Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: ID:chuappgame, by Xiong Yu

It is more profound than the third generation and more modern than the second generation.

As a game company, Blizzard News, which has been a bit hot in recent years, is really short of games. It is either overtime, sexism or exorbitant management salaries, the most recent being acquired (as a giveaway for Activision) and whether it is a temporary (and confusing) withdrawal from the Chinese market.

Compared with these news, the news that Diablo 4 will be released on June 6 this year is a bit too normal, too much like a normal game company should be paid attention to. Of course, this news is also very important. As far as I can remember, the change of Diablo 3 was a bit radical and seemed to be a relatively new attempt, but it was already 11 years ago. Players all over the world are waiting for something new.

Yesterday, Diablo 4, which allows pre-order players to play, ended its first experience test (March 18-20), and the next 25-27 days will be open for all players to come in and play-if you are still hesitant to buy a game, of course, the public test should not be missed. I played for nearly 20 hours this past weekend, and I will share these experiences and make a brief comment on the game in this article, including level 25, game content in Chapter 1, production and upgrade system, entry washing and remodeling equipment, Phantom system, World Boss, etc.

It should be noted that the evaluation here is not only for the content of the beta version, but also for the description and analysis of this generation of games seen in the beta version. Indeed, it is usually difficult to evaluate a game based on a beta or trial version, but Diablo is a well-predicted type, and in my opinion, the features shown in the beta have been able to guess the full experience of the game. Therefore, I will also talk about its change and immutability from the perspective of type.

In a word, Diablo 4 is still a game I would like to play for hundreds of hours. At first glance, it seems to be a full return to Diablo 2, but after careful play, you will find that it actually "stitches" (not derogatory) a lot of elements: the second and third generations of the series have, needless to say, integrated into the mechanism of MMORPG (especially "Guild Wars 2") and the open world of Yubi-style list. After subtly combining the various elements, the game still maintains the core experience, which makes its overall play feel good, familiar and a little new-perhaps not as new as the idea of "stuffing Oreos into ice cream". But at least "sprinkle the ice cream with jam".

If you want to compare, whether it is the first version of Diablo 3 or the sickle version of Diablo 3, I prefer this new film. Mechanically, it has a higher upper limit on playability than the third generation, and is more adapted to the present era than the second generation. Having said that, I'm sure it won't give me the amazing feeling of Diablo II-its achievement lies more in success than in creation.

Do you return to the second generation more than the third generation? At first glance, the outside of the game wrote "mend the past" on his face. Many players think that the picture of Diablo 3 is too bright, even "cartoon", and the fourth generation seems to draw a line with these things. The overall tone of Diablo 4 is very low, and the art style is closer to the second generation, which, if you want to describe it, is probably a kind of gray, cold and sharp feeling.

Sometimes, this style change gives me a feeling that I have gone too far. There are a lot of B-rated clips in the opening CG, and so are the game scenes. In addition, the overall tone is so dark that you can't see some of the details of the scene when you turn on the lights (yes, if you care about the best film and television experience, it is highly recommended to turn off the lights). In short, the tone is particularly deliberately proclaimed, "We are suitable for adults!" What it feels like.

Despite a few cases of overexertion, the art of this generation is quite excellent, and it can even be said to be the pinnacle of the current 2D top view game, even though the game is actually 3D modeling. The game screen has no shortcomings except for some eye-wasting, which can be said to be the ideal picture I imagined when I played Diablo 2. In addition, it also integrates all kinds of light pollution from three generations, such as colorful skills and glowing wings, but it does not destroy the overall coordination, and the art style is quite unified.

In the game, whether it is the demon of the kid who rushes you, or this transmission array, it reminds me of the second generation frequently-I even forget many details, but when I see it, I do think, it's wonderful. Maybe there is a color tone in it, like the second generation is more than just the picture. One of the major "back changes" of Diablo 4 is to bring back the skill tree.

In addition to upgrading to gain skill points, players can also acquire additional skill points through map exploration and other ways. However, unlike Diablo 2, this skill tree does not have 20 points for each skill, so it is not enough at all. now the upper limit of most active skills is 5. Passive Skill, who gains certain attributes or effects, has an upper limit of 3, and the additional effect of an active skill is only level 1. Coupled with the convenience of washing points, on the whole, this is a quite clear and easy-to-understand, well-planned skill tree.

