Hey guys,
I’ve been a Blizzard fan since Warcraft I back in 1993. To still be alive today, waiting to play Diablo IV, is really exciting! But the gaming universe has changed so much through the years, especially considering all the gameplay innovations, and I’m wondering how Diablo IV will take these into account … I have a dreadful feeling from the gameplay trailers and dev updates I’ve seen so far that we’re still deep inside button-mashing territory, gameplay-wise, especially in the first run through i.e. levels 1-30.
Contrary to Warcraft and Starcraft, the Diablo series has always been more about building up a character with skill combos and loot than about actually learning to play the game well. No doubt more player skill is required to finish the game at the hardest difficulty settings, but in my first run-throughs in DII and III starting from level 1, I never felt challenged getting to the final boss or having to play well. The only « challenge » was getting good loot and skill combos (it had more to do with lucky drops than actual skill) … and getting through the grind. Many RPGs are like this. But early on my character would always become almost invincible : I found a build that worked well in all circumstances, and then could play any way I wanted and the baddies just couldn’t manage. I recall that the first Diablo was a bit different : it was harder ; it required more planning and thinking to get out of a dungeon alive.
So different is e.g. Sekiro! In Sekiro, each fight can leave you dead. The very first boss fight can stump you for hours. To win a fight, you need to understand the enemy’s patterns and counter them. You need to observe closely the enemy’s behavior. You must wait for an opening and respond with the correct attack and perform precise sequences of moves. Make a mistake and you’re dead. It’s not so much about having good equipment or leveling up. It’s more about studying each new enemy and finding creative ways to counter its moves, like in a game of chess. There are fewer encounters but each one is a puzzle to solve. This makes each fight new, meaningful and interesting. Much the same applies to God of War and the arenas in Doom Eternal and Wizards of Legend - battles require skill and intelligence, not just character building - although two of these games, unlike Sekiro and WoL, have difficulty settings that allow you to finish the game without having to study enemies and think about how to defeat them. Still, if you’re an average player, each fight seems challenging and significant.
In Diablo, by contrast, at least in my experience, winning the game has always been about increasing my damage output and my armor to overcome resistance. Almost no thinking goes into any fight : I basically just mash the attack button to destroy the next enemy that comes up and clear the room, and repeat this process over and over again all the way to the end of the game. Boss fights in DIII did require a bit more brainpower, but they never really felt like puzzles to be solved. In general, killing enemies doesn’t require any kind of analysis, careful observation or adaptation. If your build is strong enough, you will mow down any group of enemy just by spamming the attack button … Okay okay, true, when you’re out of health or mana you need to be careful and replenish yourself … and immunities sometimes require to switch skills for better results … and sometimes some enemies must be dispatched before others … but that doesn’t make the game challenging in the sense I’m talking about here. Even the character building can be a bit mindless : you’re just trying to max out your stats, especially DPS and armor, so the best choice available is usually not very hard to discover. Items that have 10-15 modifiers attached to them (e.g. +3% chance cause 15 fire damage) aren’t necessarily interesting ; what is interesting, to me at least, is to find an item that has an impact on my gameplay, that allows me to make a new type of move, that is useful in a certain type of situation, that plays a specific function … Think about items in the Zelda series, or the guns in Doom, or the Leviathan Axe in GoW : they introduce interesting gameplay mechanics, whereas Diablo items (apart from melee/ranged) generally don’t affect gameplay, they just affect the numbers.
I find the Diablo series very addictive, for sure, but … I wonder if its recent iterations could be described as actually fun or interesting, gameplay-wise. The casino is addictive, and millions spend their savings on games of chance. But it doesn’t mean that casinos are any fun … in fact, they’re a strange mix of excitement and boredom. They’re addictive but they’re also mindless. And I guess this is my point : I’m afraid that Diablo IV will be a mindless game … that winning the game will still be just about trudging blindly through endless streams of enemies that get cut into pieces as soon as they appear on the screen … This is what I’ve seen in the trailers.
This criticism doesn’t take anything away from the fun of looting, character building, dark atmosphere, art, lore, exploration, story and the thrill of feeling overpowered … The art of Diablo in itself makes it worth playing. But if the gameplay itself is too simple, not strategic enough, with too little depth … if the enemies don’t display any form of intelligence … if it all feels like mindless hacking … to me at least, it’s not much fun.
I know that the game requires more skill on the second and third run-throughs … But why can’t it be like that from start? Even old-skool games like Mario Bros, Ninja Gaiden and Soul Blazer required skill from the get go.
I’m sure that some fans will argue that Diablo just isn’t about the gameplay, it’s really just about customization. I guess that’s okay … Still, I’m still wondering if the balance is right and I’d like the game to be about more than building-up the most powerful demon-blender …
So I’m wondering if some of the following might get included in Diablo IV before it comes out :
Parrying. Instead of parry being a % chance based on equipment stats, shouldn’t it require to press a button (e.g. to raise a shield or deflect a blow with your weapon)? That way, players would need to look for signs that enemies are about to attack and will need to time their parry. Item stats could affect how easily, effectively and often you can parry … They could also have effects on parry (e.g. burn or freeze the enemy, allow an instant counter, etc.) but players should at least have to get involved in choosing the timing and direction of the parry based on what is going on around their character! Just “rolling a dice” is kinda boring … and mindless.
