A new Diablo 4 gameplay trailer released at BlizzCon 2019 revealed the first look at three of the game’s character classes: the Barbarian, the Sorceress, and the Druid. Game Director Luis Barriga said Diablo 4 focuses on “darkness, world, and legacy,” returning to the franchise’s dark roots and featuring the class lineup and loot chase from Diablo 2. This could mean a return of the Amazon, Assassin, Necromancer, and Paladin classes from Diablo 2, as well, but Blizzard has only confirmed the three in the trailer.
With Diablo 4‘s renewed emphasis on dark aesthetics and the occult, each class has a sort of “wild man” vibe, adorned with furs and Nordic iconography. We also see some minor differences between the characters’ physical appearances in their close-ups and in the gameplay footage, so perhaps Diablo 4 will feature some kind of character appearance customization. As with the characters’ dress, Diablo 4′s environments look Nordic, with barren swamps, snowy tundras, and craggy mountains, all portrayed with a bleak and muted color palette. Interestingly, the trailer showed off horse-riding gameplay, enabling players to more quickly traverse these new landscapes.
ALSO: Diablo 4 announced at BlizzCon 2019
That doesn’t mean Diablo 4 doesn’t have its fair share of dungeons and dank caves, however, as the trailer showed plenty of this, too. We see each class fighting skeletons, monsters, and demonic forces throughout, as a monk-like narrator proclaims that “hell is coming.” There’s plenty of dark and spooky visuals, with shots of pillaged towns and lots of blood. Barriga also mentioned that victory in battle would be “neither clean nor guaranteed,” so perhaps these dark aesthetics will be reflected in harder gameplay.
Like many of BlizzCon 2019’s biggest announcements, Diablo 4 was leaked before the event. The leaks rightly predicted Blizzard’s emphasis on darkness and horror, just as Overwatch 2 leaks predicted its officially announced PvE campaign. Overwatch‘s Jeff Kaplan joked about the leaks onstage, saying he could find everything he needed to say about the game online already.
