Diablo IV is about to release

The iconic demon-slaying hack-and-slash franchise Diablo IV is about to release, are you excited?

The Diablo franchise has always been a power fantasy, and Diablo IV wastes no time in letting you kick ass. Within seconds of taking control of your character, you’re set loose to vaporize enemies and collect a dizzying array of loot to grow ever more powerful.

The Big Bad you’re tasked with defeating is the demon Lilith, also known as the Daughter of Hatred. As such a name may imply, Lilith’s influence on the world is brutal and malevolent. The game’s environment reflects that. The lighting is dim, the landscape stark and broken. The characters you encounter run the gamut from forlorn widows to blood-obsessed murderers. The remnants of ritual sacrifices and other violent scuffles are strewn about everywhere.

Diablo has always been grim, but the world of Diablo IV is a stark change from its immediate predecessor. As multiple developers on the game have repeatedly said during interviews, Diablo IV is a “return to darkness” for the series. Diablo III caught some flak for its brighter, more accessible color palette and tone. Diablo IV aims to pull the franchise back into the macabre. The aesthetics lean harder into horror elements than ever before. The environment is a blend of various grays, at least when everything isn’t covered in blood.

Despite all the gloominess and horror, Diablo IV seems intent on giving players a good time. All the hallmarks of a Diablo game are here. The playable classes are varied, with expansive skill trees that can change how you play the game. (Yesh, it's time to buy Diablo IV Gold!) Enemies are numerous and occasionally massive. Fighting them feels more dynamic than ever, largely thanks to a new evade skill that allows you to spring away from attacks. Combat is also crunchy and disgusting. I’m going to get added to a watchlist for writing this sentence, but there’s really nothing more satisfying than watching a single well-timed attack splatter a dozen enemies into a chunky red mist.

While the framework of Diablo IV is firmly rooted in the past, there are many updates to the format that make it feel more in line with modern games. This is the first Diablo game to be designed from the start with consoles in mind. (All the others were PC only until the first console ports of Diablo III came out a year after its release.) The game will feature crossplay, so people on all platforms can easily play together. It also has dedicated couch co-op modes that let people play together on the same device.