MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus has played the beta of Diablo 4 all weekend long. He had a lot of fun for many hours, but fighting the world boss was his absolute highlight. Read here his first impression of Diablo 4.
Diablo as a real multiplayer game. I liked the idea already with Diablo Immortal. Now I myself have played the recently finished beta for almost 20 hours and I am sure: Diablo 4 does it even better.
In my roughly 20 hours I have leveled 2 characters to the maximum level of the beta, a hunter and a sorceress. I have looked at a dozen dungeons, completed the story, quests, and events, and freed fortresses.
But my absolute highlight was the fight against the world boss Ashava. After the demon was late for our meeting, I fought her 3 times during the beta. Twice I won – once she did.
World bosses in Diablo 4 are a challenge for many people. About 12 players are randomly paired together to defeat the monster. Even in my first victory, I died at least 7 times, and even more in the defeat.
The feature, which many of you certainly know from MMOs, requires teamwork and skill. You have to dodge attacks, revive allies, and deal enough damage before the boss escapes again.
For this, you are rewarded with plenty of legendaries. Exactly what you live and breathe for in Diablo. Reason enough for me to love Diablo 4 more than Diablo 3 just for this feature. But the new installment simply does so much right.
To avoid embarrassing myself, I only uploaded my best attempt against Ashava – which I am also somewhat proud of. No deaths and decent damage with my agile melee build for the hunter:
Diablo 4 is exactly the game I expected
Even before the test, many fans discussed whether a shared world could be good for a game like Diablo 4. I thought that it is even necessary for success. And now my opinion has only solidified further.
By the way: Colleague Fabiano Uslenghi from GameStar has a completely different opinion. He finds the shared world of Diablo 4 unnecessary
Playing Diablo with many players together is exactly what has been missing for me in the game for the last few years. That, and that the world is significantly darker again. Just the premise is horrible: 90% of the people are dead and we have to scrape together what’s left.
Mama Lilith is ruthless, sacrifices people, and calls for murder, which is depicted very vividly in many scenes. Papa Inarius doesn’t really care about his children and just sits on his throne for appearances’ sake. A perfect atmosphere.
Blizzard has finally released the German voice of Lilith:
Then there is the gameplay. The hunter and the sorceress play flawlessly. Overall, Diablo is the action RPG with the best gameplay, the feeling of power here is simply the best. With the new class mechanics for each class, every character gets more options and depth. This is exactly what I missed in Diablo 3.
Even the changes to the grind I find great. There are now plenty of legendaries just given away, sets are coming later. This opens up more possibilities to try out builds.
After 20 hours in the beta, I honestly cannot complain. There are just a few uncertainties left.
What’s next for Diablo 4?
The big, dark spot in Diablo 4 is the endgame. So far, I only know dungeons that are honestly quite boring over time. Most players from the beta feel the same. Here, some variety or a random factor would be nice.
I still can’t really say how best to farm at the end and what exactly one has to farm. Events? Dungeons? Something like the rifts from Diablo 3 and Immortal? Here information is lacking, and that makes me a bit skeptical.
In addition, the shop was not tested in the beta. The shop became an absolute disaster for Immortal and the same could happen to Diablo 4. Blizzard must show here that they still deserve trust and are not trying to deceive with the beta.
Overall, my first impression of Diablo 4 is exactly what I expected: a new, better Diablo with MMO aspects and the gameplay that I know and love. I look forward to the next beta and the release!
