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"Diablo Immortal Is A Simplified Diablo—Maybe Too Simplified": Kotaku demo hands-on impressions.

Deleted member 9317

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https://kotaku.com/diablo-immortal-is-a-simplified-diablo-maybe-too-simpli-1830193187

Some choice quotes:

At first glance, [Diablo Immortal] looks a lot like Diablo III. Similar classes, similar environments, similar art, similar abilities. In the demo I played at BlizzCon, however, much of the resemblance was only skin deep.
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[The combat] felt intuitive, if occasionally slow to respond to my inputs. It is, for better or worse, a tried-and-true interface, given that—as some fans have pointed out—it's basically taken straight out of previous games by Chinese publisher NetEase, with whom Blizzard is partnering for Diablo Immortal.
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I had access to just four abilities and could not swap them out. There was also no mana or resource system, just skill cooldowns. As a result, some characters felt better than others.
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The demo's loot system was also a big step down from those of traditional Diablo games. Loot dropped, and I could equip it with a quick press of a pop-up button without leaving the action. However, doing so did not visually alter my character, and it only contributed to basic attack/defense stats.
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In an email, principal designer Wyatt Cheng explained to Kotaku that characters will be limited to five skills (including their main attack) at any given moment, but you'll be able to select them from a group of 12 per class that will unlock "slowly over time." That's still down from the number of abilities each class got in Diablo III, but some customization is better than none.
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As for loot, Blizzard and NetEase are still trying to pin down how exactly it'll work. "The loot system is very much a work in progress, which is why inventory is disabled in the demo," said Cheng. "We are still working out the details of how itemization [will] work, but there are a few strong values we have. First, we want there to be some depth for hardcore players. Second, there should be customization (including visual). Third, we want to make sure legendary items allow you to customize your build further with game defining effects."
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So there will be a degree of depth to both skills and loot, but maybe not the amount that longtime Diablo fans are used to. If nothing else, Diablo Immortal feels good enough that I can imagine myself contentedly tapping away at it during commutes or while waiting for loading screens in the PC and Switch versions of Diablo III. I'm worried, though, that it might not have much staying power.
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Thanks, minimaxir!

Kotaku also has an interview with Wyatt Cheng tomorrow, where more questions will be asked, including microtransaction questions (which is curiously included in all NetEase games), etc.

I personally want to try this out for myself when it releases.
 
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ParksCo2

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Oct 31, 2017
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I was hoping this was a decent mobile game that could be ported to Switch ... This sounds like a hard pass.
 
MrH

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It's a cheap money grab that Blizzard couldn't even be bothered to make themselves.
 
--R

--R

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Oct 25, 2017
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Yikes. It's even worse than I thought.
 
Derrick01

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MrH said:
It's a cheap money grab that Blizzard couldn't even be bothered to make themselves.
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Yup that's all it is. Minimal effort and expense put in to try and make a ridiculous amount of money based on psychological hooks.

It is kind of hard to blame them for trying though. The mobile market dug their own graves with this shit years ago and places like China eat this up all day every day. Where Blizz really went wrong was choosing to show this here.
 
JahIthBer

JahIthBer

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Jan 27, 2018
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Honestly, ignoring the no PC/Console version & Blizzcon backlash, i did think some of it looked fun & finally gave some slight innovation to the Diablo franchise, sliding down the rope & shootings spiders & trying to stay on the rift while demons jump on, D3 has nothing like that. Really a shame it's some F2P mobile game.
 
guybrushfreeman

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Oct 29, 2017
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I'm really surprised they put this main stage. Sounds like a reskin of the 100s of titles like this with horrible monetisation out on mobile already. You'd think they'd have tried to keep it low key. It'll be huge in certain markets though I'm sure, like the titles it's clearly copying from already are
 
SRTtoZ

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I still can't believe they ended the conference on a mobile game not made by them.
 

Deleted member 40133

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Its just so weird, if this were annoincrd through a press release, an announcement trailer on a random day, or heck even just near the top of the presser with a quick splash screen and "we want to bring Diablo to as many as possible" and quickly move on, it wouldn't be the shit show it is right now. Its like when ms teased conker...and then it was actually just a part of project spark or whatever. Like what? The tonedeafness is the problem more than the actual game itself. No one gives a crap that Nintendo put out super Mario run. Heck, their was genuine "yeah sure I'll check it out" mild curiosity. But Nintendo didn't put it as the showpiece at the end of an E3 show. If they had, this is the exact reaction they would have gotten
 
Maximus

Maximus

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Oct 27, 2017
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The game is already simple, why simplify it further. Disappointed they removed mana for timed cool downs for skills.

Interesting they are still figuring out loot, I mean the only challenge should be how to make it compelling for people to kee loot hunting.
 
