Quite a long period of development and waiting since the first release. And Diablo Immortal finally found general fans through a technical alpha test at the end of last year.
Since its first release in 2018, it was a game that caused deep concern and concern in the hearts of fans, but the Diablo Immortals that were shown through tests showed the character of Diablo, simply transferring the features of the existing series to other platforms. In addition, acquisition and farming of equipment that cannot be traded in a system suitable for a new platform, such as operation, cool time and resource utilization, showed a direction that is different from other Diablo.
After a short test period, Blizzard and the development team are looking at the next step. Inven’s interview with Diablo Immortal’s Wyatt Cheung and Julian Love’s senior combat designer was able to hear about the future development direction and system development for the game.
Q. We conducted an alpha test for a short period last year. How do you evaluate this alpha test internally?
During the technical alpha test phase, I was able to get a lot of data and explore the game in many ways. One of the main objectives of this test was to check device compatibility. I mainly tested it on several Android devices, and I also checked the server stability. It was also a major factor to ensure that each player could receive the proper support.
The other part I wanted to check was whether I could sufficiently appeal to Diablo Immortal being one of Diablo games. I was able to get a good comment on this part as well. I also heard the story of’Diablo in my pocket’.
In the future, various changes will be made through the test results and feedback from players. In the feedback, the part that it is unfortunate that monsters attack during the quest conversation will be corrected first, and some of the rewards will also be manipulated to give the feeling that they have been sufficiently rewarded.
Q. You must have received a lot of opinions through in-game surveys, but what are the most satisfied and disappointed users?
The part that received a lot of praise from users is the part of the battle that we consider important. I wanted to feel that I was playing Diablo while experiencing the battle of the game. Whenever a new Diablo game was released, there were occasional comments about the battle section saying that the previous game couldn’t do it, but I’m glad we received good feedback.
On the other hand, there are areas that we want to improve through negative feedback. First of all, it is related to control. Most control-related feedback was positive, but this test confirmed that there are players who manipulate the game in a special way. I think this part can be improved enough.
Meanwhile, there was feedback that the in-game boss was not difficult enough to be satisfactory for the ranged hero. In the future, we plan to work on building a difficulty level that allows all heroes to enjoy equally and satisfactory boss battles.
Q. I wanted players to focus on playing during the alpha test, but is there any content that is unfortunate because it is not? Or what content was the core of the test before?
The part that wanted to impress the fans the most was the early part of the game. It is a part where users can learn contents such as practical controls by providing the first section. The first 30 minutes aren’t important for all games. I wanted to see if this part was well designed for players to see. In addition, we are looking for a number of ways, thinking that there will be many improvements in the future.
On the other hand, I think that the part where users feel that they have played less than expected is a guild achievement. Guild achievements had a little hidden UI. In order to achieve the guild achievements, there was inconvenience, such as having to be joined to the guild first, and having to expand the UI to find a button.
In the future, we plan to deliver the joy of achieving good achievements by playing cooperatively with other users.
Q. Level up was slow after level 30. Is it because you limited the maximum level to 45? Or do you actually expect this growth rate?
This level-up pace is intended so far. Personally, I think it would be better if the growth from level 1 to level 30 is faster than the slow rate of rising from level 30 to level 45. As the first 30-minute section was said to be a section where learning and rewards take place, it was intentionally designed to grow rapidly into the initial section.
In the actual release version, we expect about 5 levels of growth per story zone. I think that I can grow up to level 60 without difficulty while following the story.
Q. For leveling up, exploring the world was more effective than Elder Rift. Was this the intended part for experiencing various contents?
It was completely intended. Ancient Rift is also a fun content, but our purpose was to make it possible to play and experience as much content as possible.
Q. The appearance of the Countess (Countess) was announced early, but the Baal and Thalasha events were fresh and interesting. How did this event come about? Also, although it hasn’t been released yet, can you introduce a demon or character that fans might be familiar with?
I don’t want to spoil a lot about the game story (laughs). However, first of all, I think that players can meet various contents in the library of Jooltun Kule. The library of Jooltun Kule is a space where you can recreate and re-experience important and meaningful moments in the history of the Diablo series.
For example, the battle between Baal and Talasha is a very meaningful moment in Diablo’s history. I think we can reproduce these things.
Blizzard’s other game, World of Warcraft, also has content that takes you through the history of Warcraft as you travel through time, and we expect it to convey a similar feeling.
Q. Combat has a long skill cooldown and attack power is relatively low compared to the cooldown, so basic attacks have become important. The importance of control also increased, and the sense of tension increased. Was this the intended part?
Personally, I don’t think the cooldown is just as long. Rather, I think it has changed to a control that requires more attention to cooldown. The basic cooldown itself wasn’t longer than Diablo 3. Our purpose was to allow players to interact and use their own skills through various skills.
Rather than just making a biased decision that the cooldown should be long or short, it uses a variety of skills and pursues a direction in which users can change.
It was said that basic attacks became important, but this was done while seeking a variety of skills. The basic attack was used as an element that could be filled more in the middle of the player’s use of various skills. In that respect, it seems to be correct to say that it has become important.
In addition, I think that Diablo Immortal can give a variety of depth through the element of direct manipulation on the mobile platform. The development team wanted to make full use of this opportunity and wanted to give Diablo’s experience from a new direction that was not enjoyed on PC. In addition, the main goal was to give freshness to the platform.
In that sense, I think that tension has increased through direct control as one of the intentions.
Q. The ultimate system was introduced. It wasn’t just a way to add one skill, but what role did the ultimate assume and create?
In the case of the ultimate, it is largely designed to convey two goals. One is the variety of combat. If basic attacks are used frequently and serve to fill in between the cooldowns of multiple skills, the ultimate is a factor that gives variety within the longer-term play experience.
Supers can exert great influence at key moments, but you can save your supers right now and decide to use them for specific boss battles, or you can decide to use them for specific phases within a boss battle. You can use it in the section where many relatively weak monsters appear to solve the situation.
As such, I would like to say that the ultimate is an element that enables a sense of depth and strategic play overall.
Q. The flying kick of the monk’s ability to kick the wall and attack the enemy was really amazing. Was there any difficulty in implementing action using terrain features? Will there be more such skills?
This was one of the things we liked very much. In the strategic part of this skill, I think that it gave users more and more unpredictable strategic diversity beyond the existing concept of’when and with whom to use the skill’.
Users can explore the terrain and take advantage of strategic opportunities. In addition, I would like to say that through the elements of mobility and use of various environments, a monk can be drawn more and more like a monk.
However, the first problem I encountered was to check what was the wall and what was not. Is the bush rising like a wall a wall? Should I see the stairs as a single wall? The part of determining these things was tricky. As we received a lot of feedback on this, I think that in the future, we can loosen the rules for determining these walls a little more so that we can better utilize the flying kick.
Q. Finally, say hello to the fans waiting for Diablo Immortal.
We are always grateful for the support of Inven and Diablo fans. In addition, I hope that Korean fans can enjoy Diablo Immortal. (In Korean) Thank you.
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