Diablo Immortal - The Demon of Greed terrorizes Sanctuary!

It's been a long time since there has been a scandal in the game industry. Someone had to be the model antagonist. And this role was played with great enthusiasm by Blizzard.

The presentation of Diablo Immortal did not go smoothly. And without euphemisms - Blizzard publicly shat themselves. People were waiting for an announcement of a Diablo II remake, and they got promises of a mobile Diablo. Blasted developers had to go to extreme measures and freeze Diablo Immortal release for two years, despite the fact that the game was already ready. The general negativity was supposed to die down...

In 2022 Diablo Immortal was finally released. And if you've heard anything about it, you must have already understood that there is a lot of smoke in this game...

What demon is once again trying to destroy the world?

Diablo Immortal takes place between Diablo II: Lord of Destruction and Diablo III. A war for the Stone of Universe ends with its destruction. Fragments of the mighty artifact scattered across the world. The shards are the demons' goal and the way to bring Diablo back to life. The most powerful novice of Diablo, a certain Scarn, takes on this task. He will become the central antagonist in the story.

An uncomplicated scenario revolves again around another invasion of evil in the world of Sanctuary. And only our heroes are able to stop this evil...well, as always.

The plot of Diablo Immortal is not particularly important, but it was rather pleasant to see familiar characters from the second part.

Scarn isn't Diablo or even Baal at all. Scarn is a clichéd villain with an evil plan to enslave the world. As befits a clichéd villain, Skarn likes to rant and boast. It's hard to call him a memorable antagonist in the series, because Skarn is nothing more than a butt plug.

First impressions...

It's even a little awkward to write a review for a mobile game... In fairness we should make a big discount for Diablo Immortal, but as the game is also available on PC - we should judge it severely.

Diablo Immortal welcomes us with a pleasant prologue in every way: here we have a high-quality opening reel, and a good choice of characters: from barbarian to necromancer. The only thing missing is a druid, an assassin, and a full set of classes would be complete.

The first couple of minutes call for a sense of déjà vu. The graphics, interface, and even the combat system are all too similar to Diablo III. Even some of the textures are taken from Diablo III. You play and think, "Is this really a full-fledged Diablo on your phone?"

Gradually you pass the prologue and marvel at how well everything fits, even dropped chest for going into the game did not arouse much suspicion ... and in vain.

Somewhat small icons obscure the screen with a clutter of notifications and menus, but this claim is not too quotable for owners of smartphones with a large screen.

Slightly surprised by the number of active abilities, there can be only four at a time, and a total of twelve to choose from. Plus a kind of ultimatum ability and the main blow to the "left mouse button" - if you remember all the variety of previous parts, the simplifications are evident, well, let them be.

Sights of the location do not put pressure on the psyche and again refer to Diablo III: everything is colorful and a little cartoonish, despite the generally depressing picture of desolation.

Surprisingly responsive controls don't feel sour. Vials of health replenish themselves and sometimes fall out of enemies, and abilities do not require mana, again - a simplified Diablo III.

The devil is in the details

But the first positive impression is dispelled over time. Up to level 41 we easily follow the story, completing one task after another. We are not obliged to go to dungeons, not obliged to kill the same boss fifty or more times. But once we reach level 42, as pumping becomes noticeably harder. It wouldn't matter, because grind is the essence of Diablo, it's always been like this, but...

Starting with level 50 in the story quests there is a requirement on the level. Now will the player is forced to hang around in the dungeons, and in the side mechanics to understand. The player has already spent a certain amount of time, invested in the game emotionally. Leaving just like that means throwing away all your time and never finding out how it all ended. And that's where the "interesting" part comes in...

...First impressions were deceptive

One of the main rules of suggestion is to repeat the same thing hundreds of times. If initially pop-up windows with the proposal to pour into the game their blood money seemed silly, over time, the temptation to make life easier multiplies.

At first, we are ostensibly casually offered to buy a combat pass - it will only cost $ 6. Spending a small amount on Diablo Immortal doesn't seem to be the height of folly, but it's just the beginning.

The game is overflowing with clever schemes that make the game much harder to play without donation, for example: the system with the Ancient Portals. They were still present in Diablo III. Portals were endgame content for those who have conquered all levels of difficulty and looking for something more difficult, but more profitable. In Diablo Immortal there was a competitive element to the ancient portals, portals passed for time, forming a ladder... In Diablo Immortal Satan himself had a hand in creating the ancient portals, it's hard to explain otherwise.

In order to enter the portal, we need coats of arms. There are 3 kinds of them. Regular ones, not for donation, just let us into the dungeon without the ability to knock out the most valuable items in Diablo Immortal-legendary gems. Gems multiply the build, but they are also divided into levels. The best gems are level 5 gems. But forget about them if you're not going to pay Blizzard.

Regular gems are sold at the merchant for hilt, and hilt is one of the many currencies in the game and you get them for completing daily activities. But the trouble is that even for passed portals with ordinary coats of arms you get nothing but runes. And from runes the player eventually crafts one gem...which with 0.00000001% probability will fit your build with the right characteristics.

But that's okay, Diablo Immortal brought back the auction. There you can sell unnecessary gems for platinum and buy the necessary legendary gems of level 5. Only gems obtained without donation, can not be sold at the auction. Sounds complicated, doesn't it? It all reminds of a trader's explanation of arbitrage trading on stock and stock exchanges...

"But there are legendary crests," the attentive player who has played a dozen hours of Diablo Immortal will say. And he'll be partly right. Partly - because the legendary coats of arms you can get an honest job, but in very limited quantities. Plus legendary glyphs are divided into 2 types: for donat, and for in-game currency. Gems obtained through coats of arms not for donat, can not be sold on the market for platinum. So as not to break your brain, I'll simplify: any gems without donat can not be sold, and for donat you are free to buy only the opportunity to get these gems in the portals. And this refers to the dirty tricks of Free-to-Play: players can't buy anything in particular, and for real money only go to the casino in a game wrapper.

Verdict

Diablo Immortal is a stinking piece of excrement. The only way to enjoy the game is to complete the campaign on normal difficulty. Don't fall for Blizzard's psychological tricks. Diablo Immortal sucks money out of players, and no matter how much the player pays, the essence never changes. The essence of a bottomless barrel of money.

Diablo Immortal is the brightest example of Pay-to-Win, and there's no question about having a non-stressful pastime here. If you dare to play Diablo Immortal, beware. The world of Sanctuary is full of demons, and only in Diablo Immortal do demons terrorize the real world...