Diablo Immortal launched on iOS, Android and PC today and I've been playing it a couple days now due to a sneaky launch for folks that per-registered for it. I didn't pay money, just clicked a per-registration button a handful of months ago and it all worked out.

Diablo Immortal Is Good, In Fact It's Really Good

Diablo Immortal is so good I'm actually surprised it's as good as is it. It's a tale as old as time too, company makes free to play mobile version of game and game kinda sucks. But in my time with Diablo Immortal up to level 20+ the game has been nothing short of really good.

My biggest fear would be that Diablo Immortal wouldn't feel like a Diablo game on a phone but they've nailed the controls and things work. It's a hybrid between the best control controls of Diablo III and PC and feels great to touch. Occasionally the fight will get away from me, but a few taps and I'm in control again and slaying with ease.

I'd figure there would be zero story to speak of but not only is there a story present, it might be better than the story in Diablo III. Don't get me wrong, I love campy stuff and Diablo III serves it's story with such camp you might as well be playing the game in the woods. That said, it often is a bit much and the bosses constantly mustache twirling and threatening you gets old fast. Diablo Immortal's story is lighter in that it's not dialog heavy, but much is done with the art, scenery and sparse voice acting that make it better. Frankly, Diablo IV could take notice here, less is actually quite a bit more.

So They Just Took a Huge Feature From Diablo IV

Because of the always online nature of Diablo Immortal they swiped a pretty big sell of Diablo IV in that you can see folks running around and it's really easy to party up if you want. It's not annoying and folks often ignore you but you can pop over and help someone fight some monsters if you want and it totally works. This was also a huge feature of Diablo IV and it's here no big deal.

I'm really excited for Diablo IV and I bet how they will handle this will feel better but... is Diablo Immortal competing with Diablo IV a bit? Which leads me to my next point...

Will Diablo Immortal Be The Most Popular Diablo Game of All Time?

Diablo Immortal is incredibly easy to download and play. I bet most people have phones than can play this game and if you like the franchise, it's easy to download and play. And with that, I wonder if this game might be the most popular Diablo game ever? Frankly I think hack and slack games with loot make a ton of sense as free to play games and ... will Diablo Immortal be huge? From what I've played of it so far, it has all the right stuff to be I just hope it's not so eclipsing it dwarfs Diablo IV because I really want to play it.

Diablo Immortal's PC Port Is Superb

When Blizzard announced a Diablo Immortal PC port I was very happy. I'm also happy to say the PC port is superb but not perfect. It's great to get a bit more screen size and use the mouse as Euclid intended. That said, the mouse can get lost and it's not obvious what's going on when it does. I bet they will sort that all out because already it's so awesome to go from your phone to tablet to desktop seamlessly.

Hopefully Diablo stays Immortal

I'm only 20+ levels in and so far I've felt zero free to play bullshit. Not saying that's not coming, I just haven't seen it yet. Hopefully the game allows me a reasonable time through it to experience the story and some other characters without paying it a mint but I understand that's not always how it is.

With that, based on what I've played I hope Diablo stays Immortal and we get even more added to it. Games like Call of Duty Mobile and Clash of Clans are still going strong and have incredibly large fans. Hopefully Diablo Immortal does well because so far, it's a lot of fun for free.

Travis   Admin wrote on 06/03/2022 at 02:47pm

I am liking it so far. I have played both mobile and PC and prefer PC. I loved that you could use the same controls that you’re used to if you played D3, and customize things pretty easily. The PC port is good, but you can tell it’s in beta because I get some random tanked framerates and glitchiness that I’m sure will be worked out. You can tell that it’s a mobile port though since everything is so zoomed in, and they wanted to keep the exciting enemy density while also zooming you in like that for mobile screens so it gets very busy sometimes. That’s not a dealbreaker though, I was just playing a 48 v 1 boss fight in FF14 last night and D:I’s screen busyness is nothing compared to that. Plus the text is HUGE, again presumably because it’s a mobile game stretched to a desktop monitor. I’d like more customizations, which may come later.

I think it’ll be fun to play through the story and level characters and such, but the endgame grind that I loved in Diablo 3, pushing higher and higher greater rifts etc, will be tainted in Immortal by the free-to-play economics of the game.

I’m thinking you’re right that it’ll do really well which is good and bad in some ways. I really hope the success of their microtransactions (there will be a lot of success here) doesn’t inform decisions about their mainline titles.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 06/04/2022 at 08:58pm

@Travis Yeah it says "beta" still in the top right corner and pretty much every where else. It's confusing, I wonder why they haven't changed it.

I feel like I've spent a good bit of time with it already and I've seen some tech issues. I had a major FPS drop. I'm running at 2560x1440@165hz w/ VSync and Gsync on, so I do see 165FPS. I've had two NPCs who didn't show a walking animation while I was following them. Also, sometimes I don't hear a voice over, I just see the text box during an NPC conversation. I'd say that one happens more frequently than any other I've experienced. I think these are minor issues that don't greatly distract from gameplay and could probably be resolved easily (my assumption there at the end).

