Diablo 4 - The Game has Problems

[HiddenX]

PC Gamer is not impressed by Diablo 4:

Class balance is still an absolute joke in Diablo 4--but the game has far bigger problems

I no longer care who needs buffs and nerfs--none of these classes are any fun to play.

It's fair to say that last time we got to play Diablo 4, during the two initial weekend betas, class balance was a complete mess. Sorcerers were nuking everything in sight while Barbarians struggled to lift their axes, and Necromancers were standing around AFK watching their skeletons clear entire dungeons for them. Blizzard quickly promised buffs and nerfs(opens in new tab), so heading into this final beta, the "Server Slam", I was most curious to see what those changes would amount to. The result? I'm left with even less confidence that Blizzard has any idea how to make this game fun.

Barbarians, at least, felt a little stronger than they did before--it wasn't too back-breaking to beat the Den Mother(opens in new tab) this time around--but they're still substantially slower, weaker, and less versatile than anyone else. Sorcerers remain walking nukes that can kill enemies three screens away. Meanwhile, Necromancers got nerfed so haphazardly that they had to get rebuffed(opens in new tab) halfway through the beta test, because their skeleton minions were now dissolving in the presence of bosses and leaving them plinking away with pitiful ranged spells.

[...]

Thanks Henriquejr!



More information.

 

[Vaelith]

I am old enough to remember when journalists were people you could trust to, at the very least, provide filtered information at a certain intellectual level. Even when the journalist had an opinion, they had the decency to not let it stain every word they wrote down.

It's a shame that this is what "journalism" has come to. Whatever it takes to get easy clicks. It's been a long time since any game "journalist" has had anything worthwhile to say about a game I've played.

 

[korynael]

I only played in this level 20 server slam, so I dont know what may have changed from the level 25 server slam, but I played a Poison Flurry Rogue and was having a blast... Granted, I had to experiment with my spec a few times and had to item hunt a little bit to get some decent gear, but eventually I was able to defeat the bosses at the end of the little dungeons, and wow, did I had a blast playing the game... I cannot wait for the game to finally be released because I'm loving it so far... I was playing on Tier 2 as well, so supposedly that was a bit harder than choosing to play at Tier 1...

 

[danutz_plusplus]

The combat and gameplay is objectively not a slog and the most fun part of the game. I had seen the pcgamer article linked across twitter, and I have no idea what game they played. At least in terms of combat and action, it sounds nothing like what I played.

 

[Voqar]

I wasn't impressed (after playing the slam). Uninstalled a lot quicker than I would've expected since I found the overall game boring and the overall presentation lacking.

Apparently I should've tried sorceress. I found the classes I did try boring, the skills boring, the talents boring, leveling up was lackluster because the talents are generic and boring.

One class was so boring that at first level up I was like, I don't want ANY of these talents - they are all so unimpactful and boring that why even bother? Exit. Next class.

Graphics were somewhere between pretty and overly simplistic. Felt like a downgrade to D3 in most ways.

Overall the game feels like a stripped down mobile game compared to D3 and definitely not an improvement on D3 in any way.

D4 has deeper character creation/customization/appearance options - something that doesn't matter in ARPG at all (but people will dig it pointless as it is).

Also amazing that yet another game has a Lilith as the big baddie. Haven't we had that several times over recently? Is there only one writer for games and dude is totally mailing it in these days? WTF.

At this point I see no point in D4 existing.

$70 and up for Diablo IV is absurd comedy of the highest order.

 

[largh]

Yup, a sensation-seeking piece, but also partly right. I don't agree with this:

The real problem is that it doesn't matter whether your favourite class is firing on all cylinders or shooting blanks—none of them are much fun to play.

I found the druid fun to play during the free weekend they had. Anyway, I am going to pass this game. Perhaps I'll buy it in a year or so.

 

[SirJames]

I'd be really embarrassed if I wrote such a stupid clickbait article.

 

[Vaelith]

I don't know how well Diablo 4 will do, it's early to say. I do feel that because it's Blizzard there is no mercy and some are having a field day sticking their finger in the open wounds - wounds opened by the existence of Diablo Immortal, which I will agree, is a plague that I wish could be erased to never return. But Diablo 4 is not a mobile game.

Any other studio would get much more lenient treatment, and appeal to being a beta regarding class balance and graphics, both of which I didn't think to be off, especially the graphics. I find them to be spectacular and run very smoothly on my system, even in the previous Beta, as I didn't even play the Server Slam.

Leaving the fun factor aside, which is different for everyone, playing Diablo 4 to me feels like I'm truly playing a top-notch game, one of those super productions that already feels and sounds better from the moment you launch it. The animations are on point, the sound is the highest quality, the characters are extremely responsive to keystrokes and move smoothly through beautiful scenarios at high FPS, and the abilities feel impactful and satisfying to use. When my Frost Imbued Arrow hits, I can see the enemy stumble and falter for a second before they pick up the pace again to continue on their chase - or they die and ragdoll their way down the slope in a very realistic and seamless animation.

It's a gift to one's senses to be immersed in a game that has been made with such care and at such a high level of quality and detail, with so many resources invested into it. It's just beautiful.

And then, it may as well be all for nothing, the game can be not fun, feel like an empty husk, be unappealing, or just not one's cup of tea. That happens too, and it's why not every Hollywood super production turns out to be a good movie - but in my opinion, we can't take from Caesar what is Caesar's.

 

[Drithius]

Path of Exile's recent league mechanics have been pretty terrible, so it might just come down to the a-rpg market's lack of choice on whether D4 flourishes or not

 

[fatknacker50]

Oh PC Gamer Once revered now only reviled by this "gamer"

 

[SveNitoR]

I tried the first open beta. Was not impressed. Felt too much like an MMO in quest design and game play. And seeing player names like "xKillerZombieLord the great" all over the place was jarring. It's pretty obvious that the game is foremost a multi-player game where fun hinges on balance or some classes will be shunned due to not contributing enough. Balance trumps fun game play in a way.

I only tried the necromancer and I agree that it felt mostly like AFK watching the summons kill everything.

I will likely try it again some day, and maybe in the way D3 changed from a game I disliked to a game I enjoyed playing through once, this will be the same?

 

[SveNitoR]

I think, that for necromancer at least, he has a point. It's the only class I tried and:
1) It's not very fun to watch the summons so much.
2) The skills are not very exciting to unlock.
3) The game is a lot of waiting for cooldowns and recharging mana with boring skills instead of quickly with potions and using the fun skills.
4) The cooldowns and restricted number of skill slots make potentially fun combinations not possible.
4) It's surprisingly slow paced for an action-rpg.
5) The level scaling kills most sense of progression. The only time I felt properly challenged was when attacking a fortress at a lower level.

I really, really dislike the restricted skill slots. It feels like something they've done to be able to play it on a controller and to make balancing easier. But it's not fun.