Diablo Immortal Is Visceral Fun, But Don't Take It Too Seriously

Diablo Immortal has turned into a roaring financial success for Blizzard. The game has earned US$284 million in mobile revenue, according to data.ai estimates, despite controversy around the game's egregious microtransactions and pay-to-win incentives.

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I went into Diablo Immortal with no prior experience in the Diablo franchise. Immortal was my introduction to the series, a simplified version that could be played in open beta on PC or on mobile. Despite the numerous prompts to shell out for something in the shop, Immortal still offers plenty of gameplay for newcomers not looking to pay their way to the top.

Set five years after the end of Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction, Immortal begins with your character arriving at the beleaguered town of Wortham, which players should recognise from Diablo 3. I started out as a Necromancer, drawn to the class’s ability to control the undead.

I did most of my playthrough on PC. It’s difficult to beat the comfort of a large screen, even if the PC version is still woefully missing many key features, including the ability to change the resolution it is played at. The ability to continue your gameplay on mobile is also really nifty, and you can pick up from where you left off no matter where you are.

Immortal turned out to be extremely forgiving for a newbie like me, particularly in the early game. But as I progressed past level 50, monsters appeared to scale more quickly, making your character feel slightly less powerful.

Having said that, Immortal offers visceral and satisfying gameplay for the most part, allowing you to cut through hordes of enemies like a knife through butter.

It offers a decent balance between challenging gameplay and still making players feel good about the character they wield. The Necromancer's abilities are incredibly fun to use, with the ability to summon various types of undead to do your bidding, and then weaponise the corpses of your enemies into deadly explosives that inflict punishing burst damage.