Diablo 4 - Performance Review

[HiddenX]

IGN checked out the performance of Diablo 4 on different platforms:

Diablo 4: PS4 vs Xbox One vs Xbox One X vs PS4 Pro vs Steam Deck Performance Review

Thanks Couchpotato!



More information.

 

[Couchpotato]

Obligatory add an offline SP mode or I won't buy rant. Moving on.

 

[Redglyph]

If we're talking ethics, there's also the fact it's coming from Blizzard.

 

[Couchpotato]

Ethics who needs them when your rolling in cash.

Diablo Immortal among top 15 fastest mobile games to surpass $500 million in revenue | Game World Observer

The mobile version of Diablo Immortal, developed by Blizzard and NetEase, has passed another milestone a year after its global launch. Here is how its revenue compares to other hit titles.

gameworldobserver.com

 

[largh]

Obligatory add an offline SP mode or I won't buy rant. Moving on.

This is like asking fish to get rid of their gills A company whose success during the last decades bases almost purely on online games does not need "gimme SP offline" gamers. Better to move on

 

[Couchpotato]

This is like asking fish to get rid of their gills A company whose success during the last decades bases almost purely on online games does not need "gimme SP offline" gamers. Better to move on

Hey I said obligatory rant...as it's a custom nowadays, but yeah sad to say this developer cares not for SP buyers anymore. I blame WoW/Activision as that was the start of decline.

R.I.P Blizzard North.

 

[Vaelith]

They will never make Diablo IV offline. They know they have to deal with some backlash because of it, not only from people who just don't feel social or rather not see others running around, I'd say it's quite more impactful for those who play hardcore and are losing their games and characters they invested hundreds of hours into to a disconnect that sometimes it's even an issue with Blizzard's servers and the player could do nothing about it.

But they rather deal with it than change the business model that they've built around it, especially because being always online guarantees the game is impossible to pirate and doesn't need to feature Denuvo or expensive/disruptive anti-tampering technology for that effect. Sadly I don't think the "always-online" feature is going to go anywhere. And as time goes on, it feels like this will be the norm, so there is little to do but accept it eventually.

I remember the days Steam was the devil and every gamer hissed and cursed it, and now we all use it, and this online thing will just be the same.

 

[Couchpotato]

Yeah always-online for Steam or game launchers is different then always-online that needs a server to play. Two very different concepts but sadly your correct. I hate being old.

As gamer's need their fix and don't care how they get it.

DLC and live service games proved that.

 

[Vaelith]

I just hope we keep getting quality RPGs that are trying to tell a story and entertain the player. And Diablo IV isn't the best example of that, either, I admit that even though I quite enjoyed the game.

Truth is, I don't care if I have to be always online, but the day every game is a slot machine dressed as an RPG will be a sad day. And if you believe the trend and the sales that games like Diablo Immortal or Genshin Impact get compared to most traditional RPGs, the outlook is not that great.

It might not be too long before every triple-A game is a market-researched cash-milking engine because that's what makes profit and we'll have to live off indie developers.

 

[Redglyph]

I suppose that the always-online requirement isn't a big deal these days, just another step after losing the right to own the game and to update it whenever we like. The most annoying part is the 'unavailable server' that locks you out of the game. At least with evil Steam, it's possible to use it offline for a while.

 

[JDR13]

I suppose that the always-online requirement isn't a big deal these days, just another step after losing the right to own the game and to update it whenever we like. The most annoying part is the 'unavailable server' that locks you out of the game. At least with evil Steam, it's possible to use it offline for a while.

I don't get why people still complain about it at this point. It's not like Blizzard is going to change because the minority is constantly whining about it.

I'd prefer their games had an option to play offline, but that would never keep me from getting a game I want to play.

 

[Vaelith]

I think it's fair to say that we would all prefer for a game to require being online over having Denuvo or similar. For the big companies, it's one or the other, since they can't stand losing any potential customer to piracy.

The mmo-ness of Diablo IV is another debate, but the online-ness is the lesser of two evils.

 

[Hagen]

I don't get why people still complain about it at this point. It's not like Blizzard is going to change because the minority is constantly whining about it.

In my case, reason is simple: I did not know that there was no solo mode when I bought Diablo 4, like we had in Diablo 1, 2 and 3. I expected Diablo 4 to have a similar model. I don't like to see other players on my screen when I just want to play solo, especially when they attack the same enemies than me. Note that I am asking for solo mode, not necessarily offline mode (which would also be welcome)

However, my main deal breaker (another thing I was not aware of) is the level scaling. It kills any feeling of progression. When my character gains one level, all monsters in the world also gain one level. Terrible.
I thought that level scaling was buried since Oblivion, but I was obviously wrong.

