Diablo 4 associate game director Joe Piepiora has shared that the game’s universe will be darker and “more dangerous” than any prior settings in the Diablo series.
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Speaking to NME, Piepiora explains that Diablo 4 will have a darker tone that’s “inherited” from the ending of Diablo 3 expansion Reaper Of Souls – in which the villain’s quest to wipe out humanity was halted, but still left “a lot of devastation” in their wake.
“So as we look forward to Diablo 4, it is a darker, more isolated world – a more dangerous, less trusting world to what players have seen in the past,” shared Piepiora. “While we’ve said this quite a bit, it is in that way a return to darkness – it’s the player out there like a beacon of light in an extremely dark and dangerous world, rising up against overwhelming evil.”
“That’s the tone we’re trying to go for,” continued Piepiora. “Not a post-apocalyptic one, mind you, but one in which the world has been dealt an extremely heavy blow and as a result players need to rise up in order to protect the world because there’s not really anyone else to do it.”
The associate game director added that Diablo 4‘s open-world layout allows Blizzard to explore how the apocalyptic events of Diablo actually impact the world’s denizens. This time, Sanctuary’s inhabitants come under threat from Lillith – an ancient being whose return has caused evil cults to rise up across the world.
Naz Hartoonia, associate game producer, told NME that Lilith is “an incredibly interesting character that we haven’t as a team explored enough,” and said Diablo 4 is the right game to tell her story.
“I think Diablo 4 is the perfect kind of playground where we can create and tailor a story around her and talk a little bit more about who she is, where she’s coming from, and why she’s important to the story,” explained Hartoonia.
Piepiora added that Lillith’s role in creating Sanctuary means she’s a “very interesting, compelling character” to help examine the role of Sanctuary in the war between heaven and hell.
On a separate note, the pair also revealed that “there is no cow level” in Diablo 4 – despite teasing that the game’s dungeons will reference some “lighter” moments from the series.
The post ‘Diablo 4’ will have a “darker, more isolated world” compared to past games appeared first on NME.
