The original Diablo began as a turn-based tactical game for RPG fans. At some point, the team toyed with seeing how the combat might look and feel if it was real-time. Going from turn-based to real-time was a relatively straightforward process back in the 1990s, but once the team was able to walk up to a skeleton, whack it with a melee weapon, and then watch as it crumpled and fell and gold and loot spilled out, they knew that they had discovered something new.

The action RPG was born, and with Diablo and Diablo II’s mechanics seemingly everywhere in 2023, it’s good to know that the simple things - the immediacy of slaying demons - still feel good in Diablo IV. Of course, what’s here is an evolution of what’s come before. The moment-to-moment combat is faster and more dynamic than Diablo II, fluid and smooth like Diablo III, but scaled back to feel less like Street Fighter when one of the characters pulls off a screen-filling Super.


With all of its layers that include skill trees, Paragon boards, multiple classes, stat-filled weapons, legendary loot, countless Dungeons to conquer, and builds to discover, Diablo IV nails the immediate and sustained gratification and satisfaction that comes with slaying your first four-legged beast, two-legged demon, or pulsating blob that explodes and then fast-moving tiny arachnids crawl out. A feeling that remains even after unlocking your first in-game “Kill 666 of …” achievement.

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Diablo IV is massive, and that’s not to say that the size and scope of a release is the be-all-end-all, but it’s a testament to the ambition that sits at the heart of the fourth mainline installment in one of the most popular PC franchises of all time.

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Diablo IV is massive, and that’s not to say that the size and scope of a release is the be-all-end-all, but it’s a testament to the ambition that sits at the heart of the fourth mainline installment in one of the most popular PC franchises of all time.

The shift to a vast open-world Sanctuary, a shared world, a dark and gothic cinematic story spanning several hours. Combat, exploration, and ‘things to do’ that will keep players engaged and hooked for months - if not years - are impressive because it all feels cohesive and very much like… Diablo.

If all you’re wondering is, has Blizzard nailed it? Then the answer is a resounding yes.

No matter the class you choose, each one has a distinct feel. The superb animation serves the skill or ability you’re using, the impact it makes, and the destruction it causes, from the Druid calling in giant boulders and rock spikes to the Rogue dashing into a pack of mobs and unleashing a Flurry of blades. The Skill trees are pretty simple once you take in all the numbers, descriptions, and info. Still, there’s enough depth to things like passives, the interplay between them, and the items that begin to feel like a sequel that builds on what we saw in Diablo II and III without being beholden to either.

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The Skill trees are pretty simple once you take in all the numbers, descriptions, and info. Still, there’s enough depth to things like passives, the interplay between them, and the items that begin to feel like a sequel that builds on what we saw in Diablo II and III.

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There’s certainly a case to be made for the team at Blizzard playing it safe with Diablo IV; there’s not much that you’d consider groundbreaking or new for the action RPG genre in terms of how it plays - but that’s also indicative of the studio’s entire catalog spanning decades. I love how familiar Diablo IV feels even when all you do is explore the open world.


This is an important point because the structure and setup here are different, with the non-linear Act progression and a fully open Sanctuary with five distinct biomes covering frozen peaks, stormy shores, humid swamps, deserts, and wind-swept grasslands ready to explore. You can run (or ride your horse) from one coast to the other and not encounter a single load screen.

For someone that always has the urge to check every corner and see what’s inside or underneath every breakable object in an action RPG, Blizzard has found a way not to make it feel like you’re constantly overwhelmed by the world’s sheer size, wondering what lies in every direction. No matter where you are, each location in the sprawling Sanctuary feels like a mini Diablo level with a beginning, middle, and end, even if you could potentially go north, south, east, or west.

Towns, side-quests, world events, and world bosses add a dose of MMO to the series - like Diablo Immortal but infinitely better realised - but even these add variety and value to the core game that is every bit your old-friend Diablo. A big concern was wondering if the world would feel too cluttered with players everywhere and that MMO thing of waiting for enemies to respawn because you have to get in line to complete a particular side quest. Thankfully, that’s not the case with Diablo IV - and even though you will see a lot of other players, it never detracts from the size and scope of the world.

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No matter where you are, each location in the sprawling Sanctuary feels like a mini Diablo level with a beginning, middle, and end, even if you could potentially go north, south, east, or west.

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The game does feel different from its predecessors on the presentation side, the art direction, the visual fidelity, and the cinematic narrative that is the densest, most layered, and most impressive Diablo tale to date. It’s dark like Diablo II but more grounded in realism, so transitioning from the various regions in Sanctuary is a measured and seamless process.

For example, going from Scosglen to the Dry Steppes and then Kehjistan, you’ll witness the shift from rain-swept grasslands to rocky shores, arid plains, and eventually giant dunes in a way that feels interconnected versus a collection of different disparate zones that tick the ol’ “Lava World, “Ice World,” and “Swamp World” boxes.


And this subtlety applies to the narrative, even if it still delivers world-changing epic set pieces. If you’ve seen a trailer, screenshot, or any of the dozen or so billboards found in every major city on the planet right now, then you’ll no doubt have caught a glimpse of Lilith, the Daughter of Hatred. In the Diablo verse, that title is quite literal in that she’s the daughter of Mephisto, one of the three Prime Evils and the Lord of Hatred.

In Diablo IV, you take on the role of a mysterious Wanderer and then become embroiled in a story that presents two sides with no clear heroes or villains. What makes it work is that in a world that features the High Heavens, Burning Hells, and Sanctuary, the narrative does not preach or attempt to apply a single ‘correct’ perspective to the unfolding events. As ghastly as she can be, Lilith is equally convincing in her goals and plans.

