Diablo IV beta lets players do a lot, but not pet the dog

After two weekends of long server queues and a brief look at the game’s opening areas and five classes, the Diablo IV the beta is officially over. Personally, I didn’t play much since I was doing other things, but I enjoyed the short time I was able to spend at Sanctuary.

I went in both weekends as a Barbarian. I played a witch in Diablo 2and the ill-conceived witch doctor of Diablo III so I wanted something with a bit more brutality in front. As a newcomer to the series, Diablo IV seems like a perfect “no thoughts, no mind” game. Spam various attacks as your focus, mana, or spirit meter allows against enemies who really like to group together for maximum area of ​​effect damage. Even bosses don’t need more consideration than “stay out of bright red areas”. So the combat is completely insane but in a way that I don’t mind. I’m perfectly content mowing down hordes of similar-looking enemies in similar-looking dungeons for what I’m guessing will be over 80 hours of gameplay.

However, everyone at The edge felt that way. I’ll let them say it.

“It’s a mixed bag for me,” said The edge editor TC Sottek. “I like that it’s a more open world and I really like the concept of world events. However, and this is just a personal preference at this point, I feel less enamored with the ability to spam / lootfest of games like Devil. I would have really liked to evolve into something Diablo IV where you have to plan a bit for enemies and be more thoughtful about your approach, maybe more like Dark Souls.

The edge Commerce and transactions writer Antonio Di Benedetto was in a similar boat. “The two weekends of Diablo IV left me with very mixed feelings,” he said. “There’s a part of me that appreciates how Blizzard tries to thread the needle of Diablo 2 And Diablo III to try and satiate the entire fanbase, but it felt a bit milquetoast. I kept feeling it’s Diablo 3.5 with a darker tone and a skill tree. It’s not terrible, because I played many hours of D3but I fear I’ll be incredibly bored without a dedicated group of friends to share the experience with. Diablo IV doesn’t feel like a $70 premium game ($140 for me, personally, as I need at least my wife to accompany me to keep it interesting), it feels and plays a lot like an RPG free action game with MMO-like trends. I’m afraid this one will get boring with constant reminders that you should buy a season pass or other bonus content.

Short story writer Jay Peters agreed that co-op was the beta’s saving grace. ” Do not sleep Diablo IVcouch co-op mode – it’s delicious,” he said. “My partner and I spent hours in the beta roaming the game world, smashing baddies and looting dungeons, and it was an absolute pleasure to do so while cuddled up on the couch. Diablo IVThe UI is also well-designed to allow each player to manage their own inventories and skills simultaneously, which was really nice when I spent time respecting my entire character.

Overall, the feeling seems to be that the Diablo IV the beta was generally excellent. But there’s one glaring omission that seems both innocuous and momentous: you can’t pet dogs. Throughout the Sanctuary, dogs will roam the various quest hubs and I was really surprised there wasn’t an option to pet them.

Petting the dog (or the cat or a cute fantasy animal companion of dubious canine or feline ancestry) has become so endemic to video games that it’s a no-brainer. In fact, the curator of the popular Twitter account can you pet the dogis led by The edgeTristan Cooper’s social media manager. (Can You Pet The Dog consummate professional Cooper just informed me that you can actually use the “hello” emote as a way to get around without having a “pet” command.) Here in the US , we are obsessed with fictional dogs and are sometimes too emotionally invested in their destinies and, in this case, the ability of pets. I don’t know if this is a glitch or something Blizzard plans to add to live play, or an urge for Blizzard to add the action. the developers didn’t, if only for the nice change of pace.

Diablo IV launches on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox on June 6.