Diablo IV: RPG seeks balance between past and present – 05/30/2023 – Tech

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Blizzard’s long-awaited action RPG “Diablo IV” wants to be a game for everyone. Please both the most faithful fans of the franchise that started in 1997 and the first-time players, who possibly weren’t even born at the time.

“We wanted the game to be as accessible as possible. If you’ve played one before, we want this to be your favorite, if not, we want it to be your first,” Rod Fergusson, general manager of “Diablo” at Blizzard, told Sheet.

Fergusson says that the studio sought to make an open world game —the first in the series— in which the player would not be paralyzed by the countless possibilities that the map allows him. But let him guide you, even if discreetly, and at least for the first few hours.

“We worked so that the player could understand the progress they made at the beginning of the game. We want them to level up only to a certain point to have time to look at their skills, think about their choices. And add complexity over time. Easy to learn, hard to master,” he said.

Announced in 2019, “Diabo IV” will be released next Monday (5) for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series S|X after a hiatus of more than a decade since the release of “Diablo III”, in 2012.

In “Diablo IV”, the world where the story takes place, Sanctuary, is being gripped by chaos. The return of Lillith, Mephisto’s daughter and the game’s villain, attracts a wave of fanatical worshipers who sow hatred and destruction wherever they go. As that darkness returns, a brave few (like the player character) seek to face this threat.

To strike a balance between new and old audiences, “Diablo IV” retains the franchise’s core gameplay features while providing a palatable story for newcomers. The idea is to make them not feel intimidated by the “IV” in the title.

“Part of the reason ‘Diablo IV’ is set 50 years after ‘Diablo III’ is because it’s far enough away that you don’t need to know what happened before, because it’s not a direct sequel, and not that far away for, in case the player cares, have some relationships. There’s a continuity, but it’s not necessary to understand everything,” said Fergusson.

“We understand that people want innovation as much as they want to keep things they love. So it’s about respecting the past and paving the way for the future.”

But certain things never change. “Diablo” uses an isometric perspective (like “League of Legends” or even “FIFA 23”), which means that players have an overhead view of the character, as if looking down at an inclined angle. This position allows for a wide view of environments and hordes of enemies – and has worked like this since 1997.

Character creation, the first task before the game starts, remains a crucial moment because that’s when you choose whether you’ll be a barbarian, a necromancer, a mage, a renegade or a druid.

Each class has its own abilities and represents a different play style. For example, playing as a melee barbarian requires different strategies and equipment than a mage, who positions himself at a distance from enemies.

“We want the player to be able to make a character of their own. If two players create mages, they will start out very similar, but in the end they will be very different. There is no mold for each character.”

In combat moments, knowing how to use a certain skill at the right time is essential to defeat a stronger opponent (or dozens of them), and separates novice players from more experienced ones. But the verbs, for the most part, are the same as in other RPGs: gain experience, level up, improve and acquire new skills, collect equipment, and complete quests to explore Sanctuary.

The online experience is also an important part of “Diablo IV”. Groups can gather to face stronger enemies and it is possible to meet other players in public places, adding a social layer to the gameplay, reminiscent of MMORPGs.

“Diablo IV”, despite the title, is the fifth title in the franchise. Between “Diablo III” and this one, there was “Immortal”, released last year for cell phones —a cause for controversy among fans.

The free game was also criticized for betting on “loot boxes” as a form of monetization. They are boxes that work like a scratch card, offering rare (and powerful) or collectible items. In “Diablo IV”, which costs R$ 349.90, the story is different.

“You’re not going to pay for power. It’s all cosmetic,” said Rod Fergusson.

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Star Wars: Jedi Survivor

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Set in the Star Wars universe, the sequel to 2019’s “Fallen Order” offers a rewarding experience for fans of the franchise. Five years after the events of the previous game, Cal Kestis is now looking to hide from the Empire. Lightsaber combat, exploration of exotic biomes, and storytelling are highlights of the game released in April.

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update

news, launches, business and what matters most

• Most of the PlayStation Showcase was dedicated to showcasing new PS5 titles. Highlights were the announcement of the remake of “Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater” and a gameplay trailer for “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2”, a game scheduled for the third quarter of this year. “Marathon”, “Phantom Blade Zero”, “After Us”, “Neva”, “Dragons Dogma II” and “Alan Wake 2” also drew attention.

• Xbox seized the occasion to post on twitter which games, among those shown by the competitor at the event, will be available on their platforms.

• What did not appear at the event was the highly anticipated multiplayer mode of “The Last of Us Part II”. Naughty Dog, the studio responsible for the franchise, said on twitter that “the best thing is to give the game more time [de desenvolvimento]”. The developer also said that it is working on a new single-player game.

• Sony also announced at the Showcase the development of Project Q, a laptop that will run PlayStation 5 games via streaming. The image released by the company shows a device with an 8-inch screen between the halves of a PS5 controller, similar to the Nintendo Switch. The project is aimed at the still fledgling cloud gaming market and makes Sony return to handhelds more than a decade after the launch of the PlayStation Vita.

• Blizzard, which owns “World of Warcraft”, “Overwatch” and “Diablo”, trained an artificial intelligence (AI) with images from its games to produce new concept art, according to a report in the New York Times. “We are on the verge of a major evolution in the way we build and manage our games,” said the company’s head of design in an internal email obtained by the newspaper.

• Embracer Group shares plunged last week after a partnership valued at $2 billion was scrapped. The name of the company with which the European group would negotiate was not revealed. Embracer owns several game studios and is one of the largest companies in the field in Europe. Earlier this month, it announced a partnership with Amazon Games to produce an MMO based on “The Lord of the Rings”.

• Abragames (Brazilian Association of Electronic Game Developers) said that the participation of the Brazilian entourage in the GDC 2023 (Game Developers Conference) should generate US$ 53 million (R$ 265 million) in contracts for the country’s studios until March 2024. The result is more than double the initial target of US$ 26 million (R$ 130 million).

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