Joe Shely and Rod Fergusson discuss how the Diablo IV campaign had to adapt to the open world and how exploration is rewarded in the game.

Diablo IV is a major shake-up of the saga formula. The open world allows players to embark on the story in their chosen order. In previous Diablo games, the narrative was linear and based on a series of acts. In Diablo II and Diablo III, this meant five acts. The fourth act was shorter, and the fifth was from the expansion pack. Diablo IV breaks with tradition in its open world and introduces five regions instead of stages. Each of these is a coherent collection of zones.

Diablo IV allows players to dive into the Sanctuary’s dangerous wilderness and evil dungeons without fear of entering a crowded area as the world scales around them.

With the addition of World Tiers to replace the difficulty controller, the game seems to use the best features of parts two and three to build the zones and overall progression system.

As part of a series of interviews with IGN, game director Joe Shely and general manager Rod Fergusson sat down to talk about how Diablo IV is handling the open world. As well as how the game’s campaign has had to change as a result. The introduction of the open world to the Diablo franchise forced Blizzard to realise early on that the linear narrative in Diablo IV could no longer work – it had to branch out. The story is apparently still linear. However, after completing the prologue, players can choose which act (or region) to take.

Fergusson also says that although there is a clear main storyline, players are not necessarily forced to follow it. Diablo IV doesn’t want to hold the player’s hand. It will guide you towards the main quest if it wants to, but let you explore a region and level up through side quests, dungeons and the open world.

When creating a balanced game world, Joe Shely says Diablo IV’s philosophy is about “monster density”.

Traversing the lands of Sanctuary should be exciting. The game will introduce backers to the franchise. It also gives a little leeway to create larger zones.

Although the vast majority of Diablo IV’s endgame will be Helltides and Nightmare Dungeons, thorough exploration of these regions will be rewarded as you level up. This is where the game’s Renown system comes in. In addition to earning skill points as players level up, they will also earn skill points for completing zones in regions. Unlike traditional skill points, these will also benefit alt characters. This will further encourage active exploration. The closed beta for Diablo IV will end in a few days. Players will be able to try out the game’s open world in early 2023.

Source: YouTube