In a new update, the developers of Diablo 4 demonstrate how good the upcoming action RPG will look. It was stated beforehand that the new installment should be less colorful than Diablo 3, rather dark. The new images, videos, and especially the new monsters confirm this.
This is how dark Diablo 4 will be: In the developer blog, the team artists talk about how Diablo 4 currently looks and how this development came about. The basic principle apparently is: Diablo 4 should be darker than its predecessor.
This refers not only to the pure optics. While the devs show some images where it is clearly visible that they are relying on less flashy colors, but also the design of the monsters itself is… grotesque.
Already, Diablo 3 did not skimp on corpses and skeletons, but Diablo 4 takes it up a notch. Among the shown enemies is the “Spider Host,” a bloated corpse seemingly controlled by a spider.
“Controlled” should be taken literally. Apparently, the spider has eaten the human’s head and buried its limbs in the body. When it presses its legs into the flesh, the corpse moves like a puppet whose strings are being pulled. Additionally, the body is covered with pustules, where the name “Spider Host” suggests that these pustules could very well be spider eggs.
Presumably, this creature and the other monsters are exactly what the head of Diablo 4 described as “material for nightmares”.
Disgusting monsters, stylish heroes
What monsters are there? The “Spider Host” is just one of the presented monsters. The devs have created various new enemies that draw more or less heavily on known models and ideas.
In the further videos, one can see the “Blood Bishop” and the “Skeleton Lord.” Both are walking corpses, partially made of blood and flesh, partially of bones and sinews.
With the classic succubus, demons are also making a return, and a multi-headed dog is apparently going to be a new boss, although there is still no concrete information about it.
This is what your heroes look like: For player characters, Blizzard is focusing on realism in Diablo 4. Armors and colors should still give characters and classes personality, but remains realistic.
“Our goal was to make the characters in Diablo 4 look as artistic and handcrafted as possible […]
Diablo 4 should have a look that roots in reality.”
John Mueller and Arnaud Kotelnikoff via blizzard.com
Realism was apparently a bigger concern because the “handcrafted” feel had to remain. However, colors and shapes should still feel as if they were indeed created for the dark world of Diablo.
The preliminary result is numerous customization options for your heroes and the option to tint your armors, with all colors not being too flashy. Additionally, the armors themselves currently do not look too “unrealistic”:
A sorceress set in white. 
The same set in red. 
And once again in black. 
Various customization options.
Dark instead of colorful – Is it better than Diablo 3?
Diablo 3 repeatedly faced accusations that the game was too colorful for a Diablo – and also a bit too outlandish. After all, there were some levels where literally rainbows, glittering unicorns, and shining teddy bears were running around.
While Diablo is already known for its cow levels, these colorful worlds apparently were too much for some players. The colorful sets and very conspicuous armors did not seem to go over well everywhere.
For some time now, it has been clear that Diablo 4 is moving away from those ideas and shall become more “like Diablo 2”, for instance with enemies that you can decapitate or set on fire. The realism approach of the artists of Diablo 4 now shows how serious Blizzard is about the idea.
A release date is still pending. When you can play Diablo 4 and see for yourself that the world is as dark as it should be, we do not know yet. However, since Blizzcon 2021 we know the fourth class of the game:
