Diablo is back, and you can be ‘beautiful in sin’ by playing the OPEN BETA this weekend 25th of March. Blizzard has already delivered the closed Beta and these are my first impressions and damn the release on June 6th, 2023 will be an interesting one.

Following the demonic seductress “Lilith this time around, the ‘Mother of Sanctuary’ has been summoned back to Earth to enticingly lure mortals into debauchery and wickedness. A lone hero, you must learn more about your bond with Lilith, fight her minions of hell, and decide if you will be led into the darkness or will you side with the light who is equally corrupted by power? The tale even in just this first act was so engrossing I could not stop playing as I endeavoured to get from cutscene to even the most minute line of dialogue. The characters are so fleshed out even now, that I can not wait to get to the bottom of it all.

The first thing you will also notice straight out the door is the cinematic cutscenes. Blizzard certainly knows how to graphically deliver a cinematic experience and I had to pick my jaw up off the floor with the game opening on the emancipation of Lilith in all her glory. Not only are the cinematic graphics impressive but the in-game scenes and graphics are equally as refined. Each display of power, whether it be fireballs, crackling electricity, or a whirlwind swirl of an axe-wielding Barbarian is a more than pleasing sight on the eyes. Each graphical scene is complemented by gorgeous lighting, ambient sound effects, and melodic backing tracks.

Diablo III fans will not be surprised much as the gameplay is almost identical. Definitely a spiritual successor, skills are unlocked using points and powers are mapped onto a key or a controller button as you progress. The unlocking of skills and passive attributes is different though with points being allowed into any skill on a tier of the tree and a certain amount of skill points unlocking the next level. I used a mouse to transverse with a click in the direction to run though many friends said they did prefer the seamless movement of a controller even on PC.

What I can note about Diablo IV gameplay-wise, from the BETA, is the fact the servers were very unstable, with queues for me up to 77 minutes and even worse in other countries. There was also a lot of frame rate and lag spikes which often caused death to zoning or unfair out-of-frame damage. The loading screens between areas were also a cumbersome wait when you are just itching to get into some dungeons.

Typical of a Diablo game the main aim is to collect good gear. I found the abundance of bosses in the BETA was very generous in dropping gear and by the end of the level 25 cap I was fully equipped with legendary items. I hope in the full game it isn’t that easy and that it was just a taste. I am assuming since we only got to experience two world tiers, adventure, and veteran, that multiple tiers will be available with much harder enemies and A LOT higher loot scaling on the official launch.

While veteran was pretty easy, it was definitely fun and the bosses were interesting enough to keep my attention. The loot and the way they relate to the skill trees at the present time seem like they need tuning as slightly as they already feel like there will be META builds with not much variety.

My biggest hope is they add the much-needed variety in quests these sorts of games need. There was definitely a substantial amount of find this door, oh it’s locked, find this person, oh they are a demon now kill them sort of missions. Diablo has always prided itself in the immersive and dynamic story writing so I would hate it to come down to dismal fetch and bring back quests.

My overall first impressions of the Diablo IV BETA are very high, despite my expectations being in the gutter after ‘Diablo Immortals’. Am I still sceptical once an online store will be introduced? Not really, I think they may have learned their lesson, cosmetic items have a place now in gaming but cosmetically only. Blizzard could still make a mint just off looks and mounts and stay true to the captivating world they have built around the ‘Diablo’ franchise. I am intrigued to see how different OR similar Diablo IV will be on launch to the BETA, meanwhile, I will live ‘beautifully in sin’ on my own terms.

Written by: Stacey