Dodging. I usually play a wizard class, because you have to be more careful not to die e.g. by teleporting all over the place. But how about having all classes be able to roll or jump aside to avoid being hit? Not just through a special skill (e.g. a barbarian jumping into the frey) but as a general part of gameplay? What if players could crouch or jump? What if Diablo had a more controller feel to it, rather than point-and-click controls?
Facing. The way you face in Diablo never mattered much. You can’t walk away from enemies while facing them to deflect attacks. Being hit in the back or while prone doesn’t make a difference. Maybe it should?
Stunning, staggering, falling down. Shouldn’t there be some kind of consequence to being struck by an enemy, in addition to taking damage? A huge demon comes up, swings a 10-ton axe down on your head … and your character just stays in place and loses health. What if attacks from colossal enemies would kill players 1-hit, unless they dodge? What if you could get thrown off balance, lose your footing and fall down and need to get back up? Or be thrown into a wall or into a chasm? What if hitting a shield or missing a swing could prevent you from following up immediately with another attack? What if enemies could suffer the same? It would add a lot of depth to the gameplay. It would be nice to have weapons and/or moves that can immobilize enemies (e.g. nets), turn them over (allowing the player to attack their underbelly) or just make them fall on the ground.
Smart enemies I’m not expecting zombies to do anything smart, but why can’t demons surprise me from time to time? Can’t demons work together, maybe form defensive lines and taunt the player to attack? stay in place and wait for an opening? retreat if they feel overwhelmed? hide and ambush the player? orchestrate a coordinated attack? form parties that combine tanks, ranged and buff units? Couldn’t they communicate and adapt a bit to the player’s behavior? Not saying that there is none of that in previous Diablo games, but most of the time, enemies just run directly at you or shot at you from a distance, try to hit you, and then get obliterated just in time for the next swarm of brain-dead baddies to enter the scene.
Stealth. What if the game sometimes required the player to spy on enemies and wait to attack at an advantage? The ability to observe and surprise enemies really adds depth to games. Running away to fight another day (e.g. coming back with the right equipment) should be part of the game.
Weak points. There’s a big difference between switching to e.g. fire-based attack to damage an ice-based enemy, and discovering and exploiting an enemy’s weak point with a correctly aimed and timed attack, feint or manoeuvre. What if dispatching powerful enemies required several steps? I’m thinking of Doom Eternal now, where enemies need to be killed in a certain way, with attacks that make them weaker first, otherwise they are nearly invincible.
Weapon types This does appear to some extent already, but it would be nice for it to be pushed further. Zombies should be immune to arrows, for instance ; skeletons should be 1-hit kills with hammers and maces ; slimy creatures should be immune to blungeoning and axes, but vulnerable to slashing from swords ; ethereal or elemental creatures should be impossible to hit without magic ; enemies with heavy armor should be immune to attacks except from spears and broadswords designed to pierce armor ; etc.
Various attack types What if it were possible to vary attacks, say … to make a flurry of quick but weak attacks (less damage but no risk of staggered) or slow, powerful attacks (more damage, can break shields and armor, but penalty if you miss or hit a strong shield) … ? What if the player could choose between swinging his weapon from side to side (better for multiple weak enemies) or down from up above his head (max damage but slow and vulnerable to counter attack) or stabbing straight towards the enemy (requires precision but better to pierce strong armor)?
Limited carrying capacity and equipment bases-area access Although the stash should hold unlimited items, it shouln’t be possible to carry much gear on an adventure. This would require players to plan ahead and make teaming up more interesting. NPCs could hint at the dangers coming and players would need to listen carefully to their advice before setting out. Certain areas might also be off limit until the players has the right equipment. Players that go into an area and face enemies they can’t beat would retreat and come back later. This occurs in e.g. Zelda Breath of the Wild and creates a lot of mystery and excitement ; players have to be patient. It would also add depth to limit the use of certain spells depending on the area e.g. meteors can’t be cast underground. It would be nice to face situations where you have to choose between bringing an extra sword with a fire mod, 3-4 extra potions or some ice arrows.
So … I’m thinking many Diablo fans would resent such changes … Lots of people got angry at Sekiro for being « too hard » … People also got mad at Last of Us 2 because of changes to the original formula. So I’m not saying Diablo should change. I’m just saying that it might be interesting to bring into Diablo more puzzle-like gameplay dynamics, so that players are required to think farther ahead, experiment more, observe their enemies and choose appropriate responses, fail and fail and fail again until they git gud … as they need to do in Warcraft III and Starcraft II due to the rock-paper-scissors nature of the gameplay.
That is all!
I’m not sure that a manual parry at the press of a button will work well on Diablo. This kind of feature works much better for first-person games, and when there are few enemies on the screen. When you see players complaining about the density of monsters, and they want more monsters, I’m not sure that’s a good idea.