Beta Gameplay For ‘Diablo IV’ Manages To Find Its Way Online, YouTuber ‘Force Gaming’ Provides Thorough Analysis Of The Leaked Footage
Ryan Pearson
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Diablo IV footage has leaked online, showing beta gameplay, new ways to move around the world, and in-game shop prices.
Source: Diablo IV (2023), Blizzard Entertainment
Reddit user iV1rus0 shared “53 minutes of Diablo IV leaked beta gameplay footage” on r/GamingLeaksAndRumours., asserting, “This appears to be from the family & friends test going on with DIV. The game seems solid, and it looks amazing in ultrawide,” later adding that there were two video files that ran for five and 43 minutes, respectively. Neither file is currently available via the file sharing website.
Source: iV1rus0 Reddit
YouTuber Force Gaming proposed that the Grand Theft Auto V leak and “Twitch drama” had distracted most from the leak. Instead, he looked through “frame-by-frame” to share his thoughts on how Diablo IV was shaping up.
The videos in question reportedly showed a player’s Barbarian going through dungeons and side-quests, as well as overworld and towns exploration. Force praised combat as “fantastic,” and “weighty and impactful,” as the Barbarian’s skills buffed himself and unleashed giant hammers, chains, and rocks to strike a wide-area.
The player was notably under-leveled, with only the smallest and weakest enemies being one-shot. Force explains Diablo IV is divided up into zones like an MMO; with enemies within a zone being within a set level-range, as with regions within that zone. Force noted it “feels more and more MMO the more you dive into the game.”
Later Force described a feature which sounded akin to the FATEs system in Final Fantasy XIV, and similar in other MMOs. As players explore the world, a marker may appear for a “public event.” A set area of the map is then highlighted, and players entering it will find an objective. The player in the leaked footage reportedly had to kill channelers to prevent a ritual.
Resource gathering was also added, such as ores and herbs, tying into the game’s crafting system. Lost Caches also increase stats not just for that character, but all characters a player makes on that “realm.” Force speculates this being the player’s account tied to either a server or season.
Source: Diablo IV (2023), Blizzard Entertainment
When discussing the UI — along with Diablo IV having ultrawide support — Force notes how “clean” it was. The map has plenty of icons for NPCs and town services (suggesting some towns may not have certain ones), that players can add pins, and that zones show their enemy level-range.
The player’s “renown” in a zone is also shown, and is increased by finding unlockables and collectibles — including opening chests, finding waypoints, and completing quests and dungeons.
Force notes the world map was massive. Along with Blizzard Entertainment keeping their promise to match the series’ dark gothic tone, compared to the criticisms leveled at Diablo III, the game reportedly features over 150 dungeons; several of which found within each zone.
Source: Diablo IV (2023), Blizzard Entertainment
Typical Diablo IV quests include finding an NPC, enemy, or entrance to a dungeon or building; with players only being given a general area of where their objective is. They’re further encouraged to explore the world as it’s more interactive than other hack-and-slash action RPGs. Much like Lost Ark, the player can climb certain walls, cliffs, and ladders, along with shuffling through narrow passages.
The leaked footage reportedly shows a player trying to enter a castle, and needing to circle around, climb a wall, and pull a switch to open the portcullis. Dungeon levels are also no longer divided into their own areas, but players can travel between them via the new movement mechanics. Otherwise, the dungeons keep the typical list of objectives to achieve, needing to kill foes to unlock doors, and so on.
Loot drops were notably less frequent compared to Diablo III. While still in beta and during “leveling content” (the main campaign), Force notes only five items were dropped across just under an hour of gameplay, with three of those coming from dungeons, and almost none in the overworld.
Source: Diablo IV (2023), Blizzard Entertainment
Force also discussed what was seen of the in-game shop for Diablo IV. The currency will be known as Palladium, with players only able to spend them on cosmetic armor sets for characters and mounts.
Force speculated that as other in-game shops typically had a conversion rate of $1 to 100 points of currency (and bundles giving more per-dollar), the cosmetic prices of 700 to 2,500 Palladium “actually don’t look that bad.” While he admits the hypothetical $25 for a full cosmetic set was pricey (on top of the game being $60 and having a season pass), that was also “in the medium range” for other cosmetic shops.
Source: Diablo IV (2023), Blizzard Entertainment
Previously, Blizzard Entertainment insisted players “will not be able to pay for power in Diablo IV.” This insistence came after backlash to Diablo Immortal.The PC and mobile game featured an aggressive microtransaction and loot box scheme, where players needed to spend around $50,000 for the chance to fully upgrade a character’s gear.
Streamers showed their dissatisfaction, with one destroying a rare gem he had spent $15,000 acquiring and uninstalling the game. The game reportedly made $49 million in its first month.
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