News Tag: Diablo 4 Open World

In the current ARPG genre, Diablo 4’s biggest competitor, besides Diablo 2 in the same series, is Path of Exile 2, which has been hyping up since the second half of last year. Their similar loot-driven gameplay, character customization features, and fast-paced combat features attract very similar player groups.

However, the design concepts and core concerns held by Diablo 4 and Path of Exile 2 are completely different, such as the design of the game world and the adaptability of the gameplay and environment, which has led to the fact that their player groups are essentially very different: D4 players value the open world exploration experience more, while POE 2 players pay more attention to the challenges in the game.

In fact, when comparing the two games, many players are calling on the developers of POE 2 to learn from Diablo 4 and create an open world in the game. But in all aspects, POE 2 is not suitable for porting this feature from D4 to the game. If you’re interested, you can find all the reasons for this guide, which may deepen your understanding of both games.

Differences In Game Mechanics

Although Diablo 4 and Path of Exile 2 are both loot-driven, Diablo 4 focuses more on wide accessibility and immersive storytelling. Given the many mysterious and story-filled quests in D4, the open game world provides players with a large area to explore in order to better understand the background and story settings of the entire game.

This allows players to enjoy the specific content throughout the game world that the developers have created for them while exploring the game, while also enjoying the fun of loot that comes with combat. In addition, compared to other MMO games, D4’s unique streamlined game mechanics, such as farming Diablo 4 Gold and some loot, combined with these highly story-based game experiences, will make it faster for both new and old players of this type of game to get started.

For Path of Exile 2, the depth, complexity, and re-playability of the story in the game are the key points, which discourage players who prefer to define their gaming time as leisure time. For example, the very large passive skill tree, more than 10 available classes, and those very complex builds will bother those players with lower levels.

Coupled with the fact that most of the game content in POE 2 is more challenging than D4, players gradually give up the game because of too many deaths and rebirths in it. If an open world is added in this case, the difficulty of player exploration will be greatly increased, and the player base will gradually decrease, and even weaken the market share of this game in the ARPG space where the update is very fast.

Map Design

In Diablo 4, the open game world means that players can explore multiple locations at the same time, which is very convenient for targeted farming and gaining more experience points.

For example, when summoning Uber Bosses, after you have collected all the summoning materials in other locations, you can rely on the teleportation portal in the open world to reach the location directly where you can summon and immediately fight the boss, which greatly reduces the time spent on shuttling between exploration areas and speeds up the game process.

However, for POE 2, the maps are all generated by instance areas and programs, and you need to use Waystones to unlock them. Although this item is very common in the game, it will incur a lot of unnecessary costs for those maps that need to be entered repeatedly.

In addition, because all maps are generated by programs, most maps outside of major towns are randomly generated each time you enter, which means that the location where you fight or farm on the second day differs completely from the first day, and you may need to start exploring again.

Although this situation can ensure that players are fresh about the game content and the environment they explore, it is very disadvantageous for those players who have limited game time every day, because they need to spend the same or more time to familiarize themselves with the new map when they explore again. This also determines that POE 2 cannot adopt an open world, because resetting an open world is completely impossible.

Read More: Does Diablo 4 Season 7 Indicate The Return Of Doctor Witch In The Next DLC?

Different Combat Angles

When you explore the battle in Diablo 4, you will find that you are far away from the enemy, whether you are using the melee-focused Barbarian or the ranged spell damage-focused Sorcerer. Thanks to the open world in this game, the strategies you can use in combat are very diverse - whether it is advocating evasion or attacking, suitable for players of various game styles.

However, in Path of Exile 2, because of the diligence and awareness advocated by the developers, you can only complete the battle in the close-range world. This means that you may not have enough places to escape or dodge, but must bite the bullet and fight the enemy, and use a lot of flasks and potions to continue the entire battle, which is very unfriendly to some players who are willing to use a defensive game style.

Although both D4 and POE 2 will face the situation of fighting against group enemies, in D4, if you are not interested in the loot they drop, you can completely bypass them or not fight with them, because in the open world, as long as you leave the attack range of these enemies, they will no longer challenge you. Killing them in POE 2 is more useful than avoiding them, as defeating them is the mark in completing a run on a limited map.

But you can still feel the benefits of an open world in POE 2. You can complete the operation of the entire map and various mechanisms in a very difficult endgame. In general, the open world in Diablo 4 provides an excellent platform for those players who are trying this kind of large-scale game for the first time; and the complex map mechanisms and game mechanisms in POE 2 are more suitable for players who have a certain game foundation and an independent game consciousness. I wish you a happy game!

One of the major design decisions behind Diablo 4 was the open world. Here, we take a look at how open world design fits into Diablo, and discuss whether it can properly implement this concept in Diablo 4.

Level Design And Art

First, let’s talk about the level of design. There are 5 main areas or biomes in the game. Luckily, each zone has its own identity, and most of the time, you can clearly visualize which zone you’re in.

Hawezar has swamps full of rot and poison. Fractured Peaks Strongholds are full of snow mountains and polar bears. And Kehjistan is a never-ending desert. As a result, each area feels unique, with its own visual identity, but still maintains the same dark vibe.

I can safely say that one of the strongest features of the open world is the art. The art team did a fantastic job of creating this intense, dark, eerie atmosphere in the game. The detail is stunning, both in the world and in the character models.