The Orz

The Orz

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Dec 5, 2017
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It's so strange to see Blizzard outsourcing. After Lord of the Clans, they took on the mantra of Acquire and Assimilate when it came to developing games outside of their comfort zone. Then again, that was a very different Blizzard.
 

Deleted member 36578

Dec 21, 2017
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Man, this game will probably still be successful enough for them but I really wish it was something bigger and better .
 
doemaaan

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Eh.. I mean, I'll still give it a try. Actually, I have no idea if this is free to play. Was it stated?
 

HoodedSoldier

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No visual changes in gear. Hmmmmmmmm They will definitely sell different visual looks for your character. This is gonna suck hard!
 
Uthred

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What I found most surprising was that so much of it didnt seem to be nailed down. For some reason I got the impression this was further along in development.
 
Mochi

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The trailer looked kinda cool, but reading this just makes me feel better about picking the game up again for Switch. This is definitely not a series that needs more simplification, as others have already said.
 
Zukuu

Zukuu

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Oct 30, 2017
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And as per their Q&A on another website, they said that "die-hard pc diablo fans" are the primary target with this. It's a joke.
 
Dark_Castle

Dark_Castle

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A simplified version of Diablo 3.

Simplified Diablo 3.

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ToTheMoon

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HoodedSoldier said:
No visual changes in gear. Hmmmmmmmm They will definitely sell different visual looks for your character. This is gonna suck hard!
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Loudninja said:
Umm no visual change in loot? like what?
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HoLoGrApHiC_principle said:
So they can charge for skins obviously.
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It's literally bolded in the OP:

"As for loot, Blizzard and NetEase are still trying to pin down how exactly it'll work. "The loot system is very much a work in progress, which is why inventory is disabled in the demo," said Cheng. "We are still working out the details of how itemization [will] work, but there are a few strong values we have. First, we want there to be some depth for hardcore players. Second, there should be customization (including visual). Third, we want to make sure legendary items allow you to customize your build further with game defining effects.""
 
Zukuu

Zukuu

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Oct 30, 2017
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Adaren said:
It's literally bolded in the OP:

"As for loot, Blizzard and NetEase are still trying to pin down how exactly it'll work. "The loot system is very much a work in progress, which is why inventory is disabled in the demo," said Cheng. "We are still working out the details of how itemization [will] work, but there are a few strong values we have. First, we want there to be some depth for hardcore players. Second, there should be customization (including visual). Third, we want to make sure legendary items allow you to customize your build further with game defining effects."
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So MTX like everybody fears.
 
7thFloor

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Oct 27, 2017
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Adaren said:
It's literally bolded in the OP:

"As for loot, Blizzard and NetEase are still trying to pin down how exactly it'll work. "The loot system is very much a work in progress, which is why inventory is disabled in the demo," said Cheng. "We are still working out the details of how itemization [will] work, but there are a few strong values we have. First, we want there to be some depth for hardcore players. Second, there should be customization (including visual). Third, we want to make sure legendary items allow you to customize your build further with game defining effects."
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I don't see how that quote disagrees with my comment, they don't say anything about customization other than that it will exist in some form.
 
Cipherr

Cipherr

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Oct 26, 2017
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No visual changes in loot

Outsourced... not even designed internally

Looks and plays like a clone of titles the outsourced company already makes

Shallow sounding game play

Sounding like its hitting all the marks it was feared to. Still to early and to disrespectful to criticize it?
 
Fugu

Fugu

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Oct 26, 2017
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People in the Diablo 2 community (yes, 2) have been saying forever that we shouldn't get our hopes up about an announcement and that it's probably going to be even worse than we imagined.

Boy was that correct.
 
ManaByte

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Cancel Diablo: Immortal tonight.

End BlizzCon tomorrow with the announcement that StarCraft: Ghost is being revived on PS4 and Xbox One and confirm Diablo 4 is in the works.
 
PepsimanVsJoe

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Oct 26, 2017
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Admittedly I never spent that much time with Diablo 3 (which is odd, considering I spent thousands of hours on D2), but how much simpler could it possibly be? I felt like I was on autopilot the entire time.
 

Deleted member 5864

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Diablo 3 was simple enough already. They just outsourced this to a company that was already making mobile clones for the Asian market and even then it doesn't seem like it's far along, or the demo itself is completely barebones and underwhelming. Then sold it as their big announcement.

I wouldn't be surprised if this game ends up having features like "auto play" (literally the game will play itself, usually on a "ticket" basis which you can acquire with real $) or even put certain equipment or skills behind a paywall, i.e. buy this fairy outfit for the Mage to access the fairy dust ultimate skill, etc.
 
MadLaughter

MadLaughter

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Oct 25, 2017
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I don't know how visual loot representation isn't the FIRST thing you figure out for this. I bet it will just be full armor set skins that you have to farm for 6 months for or buy for 10 bucks real cash. No individual armor pieces.
 
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