Blizzard has taken a bold step with Diablo 4, venturing into live-service territory for the first time in franchise history. To ensure longevity, the game boasts the biggest map in the series, filled to the brim with activities for players to engage in as they strive to foil Lilith's nefarious plans. However, this vast world comes at a cost. In order to keep players returning, the endgame will be crucial, and Blizzard's commitment to post-launch support will be a determining factor. While the expansive map offers plenty of replay value, the lack of variety in dungeon layouts and enemy types may prove to be a hindrance.
How Diablo 4's Map Helps the Game
The developers of Diablo 4 have estimated that the game's main campaign will take around 30 to 35 hours to complete. This estimate has been validated by early access players who have completed the game's narrative, with the average player finishing the campaign in approximately 30 hours. However, the campaign is just a small portion of the game's overall content. The map of Sanctuary is vast, featuring five distinct regions that include various dungeons, enemy types, side quests, and strongholds, providing players with a plethora of activities to engage in beyond the campaign. In essence, players can explore the expansive world of Sanctuary in Diablo 4 for hours on end.
Blizzard's impressive creation of a vast and feature-packed world in Diablo 4 provides players with endless opportunities for exploration and enjoyment. Moreover, the potential for future content to be seamlessly integrated into this already expansive canvas suggests a bright future for the game's live-service model. Remarkably, even though the campaign can be completed in just 30 hours, players can easily spend the same amount of time solely on Act 1 due to the immense size of the opening area in Sanctuary's map. And with even more content on the horizon, the game's potential for lengthy and engaging play sessions only continues to grow.
How Diablo 4's Map's Size and Scale Limit Its Variety
Despite its vast size, the map of Sanctuary lacks diversity and uniqueness in its environments. While each of the five regions boasts distinct biomes for players to discover, they may find themselves repeating similar activities throughout the map, only in different locations. Unfortunately, due to the enormous scale of Diablo 4's map, dungeon designs have suffered as many of them have the same basic layout and gameplay loop, which players will spend considerable time in.
While Diablo 4 offers some variety in gameplay through Nightmare Dungeons, Capstone Dungeons, and other activities, some players may find the drastic difficulty spike to be off-putting. Additionally, the World Events across the five regions lack distinct flair or variety, with a limited pool of event types. As the largest map in any Diablo game to date, it's clear that Sanctuary may struggle to maintain its weight. However, with Blizzard's post-launch and live-service plans, it is hoped that the map will receive more variation and utility to make the most of its size.
Diablo 4 is available now in early access with its full launch coming June 6 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
