While the next Diablo is still far off, Blizzard Blizzard Entertainment offers a fresh look at Diablo 4’s artwork. This includes new character classes and reimagined monsters as well as small details such as armor dyes. The Diablo 4 art director John Mueller, Arnaud Kotelnikoff (lead character artist), and Nick Chilano (associate art director) shared their thoughts in a blog post.
speaking over Zoom that the content is “pretty polished”, and “a good representation” of the current state of Diablo 4 development.
Highlights from the blog include characters like Barbarian and Rogue, as well as how Diablo 4’s various body types will look at players’ gear.
Mueller explained that while the gear shown is representative of the darkened, more grounded art direction for Diablo 4, players can still look forward to plenty of flashy armor and gear from the endgame.
Mueller expressed concern that there is more contrast between the top gear and your starter gear. “We want to retain that strong, iconic feeling of the high-level barbarian. You know, after you’ve explored every dungeon in Sanctuary. You should have something that contrasts with what you started with. Because it’s such a long runway, I feel that we have taken a more moderate approach.
Mueller stated, “It took a large investment to achieve this level of fidelity across a board with hundreds and pieces armor and gear, [multiple] body types, characters for five classes, to have all of those feel the same quality.”
Mueller explained that the art team is also working to make Diablo 4 “a very inclusive gaming experience” through character creation and customization. “We are pleased with the variety we offer players,” he stated. “If I just sit there and hit random, then I’m very happy with the results I see. I feel it’s very broad. This is in contrast to previous Diablo games. Diablo 3 had very rigid looks and body types. In Diablo4, I feel that we’ve dramatically opened this part of our game.”
Diablo 4 also brings back classic enemies, such as the demonic Succubus or reanimated skulls. There will also be “nature family threats” like wasps, tree spirits, and bears. There will be new terrors in the game such as the Blood Bishop or a reimagined Skeleton Lord. Mueller stated that Sanctuary must be balanced and not just run by demons and skeletons.
“It’s fun taking this very traditional Diablo theme, such as skeletons, to blow that out,” said he. You can do so many wonderful things with them. It’s the mainstay of what we do. There is a line between the natural world, like the tree spirits, bees, bears, or boars that you might encounter, and the demonic and scary themes. This was something we had in the early days of Diablo. So I think that we’ve always strived to have… the grounding in the universe.
“Through the Diablo 4 Lens, this open medieval land that you could explore was just so compelling an idea that we didn’t feel it was a series of connected dungeons. It’s now this huge, open world. This requires that you have a sense of belief.
Mueller identified one enemy type as the Spider Host. It is one of the most iconic enemy types in Diablo. This enemy taps into players’ fear and disgust for creepy crawlies.
“I knew it had to explode, and there were lots of things that needed to come out,” he stated. “The spider host [is] one of those things, and you know, at this point, I’ve probably killed thousands or more of spider hosts, but it’s still an amazing joy to me [to watch it explode].
Mueller stated that spiders are one the most creepy monster families in the game. “You need to find a way of treating these things so that it feels like dark fantasy. And if it begins to feel too high fantasy that’s when we try and rein in it and say, “Well, that idea was great in Diablo 3 and 2… How can we make that work in Diablo 4? It’s compatible with the aesthetic and the goals we have for the new game.”
Mueller stated that he didn’t know what Mueller was talking about when asked how this realistic approach could work for a hypothetical cow-filled level in Diablo 4. Cow level? What?”
Mueller, Kotelnikoff, Chilano, and Chilano provide more information on Diablo 4’s art direction and technology. Blizzard’s blog post provides an additional glimpse at characters in motion. Mueller shared with Polygon that the team’s new tools and its drive for creating something grounded and realistic-looking, have not overshadowed what Diablo players love about the aesthetic.
Mueller stated, “When we started I believe our primary goal was make something that felt very handcrafted. And to make something artistic.” “Blizzard has an artistic legacy that is very important to the studio. I worried that we might lose some soul if we embrace a lot more technology and tools. Some of the energy that people have with our art might be lost.
“I’m very involved in the work, but I’m also proud of the team’s work. The advancement in technology has not hindered our desire and goals to, at the highest priority, create art that is worthy of our admiration. The audience decides how we are doing. I enjoy hearing from people about what they think.
