Current Events > What is everyone's impression Diablo 4 after the beta?

(+) Yeah! (+)

People are saying it's more like Diablo 2 than 3, but I think that's only true for the art. The gameplay felt just like Diablo 3 to me. One generator. One spender. On ultimate. One movement skill. Two more situational type damage abilities. The skill tree is more of a cover up since it's the same thing. You pick one for the category and the extra skill following it is just like those rune modifiers.

On paper, I can see why that's more interesting than Diablo 2, but it just doesn't grab me for some reason. I don't think I would be able to stick with it.

Feels like another soulless AAA game just in the form of Diablo now. Things that stand out are the visuals and overall atmosphere. Definite improvement from Diablo III. The game itself seems great and I am sure many will love it. However, it just feels so bland and repetitive. I constantly find myself getting bored very quickly. It is just completely lacking in something to hold my interest. It is missing its hook.

Feels like Diablo 3 to me.

Crimsoness posted...

Feels like Diablo 3 to me.

With a little of 2

It's a Modern Blizzard game. Do you expect them to get anything right at all?

I genuinely enjoyed it and didn't care much for 3.

Smashingpmkns posted...

I genuinely enjoyed it and didn't care much for 3.

What made the difference for you?

Not very good. The opening cinematic got me hyped then when I got to the first house and the goofy dialog started it was downhill from there. The game feels arcady to play like Diablo 3, when
I play D2R or Path of Exile it's way better to control I can't describe it.
The skill tree is a joke, they brought back the awful your power comes from legendary items from D3 instead of taking the time to flesh out a great skill tree and have gear help boost your stats and attributes. The graphics and music are great though.

trappedunderice posted...

Not very good. The opening cinematic got me hyped then when I got to the first house and the goofy dialog started it was downhill from there. The game feels arcady to play like Diablo 3, when
I play D2R or Path of Exile it's way better to control I can't describe it.
The skill tree is a joke, they brought back the awful your power comes from legendary items from D3 instead of taking the time to flesh out a great skill tree and have gear help boost your stats and attributes. The graphics and music are great though.

It's not even a tree. It all goes down the same path. It's like I mentioned in the OP, just picking what ability you want for each button as you go down the path.

Bump

I disliked how slow it is in terms of movement
I understand the game has mounts so when it drops I will see how videos are of people using mounts and decide then but so far I am intending to buy unless I see some things I dislike but it will also depend on endgame

It seems like a mixture of Diablo 2 and 3. Diablo 2 in terms of how the mobs were so not too spaced out but not a majer like crazy group how Diablo 3 is.

I'm waiting for the full game release + reviews to give it a try. I just want a game that I can buy, beat, and be done with. My fear is the finished product will be heavily compromised to push the usual live-service-esque infinite grind battle pass + seasons model.

what made Diablo 2 amazing was the economy

d4 has no economy much like d3

WalkingLobsters posted...

what made Diablo 2 amazing was the economy

d4 has no economy much like d3

What made it fun for me was after school runs trying to level
I think around the time people discovered the grush runs and just used those is when I lose interest in it and just played offline

What I'd like to see in D3 is an incentive to playing with others
Maybe more elites spawn or better drop rates or something. So far it just seemed like it was better off being alone like in D3

i liked it, but it's the first diablo for me.

i went into the game knowing i wanted to play rogue and now everybody i know is gonna play rogue because it's strong af and now i don't want to play rogue anymore lol.

WalkingLobsters posted...

what made Diablo 2 amazing was the economy

d4 has no economy much like d3

Yeah there was this urge to get rich in D2 that isn't as strong in D3 or D4. It's like more gamble-y. Like maybe I'll get a Mara's this time!

Squall28 posted...

Yeah there was this urge to get rich in D2 that isn't as strong in D3 or D4. It's like more gamble-y. Like maybe I'll get a Mara's this time!

