There is no better genre that forges a strong community other than an MMORPG. Having hundreds of people sharing the same space, exchanging resources, crafting gear, and fighting the big bad together is quite an amazing feeling. But is Diablo 4 MMORPG, or is it something else?
One of the core things that MMORPGs have is a huge world that takes hours to explore, and when it comes to Diablo 4 definitely ticks that box. However, according to Blizzard, they are not calling it a MMORPG, but instead, they are calling it an ARPG – Action Role Play Game.
@ Blizzard
While the official genre for Diablo 4 is ARPG, many will also refer to it as hack-and-slash. This is a genre of video games characterized by fast-paced combat in real-time. The name for the genre originated from players who would be incredibly engaged by the flashy and rapid combat that games like Diablo 4 offer while having a relatively simple control scheme.
For hack-and-slash games, it is important that the action that the game brings to the table is fast-paced and combat-oriented. This means that it has to be responsive and fluid; there is no room for sloppiness and something that would let the player take a moment and think about their next move. Combat also involves fighting against multiple enemies at once and devastating them with powerful abilities.
While combat is the most important part of an ARPG, of course, there also needs to be a sense of progression. In Diablo 4, and games that are similar to it, players will be able to progress their character by gaining experience points to level up. As you level up in ARPGs, your character becomes stronger by unlocking new abilities and skills, which make them even more powerful.
Like learning new abilities with leveling, another thing that everyone loves in an RPG is the gear that their character is wearing, and Diablo 4 definitely has some cool-looking gear out there.
Whether you are a Sorcerer, Necromancer, or some other of the five Diablo 4 classes, you will have the opportunity to loot some amazing gear.
One of the key things to an ARPG is to have a simple control scheme, and considering that Diablo 4 is playable on both PCs and consoles, the controls have to fit on a controller for the full experience. Of course, those who play on PC with a keyboard will have the option to customize their controls a bit further, but those who play with a controller will have an easy time picking up the game and doing all kinds of amazing things without any additional keybindings.
Something that defines an MMO when it comes to games is that there are usually three different roles a player can fulfill – the tank, the healer, and the DPS. When it comes to Diablo 4, there are no roles, only classes. Every class is capable of fending for themselves, which is the beauty of the ARPG genre.
While Diablo 4 multiplayer is online only, you will not have to rely on anyone, and you will be able to clear all of the content that the game offers all by yourself. Of course, if you choose to do so, you can create a party of up to four players in order to make some content easier, but that is as MMO as it gets.
There are quite a lot of limitations that keep Diablo 4 going into the MMORPG genre, such as the world’s scale, the interaction with other players, the instanced content, and most importantly, the gameplay focus. However, in the future, Diablo as a series might just come out in the MMORPG form, but if that happens, we cannot be sure if it is going to be good or bad since the action part of Diablo is what defines it so heavily and makes it the king of hack-and-slash.
Read Also: Diablo 4 Couch Co Op
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