Thursday afternoon, Blizzard dropped its quarterly report forDiablo 4’s ongoing development, focusing on a recent internal test for a pre-alpha version ofDiablo 4. While Game Director Luis Barriga acknowledges that the game still has a long way to go, he says that “even at these early stages, Diablo 4 is very fun to play.”
In the report, Barriga breaks down certain aspects ofDiablo 4that mark changes for the franchise. With regards to storytelling, he saysDiablo 4has a new feature called conversations, which include close-up camera shots of characters talking, like inMass Effect. Some conversations will also remain from the isometric perspective, but will have a variety of animations for character models to act out.Diablo 4will also bring the player closer to the story with real-time cutscenes for big events, where the player’s character is featured in their full custom armor.
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The test also allows Blizzard to see howDiablo 4’s open-world structure worked. Barriga mentions that players will be able to diverge from the story to do open-world activities including crafting, events, side-quests, and evenworld PvP. One specific example is Camps, locations where enemies can be cleared that will turn into outposts with NPCs and a waypoint. These aren’t required locations inDiablo 4, but rather something players can find on their own.
Multiplayer is a particularly interesting area of discussion that Barriga goes into. He clarifies thatDiablo 4is trying to createelements of shared world games, but is otherwise avoiding feeling like an MMO. Philosophically, Barigga explains this is because it doesn’t feel likeDiablowhen players see others often or in high numbers.
TheDiablo 4internal playtest atBlizzardlasted just two days and provided the team an abundance of data and experiences to consider. The game isn’t even at an alpha state yet, so clearly there’s a lot of work left to do. But Barriga is happy with the results, saying he believes “we have all the key ingredients for a great Diablo 4.”
Diablo 4is currently in development for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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