative points, because we are in beta, so there is still a lot to fix. But I think it is worthwhile to let the reader know that the testing was done amidst queues, crashes, and random disconnections. So if you want to test the beta, be aware that situations like these are to be expected at this stage. 



Where are the beauty and poetry in a world ravished by evil?

In everything. Absolutely everything.

Diablo IV struck me mostly by its atmosphere. It is a melancholy game with a dense and depressing atmosphere. As we meet the main antagonist and see how easily humans give in to her desires, we realize that there will be no light on our journey. 

This translates perfectly into all elements of the game. The colors are poorly saturated and the lighting is, at times, almost non-existent. The game is dark, and bloody, with violence that presents itself in the bodies, in the demons, and in the narrative itself. The cinematics is incredible, doing justice to Blizzard's work, but with a vileness that I have not noticed before in anything produced by the company. They went headfirst into hell and made sure to take us there. 

The graphics are beautiful, translating this atmosphere perfectly. The cities look like purgatories, where the inhabitants await their sentences, but without knowing when or how they will take place. The monsters are very well done and the nature that exists is a cursed nature, disturbed by the chaos of this rotten world. 



The characters' abilities are very nice and well-polished, as are the abilities of the creatures and the other resources in the setting. At no time did I feel the traditional visual pollution that used to take over the screen in the other games of the franchise.

The music of the game leads the immersion toward melancholy. They are the ones that involve us in this terrifying world and enhance all the visual and narrative content that we experience in the game. Like the tracks, the dialogues also put us in tune with the characters and their pain. I am looking forward to the release so I can experience more of this fallen world where Lilith emerges to reign supreme. 

For this review, Diablo IV was played on the PC.