 

[Redglyph]

In my case, reason is simple: I did not know that there was no solo mode when I bought Diablo 4, like we had in Diablo 1, 2 and 3. I expected Diablo 4 to have a similar model. I don't like to see other players on my screen when I just want to play solo, especially when they attack the same enemies than me. Note that I am asking for solo mode, not necessarily offline mode (which would also be welcome)

However, my main deal breaker (another thing I was not aware of) is the level scaling. It kills any feeling of progression. When my character gains one level, all monsters in the world also gain one level. Terrible.
I thought that level scaling was buried since Oblivion, but I was obviously wrong.

Ugh. I'd hate seeing other players too. I hope for you that you can hide the chat, at least. Seeing ads from players selling loot and gear would be the cherry on top.

I've never liked level scaling much; from what I understand, they chose that so that you can play with other players of different levels (I suppose that when it happens, the idea is to scale everything differently for each player). Maybe it has the benefit of bringing some diversity in the encounters, when you have to face old 'levelled-up' foes as well as new ones?

It looks like it's useless to hope for those features to be optional one day, as they must be part of the core game logic.

 

[Vaelith]

The scaling in Diablo 4 is indeed terrible, as is in every other game. I can see what they were going for with it, since it's an ARPG where you just grind for levels, they want people to choose where they level at any pace they choose to without feeling constrained by the level of the areas in which they are, or having to follow some established progression order or cadence, but I feel like level-scaling does more harm than good in all cases.

In Diablo IV It got to a point where leveling up made you weaker instead of stronger since you gained one level, but all the enemies scaled harder than you did, so unless you got some significant gear upgrade at every level you lost relative power instead of gaining it.

 

[SirJames]

In Diablo IV It got to a point where leveling up made you weaker instead of stronger since you gained one level, but all the enemies scaled harder than you did, so unless you got some significant gear upgrade at every level you lost relative power instead of gaining it.

I thought you said you were level 84? This sounds like you've never played the game.

At level 85 I'm doing nightmare dungeons around tier 55 and the monsters are all around level 110.

Imagine complaining about world mobs making you feel weak. 84 hardcore, indeed...

 

[Vaelith]

I thought you said you were level 84? This sounds like you've never played the game.

At level 85 I'm doing nightmare dungeons around tier 55 and the monsters are all around level 110.

Imagine complaining about world mobs making you feel weak. 84 hardcore, indeed...

I don't see how that is relevant.

Firstly, it wasn't a complaint, it was an observation of something that is badly done. The fact that I like Diablo IV as a game does not mean I must wear blinders and see only the positives in it.

Playing Hardcore is the more reason to notice how the world gets more difficult simply because you level up - as a hardcore character you can't afford to die once to a mistake or miscalculation since that will remove your character from your vault, and so you pay extra care to not take too many risks and to take note of anything that could kill you. I imagine that when you are softcore it doesn't really matter since you can constantly "limit test" and chalk a death to a silly mistake and just respawn and "not get hit by that again".

Around level 84 even doing Helltides was a hazard, and saw my health bar jumping up and down like crazy, as Helltides are always scaled a few levels above you, and they are pivotal to improving your gear. Unless you were very actively upgrading your gear constantly and spending copious amounts of gold and materials to that effect, since the costs of that also scale up exponentially, you'd quickly fall behind the curve, preventing you from efficient and most importantly, "safe" leveling, which is where Hardcore is at.

You can see pro streamers such as Zizaran that ended the hardcore race in the top 5 explaining the same thing.

It's fair to have opinions on things, but it does well to have the knowledge or experience to do so, at the very least when trying to discredit those who do have it.

Edit: I realize the level scaling felt steeper because I was rushing through levels instead of spending a larger amount of time efficiently gearing up at each level. They called it "race to level 100" not "slow-burn slog grind to level 100" and regardless, it does not change my negative opinion on level scaling, in this or any other game.

 

[JDR13]

In my case, reason is simple: I did not know that there was no solo mode when I bought Diablo 4, like we had in Diablo 1, 2 and 3. I expected Diablo 4 to have a similar model. I don't like to see other players on my screen when I just want to play solo, especially when they attack the same enemies than me. Note that I am asking for solo mode, not necessarily offline mode (which would also be welcome)

However, my main deal breaker (another thing I was not aware of) is the level scaling. It kills any feeling of progression. When my character gains one level, all monsters in the world also gain one level. Terrible.
I thought that level scaling was buried since Oblivion, but I was obviously wrong.

To me, Diablo 4 is still solo. You occasionally see other players, but nothing is forcing you to interact with them. Them attacking the same enemy normally only happens with field bosses which are extremely difficult to take on solo anyways.