Players should only choose one of the basic skills and core skills, the other active skills will only click 4 points, and any more points will be passive-anyway, the skill grid is so little. skill selection is very simple, especially like the second generation and the rating system. The maximum level of this work has been raised to level 100, and the peak level has been opened at level 50. This is not just a numerical change, it is likely to change the rhythm of the game. In terms of later development, Diablo 3 and World of Warcraft are very similar, and only when they reach the full level can the game be officially started. But the earlier Diablo 2 is different, its later training level is more difficult, it is not easy to reach the full level, it is too harsh to say that "the full level is the beginning".

This longer-term nurturance brings a different game experience. In the later stage, whether it is training or brushing, it is a gradual and long-term development process. Among them, the rewards such as skill points brought about by the promotion of the level are also more attractive than systems such as "peak level". By contrast, the feeling of Diablo 3 is divided into two distinct segments: the junk time before the full level (if you already know the plot) and the time after which you hardly care about the experience. It is difficult to say which is better or worse between the two models, but the feelings are different.

Higher difficulty means higher experience and drop rates, and this is the same. In addition, Blizzard's poor network during this test more or less replicated the "grand occasion" that the second generation of Battle.net and private server networking was not very popular. This is not because of the server that leads to a poor domestic experience, and it is not very good overseas. The accelerator I used posted a "pot-throwing statement" on the acceleration page, which roughly read: "A lot of player feedback cards are actually Blizzard cards, not our problem."

Saying so much about "like the second generation" does not mean that Diablo 4 is really an enhanced version of the second generation. Diablo 2 does leave me a lot of good memories, but there are also many painful memories, such as slow practice, eye-consuming pictures, and so few props and boxes, props can still occupy 4 squares. Wait. The excellence of Diablo 2 is based on the memory of the times, and from today's point of view, the newcomers should be more than that.

Of course, regardless of the era, the CG of the Diablo series is excellent. A lot of this plot uses real-time calculus, and the effect is also good. Diablo 4 is actually a fairly modern game. You can probably see from the skill tree above that it appears to have various branches and is quite complex, but in fact it is simple in structure and extremely convenient to wash, and it is generally designed to be very easy. In this respect, many designs are inherited from the three generations that players are familiar with today, such as character panels and equipment entries, washing entries and so on. However, because of the skill tree, the entry of the second generation that increases the skill level returns, and with the help of equipment, the skill level can also exceed the upper limit of level 5. In addition, despite the great changes in art, the skills of many characters and the attack mode of monsters are still the same as those of Generation 3. The energy system (the combination of basic skills and core skills) and the use of skill grids as core resources are exactly the same as those of Generation 3.

To put it simply, Diablo 4 has more depth than Generation 3, which can be seen in the skill tree, the rating system, and the equipment system that we will talk about next; it is also more modern than 2, and it is easy to play. no contemporary players play exotic Requiem and do not know whether to take the left leg or the right leg first, making a pretty good balance.

Like 3, like 2, can you still open the world? It's amazing. I never thought that one day I would sigh that Darkness was like Guild Wars or an open world game like Yubi!

Unlike Diablo 3, the world of Diablo 4 is so big that it can be called an open world. In the game, you can see countless regional task exclamation points and uncleared dungeons. In the first chapter alone, there are 35 regional missions and 23 regional dungeons. What is the general concept of these contents? This description is probably clearer: if the player goes straight to the main line and does a little task on the way, the level of completion of the main line in the test version is probably less than level 20. If the player completely ignores the main line and only does regional quests and brushes the regional dungeon, then until he reaches level 25 of the test version, even half of this content will not be completed.

Hired Ubisoft's designer? You know, the previous Diablo series was quite linear in practice. Basically is the "go to the main line-customs clearance-enhance the difficulty-and then to the main line" process, at best add some copies, or even only brush copies. Not to mention map exploration, there are few regional missions. Now in the first chapter alone, Diablo 4 has produced a large map with such a full content.

