Diablo Immortal out on iOS and Android plagued with microtransactions

After a long wait for the world’s premier action role-playing franchise, Diablo Immortal has finally arrived on mobile devices. The game was expected to be released earlier in 2021, however, in August 2021 Blizzard Entertainment announced that the new Diablo game was delayed until 2022 to make sure the final product was worth the wait, and it sure was.

Diablo Immortal succeeds in being a free-to-play title and a spot-on Diablo game. The gameplay is fun and creative and engages you for hours. Even though the story is not that special, it still accommodates the frightening and fierce world of Sanctuary.

Diablo Immortal is out now on iOS and Android for free!

Diablo Immortal is set between five years after the events of Diablo 2, and sometime before the upcoming mainline Diablo 4 game. The storyline is rather simple, taking place after the fallout of the Worldstone’s destruction as various coalitions endeavor to accumulate the insidious components, fighting for power in the ever-chaotic world. The demon, Skarn, is attempting to collect the insidious components in order to grow his strength at a time when the Prime Evils (i.e. most powerful demos; Baal, Diablo, and Mephisto) are missing.

The game provides a great opportunity to interact with classic characters like the wise scholar Deckard Cain. The story revolves more around scavenger hunting, scouting, and exploring various regions of Sanctuary like the dark and eerie woods of blistering deserts. The main quest also allows you to add more regions over time. All in all, Diablo Immortal is still very much like any other Diablo game despite being made available on mobile devices and tablets. It is good to see that the Diablo franchise has not been compromised in this transition.

During the storyline and every quest, there will be one vital element of a Diablo game; killing monsters and gathering loot. Players will be constantly discovering new weapons, gems, and pieces of armor for upgrading almost everything in their inventory. It is also easy to scrap an item that you do not require at a blacksmith in exchange for some resources for upgrading the gear that you desire.

The PvP (Players vs. Player) mode comes with a dedicated Battlegrounds mode that pits two teams consisting of eight players against each other. The game does not have cutting-edge graphics since it is made to scale across various mobile devices, however, it works well and is good regardless. There are also display options available that allow you to add warmer or cooler filters to an image, meaning you can adjust it to your liking. Additionally, you have the option to either run the game at 30 fps or 60 fps.

There is also a catch in the game, the Battle Pass. Players can spend hours gathering up Bounties and Challenge Rifts to gain more character experience but the game will push them towards purchasing a Battle Pass for further character growth. The Battle Pass is optional, but each rank gained provides a huge amount of experience as well as grants additional resources and cosmetics.

The problem with this is that Diablo Immortal is supposed to be an ongoing service with additional content and regions poured in over time. If certain options are reserved for higher levels then players could feel pressured into going for that extra experience that is offered via Battle Pass.

Despite it all, Blizzard Entertainment and NetEase have done a terrific job of providing the same Diablo experience that you would find on PCs and consoles. If you haven’t tried Diablo Immortal and wish to try it then it is available for installation on the Play Store and the App Store for free.

Diablo Immortal is out now on iOS and Android for free!

Usman Hussain