But it’s a shame that Diablo 4 doesn’t have a bestiary or model browser to see all the places in the design in more detail. Another thing I’d love to see more of in the open world is the addition of more landmarks.

Landmarks And Memorable Moments

Over the course of my challenge campaign, the only area I can really say I remember well is Caldeum. It is a decaying city occupied by hellish forces, unlike any other city in the world.

Another place of note is Guulrahn, with its dark atmosphere and bloody streets. This is another memorable and unique place in the open world. Many games take advantage of this option of the open world format, adding landmarks and memorable places throughout the game.

Activities

The developer has been encouraging you to explore its campaign, but here, at this stage of the game, things are getting a little shaky. Which of these activities are worth doing and are actually fun and engaging?

First, Side Quests are definitely not worth doing, and their rewards are not worth your time at all. Altars of Lilith seem like a dirty campaign to me. Because I’ve never liked to gather Diablo 4 Items in the open world, especially if those items won’t add to the lore and story, but just filler.

Tree of Whispers is good until you reach World Tier 3. You start running Nightmare Dungeon, and Tree of Whispers also starts being replaced by farming Helltide. But it’s a great way to level up your character. Because it gets you into different areas, discrete events, and is more fun than spamming the same dungeon repeatedly.

Helltides are a great addition to the open world and one feature that I believe really takes advantage of it. This situation is further expanded throughout the life of the game with the addition of unique events in Tides of Hell.

Also Read: How To Quickly Level Up Necromancer Build In Diablo 4 Season 1?

Open World Traversal

Now let’s move on to what I consider being the fundamental problem with Diablo 4’s open world design: traversal. Because going from one point on the map to another is pretty boring.

First, the way we traverse the open world is extremely static. You just sit on the horse, keep pushing the analog stick on the controller, and wait to get there.

Traveling through the open world in Diablo 4, sometimes there is a random event. You might run into a bunch of mobs, but Diablo 4 Gold rewards from killing them are too small to be worth your time. Overall, the traversal of the game isn’t engaging enough that the open world feels completely lifeless.

Conclusions

The whole point of open world design is that you have the freedom to choose what to do and what not to do. But I also believe that for an open world to be successful, it has to be alive. And it had to happen something to break the cycle of just running around the world.

So what do you think of the open world of Diablo 4? I hope this improves Diablo 4’s lifecycle.

Diablo 4 will be released soon. As the fourth work in the Diablo series, the release of Diablo 4 indicates that players will usher in a lot of new content. Players will be busy running various dungeons, collecting various loot or participating in various competitive PVP combats.

In this article, I mainly introduce Diablo 4’s Co-op, open world, PVP and Strongholds.

Co-op

In Diablo 4’s campaign, you play a mysterious wanderer out to stop Lilith from achieving her goal of dominating Sanctuary and humanity itself. Destined to be another timeless, Blizzard antagonist, Lilith is certainly a big priority and the journey to defeat her will take you through a massive world full of stories, quests, and lore.

You can team up with a diverse cast of allies and even choose your own path through the story, as the first three acts can be tackled in whatever order you like. But there’s even more to the Diablo 4 experience than just the campaign against Lilith.

Open World

Diablo 4’s huge seamlessly traversable world is a shared one. You could see other players running around in it and interact with them. This means you can spontaneously team up with other people to tackle challenges that no solo adventurer or even standard party of four could survive.

Periodically, you’ll encounter the intimidating world bosses, which are massively powerful enemies. Truly, these behemoths are a sign that Hell has set its sights on Sanctuary and the return of Diablo is imminent. Up to 12 players can team up to take on a world boss, although the group can be loosely organized. Coordinate with friends or make new ones during the fight. Just take those monsters down before it’s too late.

Players will also encounter world events while exploring Sanctuary, which are spontaneous activities that vary depending on the region you’re in. You might come across an Ancient Obelisk that needs to be activated by standing on pressure plates while fending off incoming waves of enemies or perhaps a defiled ground event where you find monsters worshiping a Corrupted Shrine. Kill these monsters, and you will get a lot of Diablo 4 Gold.

Destroy the shrine, stop their worship and maybe slow the plans of evil down a little. Find a twisted Jar of Souls, an ancient urn that feeds on the souls of your enemies as you slay them, only to release the evil trap within that you must also kill obviously.

PVP

World events ensure that there’s always something to do as you traverse Sanctuary. If you’re not into playing nice, there’s also, of course, PVP. Much like an MMO, there are two dedicated PVP zones, the aptly named Fields of Hatred, where you can slaughter your fellow players in your heart’s content.

In these zones, you’ll find Shards of Hatred, which need to be purified to be earned by your character. If you can fend off other players long enough to purify a shard, you can use purified shards to purchase loot.

Strongholds

One of the most intriguing new additions to Diablo 4 are the Strongholds. These unmarked places are held by hordes of monsters and players will have to cleanse them. These locations can be liberated in each zone and doing so will actually change the area permanently. A freed Stronghold can become a friendly town containing vendors, NPCs, and new quests.

A Stronghold might also unlock new dungeons or more far-reaching activities well beyond the scope of a single location. Their dynamic new ways to impact the world of Sanctuary and there are over a hundred of them.

What we’re saying is clear your schedule. You’re going to have a dizzying amount of quests to tackle when Diablo 4 releases on June 6.