I've invested an excessive amount of time—let's just say "ridiculous"—in Diablo III over the past decade, spanning all platforms on which it was available. My clocked hours exceed 1,000, a number I chose to mention without verifying the actual figure, which I suspect is even higher, just to obscure the absurdity of it all.

Consequently, Diablo IV has been among my most awaited titles this year. That was the case until I played the recent pre-order beta this past weekend. While I still plan to experience the full game upon its release, it's undeniably an unusual entry.

It genuinely feels like a title that has lingered in development for nearly ten years, caught in an identity crisis. It haphazardly pulls elements from Diablo III and its predecessors while incorporating lessons from contemporary indie RPGs and larger franchises like Dark Souls.

Diablo III thrived due to its accessibility and finely tuned action mechanics. It was easy to pick up and play, thanks to a mix of enjoyable randomization, numerous difficulty levels, and diverse gear drops and builds to experiment with. Last year’s Diablo Immortal was a safe sequel, maintaining that same engaging action and gradual difficulty progression on mobile and PC. It refined the formula while adding free-to-play elements, and I still find it surprising that it hasn’t made its way to consoles.

In the early phases of Diablo IV's development, there were speculations about a Souls-like approach, featuring a third-person camera and more challenging stamina-based combat. I can definitely sense remnants of that concept in this beta version. The game begins with players selecting from a variety of intricately designed character models within a limited creator tool, which feels odd given the traditional isometric perspective of Diablo.

It turns out that the character model plays a significant role in the numerous low-angle cutscenes throughout the campaign. Diablo IV frequently shifts from its standard view to showcase characters' expressions of grief up close. While these cutscenes are visually appealing, they feel oddly out of sync with the rest of the gameplay and slow the pace to a crawl, likely prompting players to skip them after viewing once.

The fundamental action gameplay reminiscent of Diablo III returns, albeit with several tweaks that seem to regress rather than enhance the experience. My playtime primarily occurred on the Xbox Series S, and the right stick—previously used for dodging—has no function here. Instead, dodge rolling is now mapped to a face button and comes with a long cooldown period.

The dodge roll was introduced in the console versions of Diablo III to compensate for the lack of mouse precision, making it easier to evade the numerous incoming attacks. Diablo IV abandons this gameplay convenience for artificial "difficulty." Skills have also reverted to a more traditional skill tree format. Diablo III allowed players to swap skills freely and experiment with builds on the fly, while IV features a structured skill tree with cascading dependencies. Although a respec option is available, costs rise quickly as players level up, making it less appealing.

Diablo has consistently been a gothic horror RPG, but previous installments injected a dose of lightheartedness to make extended play more bearable. Some fans felt Diablo III leaned too far into humor; IV omits it entirely, plunging headfirst into a nightmarish tone.

There is no joy to be found in this world or its narrative, which is disappointing. Everything is shrouded in darkness, violence, and sorrow. Every character lacks distinctiveness, appearing downtrodden and anxious. While there are commendable storytelling moments in the early acts, the overall atmosphere isn't one I personally wish to immerse myself in for countless hours.

This apprehension extends to the dungeon designs. Diablo IV introduces an open world that feels somewhat confined and small. It resembles a series of interconnected corridors rather than an expansive area ripe for exploration, particularly in the initial zone. The side dungeons are numerous but often uninspired, with every one of them following a repetitive pattern of small rooms leading to basic "collect the key" or "hit the switch" puzzles. The vibrant charm of the rifts found in III and Immortal is entirely absent, as is the fast-paced gameplay.

Story dungeons perform slightly better but remain unremarkable. Previous Diablo games typically featured randomly generated dungeons, spiced up with unique content to maintain engagement. From my experience in this beta, IV does not excel in that regard. There are moments where you can press the dodge key to witness a traversal animation as you slowly climb or crouch, which feels lackluster.

Visually, the game maintains a dreary aesthetic. The hyper-realistic lighting and material design are impressive, especially given that it has lower system requirements than the recent Diablo II remake. I suspect it still utilizes Blizzard's proprietary engine, packed with minute environmental details and high-quality lighting.

