Diablo Immortal starts well in the first tests – but the Pay2Win specter hovers over everything

The new action RPG Diablo Immortal has been available for PC, iOS and Android for a few days. MeinMMO looked at how the title came off in the first tests and impressions.

Diablo Immortal continues the dark series on mobile, available since June 2nd. Even a PC beta runs in the Battle.net launcher, making the action RPG available for iOS, Android, and PC.

It’s a full Diablo game, but designed and developed with mobile-first in mind. Many players look in – but how is Immortal received after the first few days?

MeinMMO collects a few opinions from the first tests and impressions from the press and gives an insight into what Diablo Immortal does well, what doesn’t go so well and why Pay2Win is such a big topic in the game.

The most important thing there is to know about Diablo Immortal can be seen in our video:

The Good – It’s a complete Diablo on mobile

Let’s start with the positive points: Diablo Immortal meets expectations in terms of gameplay and content, sometimes even exceeds them. Especially the control with the mobile phone is well received by many testers.

The GamePro colleagues write: “The operation works excellently […] a very intuitive touch control” (via gamepro.de). Good controls have a special effect on the fights, which are of great importance in an action RPG.

Even the graphics on the phone are a plus. Comicbook.com writes: “My iPhone 11 got a little hot in 60fps mode, but it looks way too good to turn it off” (via comicbook.com).

Again and again you read that many testers played around 20 hours without spending a cent and that the game is worth it if you feel like playing Diablo again.

IGN writes in its initial assessment on metacritic: “With more than 20 hours of microtransaction-free gameplay behind me, there is clearly enough content to enjoy before you can consider spending money” (via metacritic.com).

MeinMMO author Benedict Grothaus came to a similar conclusion in his play report: I played Diablo Immortal for 15 hours without spending any money – how important is the shop?

Incidentally, the colleagues at GameStar have already published a comprehensive test with a rating (via gamestar.com/plus article).

The latest Diablo offers a lot for a Free2Play title. The gameplay is nice, the controls are no problem and the content looks good. The negative points only start with a look beyond.

The Bad – There’s monetization everywhere

Much discussed in the run-up, after the release the big criticism of the game continued: Pay2Win. Diablo Immortal offers a little help with almost every progression mechanic – for a certain price.

So far, nobody has allowed themselves a final judgment on the actual influence of the monetization mechanisms. The game hasn’t been around long enough for that. But no test, no first impression can get past the specter of Pay2Win.

“Ars Technica” writes on metacritic: “The aggressive microtransaction offers make me pessimistic that Activision Blizzard will change something in the next few weeks” (via metacritic.com).

The author would like the endgame to be fair without money, but at the moment thinks that won’t be the case.

Even with the actually harmless cosmetics, there is a lot of criticism. Players accuse those responsible of “greed”. We have an article about this on MeinMMO: Even fans of cash shops don’t want to buy anything in Diablo Immortal, accusing Blizzard of extreme “greed”.

Shortly after the release, the PC beta also causes stress. The GameStar headlines: “In this state, the Windows version of Diablo Immortal PC players can not reconcile with Blizzard” (via gamestar.de).

Performance weaknesses, crashes and a lack of setting options are the biggest points of criticism. But the developers should still take care of these problems.

Despite the problems on PC and the pitfalls of Pay2Win, Diablo is a solid action RPG that attracts many players. Time will tell here whether the monetization balance is right or whether the endgame is heavily dependent on it.

The Numbers – The first reviews by Metacritic

At the end of our overview we show you the numbers of the first 6 complete tests on Metacritic:

• Comicbook.com – 90/100
• Merlin’in Kazanı (Turkey) – 82/100
• iMore – 80/100
• PCMag – 80/100
• Android Central—80/100
• CG Magazine – 75/100

Overall, Diablo Immortal stands at an 81 on Metacritic shortly after launch. Incidentally, after 71 ratings, the user score is a meager 2.5.

Let us know what your first impression of the game is in the comments. Your opinion on the subject would also be of great interest to us.

If you’d rather read more about Diablo Immortal, then have a look here: XP Wall in Diablo Immortal: 5 tips for leveling up when the story has stopped