My review is based on the assumptions that D4 will roll out as open world campaign with multiplayer events and that adventure mode will be added in future updates. I may have missed some of the functions addressed in my feedback, so please disregard if any. In order to make this post as short as possible, I will not comment on any positive aspects of the game… which there are many. Good job Blizzard.
Bugs
I have already reported quite a few bugs by using the game menu. I would only like to mention again the big one, if you jump over or teleport through the open world loading lines the map goes blank, there are no mobs/quests/objects. Please make sure that this is fixed.
User Interface
It is not hard to learn and relatively easy to use, maybe add more detailed comments on “mouse over” tabs or buttons. For example, when you roll over let’s say “Upgrade Item” button, the comment says “Upgrade Item” … not very useful, especially for new players with no previous Diablo experience.
Classes
Melee is very slow, ranged is too fast. You need to find a middle ground. Right now it feels like we need elementary school for Sorcerer/Rogue and college degree to play Barbarian. I finished the ACT I in a few hours with sorcerer, took me a day with barbarian. Not a big fan of the whole two hand and single hand weapons combination for every skill. I assume you have done this to enable support and DPS builds all in one, for future updates, but right now barbarian is not very efficient. I hope you balance the classes by June, can hardly wait to test the rest this Friday.
The World and Gameplay
Based on what I have seen in the short Beta version, the world looks amazing. Especially during daytime when you can see all the reflections, shadows and other details. The city is great, but it feels like there is not enough meaningful content/interaction with the locals. I could not get engaged to listen or view the cut scenes, I skipped everything. Asked my friends and they say the same. In addition, I did not really feel any excitement or real danger during the whole gameplay, felt very easy even on the harder level. Maybe because we had limited time to play so we were all in a rush. I guess we must wait and see when the full game is released.
Since the moment you said D4 will be open world I was expecting much more content, maybe close to Skyrim, and due to these high expectations I am a little bit disappointed. Some of the dungeons felt too long with not enough mobs, others felt repetitive. The rewards for completing did not feel very rewarding, in some cases nothing happened at the end. Some of the areas, especially the pilgrimage area, are completely empty. In addition, there are no teleportation points in that whole eastern region, so you have to walk every time. I am sure that once we get a horse, we will move faster but maybe add teleportation points close to world events such as the boss fights.
Quests in general are ok but second time around I didn’t do many side quests, just main ones and progressed much faster. Once completed they give you catches with materials so I guess this is instead of bounties. The idea is ok but the engagement level is very low, again as everything else it just does not feel rewarding… more of a chore that you have to do.
Multiplayer
My friends and I tried playing in a party but it was not very convenient, we were chasing each other around the map, with no real goals and no options for direct teleport, having to open the world map to see where everyone is. Please review co-op play and maybe redesign few things, teleport to a party member is a must.
Items
I like the “build your own” gear as much as the next guy but I got full legendary build before I reached level 25. The items did not feel special at all, there is no excitement when legendary item drops since you can craft as many as you want and they are the same as rare items, only with a skill stat. Also, the new “Kadala” gives too many legendary items. We need something to keep us going, something to search for… and the excitement when we find it. We need special items that are hard to find and give something more in return than the same stats as rare items.
In addition, I understand that you are afraid of sets… but they need to come back. In D3 you made the sets mandatory and skill specific, that was a mistake. Sets need to be very rare, hard to find and not class/skill specific. Instead, sets should provide combined stat bonus and maybe a skill that is not available in the character skill tree. I hate to mention other games, but let’s say Titans Quest, during 5 years of gameplay I have found only 1 full set. It was an overwhelming feeling of joy.
Skills
Diablo is one of those games where you can make classes to be so diverse and not one player the same. But for whatever reason you keep going with the cookie cutter option. The way the skill tree is designed, and due to the fact that we can reset the skill points, we will all end up again with the exact same builds. I was under the impression that you are designing the skill tree to be elementally based and that players can go in different directions (fire, water, air etc), apparently this is not the case. The skills are similar to D3, just renamed and instead of selecting 1 out of 5 runes you can select 2 out of 3. Again, I guess my expectations were too high.
World events
Boss fights are very long and boring, the rewards are ok but it takes too long especially if not enough players. You run around doing the same thing for 5-10 minutes. Smaller events, you don’t even know that they are happening unless you are around in that particular area.
Overall
Graphics, ambient, music, voices, physics, characters are all amazing… great job. However, the game lacks excitement, everything is just too easy and there is nothing that we can look forward to. I really hope that this Beta version is very different from the final version.