Review In Progress – Diablo Immortal

Blizzard’s first Diablo game for mobile is being launched this week. It has been on my phone since the beginning of last week and I’ve put it through a lot for review. I was unable to fully experience Diablo Immortal’s action-RPG, so I am not going to give a detailed review. However, I will share my thoughts and impressions on the game’s time.

Much of Diablo Immortal is designed to look, sound, and feel like Diablo 3, and in my time leveling a Crusader, it nails those lofty expectations effortlessly. Never once during my time slaying the minions of evil have I felt like this was a reskin of another mobile game, imposter using the Diablo name, or that it falls short in what feels like a Diablo game. Immortal is a Diablo-like experience, from the way the weapons work to how intuitive and fluid it feels when you use skills. Its responsive controls have some of the best feeling virtual analog sticks and buttons I’ve used in a mobile game. The main attack button, located at the bottom of the screen’s right, is your most important. Four additional abilities are scattered around it. Pressing one of these special abilities often causes a reticle or an area of effect indicator to appear on the ground. Simply holding and sliding my thumb along the button will aim my desired devastation method in a natural manner. There are many settings options that can be made to improve the system, but the default setup works for me. 

Combat is fluid and fun. Analog control gives the character more flexibility than the point-and-click Diablos. The Immortal Rifts are back and they’re just as enjoyable as D3’s counterparts. However, the game runs a little faster due to shorter gameplay times on mobile. Because of the added mobility and smooth controls, I have a great time ripping through rifts and rebuilding my character’s equipped skills to optimize my path of destruction.

Legendary armor, weapons, and legendary armor can once more modify an ability of your class. These abilities may range from giving you a damage boost to changing how an attack works. For instance, my Crusader is equipped with a chest piece that morphs Sweep Attack, which normally hits in a cone-like area in front of me, and turns it into a spinning flail that can be used while an energy bar drains, hitting everything in a circle around my character. A myriad of possibilities exists for each class in terms of builds and modifications from legendary gear that will most likely keep the endgame meta of Challenge Rift leaderboards and PvP arenas fresh for quite a while. Additionally, Immortal offers a rotating selection of recommended builds for people who may not have the aptitude for putting optimized gear builds together, which smartly grants ideas and aspirations for specific gear pieces for players to obtain.

While I am just beginning to experience PvP, it is difficult for me to give a full account of what they offer. After a player reaches level 43 they can join either the Shadows or the Immortals. These factions are sworn to protect demonic forces and keep players safe. Because early access has had so few people to play with and fewer players who made it to that level, I couldn’t properly test out how PvP and factions work in a meaningful way. PvE raid encounters can be played with eight players. However, once again I could not find enough people to give them a try before launch.

The main story of Immortal drives the leveling process until it becomes a tedious, depressing grind. This can often lead to the end of the journey. The story takes you all across the world of Sanctuary, meeting new characters and old favorites like Charsi the blacksmith and Akara from Diablo II’s Rogue Encampment. Taking place between D2 and D3, Immortal teams players up with Diablo mainstay Deckard Cain – who is thankfully still alive during this time period. Together, your goal is to collect and destroy the shards of the Worldstone that shattered during the events of Diablo 2. A new terror from Diablo’s ranks named Skarn rises to fill the void in the demonic forces left in the absence of the Lord of Destruction. I like that Immortal takes place in the gap of 20 years after Baal’s death in Diablo 2. Cleaning up the mess and re-building Sanctuary is an easy way to continue the story. This world feels more connected than any other Diablo title. The zones are bespoke and not randomly generated. I was surprised at how little I miss it being mysterious every time I enter. It could be different when I play new characters on the live servers. For now though, I am happy with Rift’s procedurally generated worlds in favour of a more alive-feeling one. 

Unfortunately, the main story quest is level locked at times, which caused plenty of frustration as I was trying to get my Crusader to Immortal’s endgame. Once you run out of single-player content and achievements to collect experience from, you only have a few finite ways to try to level up, such as daily/weekly bounties, Elder and Challenge Rifts, or participating in random events that occur in each zone. However, once I mined those clean, the resulting options of farming mobs in the world or repeated Rift grinds for little gain had me feeling like I was spinning my tires and wasting time. Immortal lacks the difficulty options of Diablo 3, which would give bonus experience for taking on harder enemies, and its sorely missing a similar mechanic here.

Considering the free-to-play model it’s built on, how I feel about the monetizing of Diablo Immortal is still up in the air for me. The Immortal shop sells cosmetics, such as armor and skins. Eternal Legendary Crests and crafting materials are available. They guarantee an Elder Rifts legendary gem that can be dropped by players. Players will be able to use these legendary gems to either socket their gear into it or sell it on the in-game marketplace. These same Eternal Legendary Crests are also available to be bought with currency gained from playing. However, only one Eternal Legendary Crest per month is allowed, and spending money does not seem to be limited. None of the monetizations feels exceptionally scummy on the surface, but I also don’t have enough information to know how much items like legendary gems make a difference in the long run of gearing and progression. 

There’s still plenty I need to see in hitting max level, experiencing group content in both PvE and PvP scenarios, and experiencing what this game is like with a full server of players. Diablo Immortal is a great game. It has that Diablo-like feel, which I love, on my phone. In my short trek carving my way through this unexplored time in Sanctuary’s history, I’ve had a great time. You can’t help but recommend fighting against the evil hordes, especially when you feel so great.