Unfortunately it says my phone isn't compatible. I see some people got this erroneously, however I did some Googling and I don't think my phone meets the system (mobile) requirements.

I'm reading a GameSpot regarding tips for beginners. Maybe we should try to make a warband. I've seen different servers, but they only show how many friends are on a server if they are, but not which friends are on which servers. It looks like we're all spread out.

I'm level 34 now, very close to 35, which is my new questline (reach level 35).

I pretty much agree w/ Jon's assessment of this being a great Diablo game. I mean, I do see some flaws. I mentioned technical issues I've come across, but I also feel like everything is just so spread out in the menus and such. There's a lot of it. I'm not complaining really, but I am glad for the red markers showing me things I need to look at. Otherwise I see somethings here I really like. In a way I'm still talking about all that menu stuff. If feels like there's so much you can do within the menus. It can look overwhelming, but it's also cool to be able to do a lot of that stuff. I also like that you can upgrade a piece of armor and be able to transfer the upgrades (and gems if applicable) to the new piece of armor you want to replace it with. I think it's kind of a QoL treat.

I may have more to say about this later. (And so I've updated this comment.)

Tips for Beginners: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/diablo-immortal-tips-for-beginners-early-tips-for-raising-hell-in-blizzards-mobile-rpg/1100-6504018/

How to play for free: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/diablo-immortal-microtransactions-explained-and-how-to-play-for-free/1100-6504071/

jdodson   Admin   Post Author wrote on 06/05/2022 at 01:12am

> Unfortunately it says my phone isn't compatible. I see some people got this erroneously, however I did some Googling and I don't think my phone meets the system (mobile) requirements.

You could try downloading it anyway and trying it? It might work, but... be quite slow? That said, the PC port should help you out. I hope over time it improves some, it's good but could be a bit better. I also hope the PC port is a base to port it to consoles. This would be another great F2P addition to the XBox, Playstation and Switch.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 06/05/2022 at 02:44am

>You could try downloading it anyway and trying it? It might work, but... be quite slow? That said, the PC port should help you out. I hope over time it improves some, it's good but could be a bit better. I also hope the PC port is a base to port it to consoles. This would be another great F2P addition to the XBox, Playstation and Switch.

I thought about that. I had to side load the Windows 10 Phone Link app so that I could get that working (and I love being able to text w/ my keyboard!). I'm not too concerned though. I don't have much interest in mobile gaming these days and I really hate cell phones.

I've seen plenty of technical issues. It's playable and good enough, but I'd still like to see these issues resolved. I did see an Activision Tech Support character in-game. I thought that was interesting. Maybe I should get back into my habit of trying to resolve issues or report them as bugs if they seem to be.

Oh, I need to join a Warband Raid for Lassal. It requires 8 people. I haven't had any luck getting this done yet. My current objective is to "reach level 40," I'm just a few levels away.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 06/05/2022 at 02:55am

Aw dang, you cannot transfer characters between servers. I'd love to see us all together in the game and play together if we can or want to. If anyone would like me to join them, please feel free to let me know and tell me which server you're playing on. Let me know what your class is, too, and I'll think about what kind of character to create on your server.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 06/06/2022 at 08:03pm

"Who knew playing with others would be so fun?!" Yes, that is a quote from silly me. I must agree with the general sentiment I see in chat, I'm really enjoying this game! The game guided me to join a Warband Raid for Lassal. Luckily, I managed to accomplish that (oh and I'm 51 now). Then it guided me to join a clan. I'm now in the Death Eaters and we're full now. When I left late last night/early this morning we were only a few signets away from becoming a Dark Clan. We may have already accomplished that today. I partied up w/ others and had so much fun running around playing w/ my new clan mates and friends I made (I got two friend requests). I've been constantly learning more about the game and it's exciting. I like this game so much more than D2!

I wonder why it's FTP. This seems as good, if not better, as D3. I understand they'll get money from microtransactions, but couldn't they make even more by charging everyone at least $20-30?

Travis   Admin wrote on 06/07/2022 at 12:53am

People would balk at the level of micro transactions in a game that you have to pay any money for. You’d need around $100,000 to max out your character. There will be a few whales who pay that too.

https://t.co/Ez4N6Or1lx

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 06/07/2022 at 01:23am

Yeah, you're right. I guess I'm just thinking of people like me that might never even buy anything. I guess the ones that do buy things make up for those who don't. Wow that's a lot of money!

I'm glad you shared that link, mostly because it told me when the story takes place, which is something that's kind of crossed my mind. I assumed it was just it's own separate Diablo world and story.

