The negative reaction to the announcement of Diablo Immortal may have left many feeling uneasy about the first mobile entry in the series. Anticipation of a Diablo 4 announcement becoming subverted by the reveal of Immortal made for a controversial BlizzConn 2018 moment, and another year would pass before the fourth mainline title was announced. The immediate reactions panning a mobile version of Diablo may have been premature, though, because Immortal seems to have successfully transitioned the beloved loot-heavy dungeon crawler to mobile platforms - although it does leave the player a bit wanting in some respects.

For all intents and purposes Diablo Immortal is a standard Diablo game, and makes few concessions in terms of gameplay as a touch screen mobile experience. Diablo Immortal has six character classes to choose from: Barbarian, Wizard, Demon Hunter, Monk, Crusader, and Necromancer, although the Necromancer was not playable in the closed alpha. Each class has aesthetically unique weapons and armor, an interchangeable primary attack, and about a dozen skills, four of which can be equipped at one time.

Related: Diablo Immortal Starts Closed Alpha, Still Doesn't Have a Release Date

The core gameplay loop will be familiar to those that have played other Diablo titles. Players leave a safe area - usually some sort of town or guarded encampment - and fight through hordes of demons or other unholy creatures to their goal, which usually culminates in a boss fight. Items of varying rarity and piles of gold are dropped along the way. The entire experience has been broken up into much smaller chunks to accommodate the mobile platform, with quests usually only taking two to five minutes while dungeons come in smaller sizes. Diablo Immortal lends itself to a play style favorable for mobile, allowing players to hop in and complete a quest when they have a few minutes of spare time.

Diablo Immortal Closed Alpha Gameplay

Diablo Immortal's mobile team at Blizzard should be praised for the game's highly optimized experience. Loading is fast, taking less than 30 seconds to go from booting the app to playing, and only two or three seconds of loading screen between zones on an iPhone 11 Pro. The graphics are impressive as well, and the game does not seem to struggle when there are a plethora of enemies on screen. Diablo Immortal certainly uses its fair share of battery life, but doesn't drain it as fast as one might expect, which is an unexpected but welcome boon for a high-end mobile gaming experience.

Diablo Immortal being on mobile devices is also its greatest downfall, however, despite how well the platform is used. The signature hellish ambiance of the Diablo series is stunted by a small screen that doesn't allow the player to fully appreciate it. It's often difficult to know where the character is walking, since a group of enemies barely have any room to be observed around the edge of the screen before they're provoked by the player's presence. This problem is exacerbated by the screen being cluttered with HUD elements.

Diablo Immortal Closed Alpha Monk Combat

Short play sessions, which the game seems intentionally designed for, also move the story along at a breakneck speed. A quest will necessarily have an impetus and a conclusion within a matter of minutes, leaving the drama feeling forced and the characters involved ultimately unimportant. Consequently, the main quest line feels like little more than a vehicle to push the player toward endgame content, which is where Diablo Immortal will need to flourish if it wants to sustain a player base.

It remains to be seen how effective or predatory the monetization will be, which is often a concern in the mobile gaming space. Although free-to-play, Diablo Immortal will feature a battle pass system, with progress tied to quest progression, dungeons, and other activities. For now, there is a surprising amount of content with no form of energy system, however, which is a positive design feature. The game is still a work in progress, with player feedback contributing to development changes, so systems are liable to be altered anyways - but in its current alpha state, Diablo Immortal is proving to be a promising touch screen adaption of the beloved dungeon crawler series, even if it still feels like mobile isn't quite the best platform for it.

Next: Diablo Immortal is NOT a NetEase Reskin

Diablo Immortal has no set release date, but is coming soon to iOS and Android. Screen Rant was provided with an iOS closed alpha key for the purpose of this preview.