Diablo 4 has a huge legacy it's trying to live up to, and its latest gameplay breakdown shows a lot of promise in that regard, offering combat with more grounded graphics and improved clarity compared to its predecessor. In many ways, Diablo 4's overarching vision was a thorough and respectful return to the franchise's roots. The tone in Diablo 4 is darker, the world of Sanctuary is less whimsical - it's moody and atmospheric, and bigger because of its unobtrusive direction.
However, this design philosophy extends beyond Diablo 4's graphical and story direction. The hellish monsters that inhabit the game's regions are not the paper tigers seen in Diablo 3, but they are balanced like the enemies from Diablo 2's roots, the Diablo series has always been a fantasy battle against hellish enemies of Sanctuary as one of its unlikely heroes, gradually getting stronger along the way. Although Diablo 3 eventually made its way into Greater Rifts, its launch difficulty left much to be desired, as simple wind could knock out most enemies on normal difficulty.
Diablo 4 developers Joe Shely and Rod Ferguson caught up with IGN to show how Diablo 4 is designed to avoid falling into the same trap. From the beginning, combat in Diablo 4 has been designed with clarity and weight in mind. Players should be able to see the surrounding battlefield and use it to gain a tactical advantage, be it through bottlenecks, scalable cliffs, or destructible objects. It's much less fun when the combat boils down to players fighting their way through a shapeless mass of enemies with extremely brilliant abilities.
One thing that makes Diablo 4 different from previous Diablo titles is the inclusion of mounts. The world of Sanctuary in the fourth Diablo game is on a much larger scale than anything players have ever experienced in the series. With a lot of time between intense battles and daunting dungeons, players will only stumble across a beautifully rendered scenery (and the occasional player) where mounts will help them better traverse these empty spaces.
Diablo 4's closed beta, was ended on November 18, but players who haven't yet been invited should keep an eye out in the coming months for a proper chance to test the game out. Although the release date has not been officially confirmed by Blizzard, there are rumors that the game is scheduled for release in April next year. More info about Diablo 4:
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