The Death Eaters are a Dark Clan now! :)

jdodson   Admin   Post Author wrote on 06/09/2022 at 03:17am

I'm excited to read a post by someone that spent that much in Immortal. 100k is a lot and with the biggest Orb pack costing $100 that's 1k taps and, I'm sure, that has to happen over years.

With that, Orbs do purchase platinum which can do the in game auction house but on my server all you can get with that are lower level gems because everyone is holding the higher ones.

If folks CAN spend 100k in game, I'm not sure how but I'm sure it's possible.

So far I've dodged every pay thing and currently am spending nothing. I imagine for some they've already put in 25k.

RIP

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 06/09/2022 at 05:51am

I don't know what Orbs are. I visited the auction once or twice, but wasn't interested. I think I wanted to sell some gear, but couldn't (was learning). I used my platinum to open up chests in Iben Fahd's Sanctum, which you'll have access to after talking to Cain and Charsi at a certain point (around level 60).

I haven't paid for anything. I don't want to. I'm not interested in buying anything. I'm having fun and enjoying the experience. I'm paragon 2 or 3 now I think. My warband sucks, because no one wants to party up to work on campsite monster kills, but my clan is awesome. Sometimes world chat is awesome and sometimes not. There was a long discussion about cryptocurrency I didn't get into (not interested). Later chat was being helpful answering other player's questions about the game. I participated I think on both sides.

Lower level gems are worthy, but you can get them with Hilts, too, I'm sure. You combine them to get higher ranked gems, which takes 3 for 1. I need to get some more so I can upgrade. You can upgrade a slotted one, but make sure the other two you need to use aren't slotted, slotted gems won't count (except for the one you're upgrading).

Travis   Admin wrote on 06/09/2022 at 05:01pm

Yeah there was a live stream lately where someone paid 5k on a single stream and didn’t get a single best-in-slot item. With those chances, the incentive to even buy micro transactions is so low I imagine they’ll need to change the rate to get to a sweet spot of people buying things.

Travis   Admin wrote on 06/09/2022 at 05:03pm

It’s really only the endgame where it even matters so if you’re uninterested in the endgame grind, it won’t affect you much.

jdodson   Admin   Post Author wrote on 06/10/2022 at 04:28pm

Yeah, I’m just interested in the story and trying out a handful of classes. Playing it got me interested in Diablo III again so I might spin that up again.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 06/10/2022 at 07:22pm

Wow. Well once my level got into the 50's or so picking up an item that's better than what I have has been rare or very uncommon. I'm not sure if all of my gear is Legendary, but most of it is. I might have a piece of armor that isn't, but not much more than that, if any. I'm paragon 5 or so now, I think. I'm assuming paragon levels would be the end game, but I still don't want to spend any money or feel like I need to.

Travis   Admin wrote on 06/15/2022 at 08:53pm

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2022/06/09/diablo-immortal-also-has-hidden-caps-preventing-grinding-for-free/

Just read about some more gating that I probably won’t notice because I don’t plan on doing the endgame grind. This has made me want to play d3 though :D

jdodson   Admin   Post Author wrote on 06/16/2022 at 04:23am

I made it to the start of Act II and I haven’t really played it much after that. I might play it over time to complete it, but while it’s a good game it seems similar to other free to play games. I start it with interest and it wanes very quickly.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 06/16/2022 at 04:28am

What level are you about? I'm about 5 or 6 (P), I think. I enjoyed it, but took a break and now have other things I want to do. I look forward to perhaps playing it more in the future and also DIV.

I read they did add Legendary transmutation in D3, but it doesn't act in the same way as DIm. I really loved this feature in DIm.

jdodson   Admin   Post Author wrote on 06/20/2022 at 03:30am
jdodson   Admin   Post Author wrote on 06/20/2022 at 03:31am

Level 39. I stopped at the top to act 2.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 06/20/2022 at 03:37am

Interesting site! I'm not sure when I might return to the game. I'm happy w/ what I got out of it, but other things are popping up (so much released lately!).

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 06/24/2022 at 05:26am

Wow, here's an impressive article about the microtransaction controversy and how bad it really is. I didn't think much on it, but I think this does a great job of showing that the game is seriously flawed because of this. I enjoyed my time with it, making it to about paragon level 5. I had much more fun than I thought I would and I enjoyed being social in a video game, something I haven't done in a very long time. However, other games updated with new content, which caught my interest. So after a point, I felt pretty much done with DI. I'd like to see this issue resolved. It is a fun game, but this is ridiculous.

I never intend to spend money in these games. I don't have an excessive amount of income to do so either. I would have been ok paying for the game, especially if it did not include these microtransactions. I just hope they get it all right with Diablo IV.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/diablo-immortal-is-exactly-what-fans-feared-it-would-be/1100-6504870/

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 06/28/2022 at 05:32pm

DI Honest Game Trailer: https://youtu.be/AITraUoqcJE

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