That’s a weird thing to say for a Diablo game, and yet it was a perfect fit for Nintendo’s handheld console. I had a lot of fun with the Switch port of Diablo 3, primarily because the stakes were so low. But one thing is clear: Immortal draws so much inspiration from Diablo 3 that it almost plays like a clone. The monetisation is still up in the air, and there’s still questions on how the shared player experiences will function.

The game went from being the closing mention last year to being inconspicuously absent during this year’s opening keynote, and it doesn’t even have a separate listing on Blizzard’s official press site, instead being nested within the Diablo 4 assets.Īnd that lack of separation makes sense given its early days for the mobile Diablo. Clicking it equips it immediately.You’d be forgiven for thinking that Diablo Immortal had vanished from Blizzard’s lineup entirely. But a small button will show up if you pick up an item that’s an upgrade. Blizzard told me it’s still working on this feature. Diablo: Immortal’s demo did not have the inventory menu in the game yet. You’re always grabbing new armor and weapons. The loot is a core part of the Diablo experience. You can tap the screen to pick up loot, but this action is quick. Using the digital analog stick instead of pointing with your finger to move your character also keeps your hand from blocking the game. The buttons for abilities and menus don’t cover up too much of the screen. Speaking of the UI, it’s intuitive and not intrusive. Not that Diablo is all that complicated, but it was nice having one fewer thing to worry about on the smaller screen. I was fine not having the usual resources there. It has experimented with using resources, cooldowns, charges, and combinations of them. Blizzard told me that this system isn’t locked down yet. In the demo, abilities had cooldowns but didn’t cost any resources like mana.

Diablo immortal blizzcon demo