Diablo Immortal offers a variety of activities to complete in order to build powerful characters, but it’s weighed down by annoying microtransactions.
Developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment, Diablo Immortal is the newest title in the franchise and offers a mix of old and new features. As the story progresses and characters level up, new activities and zones become available. For example, events like the Ancient Arena in Diablo Immortal are only accessible after reaching level 60 and completing the main story. While some features need to be unlocked, there are campaign missions, side quests, and other activities to complete as soon as the game starts, resulting in a lot of variety early on.
Blizzard’s latest installment bridges the gap between Diablo 2 and Diablo 3. The story revolves around the Worldstone that was shattered at the end of the second game, as well as the rise of a new villain, Skarn, Lord of Damnation. The pieces of the Worldstone are found by evil entities and used for nefarious purposes, so they must be tracked down and destroyed in order to stop Skarn’s plans for domination. New villains, as well as allies of Skarn, are revealed as the Worldstone shards are collected.
There are six character classes to choose from: Monk, Barbarian, Necromancer, Wizard, Demon Hunter, and Crusader. Each class has unique skills that unlock as the character reaches higher levels, eventually maxing out at 60. Choosing a character will mostly depend on playstyle, and there are descriptors for each class that indicate the type of fighter they are. For example, the Wizard is listed as ranged and magical, while the Crusader in Diablo Immortal is shown as a melee hybrid character class. After choosing and customizing a character, there are some tutorials to complete. Throughout the game, new information and tips will pop up as different features become available.
While completing the campaign and other activities, better gear can be acquired to increase a character’s power level. A high power level is necessary to unlock new zones, survive at higher difficulties, and participate in Raids. New gear can be obtained easily at the start of Diablo Immortal, but it becomes increasingly difficult as higher levels are reached. In later stages of the game, grinding is a necessity for advancing further. Reaching high Paragon levels and obtaining the best gear is very time-consuming and eventually gets extremely tedious, especially without spending real money.
One of the issues with the latest Diablo installment is the presence of constant lagging and crashing. This issue is especially noticeable in crowded zones. For example, participating in one of Diablo Immortal‘s zone events where there’s no limit on how many can join in can cause a lot of errors and may even crash the game. Constantly having to reload the game makes grinding for XP and better gear that much more daunting. Additionally, these issues can potentially lead to losing progress in Challenge Rifts and Elder Rifts.
Unfortunately, it’s easy to quickly fall behind if microtransactions aren’t used to obtain currency and resources in Diablo Immortal that are otherwise difficult or impossible to come by. It’s possible to play the game completely free, but some may find it difficult to improve their characters without paying for resources or valuable items. Features like the faction war are almost pointless for players that aren’t spending money. Only the strongest characters and clans participate in the PvP faction fights, and reaching the top without paying seems highly unlikely. That being said, there are still perks and extra activities that can be unlocked by joining the Shadows or Immortals rather than sticking with the default faction, Adventurer.
Despite the noticeable issues and difficulty with maxing out characters, Diablo Immortal is still enjoyable and offers a lot of options for gear and XP grinding. Dungeons, events, PvP fights, hidden lairs, and other activities make this new title fun and interesting for casual players that aren’t focused on the competitive side of the game. Of course, the major downside is that those who want to compete and create a top build will almost assuredly need to pour a lot of money and time into strengthening their characters. Diablo Immortal can still be fun, but there are some undeniable flaws that hurt the experience.
Diablo Immortal is available now for PC, Android, and iOS.
Jamie K. Russo is freelance writer for Screen Rant. She has a master’s degree in creative writing from Full Sail University. She’s a passionate, completionist gamer with previous experience writing personal guides for a variety of game genres. Jamie is also a published novelist and a cat lady.
