Diablo fans worried Diablo 4 looks like a “Diablo 3 clone” after gameplay reveal

A video showing off 30 minutes of Diablo 4 gameplay has been met with some community backlash for looking remarkably similar to the infamous Diablo 3. 

For lots of Diablo fans, Diablo 3 was quite the disappointment following the remarkable success of its predecessor, Diablo 2. Criticized for its overly linear storyline and lack of replayability, the third installment in the series didn’t deliver what many players wanted.

With the next chapter in the story, Diablo 4, promising huge changes for the war-torn realm of Sanctuary, fans of Blizzard’s brutally brilliant dungeon crawler have been perched on the edges of their seats just waiting for any snippets of new information.

A 30-minute preview of the sequel’s gameplay has crawled out the shadows, but it hasn’t been the heavenly miracle that a lot of players were hoping for.

Diablo 4 gameplay released

A 33-minute long snapshot of Diablo 4 gameplay has appeared on YouTube. However, much to the irritation of fans, there’s a lot of similarities between the sequel’s gameplay and that of Diablo 3, the latest but not greatest installment in the franchise.

Playing all four of the currently announced classes (Barbarian, Druid, Rogue, Sorceress), TubeGameVideo’s playthrough has left players out in the cold.

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“I feel like I just watched some of my Diablo 3 footage,” writes one commenter, while another calls the gameplay “just Diablo 3 remastered.” One goes so far as to scathingly call it a “Diablo 3 clone.”

Others have criticized Blizzard for losing the overall feel of what made Diablo so great. Making reference to the upcoming remaster of Diablo 2, one comment notes “when they have to remaster old games and not change anything that says it all.” Another recalls “what made Diablo 2 great was you were always fearful. Edging the screen a bit at a time to not be overwhelmed,” something they believe this gameplay snippet lacks.

It doesn’t end here, though. In a Reddit thread dedicated to discussing how caster abilities will look in-game, some players have condemned a lack of imagination when it comes to the look of different spells, claiming that they all looked like “lasers.”

Noting that “they seem so lazy and out of place,” the fact that they pop up in this gameplay preview has some fans considering a “hard pass” on the new title.

As we see more and more details slither out of the cracks, it’ll be interesting to see if Blizzard adapts this feedback into the game’s design. With no set release date as of yet, they’ve got all the time in the world to make changes, but whether or not they choose to is a whole different story.