The past couple of weeks I've been wholly addicted to Diablo 4, a hellish action RPG from Blizzard.
Already shaping up to be one of the best Xbox games and best PC games of 2023, I've found myself truly staggered by the scale of the game's world, the absurdly high-quality visuals, and the bleak and tense storyline. Read my full Diablo 4 preview impressions over here, ahead of the game's full launch on June 6, 2023.
For those who were wondering just how big Diablo 4's full map is, I recently dropped a post on Twitter that mapped out the region accessible in the beta, which felt gargantuan by itself. Dotted with several dungeons, cellars, world events, and a large world boss, Diablo 4's world is a promising canvas for expansion over time. Nothing brings this home more clearly than a glance at the game's full map.
In the beta, we only had access to a region known as the Fractured Peaks. The snow-blasted climbs are littered with frost-bitten forests, and glacial caverns, with impressive snow tessellation tech and weather effects. Even in this solitary area, there were multiple types of biomes and environments, but it becomes ever more daunting when you realize just how small this area was compared to the wider map above.
The regions above represent the Dry Steppes and Kehjistan Empire on the western side, with the wintry Fractured Peaks and swampy Hawezar jungles to the southeast. Capping off the north is Scosglen, which is where the Blizzcon 2019 demo took place.
The area represents much of Sanctuary's eastern continent, although given the sheer scale of the map, it's really not a stretch to think how much further Diablo IV could expand here.
Diablo IV is in essence an MMO, with an always-online connection required, funded by battle passes and cosmetics. To keep players engaged, you can full expect ongoing content updates similar to other online action RPGs like Lost Ark and Path of Exile.
Given the size and multi-dimensional state of Diablo's world, there are plenty of environments Blizzard could introduce in future patches. We could see a return of New Tristram from Diablo 3, or perhaps we'll find ourselves scaling Mount Arreat again. One thing is for certain; we're all going to hell.
Diablo 4 launches on June 6, 2023 for Xbox and PC, but you can grab it a few days early by preordering while getting ahead of the queues.
