Diablo 4

[FunkMonk]

So the open beta for this game starts tomorrow.

To be honest I've been very discouraged by the the early gameplay videos, Interviews, and marketing. It doesn't seem like the kind of ARPG I'd like to pay for.

[Grey Fox]

Was just watching streamers playing the CB. Looks like Diablo, that's good enough for me.

Especially happy about having PC controller support.

[frunk]

If I didn't have to pay to be in the open beta I'd be interested in checking it out.  I'll probably just wait until it goes on sale unless it looks really good.

[Grey Fox]

If I didn't have to pay to be in the open beta I'd be interested in checking it out.  I'll probably just wait until it goes on sale unless it looks really good.

Next weekend it will be free.

[FunkMonk]

My brother had an extra beta code so I played it for a couple hours. I played one hour on the Steam Deck and the second on my Windows PC. The game controls better on Steam Deck because it is clearly designed for controllers first.

The experience wasn't great. In the span of two hours I crashed or got disconnected like 10 times. Luckily I logged on during less busy hours because I never had to wait more than 15 minutes in the queue to log back in. Earlier people were waiting over an hour in the queue  It sucks that this is basically an MMO now because I'd like to just log in to a single player game and not have to worry about queues. But PoE has similar ssues at league launch so I'm not too fussed about it. The actual launch will be horrendous though 

Gameplay wise it feels fine I guess. Nothing special. Honestly the combat so far feels like a mash between D3 and PoE. Unsure if I like it yet. It feels floatier and less impactful than D3 but not as complex or rewarding as PoE. Possibly the worst of both worlds.

Can't really speak to the skills and itemization as I'm only on a level 6 character. So far it's fairly standard stuff for ARPGs.

I dunno. Just really not impressed by this that much. I expect more from a huge money game by a AAA studio. Maybe after they work out more kinks and performance issues it'll be ready for the June launch.

[FunkMonk]

So I've played both weekends of the beta and I'll say this:

The game is actually fun but it has warts. LOTS of balancing issues. Some skills are worthless, others are godly. Two classes way outperform the others. The UI is atrocious. The feel of the combst is ok but not as tight as Diablo 3 or even modern Path of Exile. Itemization and build diversity is hit and miss; it feels like they haven't learned the lessons from Diablo 3, PoE, Last Epoch, and other post-D2 ARPGs. And the overall gameplay is much more like an MMO than traditional ARPGs. I don't think the MMO aspects add anything revolutionary or interesting. It seems more likely that the suits at Blizzard decided to make it an MMO so they could more easily push battle passes and other monetization.

Overall, for me I don't think it is worth the $70 the base version costs. I'll probably wait a year after the initial huge fixes and patches/expansions that turn it into a more finished and coherent video game.

[Grey Fox]

I tried the Xbox one version. It didn't not perform well. Looked like a bad Switch game.

I had fun playing the Necromancer but it was trivially easy, even on Veteran difficulty.

I agree with FunkMonk, don't get this at launch.

[frunk]

I looked at playing D4 this weekend, saw the 80+ gig download and complaints about long wait times, and decided I'd rather work through some old Track of the Days in Trackmania.

[Sophie Scholl]

I randomly decided to give this another go and I've really been enjoying it. They seem to have really put in work to make the game more fun and easier to navigate. There is currently an event that gives bonus xp, gold, and equipment, so it was perfect timing!