The Arrival
Arriving at the HQ of a game company whose games you’ve been playing, writing about, and dreaming about for almost 30 years can be a surreal moment. It definitely felt surreal for me as I anxiously stepped through the security gates and into a magical world I was truly not prepared for. I was invited to see and play the latest class for Diablo Immortal and as you can imagine, I jumped at the chance. Yes, I have been playing Blizzard games since Blackthorne and Warcraft 1 during the DOS days and continue to adore a lot of the latest offerings but let’s be honest, some of the magic had somewhat fizzled in recent years with lawsuits, influence from the overlords at Activision, and many other tragic layoffs and scandals. All that drama and noise rapidly melted away as we witnessed the burning passion and love the current Blizzard teams displayed. Minute by minute, I was more impressed and knew very quickly, this was going to be no ordinary day.
Stepping through The Pearly Gates…
After an incredible tour of the Blizzard campus including the library, museum, and original artwork, the first thing that completely took me by surprise and immediately enraptured me was the incredible energy and positivity of everyone we met at Blizz HQ. This wasn’t some superficial and manufactured feeling, it was real. It was palpable. It was infectious. I loved absolutely every moment of it and I couldn’t get enough of it. Watching the Fun Run and Corgie walk was awesome. Walking in on a match of D&D in the library was the icing on the cake.
Eye of The Tempest
After several incredibly energetic meetings, while seeing the latest art and cinematics of the upcoming Tempest class, we were able to go hands-on with an early build of Diablo Immortal and the new class. As you can see from my horrible skills in the video below, even an idiot can look like a total badarse. To say the new Tempest class is awesome would be a gross understatement as everything about it feels almost like a dance, I consider it to be one of the best-looking and feeling classes of any Diablo class to date!
Though easy to pick up, the Tempest class has more depth and nuance than I ever expected. It truly looks and feels fantastic to play with the timing of your Zephyrs being the spotlight of stellar gameplay that I didn’t want to put down. Water skills were definitely my fave but the wind skills definitely didn’t lack in looking and sounding amazing.
Whether using wind or water skills to cut through waves enemies, everything felt smooth and silky while playing the new Tempest class.
After some quality play time (I was dying when I got pulled away for a scheduled interview), we got the chance to sit down with Ryan Quinn and John Yoo from the Immortal team. We expressed some of our concerns about the monetary situation of Immortal and some previous concerns about spending too much money to play. As we witnessed in the demo and expressed by John Yoo, “There is so much content you can do where you don’t have to spend a dime. The new class is free. The zones are free and much more.” Never did so much anything make more sense than after having a riot playing the latest build and realizing, he’s 100% right. You don’t HAVE to be sweaty and play Immortal nonstop, all day every day. You can enjoy dozens of existing and new content, completely for free.
“There is so much content you can do where you don’t have to spend a dime.”
In the end, we had an absolute blast not only PLAYING the latest class and build of the game but FEELING the love, passion, and, excitement the current Diablo Immortal team exudes in every piece of art, sound, design, and awesome moment slaying baddies for loot. You are in for a real treat come May 23rd when the Tempest class arrives.
Diablo IV: Reborn
Even though our visit to Blizzard HQ was focused on Diablo Immortal, I cannot go another moment without mentioning how stunning the new Season of Loot Reborn is for Diablo IV. Even though I’ve played hundreds if not thousands of hours of DIV over multiple betas, the review server build, and recent Seasons, one of my biggest complaints is how endgame loot just feels… boring. These complaints are now slowly unraveling as tempering and other loot overhauls are near perfect.
Not only are the loot changes amazing, Helltides are much improved with massive enemy density and even the Battle Pass has some awesome items. Color me impressed! As with Diablo Immortal, whether you are a veteran player or brand new to the series, this future is blindly bright for Diablo as a while.
Tempering is just one of the many game-changing features of Diablo IV Season of Loot Reborn. Loot feels fun again!
The End, The Beginning
I have to be brutally honest: Even though I was absolutely stoked to finally visit Blizzard HQ, I wasn’t quite sure how the latest Immortal Tempest class was going to look and feel and for that matter, how the latest loot reworking for Diablo IV was going end up. Not only was I pleasantly surprised with every aspect of our visit to HQ but meeting the incredibly talented artists, designers, QA, PR, and many more behind the scenes was truly remarkable. Not only is the future bright for the Diablo series, but I would say that Blizzard is stronger than ever with a passion for their craft that is second to none and shines bright 30 years after I played their first titles.
In the end, after all the fancy sights, sounds, statues, and awe, it was the FEELING I left with spending time with amazingly passionate people behind said scenes is what gives me hope. Hope not only for the gaming industry but as cheesy as it may sound, hope for humanity and the world as a whole. There are so many good people I got to spend the day with on a sunny, spring day in Irvine, California. And for that, I will be forever grateful. It was the end of an unforgettable trip to Blizz HQ but for the Diablo series? This feels like just the beginning.