This is a great change, not that the open world of this kind of list is so good, mainly because the previous linear upgrade is really not playable. By contrast, the content of the open world with a single list is substantial, and the biggest problem, boredom, is not obvious under the design of "Dark" with brushing as its main emotional stimulus. Especially now that the big world really provides narrative space, players can go to a new town, where there are always one or two exclamation points, and there are residents waiting to deliver new feeder quests to players. these feeder lines provide the stories of many ordinary people in the world-to a large extent, players who are not interested in painting can also try Diablo IV as an ordinary 3A game.

After all, whether it is the game CG or the real-time calculus of the show, this work can be called a large-scale production at the level of online, and it's not bad to want to play only 50 hours if you don't want to spend hundreds of hours. However, like the network problem, the current hardware optimization problem is still worrying. Although the game screen performance is OK, but in the i9-10900K and 3080 configuration, there is still a frequent stutter frame drop problem, it is said that the lower configuration of the problem is more serious. Considering that the current host operation optimization is quite mature, players with poor PC performance may wish to consider the host version.

Although I have always thought that the plot of Darkness is not important, I have to say that the plot of this film looks more attractive than the third generation. finish the open world part and talk about multiplayer elements. Like a MMO, players can see other players in real time in the game, and get an experience bonus even if they don't team up when they meet other players. It is mentioned above that players can explore the big map, but Diablo 4 uses a dynamic level design, and the map level in the game is almost always equal to the player level.

In addition, in different locations, different world tasks will be triggered, such as caravan attacks, cleaning castles, etc., players can cooperate with passing players to complete. There is even a world Boss refreshed at a fixed time every day in the game, which is rewarded a lot after working together with others.

As the map becomes larger, the mount system becomes more necessary, but the beta version does not open dynamic levels, dynamic world events, and world Boss. All this reminds me of Guild Wars 2. It can be said that the open world experience of Diablo 4 is particularly close to that of Diablo 2. You can form a team or alone, and you can wander around the world regardless of the main line. Something is happening everywhere, the level is always equal, and it will slowly improve-- of course, Diablo 4 is designed a little harsher, most tasks. No matter what tricks you make up, it will be done in the end, after all, it is based on brushes.

I like these designs very much. they are compatible with the exploration of the open world and do not ruin the solo experience. Only the design of the world Boss makes me have some doubts-it is interesting for many people to play a large Boss, but because it is refreshed regularly and the profit is very high, it may make the time of play not free, you have to punch in on time and think about it. Sometimes it reminds me of "attack the sand on time at 8 o'clock tonight"-but one of the reasons I liked the game was "brush it if you want".

All in all, Diablo 4 stitches together the content of many games, bringing a larger map, an almost open-world game experience, and an online game-like multiplayer experience. The changes seem to be great, but in fact, because the core experience of the game remains the same, these big changes are just the embellishment of the game.

The core experience is still there, and even better on the snowstorm night, the protagonist lost his horse and nearly died. I woke up from a coma and came to a village. When I heard that there was a demon outside the village, he went out to fight in the middle of the night regardless of the fact that he was a fierce man.

The beginning of such a plot also reveals the game nature of Darkness: the rationality of the plot and the setting of people all have to make way for brushing. No matter what happens, I'm just going out to be weird right now-that's probably the essence of the game. The essence of Duanbao game lies in the cycle of "building Build- brushes-using the results of brushes to rebuild-faster or more difficult", which is an unstoppable process, but the fun points of different games are different.

Therefore, in order to be clear about the design of the Diablo IV equipment system, we must first talk about the former writers. The system of Diablo 2 is random and fun, and the rune language provides a better customized choice, which is the founding of the school.

Diablo 3 should actually be counted as two different games, and the game experience before and after the expansion "sickle" is almost completely different. In the initial version, due to the relatively single equipment affix, players need more to stack specific attributes, and the "three attacks" (increasing critical strike chance, critical strike damage, attack speed) are crucial, which once made some rare (golden) ornaments. Even the highest price of the auction house seems inadequate, allowing players to trade in private. On the other hand, there are so many other incorrect affixes that they are useless. When it comes to the play experience, it's like spending a lot of time waiting for the only possibility with a very low probability. Of course, the game experience is very bad and word-of-mouth is very bad.

