Blizzard has slowly been releasing information about the next mainline title in its iconic dungeon crawler with quarterly updates forDiablo 4. The occasional video presentation or trailer has come in more sparingly since the game was originally announced back in 2019. These trailers were typically used to unveil the newest playable character classes. During this past February’s BlizzConline event, there was an in-depth breakdown forDiablo 4’sRogue class. One thing that kind of flew under the radar during the event was a big change to the game’s narrative structure with class-specific quests.
Narrative is something that has always been pivotal toDiablogames. It’s definitely true thatDiablogames become focused on just exploring and decimating randomized dungeons in the never-ending quest for loot. The first playthrough of each game, however, though begins with well-written and epic tales throughout the dark fantasy world of Sanctuary. While its story has long been an important factor inDiabloit was largely the same for every player. It seems likeDiablo 4is giving players more ways to connectwith their characters though, and class-specific quests could go a long way in doing so.
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Unique Experiences for Each Class is a Good Shift for Diablo 4
Previous games in the series saw each player make their way through the same iteration of the story regardless of which class they had chosen. There were certainly references to the classes throughout the game though.Diablo 3,for example, had distinct animated cutscenes narrated by the different classes that described their adventures before and during the course of the game. Near the end of that game also saw a moment where players met the ancestors or predecessors of their character. These moments are well-written and help tell the characters' stories, but are fairly copy and paste in nature.Diablo 4could be aiming to shake up a lot of the narrativeand bringing player choice more into focus seems to be one way of doing so.
During thelast update forDiablo 4before yesterday’s blog update, there was an extensive look at the Rogue class but some elements of the overall game were also discussed. The devs talked about the new more open world forDiablo 4and briefly outlined class-specific quests. This could end up being a huge deal for the game though. Different characters having access to different sets of missions could help make each playthrough feel more unique. It would also be an interesting way for players to have the chance to interact with the world in a more personal way.
Being able to interact with different groups and factions inDiablo’sworld like the Horadrim or the Crusaders could put a more personal touch on the game. The narrative ofDiablooften feels somewhat detached from the actual people of Sanctuary. Actually meetingDiablo 4’sBarbarian tribesor doing work for the schools of arcane study might end up helping players ground their characters in the world. This and the new character customizations could go a long way to giving players a much closer connection to the characters they play inDiablo 4, and that’s a good move for the franchise at large.
Diablo 4is in development with PC, PS4, and Xbox One as confirmed platforms.
