Diablo IV - Open Beta 24 - 26 March. Release 6 June 2023.

[Kryptonian]

Just now, footle said:

ten levels

 

 you hadn't written this when I typed my reply

[Thor]

Either way, games these days, even ARPGs, should have engaging gameplay right at the start. This doesn't, and I'm not sure I have the will to wade/grind through the early levels to unlock more complexity in the gameplay. 

[Kryptonian]

Yeah, it's dropped down my list of games with 4 in the title I want this year for sure.

[footle]

17 minutes ago, Kryptonian said:

 

 you hadn't written this when I typed my reply

I submitted first! But it is very class dependent too,

[Vimster]

81gb for a demo? Jesus.

[Siri]

1 minute ago, Vimster said:

81gb for a demo? Jesus.

 

If you're on PC, you can lower it to 40gb by opting out of 4k textures. Which, well, is alright for the Steam Deck.

 

Speaking of the Deck - I followed some advice on Reddit and raised the max VRAM in the BIOS to the maximum (4gb), which seems to have resolved the crashing issues I had. At least, enough where I actually got a good couple of hours out of the game before signing out.

 

As for the game itself, it's.. okay. It looks lovely on the Deck even with everything on the low preset. Very wordy, so I'm not sure if I'll enjoy subsequent playthroughs with other characters. Necro is good fun, I quite like using the ranged reaper attack and then corpse exploding the rest of the pack. It does feel slow compared to D3 and even post-nerf Path of Exile, but I guess they're trying to emulate the grimdark of the first two diablo games in pace as well as theme.

 

I don't think it's sold me on the game yet like how Diablo 3 did with the jaunt to the skeleton king, but I might have a look when it's a bit more affordable.

[bobontheway]

Loving the atmosphere. Played for a few hours with a friend as a Sorcer. Both made it up to level 14. It’s slow going but I’m sold.

 

Been playing it on PS5 but am glad to hear it runs well on the deck.

 

 

[Vimster]

It's nearly 1.30am so am off to bed but that was great, very D3 but more so, not a bad thing at all. Just a case of getting back into the flow of it really. Yeah I'd go for it.

[pinholestar]

Loved what I played of it before I was unceremoniously booted off the servers. I much prefer the grittier, weightier, darker feel and tone of it in comparison to Diablo 3. It feels more measured both in gameplay and progression and I quite like that aspect too. Went with a chonky boi shapeshifting druid rather than my usual elegant female glass cannon and his playstyle seems to suit the overall theme really well.

 

Think we all know what to expect from a Diablo game at this point and this looks like it'll deliver handsomely. Blizzard may have something of a reputation of being a giant nest of assholes these days but their games invariably just have such a robust sense of quality to them that can't be denied. I'll be all over it when it inevitably arrives on Game Pass, whether that's in time for the day one release or not. 

[moosegrinder]

If nothing else the intro cinematic was fucking rad.

 

Also not gonna lie, the return to the 2006 Gears of War colour pallet does absolutely nothing for me.

 

But then I own this t-shirt, so I wouldn't put much stock in what I think.

[moosegrinder]

So I've played it for a couple of hours this morning as I was up at stupid o clock and my initial reaction is it's Diablo II with the qol streamlining of Diablo III.

 

The initial oppressive bleakness of the opening disappeared when I saw numerous players wandering around in town. I knew it was an online persistent thing with other players but I wasn't ready for how it changes the feel of the world.

 

I got my arse handed to me by a dungeon boss 3 times before I killed it and got no loot and an Aspect for a class I haven't rolled.

 

I dunno. I'm tired and grumpy so I'll get back to it when I'm not and see how I feel.

[Isaac]

8 hours ago, Siri said:

Very wordy, so I'm not sure if I'll enjoy subsequent playthroughs with other characters.

 

Everything is skippable with a single button press, so it's actually really quick.

 

I got my second character from creation to the main city in less than 15 minutes.

[Droo]

I love Diablo, love the story and the lord. Will no doubt get this and play through and lap all that up. 
 

id wonder if theyll allow people to go straight to adventure mode though. 

[Droo]

The lord. Lol. 

[Sumire]

Well I have to say, I downloaded it the other day and was up until 3am playing and got to level 20. I do not think I have done that with a game since my younger days.....

Absolutely love it from what I have played so far. I ended up teaming with my brother and played a sorcerer which was a blast.

 

I think my only complaint so far is it was a bit stuttery in places. Maybe it was just server lag or the fact I had everything on max settings. I suppose I have an ancient video card now what with it being a 3080 haha.