The sickle of seizing the Soul (the original version of the national service) saved all this. Legendary equipment and green outfits never become too strong at once, especially professional suits (green), and their power bonuses often form the basis of Build. As a result, a set of green clothes is a different way of playing, and players are naturally happier when they brush green clothes, which makes the game more fun. However, it also makes the game less free in terms of Build construction, from patchwork entries to patchwork sets, and more to play the game according to the designer's way of thinking-although better than the previous "prison", but still lacking in freedom.

The strategy of Diablo 3 is all based on a green suit, which is largely why Diablo 4 canceled the green suit (as the production team mentioned in the interview). They hope that players' thinking is no longer limited by sets that lock in multiple squares. Legendary equipment is still powerful, and they don't need multiple pieces of equipment to work, so they can be matched freely.

"Free matching" is indeed the focus of Diablo 4. In the game, players can even extract the exclusive affixes of legendary equipment and enchant a rare piece of equipment, thus making this rare equipment evolve into legendary equipment. In my opinion, this is a change not inferior to runic language-it is certainly not as deep and explorable as runic language, but it achieves a high degree of customization in a very simple way.

In practical experience, the system is well designed. For example, I have a legendary piece of equipment with excellent special effects, but the problem is that it is destined to be eliminated as the level goes up. I also have a rare piece of equipment that has a high level of items and a very good panel assignment. The problem is that it is just a gold piece of equipment with no special effects. Using this extract system, we can end up with a weapon with extremely high panels, correct attributes, and specific legendary special effects-special effects that don't even have to be the same part!

This is a low-level legendary equipment with special effects that greatly enhance core skills.

With a level 25 limit, this weapon is quite good, but in the later stage of the sickle, the golden equipment is worthless, no matter how good it is.

The equipment of the above two pictures merged to form this bow. Note that the special effects themselves have also been upgraded as a result of the level increase. In other words, the low-level legendary equipment can also provide an important template for the core construction of the future, which makes the brush before the full level also makes sense, which is why I said that Diablo 4 is mechanically better than the third generation. If the third generation is the designer to design a perfect set of templates (green sets and accessories), and then the player's play is a process of constantly collecting this design intention, then the new work is closer to thinking about customized Build solutions based entirely on falling results. This can make each game experience different, because you can't predict what equipment you'll get, and over a long period of time, players will be able to choose the right special effects in every position-there are no set restrictions, and there's a huge possibility.

All in all, Diablo 4 finds a good balance in the core experience. It is not as complex and difficult to use as the rune of Diablo 2, but it has a higher degree of freedom than Diablo 3. This may be an answer that is quite adapted to the times and fun enough.

There is no breakthrough, so it is the best "Diablo" although it is praised, I must say that there is no breakthrough in the game. This is not a strange thing. The type of Diablo has been around for so many years, and no one has made an earth-shaking breakthrough, the hard route of Diablo 2 and the lightweight route of Diablo 3. This style can be summarized almost all the games under the type.

Of course, there are some more changes, such as "No owner's Land", which directly combines shooting with falling treasures, and the experience is very good; the integration of equipment affix system in Roguelike has long been very common; as for the affix system itself, it has long been integrated into the major mobile games. The origin of these changes can be attributed to "darkness", but in the final analysis, people always feel that after this change, they are no longer "darkness", at least not typical works.

And "typical works" seem to have an upper limit. If we recognize this ceiling, we should understand that breakthroughs are hard to achieve. On this basis, Diablo 4 can meet expectations even if it has achieved its goal. As a result, Diablo 4 is more of an aggregator. If you already like the Diablo game, this game can't be missed, but if you don't like it, it won't be a pity to miss it.

To sum up, I prefer to call this work a "continuation work". First of all, this is the type of "Diablo". Even without many fundamental breakthroughs, Diablo 4 can bring new blood to this type and bring a pretty good gaming experience. Blizzard is also talking about this company, if a company chooses the long-term thinking of limited production capacity and polishing high-quality products, it has a lower fault tolerance rate and needs to focus more on games and make fewer mistakes, so that it can survive for a long time and do better.

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