MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus has the beta of all weekend long diablo 4 played. He had many hours of fun, but the fight against the world boss was his absolute highlight. Read his first impression of Diablo 4 here.
Diablo as a true multiplayer game. I already liked the idea of Diablo Immortal. Now I’ve played the recently ended beta myself for almost 20 hours and I’m sure: Diablo 4 makes things even better.
In my roughly 20 hours, I maxed 2 characters out of the beta, a slayer and a sorceress. I checked out a dozen dungeons, played through the story, completed quests and events, and liberated strongholds.
But my absolute highlight was the fight against the world boss Ashava. After the demoness was late for our date, I fought her 3 times during the beta. Twice I won – once she.
World bosses are an aspiration for many people in Diablo 4. About 12 players are thrown together and have to defeat the monster. In my first win alone I must have died 7 times, in defeat even more often.
The feature, which many of you are probably familiar with from MMOs, requires cooperation and skill. You have to dodge attacks, revive allies, and do enough damage before the boss runs away again.
For this you will be rewarded with heaps of Legendaries. Exactly what you actually live and breathe for in Diablo. Reason enough for me to love Diablo 4 more than Diablo 3 for this feature alone. But the new part just does a lot of things right.
In order not to embarrass myself, I only uploaded my best attempt at Ashava as well – I’m a bit proud of that too. No death and decent damage with my nimble melee build for the Huntress:
Diablo 4 has huge bosses like an MMO – And they drop really good loot too
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Diablo 4 is exactly the game I expected
Even before the test, many fans discussed whether a shared world could do a game like Diablo 4 any good. I felt that it was even necessary for success. And now my opinion has only strengthened further.
By the way: colleague Fabiano Uslenghi from GameStar has a completely different opinion. He finds Diablo 4’s shared world redundant
Playing Diablo with many players is exactly what I’ve been missing in the game for the last few years. That, and that the world is a lot darker again. The very premise sucks: 90% of the people are dead and we have to somehow scrape together what’s left.
Mama Lilith is ruthless, sacrificing people and calling for murder, which is very vividly portrayed in many scenes. Papa Inarius doesn’t really care about his children and sits on his throne only pro forma. A perfect mood.
Blizzard has finally released the German voice of Lilith:
Diablo 4: The German trailer for the open beta
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Then there is the gameplay. Huntress and Sorceress play each other perfectly. Generally Diablo is the action RPG with the best gameplay, the feeling of power is simply the best here. With new class mechanics for each class, each character gets more options and depth. This is exactly what I was missing in Diablo 3.
I even think the changes to the grind are great. There are now a number of Legendarys simply given, sets come later. This opens up more opportunities to try out builds.
After 20 hours in the beta, I just can’t complain. There are still a few uncertainties.
What’s next for Diablo 4?
The big, dark place in Diablo 4 is the endgame. So far I only know dungeons that are honestly pretty boring in the long run. Most players from the beta feel the same way. Some variety or a random factor would be nice here.
I still can’t say how exactly you farm best in the end and what you have to farm at all. Events? dungeons? Something like the Rifts from Diablo 3 and Immortal? There is a lack of information here and that makes me a little skeptical.
In addition, the shop has not yet been in beta testing. The shop has become an absolute disaster for Immortal and the same can flourish in Diablo 4. Blizzard has to show here that they still deserve trust and don’t want to dazzle with the beta.
In general, however, my first impression of Diablo 4 is exactly what I expected: a new, better Diablo with MMO aspects and the gameplay I know and love. Looking forward to the next beta and release!
I want Diablo 4 to be like Diablo Immortal