I never felt like that
To me it was just more tedious trying to gear in Diablo 2 because of how random the loot tables were

Like I remember get the dagger that gives 100% on my barb ealry on but it was all but useless to them but was perfect on my necromancer

it felt like 3 to me but the performance was pretty bad so idk.

didn't feel like 2 but that's fine since 2's gameplay is pretty terrible by today's standards

A buddy of mine was telling me about it this weekend. He liked how open the world was but said that it did have more of an MMO style than he would have preferred.

pauIie posted...

i liked it, but it's the first diablo for me.

i went into the game knowing i wanted to play rogue and now everybody i know is gonna play rogue because it's strong af and now i don't want to play rogue anymore lol.

I would say they have a lot of time to make balance changes but this is an Activision game so yeah.

catfan2008 posted...

I never felt like that
To me it was just more tedious trying to gear in Diablo 2 because of how random the loot tables were

Like I remember get the dagger that gives 100% on my barb ealry on but it was all but useless to them but was perfect on my necromancer

catfan2008 posted...

I never felt like that
To me it was just more tedious trying to gear in Diablo 2 because of how random the loot tables were

Like I remember get the dagger that gives 100% on my barb ealry on but it was all but useless to them but was perfect on my necromancer

You can trade in D2. Even if you don't need that dagger on your barb, you can trade it for something your Barb would want or rune currency.

Squall28 posted...

You can trade in D2. Even if you don't need that dagger on your barb, you can trade it for something your Barb would want or rune currency.

Yes but only online even with openbnet (which had massive amounts of hacked stuff).
As someone who's internet was bad it wasn't a thing to play online for me really

garan posted...

A buddy of mine was telling me about it this weekend. He liked how open the world was but said that it did have more of an MMO style than he would have preferred.

Activision has been trying to merge Diablo and WoW into the same game since WoW's WoD expansion. At this point other than their base gameplay they are essentially the same. Loot lottery designed to keep you playing, endless grinding of additional power levels, open world, world quests, rare spawns, affixes on enemies, overpowered legendary items that are required to have the exact specific one to play at a competitive level, and probably a lot more stuff I can't remember right now. From what I hear WoW's new expansion has really tuned down this stuff that has crippled the game for a long time.

I liked it, things felt a bit rough on barb(non-thorn focus) and druid( not werewolf), but I'm sure they will be strong late game. Didn't get too much into finding lillth's statues or account bonus stuff because I would have to do it again when the full game comes out.

I'm also interested in sorc/rogue, but I tend to gravitate to classes that isn't being spammed by everyone.( I know rogue isn't seen as op as sorc and necro in the beta demo, but after some of the videos I have seen I can see people gravitating to that class as well for the full game)

I didn't see much MMO in it personally, I have just seen other players here and there, didn't notice any content where you were forced to have other player interaction to clear content. ( Maybe this will change in end game content or future updates? Who knows?)

I had a blast playing as a sorceress. I feel like gamers just like to be overly picky about everything these days. I never played D1 or D2 though. Only D3.

WalkingLobsters posted...

what made Diablo 2 amazing was the economy

d4 has no economy much like d3

There will definitely be an economy. Rare items are tradeable, and at end game getting a rare with 4 good stats will be sought after.

GhostFaceLeaks posted...

It's a Modern Blizzard game. Do you expect them to get anything right at all?

Last year I'd 100% agree with you, but Dragonflight is easily the best expansion since Legion and probably farther back.

I'd love for D4 to be a competitor to PoE or PoE2 or whatever
Like keep the ladder system and just implemet more currency

That's what I think would make it a good game
D3 was boring because it was literally just rush the rifts and gamble

It looked and seemed so much like Diablo 3 that I was honestly shocked.

I don't think that it's a bad thing necessarily, but like... I'm still playing Diablo 3, and I don't necessarily feel the need to spend $70 on what essentially seems like another Diablo 3.

D3 gameplay is fine. Just... give us interesting loot to work with and combo. And don't make the story and villains feel like a Saturday morning cartoon.

HudGard posted...

D3 gameplay is fine. Just... give us interesting loot to work with and combo. And don't make the story and villains feel like a Saturday morning cartoon.

You're literally fighting the forces of hell. I don't know that Diablo is the place for moral ambiguity in villain motivations. They've already gone the extra mile to make Heaven just as shitty. Were you actually hoping a Diablo villain says something where you go "well... they have a point."?

