We’re plenty familiar with this: video games that lean too much on having cutting-edge graphics are surpassed quickly 90% of the time. A perfect example is Lost Ark – now distributed internationally by Amazon Games – which doubled down on what worked (and still works to this day) visually for Diablo 3.Īnother big plus of choosing an art style that puts colorful designs over a “realistic” vision of the dark fantasy genre is that the game in question will simply age better. There’s a reason why most MMORPGs and grindy mobile games coming out of Asia (especially from South Korea) tend to look same-y. With that in mind, we can guess a more cartoony art style would be infinitely more successful than a dark and washed-out approach to visuals. It’s easy to see that the game’s main goal was to make an impression on the Asian markets, where mobile gaming has become super big and is filled with really impressive titles that rival PC and console releases (or are straight ports, such as Genshin Impact).īlizzard clearly had a bone to pick with Diablo's recent style. First announced during the opening ceremony of BlizzCon 2018, Diablo Immortal was described as a collaboration between Blizzard Entertainment and Chinese tech giant NetEase. This decision is easier to understand if we go back to the very beginning of Immortal’s development.
While D4 wants to evoke D2’s unsettling dark fantasy vibes, Immortal pretty much keeps riding D3’s more colorful approach to characters and vistas. It’s hard to overlook the striking visual difference between Immortal and Diablo 4, and we’re not talking about graphical quality here – Immortal was developed with mobile devices in mind – but rather about entirely different art directions. Thankfully, the end of 2019 brought forth the reveal of the fourth mainline Diablo installment, so players started to come around to Blizzard’s vision for Immortal – an enticing side dish that aims to introduce new players to the franchise. For years, Immortal was mocked as an unwanted release that replaced D3’s long-term potential or a D4 announcement. Diablo 4 is going back to the series' roots – for better and for worse.Īmidst Blizzard’s numerous problems in recent years and the impending Microsoft acquisition of parent company Activision, it’s been surprising to see Diablo emerging victorious as one of the company’s IPs with a brighter future ahead. Meanwhile, Diablo 3 is still going surprisingly strong across PC and consoles, even if most of its seasonal content is recycled at this point.
So, Diablo 4 still has a ways to go, but the good news is that Diablo Immortal arrives very soon – surprise PC launch included.
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