However, the visuals lack the vibrancy typical of action RPG graphics. The realistic lighting causes your character to blend into the surroundings more seamlessly. Although you can activate a highlighted outline, it detracts from the overall visual appeal. Implementing a "hero lighting" feature that emphasizes the character without compromising the environmental lighting—similar to Wolcen—would significantly enhance this issue.

The camera positioning is notably closer than in previous Diablo titles, with only Immortal having a narrower field of view due to mobile hardware limitations. The camera is also strangely fixed, with only minor zooming during town exploration. You can zoom in further to view your character up close, which is a small consolation. The character consistently occupies the upper third of the screen, making it challenging to gauge what lies ahead when moving north. The mini-map offers more information about the environment and enemies than the actual game screen, necessitating constant glances at it for optimal tactical awareness.

Not to revisit Wolcen again, but it addressed this issue by dynamically shifting the camera view forward while running and decoupling it from the character. Implementing this kind of camera dynamism would greatly enhance the playability of Diablo IV, and I hope to see it included in a future update.

The core action gameplay that made Diablo III enjoyable remains, even with the more restrictive skill tree. It's still satisfying to run around and defeat enemies with the snappy gameplay, yet it feels at odds with the overall dark and gloomy atmosphere. It's peculiar that your character can easily vanquish foes in seconds while cutscenes depict horrifying events that you cannot prevent.

Once again, I think these cutscenes would fit better in a Souls style of game, as would the visual tone. Some sound effects echo those from earlier titles, but they only serve to remind me of the enjoyment I had with those games, which feels out of place here.

Another notable issue exemplifying the awkward balance between Diablo II and III is the return of health potions. After being almost entirely removed from III during its extensive updates, health potions are back in this new iteration. Players can carry a limited number of potions and must manually heal by pressing a button, occasionally finding potions dropped by enemies.

However, the graphics for these health potions closely resemble the healing orbs from III and Immortal. If you instinctively run over an orb to heal, you'll quickly find yourself frustrated in IV as you remember the need to press a button instead. There's no meaningful rationale for this change, other than to differentiate it from the previous titles and evoke nostalgia for the older games.

Ultimately, this game feels like a collection of elements from older *Diablo* titles, reassembled in a way that fails to create a cohesive experience. It's disappointing, as Blizzard has historically been a pioneer in the genre, often leading the charge with innovative gameplay that others would emulate. Diablo II revolutionized complexity in action RPGs and introduced multiplayer that reshaped the landscape. Diablo III refined that complexity and crafted an experience that prioritized player enjoyment, inspiring countless imitations.

With Diablo IV, it now appears that Blizzard is merely rehashing their previous successes, hoping that combining familiar elements in a new manner will resonate. The open world isn't as impressive as I'd hoped, and the combat lacks the excitement found in earlier entries, due to the convoluted skill tree, potion mechanics, and dodging systems. Furthermore, the overwhelmingly dark tone of the game feels more depressing than appealing.

I didn't need to witness a side quest involving a sex-obsessed husband being ensnared by a dominatrix demon, only to have his skin flayed off without satisfaction. It lacked humor and could even be deemed offensive to the BDSM community.

This is undoubtedly a game that spent too long in development—and that duration hasn't resolved all the technical issues. On launch day, there were excruciatingly long queues, even for pre-order customers. They must have known the number of sales, especially after running a costly advertising campaign for the beta, complete with a live-action trailer. There’s little justification for the server problems on day one, and I’m genuinely surprised they aren’t extending the duration of this initial event.

The beta will be accessible for everyone this upcoming weekend and will feature all five classes. I'll likely return to check them out. During this opening weekend, I mainly played as a sorcerer, with a bit of barbarian and rogue, but none captivated me as much as I had hoped.

While this game appears satisfactory, it attempts to serve as a sequel to every prior installment while layering on an excessive degree of horror, ultimately missing the mark for what I anticipated from a Diablo III/Immortal successor. I'm sure it will resonate with many players, and that’s great for them.

Even Path of Exile incorporates quirky elements, and they executed the dark horror theme better than anyone else upon release. After all, variety is the spice of life!