The combat was fine but the dungeons sucked and if the core game consists of running dungeons for daily rewards and killing the open world bosses once a week for their loot box then the game will be trash.

s0nicfan posted...

You're literally fighting the forces of hell. I don't know that Diablo is the place for moral ambiguity in villain motivations. They've already gone the extra mile to make Heaven just as shitty. Were you actually hoping a Diablo villain says something where you go "well... they have a point."?

No. I mean how an Evil will constantly radio in and be like "Mwahaha, you'll never reach me once my minions get through with you!" (mustache twirl)

HudGard posted...

No. I mean how an Evil will constantly radio in and be like "Mwahaha, you'll never reach me once my minions get through with you!" (mustache twirl)

Ah okay, gotcha.

6 skills max = game breaker for me.

I enjoyed it. Something about the art style for 3. Was not doing it for me. Gave me comic book vibes all the time. After 40 hours I was done.

This game definitely was easy for me to sink into. Especially with the art. The story seems run of the mill. But I do enjoy some of the angelic religious texts, and bits loitered about to read.

The combat reminds me of a more refined 3. The boss's so far are way more fun to learn positioning, and dodging. Felt way more involved. I played a lot of D2 at a much younger age. And I remember mob controlling felt very important. Mob controlling seems much easier in these last two games. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I'm totally fine with the direction the series is going. As long as there's no pay to win crap.

HudGard posted...

D3 gameplay is fine. Just... give us interesting loot to work with and combo. And don't make the story and villains feel like a Saturday morning cartoon.

Something about D3 gameplay just isn't fun for me. On paper, it should be more interesting than D2 since there's a bit more to it. I think I may have just outgrown the genre.

I liked it. Pre-ordered it.

I tend to play RTS so an ARPG is a good change of pace for me.

I used to play D2 like years ago. I think in the released version there'll be a specific economy. There's 4 tiers and there probably going to be an expansion (no Paladin), so I think the game is going to be big and expansive.

Squall28 posted...

Something about D3 gameplay just isn't fun for me. On paper, it should be more interesting than D2 since there's a bit more to it. I think I may have just outgrown the genre.

I feel that. When the original came out it was very compelling because it was essentially a simplified video game version of D&D. The dice rolls of defense and attack rating happened instantly in the background. But since then were drowning in games with mixtures of action and rp elements. Its a dime a dozen and propped up by its legacy.

Maybe it's my shit eyes but my main knock with d3 was I couldn't tell what the fuck was happening on screen at end game with all the effects popping off. They dial that back down to d2 levels?

Artistically, it's top notch. Gameplay feels just as fun as the third moment-to-moment even if I think D3 is a weak entry. Music is also fantastic to boot.

That's where the praise ultimately ends. The desire to have a forced open world isn't great, the "skill-tree" is incredibly laughable & I already hate the idea of the monetisation that'll be behind it, along with the FOMO and battle pass bullshit thrown in for good measure.

I was initially taken in by the artistic direction which I felt was a nice return to form and good departure from the WoW-Era Diablo 3. Enough to consider dropping 120 for my wife and I to cross-play from Xbox > PC. I don't think I'll be doing that now. I'll likely put that towards Last Epoch instead, or not and continue to play Grim Dawn + find another co-op outing for my wife and I to enjoy.

I found it boring to be honest.

BuckVanHammer posted...

Maybe it's my shit eyes but my main knock with d3 was I couldn't tell what the fuck was happening on screen at end game with all the effects popping off. They dial that back down to d2 levels?

I feel like you don't even need to know. It's the same as D3 in that you're just watching your right click wreck everything. The games not a Soul's game where you have to pay a lot of attention to what the enemy is doing.

Squall28 posted...

I feel like you don't even need to know. It's the same as D3 in that you're just watching your right click wreck everything. The games not a Soul's game where you have to pay a lot of attention to what the enemy is doing.

Ya kinda nit picky, didn't keep me from playing quite a bit of 3. Just prefer 2 where it's not a jumbled mess...

