In the beginning, you’ll choose your free or resource-generating ability, which will help fuel your future skills. The rogue plays much differently between nimbly dashing with a pair of daggers, or peppering foes from afar with bows and crossbows.ĭiablo 4 features a linear progression for skills of similar types. I messed around with all three, and immediately enjoyed the ability to cheaply refund skill points to try different gameplay styles. The early access beta featured three of the five classes: rogue, barbarian, and sorcerer.

Even only getting a small taste of Act 1 in the beta leaves me very impressed with the art design and storytelling.īut what truly matters in an action-RPG is the combat. There are creepy stories of possessed cultists and blood rituals, immersive cutscenes, phenomenal voice acting, and a wider world to explore with multiple biomes. Diablo 2 expanded labyrinth mega-dungeon onto the wider world, losing some of its charm while gaining a much more robust variety in enemies and locations.ĭiablo 3 went a step further, lightening the tone and color palette, nudging the world toward a more generic fantasy setting of angels versus demons.ĭiablo 4 takes the best parts of all those games. The tone of Diablo 4 is a refreshing return to Diablo’s roots - specifically the very first game, which was gothic, bloody, and supremely creepy. The story pulled me right in from the beginning, including being able to fully customize my character for the first time in the series, a nod to MMOs and other RPGs. The opening cinematics and story-telling (including in-game cinematics!) is head and shoulders above what the series has done before, and Blizzard has always been a master of cinematic cutscenes. Long story short, there was a bit of a falling out between the unholy union, and now demon forces are on the rise as Lilith returns. Lilith is also known as the Mother of Sanctuary, having created mankind through her union with the angel, Inarius. Instead, cultists have summoned the daughter of Mephisto, one of the other Prime Evils.

Daughter of Hatredĭiablo 4 is set years after Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls, and the titular villain is nowhere to be found. I’m happy to report that from what I’ve seen in the early game, Diablo 4 is going to be a big success.

As a long-time fan of the click-happy action-RPG, I remained skeptical on this new breed of Diablo, which combines many of Blizzard’s World of Warcraft MMO-elements. Last weekend, Blizzard Entertainment hosted an early access for the upcoming open beta for Diablo 4, available to pre-order purchasers.

Diablo 4 cinematic cultist