It can be heady and fascinating if you pay attention to the little details, like the so-called savior and father - fallen angel Inarius - basically becoming a sociopath. Diablo IV presents one of the best narratives in a straight-up action RPG you’ll likely experience. And it’s all bolstered - again - by the stunning art direction, environment, and character detail that is born from a mix of grounded realism and dark and gothically hellish fantasy.

If I have one complaint, with in-game cutscenes, detailed real-time cinematics, and incredible CG stuff from Blizzard’s animation team, I would have liked to have seen more campaign beats using the impressive real-time cinematic tech.

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Diablo IV presents one of the best narratives in a straight-up action RPG you’ll likely experience. And it’s all bolstered - again - by the stunning art direction, environment, and character detail that is born from a mix of grounded realism and dark and gothically hellish fantasy.

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Namely, because you can see your character and others with highly detailed garb, as opposed to watching characters talk in the standard isometric perspective with lower quality assets. With the detailed real-time stuff so few and far between, you get the impression that this side of the game was scaled back as the team grappled with creating such a huge play space with so much story.


Where Diablo IV borrows a lot from the “open-world” genre can be found in the overall structure of the main campaign and your progression through Sanctuary. This means dozens of side quests to discover, many of which feature excellent writing and voice acting, towns with vendors aplenty, and self-contained events to join. One of the best is Strongholds, which feature their own stories and bosses, and offer up some of the game’s most challenging encounters and thematically rich pieces of lore as you move to conquer them.

Once completed, Strongholds transform that section of the overall map into a new town or unlock new Dungeons to tackle. Dungeons in Diablo IV are these instanced encounters with objectives and layouts that hearken back to the Rifts of Diablo III and the various caves and other bespoke locales found in Diablo II. And there are a lot of them, 120 or so, with each one featuring a specific tile set, theme, and set up in line with where in the world you are. That means ice cave Dungeons for the Fractured Peaks and sandy temples over in Kehjistan.


Of course, you don’t have to complete them all. Still, like everything else in Diablo IV, every activity and kill ties into character progression, getting loot, and putting together a build that can make quick work of any demonic or non-demonic threat. Dungeons reward you with an Aspect that is essentially a Legendary ability you can use to upgrade a Rare item to turn it into a Legendary Item. This is great for simply focusing on Dungeons with rewards specific to your class or even completing some to make rolling a new class something you can do with powers and buffs ready to go.

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Dungeons in Diablo IV are these instanced encounters with objectives and layouts that hearken back to the Rifts of Diablo III and the various caves and other bespoke locales found in Diablo II. And there are a lot of them, 120 or so.

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However, like Diablo II and III, the full scope of the systems isn’t apparent until you hit Level 50 and complete the campaign. This is in line, franchise-wise, with what’s come before, but if you take your time with the game, it becomes a tale of two. One is all about the world of Sanctuary and its characters, with new toys and abilities adding new layers to combat.

The other is the “endgame,” where Paragon boards, Unique items, and an increasing difficulty all play into what is essentially Diablo III’s Adventure Mode expanded and stretched like a piece of cheese on a pizza clinging to the base.

There’s a lot to like about some of Blizzard's decisions, splitting Unique Items and Legendary Items and making the latter items where you can extract power and apply that to a different thing. And by expanding the affixes to include specific skill buffs on regular items, even once you hit Level 50, you’ll still be paying close attention to a Rare Item’s stats to measure its worth.

And there are already dozens of interesting Legendary powers, skill tree passives, and Paragon board elements to make the idea of putting together a build a long and exciting journey that will offer up more than a few surprises or even result in a course correction when you discover another layer or two. There’s an incentive to run Nightmare Dungeons and other activities, and it’s robust in a way where the question of what to do once you’ve completed the campaign becomes, “Okay, out of all the options, what do I want to do.”


The first version of any Diablo game has always been something of a foundation, and in keeping with the building metaphor, that means renovating, redecorating, and even removing entire elements and replacing those with something new and improved. The balancing, itemisation, Legendary powers, and Paragon system, are all engaging, and the good news is that there is as much of an emphasis on skill and passive selection as there is on what items to equip and what Glyphs you might want to slot into an empty spot on a Paragon board.

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In the end, as a foundation of what’s to come, Diablo IV is the opening salvo in what could end up being one of the most incredible action RPGs ever created.

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Even so, there’s room for improvement, with the best part being that there’s nothing particularly glaring about Diablo IV’s design outside of minor quality-of-life issues like the lack of a Gem tab in your inventory or certain affixes and stats being barely noticeable in what they bring to the table. Moment-to-moment wise, you could also throw in same-feeling Dungeons and a lack of variety in the Bounty system - which all follow a simple and repetitive structure, though repetition is pure Diablo.


In the end, as a foundation of what’s to come, Diablo IV is the opening salvo in what could end up being one of the most incredible action RPGs ever created. Once we get to the point where expansions and new classes are dropping, Diablo IV’s massive size and scope - its enormous foundation - will be refined and tuned like the Diablo games of old, and we’ll be playing around with new systems, mechanics, and exploring more regions of Sanctuary.

Interestingly, that’s the first time I’ve spent a few moments thinking about what a Lord of Destruction or Reaper of Souls-like expansion might look like for Diablo IV. The truth is, I’m not even thinking about Seasons or all that interested in what’s in store when the first one kicks off because there’s already so much Diablo here. There are still dozens of hours left in getting my Rogue to where I’d like them to be, and many more demons to slay, new classes to try out, Dungeons to tackle, and Ancestral Items to find and equip. Diablo IV is massive, but it’s also something to savor.