I with you on the level-scaling though. I rarely like it in any game, and it's particularly bad in D4.

 

[SirJames]

I don't see how that is relevant.

Firstly, it wasn't a complaint, it was an observation of something that is badly done. The fact that I like Diablo IV as a game does not mean I must wear blinders and see only the positives in it.

Playing Hardcore is the more reason to notice how the world gets more difficult simply because you level up - as a hardcore character you can't afford to die once to a mistake or miscalculation since that will remove your character from your vault, and so you pay extra care to not take too many risks and to take note of anything that could kill you. I imagine that when you are softcore it doesn't really matter since you can constantly "limit test" and chalk a death to a silly mistake and just respawn and "not get hit by that again".

Around level 84 even doing Helltides was a hazard, and saw my health bar jumping up and down like crazy, as Helltides are always scaled a few levels above you, and they are pivotal to improving your gear. Unless you were very actively upgrading your gear constantly and spending copious amounts of gold and materials to that effect, since the costs of that also scale up exponentially, you'd quickly fall behind the curve, preventing you from efficient and most importantly, "safe" leveling, which is where Hardcore is at.

You can see pro streamers such as Zizaran that ended the hardcore race in the top 5 explaining the same thing.

It's fair to have opinions on things, but it does well to have the knowledge or experience to do so, at the very least when trying to discredit those who do have it.

Edit: I realize the level scaling felt steeper because I was rushing through levels instead of spending a larger amount of time efficiently gearing up at each level. They called it "race to level 100" not "slow-burn slog grind to level 100" and regardless, it does not change my negative opinion on level scaling, in this or any other game.

Well, it's relevant because at level 84 Helltides are trivial. I don't think you could level faster than me AND in hardcore then get to 84 and think they're difficult. You must be playing non-stop all day. You should be better at the game than me. There is no "slow-burn" version of the game. You can't get XP without also getting loot. You know who can level faster than me? Streamers you evidently have time to watch. Like Zizaran, who I've never heard of because I'm too busy playing the game and also somehow leveling slower than you. On softcore where I can afford to take risks.

Leveling up has never once made me feel weaker. The only time I felt weaker was going up a world tier. When I started world tier 4 I was level 60 and Helltides were 73 and I definitely felt weaker and mostly tried to find a random to run along behind. By level 84 they're nothing. I need to be doing content with level 100+ to be challenged. Why don't you?

Plus, I got all my ancestral loot with around 780 item level probably before I even hit 70. Of course it's all upgraded and rerolled - I wouldn't wear an item that wasn't. Where I get my power upgrades now is pretty much entirely from levels! I need more paragon points not items. If you were really the same level you'd be feeling the same. Instead, you're echoing a very common misconception you could find repeated 100 times over if you went to the rpgcodex diablo4 thread about leveling making you feel weaker. It's literally knowledge and experience making me say this. Nightmare dungeons monster levels go up to 150 but the level cap is 100. So, how do you think people can do this content?

PLUS, I tried to do the final Echo of Hatred battle vs level 100 Lilith and I couldn't even make a dent. I couldn't even kill her blood blisters before they explode and 1shot me. That's the final battle in the game. I can clear level 100 dungeons easy but didn't even make a scratch on her health bar.

Seems to me you've been watching a streamer and pretending its you while reading comments from haters who've never played.

But if we assume you have actually played then you must be doing something wrong somewhere like a bad skill build or paragon build or bad items. But I don't see how you can actually get to 84, world tier4, in HARDCORE, faster than me, while making these mistakes and suddenly realise helltides are too risky for you while your equal level peers are pushing NM dungeons to over level 100.

So, do you really expect me to believe you're both some super fast leveling hardcore elite player while also being a noob who thinks leveling up makes you weaker and struggles with helltides at level 84?

Just admit you've never played. You're busted. You've just been watching a streamer while playing Zelda on your gameboy. Admit it!

 

[SirJames]

@Vaelith Nevermind Sir James. I heard he actually spends most of the day masturbating to videos of Star Citizen on YouTube.

Look, I've been playing every spare minute starting from 4 days early access. Do you really think this guy can level up faster than me then get stuck on easy content because he gained levels? It's absurd.

Go look at the RPGcodex thread and count how many times they talk about level scaling is bad because it makes you weaker. This is just not the case in D4. At all.

I bet when Vaelith suddenly decided he didn't want to play anymore at hardcore level 84 was actually when the streamer he was watching died. Then the streamer was making lame excuses about it like level scaling so what Vaelith is repeating is a mix of that streamers death rage and rpgcodex moron talk.