 

I still love Diablo 3, sort of different gameplay style anyway really.

 

But yes, it is really good!

[footle]

@SumireIt was server lag. The skeletons jumping every few frames behind me I saw yesterday wasn’t a problem this morning.

[Siri]

3 minutes ago, footle said:

@SumireIt was server lag. The skeletons jumping every few frames behind me I saw yesterday wasn’t a problem this morning.

 

I think it's also server instancing, too, in rare occasions - when I got through the initial tutorial bit, I had that skeleton stutter in town until I went into another area that required loading. The animation corrected itself, and then when I went back into the overworld which is back where you can interact with others it was still fine.

 

Played a bit more, got a couple of legendary pieces now and it's nice to see some juicier suffixes. I'm still compelled to play it after an evening, which is a good sign compared to its contemporaries.

[Sel Feena]

Tried getting some time in last night but the constant DCs made me just play Tekken instead. Hopefully it’s more stable today, I want to see if Barb is actually interesting now with the arsenal system

[Sel Feena]

1 hour ago, Droo said:

The lord. Lol. 

Look man, you’re running around killing demons in this game, how much more devout can you get?

[moosegrinder]

The online persistence with other people is really ruining this for me. It shouldn't be, it's such a nothing problem but it's bothering me way more than I thought it would.

[Eighthours]

As someone who has never played Diablo before, is this worth a go? Considering the epic download size?

[spork]

2 minutes ago, Eighthours said:

As someone who has never played Diablo before, is this worth a go? Considering the epic download size?

 

Yes.

[footle]

49 minutes ago, Eighthours said:

As someone who has never played Diablo before, is this worth a go? Considering the epic download size?

You may really get into it.

[Janski]

It's been really stable for me this morning with pretty much no queue at all  after having a 40min wait last night.

 

Managed to hit level 21 with the Sorcerer. It's definitely more Diablo which is great

 

Very dark in tone though, at least compared to D3.

[Captain Kelsten]

3 hours ago, Droo said:

The lord. Lol. 

Of destruction? Of lies? Of terror? 

[Mr.Crowley]

So far, so Diablo. I'd say the only irritants have to do with the online bullshit.

[BubbleFish]

Had. Couple of quick plays. Logging in was no issue but the lag was awful on one session. Completely unplayable. I played a bit of D3 and I’m presuming this is just more of the same? Any specific changes worth mentioning?

[PikaStu]

Logging in at 3am was shite, ended up having all my character slots full as every time it refused to connect and I tried again, it filled a new slot?

ultimately managed 10mins max (got to the inn for it to crash).

 

Better this morning, around 11:30, logged in and played no problem. It’s exactly what I’d hoped it would be… a grittier Diablo III! Diablo II Remaster didn’t do it for me, too archaic (even though I usually like retro dungeon crawlers) so I’m glad this is more like DIII.

 

Not gonna pre-order, not something I normally do anyway, I’ll pick it up mid-summer though and play the shit out of it!

[Kryptonian]

The original author of this thread doesn’t seem to be around any more, would a Diablo fan like to take over it? Just for updating the title if needed and that kind of thing.

[ImmaculateClump]

6 hours ago, Isaac said:

Everything is skippable with a single button press, so it's actually really quick.

 

Is that what it's like on pad? You have to press escape twice to get through dialogue and hold it down for a full second for cutscenes.

First world problems, I know, but it all adds up.

I miiiight want to let all the cutscenes and some of the dialogue play first time round when it comes out, but definitely not ever again after that.

 

4 hours ago, Sumire said:

I think my only complaint so far is it was a bit stuttery in places.

 

Yeah, stuttery as anything. Exactly the same with everything on the lowest settings too. I think it's just the nature of the beast. Always online so you're forever on the connections leash getting yanked backwards through time. I remember diablo 3 being quite unsmooth on pc too at times.

Hopefully that'll all settle down once most of the players get bored and wander off.

I heard it won't even have an offline mode for consoles this time round.

 

3 hours ago, moosegrinder said:

The online persistence with other people is really ruining this for me. It shouldn't be, it's such a nothing problem but it's bothering me way more than I thought it would.

 

Yeah, I don't want other cunts anywhere near my relaxing ARPG, thank you very much. I play this sort of thing before bed when I've been around people all day and I just want to unwind and breath and recharge my batteries.
I want to be offline in every sense, not having to worry about connection issues and not being able to pause.
I don't want to be wandering through my fantasy world and see some barbarian with GaryBlazeIt420 hovering over his head.
"Press enter to chat". Fuck off!