Diablo 4’s Beta Shows the Horror of Modern AAA Design

It’s been a rough couple of years for Blizzard Entertainment, going from one of the premier studios in the world to one mired in controversy, scandals, lawsuits, and destroying years’ worth of goodwill with their fans. Diablo 4 has been viewed as the hopeful return to grace for the company — the next single player game in one of the most beloved franchises. Having played the beta, I’m left not so happy about it and what’s coming at release. Diablo 4, at least from the beta, shows what AAA games have become, for better and worse. <h1>Evil Diablo</h1> Right from the start, Diablo 4 removes much of the color and more cartoony vibes of Diablo 3 in favor of the darker greys and browns of the older games. While this may be polarizing, I honestly started to like it, as it lends Diablo 4 more of a horror movie atmosphere compared to other entries. This can be seen with the more stylized cutscenes that look straight out of an Evil Dead or Hellraiser in terms of tone, with Lilith (our new big bad) chewing through the scenery. There’s a new evil on the loose, and it’s going to be up to us, and maybe some friends, to stop her plans for sanctuary. While the beta doesn’t have all the classes in it, it does feature a kind of homecoming for the Diablo 2 archetypes. However, if you’re thinking that this plays like D2, or even D3 for that matter, there are a number of major differences here. <a href="https://medium.com/@GWBycer/diablo-4s-beta-shows-the-horror-of-modern-aaa-design-9731e425da5">Learn More</a>