I tried four classes and got two of them(Druid/Sorc) to 25 during the open beta weekend. Early game melee feels like shit compared to Sorcerer. When I was doing a Werewolf build with Druid I actually had to think about when to use my dodges, potions, defensive ability etc. while on my Sorc everything(including the Stronghold boss that's two levels above the cap) died SUPER fast with minimal effort. Sometimes my Sorc even killed shit offscreen thanks to Chain Lightning. Sorc also felt like a better summoner but that's mostly due to how overtuned the Hydra was compared to Wolves/Ravens(I didn't try Vines). I only played on Veteran or whatever the higher difficulty was called.

I actually upgraded gear on my Druid unlike my Sorc, but it didn't seem to matter much. Respeccing to the Earth magic stuff made my Druid feel much better which wasn't a great feeling as I like melee in ARPGs. It seems like the only meaningful gear/upgrades are the aspects you remove from Legendaries and put into yellow gear, but I didn't want to farm or put too much time into that stuff since I wanted to just try a lot of things in the one weekend I played. FWIW Druid was missing its unique gimmick from the beta, but after looking at a datamine they mostly looked like boring passive upgrades. The Sorc Enchantments were fun.

The MMO-lite stuff doesn't appeal to me. I already don't like looking at all the clowns in PoE hubs and if I ever buy D4 I just KNOW there are going to be people decked out in stupid looking MTX outfits in every hub. I've never played Lost Ark but I keep seeing a bunch of comparisons to it so I assume that one is more of a MMO ARPG than D4 is. Also we're getting mounts in the full game which will make the boring world a bit easier to travel through so that's a plus. I normally like exploring for stuff but D4's Act 1 area was just no good. On a final note going from Last Epoch's Werebear to D4's was such a massive step down holy shit I thought Blizzardvision was a AAA studio.

MJOLNRVII posted...

I tried four classes and got two of them(Druid/Sorc) to 25 during the open beta weekend. Early game melee feels like shit compared to Sorcerer. When I was doing a Werewolf build with Druid I actually had to think about when to use my dodges, potions, defensive ability etc. while on my Sorc everything(including the Stronghold boss that's two levels above the cap) died SUPER fast with minimal effort. Sometimes my Sorc even killed shit offscreen thanks to Chain Lightning. Sorc also felt like a better summoner but that's mostly due to how overtuned the Hydra was compared to Wolves/Ravens(I didn't try Vines). I only played on Veteran or whatever the higher difficulty was called.

I actually upgraded gear on my Druid unlike my Sorc, but it didn't seem to matter much. Respeccing to the Earth magic stuff made my Druid feel much better which wasn't a great feeling as I like melee in ARPGs. It seems like the only meaningful gear/upgrades are the aspects you remove from Legendaries and put into yellow gear, but I didn't want to farm or put too much time into that stuff since I wanted to just try a lot of things in the one weekend I played. FWIW Druid was missing its unique gimmick from the beta, but after looking at a datamine they mostly looked like boring passive upgrades. The Sorc Enchantments were fun.

The MMO-lite stuff doesn't appeal to me. I already don't like looking at all the clowns in PoE hubs and if I ever buy D4 I just KNOW there are going to be people decked out in stupid looking MTX outfits in every hub. I've never played Lost Ark but I keep seeing a bunch of comparisons to it so I assume that one is more of a MMO ARPG than D4 is. Also we're getting mounts in the full game which will make the boring world a bit easier to travel through so that's a plus. I normally like exploring for stuff but D4's Act 1 area was just no good. On a final note going from Last Epoch's Werebear to D4's was such a massive step down holy shit I thought Blizzardvision was a AAA studio.

How is Last Epoch? Worth the 30 right now?

D4 whilst not being particularly great left an itch gameplay wise that Grim Dawn (amazing game) just isn't scratching for me at the moment. Don't know why, I love Grim Dawn.

Last Epoch is pretty good. Its also pretty far from finished though. The gameplay feels smooth and the endgame systems are decent so far but it gets a bit repetitive because of the limited number of skills. I have one MP character made so far and I basically only use one attack. It one shots everything besides bosses so it feels powerful, but does get repetitive. Then the rest of my abilities are just teleport, ward, and a temp damage/attack speed increase