As I leveled up, I unlocked new skills and could equip three extra moves alongside my primary attack. My primary attack was a magic missile that I could spam with ease thanks to a short cooldown. For my testing session (I’d only have a few days to play before I’d have my progress wiped), I chose a wizard. What’s especially impressive is the depth of the game’s combat.

It almost feels closer to a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game in that sense. They all operate on brief cooldowns, which makes combat feel much faster-paced. For instance, skills don’t require any resources to use.

Much of its gameplay resembles Diablo 3, though there are some key tweaks. Players choose a class, walk around maps from a top-down perspective, slay mobs of enemies with a host of special skills, and collect a whole lot of loot. The core gameplay in Diablo Immortal isn’t much different from that of the core PC games. Those shorter chunks help keep the experience from ever feeling too repetitive, which can become an issue in dungeon crawlers with long, sprawling levels. I can get through a dungeon or complete a major story beat in 10 minutes, making it easy to make a lot of progress in a short time. Since the game is made to be played on the go rather than during long PC sittings, quests and activities are more bite-sized. That’s largely thanks to the game’s pace and intuitive control scheme, both of which make excellent use of its mobile framework. In fact, I might prefer Diablo Immortal to the mainline series.

This is a PC or quality console release on a small screen. If you don’t play a lot of mobile games and still think of them as match-three puzzlers where you have to pay money to get more lives, you’re in for a major shock. It’s a full-fledged Diablo experience with a lengthy campaign, full voice-acting, several activities, and a deep endgame. Diablo Immortal’s most impressive accomplishment is that it doesn’t feel like a spinoff.

Diablo 3 gameplay 2018 youtube