We Played Diablo Immortal Technical Alpha. So Far it Feels Great!

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Editor's Note: One of our TapTap members was invited to join the Diablo Immortal Technical Alpha. This is a TapTap exclusive review.
Thanks to NetEase, we had the chance to participate in the Diablo Immortal Technical Alpha Test. Although we were not able to carefully explore every aspect of the game due to not enough time, from a few hours of experience, the game has a relatively high degree of completion so far. It has well-inherited some classic content from Diablo, but also extended its unique fun, its charm.
(The following content is based on the Technical Alpha test. All materials are based on this version, and does not represent the quality of the game when it officially launched.)
Diablo fans are familiar but different map mechanics
The story background of Diablo Immortal game is set between Diablo 2 and Diablo 3. After entering the game, I was guided to the Immortal New World with a familiar font style and dark style color scheme.
The timeline happens after the corruption of the Worldstone in Diablo 2. The power of the corrupted shards contaminated ground. It was thought that Archangel Tyrael had fallen and was left alone to face the ancient demons that were summoned by the shard.
Unlike previous worlds in Diablo, I was able to play with other players without having to join other's room. And when I started to explore, there was no longer a randomly generated map outside the camp. You can see other players running in/out of the camp.
Diablo Immortal is designed to be more like an MMO game in terms of map design, with camps and very map-specific outer areas become public.
Maybe it's because the current map is too big, or it's because there are too few players. I never met anyone else in the game except for two times at the entrance of the dungeon.
 
Next in the Q&A session, the producer explained that the game is currently not designed with a PVP system. Currently, you don't have to worry about being taken down outside and having your ears cut off as a souvenir by the Barbarian, like in Diablo 2.
When passing through a village, I met our old friend in Diablo 2 & 3 - Deckard Cain. He still had a wrinkled face, and then threw me a bunch of quests. Unfortunately, there was no Horadric Cube on my character, and I didn't find any NPCs with similar functions (combination) in the town. I wonder if the most iconic function will be in the Diablo Immortal.
The same familiar NPCs also appeared in the dungeon. I met the Countess from The Forgotten Tower in Diablo 2 and the Leoric. They both keep their familiar faces and moves, so you can immediately recognize them.
However, in Diablo Immortal the details have been greatly improved, the Countess is naturally more beautiful and attractive. Leoric and his throne are reflected by the countless light points of the dead eerier.
It is worth mentioning that, before to challenge boss, there will be a parchment-texture and very exquisite animation interlude, the overall performance is terrific.
[b]
Amazing Map Design[/b]
The map design of Diablo Immortal was the part of the Technical Alpha test that I found most impressive.
It wasn't easy to find a large piece of flat land, either hills, pools, or caves. It can be said that every place is doing its best to show that this is a 3D game, a short walk you will feel like you came to an area with a big difference in relative height.
And when exploring the dungeon, you can further feel the designers are trying to maximize the sense of layer. They are not just satisfied with trying to build a three-dimensional dungeon on the screen. What they want is a more complex interaction with the scene.
One impressive battle I remembered to slowly drift down a river with two rafts for you to dodge and move on. During the battle, I had to move like a monkey jumping around on the two rafts while the rafts went downstream. With the gurgling water, the irregular shoreline and shore scenery twisted and interspersed into the sight.
If the battle of the raft is quite poetic, the elite monsters in the Leoric's dungeon are made with a sense of excitement with the layers of the map. In the dungeon, I passed by a hall with the transparent ground, and under this hall was wandering an elite monster that was huge. 'It must be strong and dangerous', at my first glance. I could see it, and it could see me. But we couldn't attack each other. Through a transparent floor, it will follow me through the hall and broke through the ground with door smashed at the final. Such an experience of "being stared and followed by a giant monster all the way through space" can only be seen in console games in the past.
Battle, Battle, Battle
I had high expectations for the battle, influenced by the official demo PV released earlier.
In fact, the game did not disappoint my expectations. The smoothness of the combat is quite good, and the ease of matching between attacks, skills and movement makes it easy to play.
Suppose you use heavy physical combat, like Barbarian. The ground will appear with the heavy hammer skills and a short crack, the monster will fall to the ground because of the heavy blow in the air.
To see how the game works on skill effects, I used a level 40 mage equipped with ranged skills to test. The special effects performance on iPhone 11 did not get worse at all, especially the single character in the use of different "special skills" (i.e. the accumulation of energy bar after a short upgrade of the skills of the general attack), the graphics magnificent and exciting greatly improved.
