The biggest reveal at BlizzCon 2018 was Diablo Immortal. In this blog, I want to cover my opinions on it and what we can kind of expect from the Diablo team in the future. My basic summary is this: The handling of the announcement was very bad but I am excited for this game to come out and keeping my expectations for this game very low. I did try the demo at BlizzCon and I had an awesome time playing it. Some of my thoughts here won't be the same as others so please keep an open mind about this game.
The Announcement of Diablo Immortal
Well the announcement of this game couldn't have gone worse. I don't know what Blizzard expected when they decided to announce the game here. People attending (and watching) BlizzCon is mostly comprised of the die-hard, PC user fan base. Most of the Diablo fans (me included) were expecting something big this year, maybe not Diablo 4 since there was a blog post several weeks back saying that it would be announced later. I think many of us Diablo fans were expecting something like a Diablo 1 or 2 remaster or some updates to Diablo 3 (like the Druid). The very last thing that many of us were expecting was a new Diablo mobile game. Many people suggested that if Blizzard wanted to announce Diablo Immortal here at BlizzCon, they should have announced something else along with it to take the "sting" out of just a mobile game (although I think they kind of tried with the Nintendo Switch Diablo 3 game). Like many people said on the internet, this was the wrong place and the wrong time to announce this game.
The Demo of Diablo Immortal
I tried the demo at BlizzCon and I was very impressed with the demo. Although I only tried the demo once, I had a real good feel of what the game could be when it comes out. The demo involved going through an area of gameplay and then finally fighting a boss at the end. The graphics were very detailed, even though it was on a phone. The gameplay and the movement of the characters felt really smooth and the enemies were pretty well detailed as well. The controls of this demo felt "weird" at first. It was kind of tough to move your character with only using your thumbs. Once you get the handle of the controls after a few minutes, you quickly understand your limitations and your ability to move the character in an efficient manner. The skills also looked very polished although there were only a couple of skills that you could use. I think in a fully developed game, there could be more choices as to which skills you can use. Overall, I give this demo a solid B rating.
Questions about Diablo Immortal
I have heard many concerns about this game so I will try to answer some of those questions here. Although it is just my opinion and not Blizzard's, I think these answers might prove to be more right than wrong.
1. Will Diablo Immortal have microtransactions?
I most definitely think that this game will have some sort of microtransaction. The question is whether these microtransactions will be pay-to-win or not. In the past, Blizzard has maintained that their games will never be pay-to-win. The reason why Blizzard never wants a pay-to-win model is that they don't want the players to feel 'cheated' when playing with other players who used their own money to gain an advantage. I think one of those situations occurred with the real money auction house in Diablo 3. Players were able to buy the best gear in the game with their credit card and Blizzard realized this and shut the auction house down. I can see Diablo Immortal having microtransactions mainly for cosmetic purposes (for things such as character space, stash tab, armor skins, etc).
2. How viable is it to have a Diablo game on a phone?
I think one of the main reasons why people don't like a mobile game is that it takes up too much battery life so that you would need to constantly recharge your phone battery. I don't see this game as something that you could play for 8 hours straight. Also, another concern is whether this game would be playable on your phone or not. I personally don't own a mobile phone (well I do but it definitely won't run Diablo Immortal) so I may have to spend a lot of money on a new cell phone (not to mention the data charges to play this game). Another complaint that I hear a lot is that the controls of this game is pretty tricky on a phone. The solution to this could be to try this game on a tablet. A tablet might be the better way to play this game since it usually has a bigger screen and is capable of holding more memory.
3. What is the end game content of Diablo Immortal?
Well we don't have any clue as to what the end game content will be as for now. I think Leviathan tried to ask this question at BlizzCon but the devs didn't have any answers for him. Some end game content that I can see is a dungeon loot system like they have in World of Warcraft or even the same greater rift system in Diablo 3. It will be interesting to see what the Diablo devs will come up with concerning the end game.
Well that is my review of Diablo Immortal. I think there are legitimate concerns about this game but I think that once people try this game out, they might end up liking this game. I think it is way too early to speculate as to whether this game will be a success or not. I am willing to try this game out but I am also keeping my expectations very low because it is just a mobile game. Although having said that, I am excited about learning the stories of Diablo Immortal and what it could mean for the future PC Diablo game (because we all know that Blizzard is indeed working on a new Diablo game for the PC). I hope everyone had a great 2018. My next blog will probably cover season 15 of Diablo 3 and what I did in 2018.