But this also has a cost, a variety of characters fine level of adjustment, the surrounding environment also has a certain sacrifice. But in the continuous movement and combat, these can be negligible.
Throughout the battle process, old Diablo players can easily find those familiar and enjoyable design. For example, the running process will be randomly triggered during the battle mission. The battle is directly dumped out of a bright shiny treasure chest. For example, the classic, randomly generated shrine in the battle to add you buff, as well as a variety of instant items, like picking up a potion to release a few flashes of lightning.
This randomness naturally also through the dungeons and rifts.
The rift system called "Ancient Rift" in the Diablo Immortal, and is not very different from Diablo 3. You have to kill the enemy to a certain number, then the guardian of the rift (boss) will be summoned.
In-app Purchase and The Market
I would say that Diablo Immortal technical alpha test has reached roughly equivalent to 70% of its official version. And therefore, the game's design regarding in-app purchase and the market comes from the official introduction.
It can be confirmed that the following can be bought: Battle Pass, Crests, and Reforging.
In Diablo 3, players can modify the attributes (affix) on their weapons or other items. This is slightly different in Diablo Immortal. It narrows down the range. For example, you may have affixes like ‘critical’, ‘flame damage’ or ‘damage increase’ during reforging. Special reforge stones can narrow down the attribute range for you.
Crests will add certain rewards when you complete a rift. Also, if one member of the party uses Crests and receives Rift points, all players in the group will be rewarded.
The Battle Pass progression system allows you to earn even more rewards, exclusive cosmetics, reforge stones, etc.
The in-app purchase mentioned above is within my expectation, but what I did not expect is that the developers revive the auction house, which was canceled in Diablo 3. And we now have The Market. The developers made it clear that The Market will connect buyers and sellers in an anonymous way, with no ability to cash-out. There are limits to what can and cannot be put on the Market, and the system will set the price.
For Diablo Immortal, such experience time only gets me a glimpse of the game. It is a pity that I don't have enough time to experience a few more builds of different styles.
The game still needs to be optimized and polished, and the in-game purchase and the market, about which players are most concerned, are still waiting to be tested by the public.
Although I've only been playing Diablo Immortal for a couple of hours, I have developed a strong expectation for the game to be completed. I hope that by the time the game launches, you will experience a more exciting world than what I see now. 
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Comments
Latest
Caín
Caín
10
I thought they were going to share links for the alpha.
12/18/2020
Zaxia17
Zaxia17
1
you do know Alpha test are very limited right? and they invite mostly people who are well known or experienced for it
12/20/2020
View 1 reply
User2148654
User2148654
4
so lucky player playing this game now huhu how many years waiting 4years XD
12/19/2020
Đạt Hoàng
Đạt Hoàng
3
Still warting
12/19/2020
Pipiska pipiska
Pipiska pipiska
3
Когда начнётся тест? И в Беларуси смогу попасть в тест?
12/18/2020
Nurs
Nurs
хз
12/19/2020
View 7 replies
Михаил Гребенников
Михаил Гребенников
2
Как попасть на тест
12/22/2020
Alessandro Cunh
Alessandro Cunh
2
Sensacional lindo bem construída um excelente trabalho da empresa blizzard por favor olhem para quem tem dispositivos mais fracos ou mais antigo otimize para que todos possam ter o prazer de acessar o game é o apelo de um fã e tem aparelho antigo fraco 2 GB de ram 16 GB memória interna e tá louco para jogar ontem fez 40 anos 18 de dezembro seria um bom presente para todos nós ficou o apelo de fan da franquia que joga desde os primórdios no console vocês estão todos de parabéns
12/19/2020
kaTcHuca
kaTcHuca
conseguiu testar? estou com o apk mas a conta Google ta barrada kkk
12/24/2020
View 2 replies
Pengwin
Pengwin
2
How much does the battle pass cost?
12/19/2020
Jhonnathan Arteagan
Jhonnathan Arteagan
1
Meu deus i just want yo play it! Por favor
01/01/2021
Saiiki
Saiiki
1
Oh really to wait 2 years feel more Greater really.I mean to Play the Same Pc diablo in Mobile an wait 2 years and thank Beta comes but only China or so yeah ist feels great.I never bis a Game dein this company.
12/30/2020
teh RioYT
teh RioYT
1
Rilis nya kapan
12/24/2020
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