The Diablo series is back with the release of Diablo 4. An all-new entry in the series, set almost 50 years after the end of Diablo 3, it introduces new characters and new antagonists. Story and Narrative Producer Melissa Corning, Senior Quest Designer Grzegorz Sadzinski, Associate Game Producer Kelly Yeo, and Art Director John Mueller took the opportunity to sit down with IGN to discuss the narrative, art direction, and how the team cast the villain for this entry. shared information about how they conceptualized — Lilith.
Art Director John Muller said what was the key visual inspiration for Diablo 4’s overall art direction, and it goes back to a trip to the Louvre in his youth. Theodore Jericho’s The Raft of Medusa was the painting in question, and said the painting helped create Diablo 4’s more classical approach in portraying Inarius’ Lilith, while Yeo cited these as inspirations. shared that it served as a broader message for humanity to fight the impossible. Control, the proverbial eternal struggle, has come true in the world of Diablo.
Caravaggio’s intuitive nature is important in how he chose to approach contrast within the visual elements of the game itself, and how Albert Bierstadt’s work helped inform the game’s environment. Also mentioned as an inspiration. When asked if his direction was a deliberate choice in response to criticism of Diablo 3, Muller elaborated, saying that each Diablo game has its own core visuals. It has an identity and is intertwined with the various stories found within Sanctuary. Art direction reflecting the story this team wanted to tell. “I think each game is a lens through which we look at the world of Sanctuary. Diablo 1-3 all look at Diablo differently and treat Diablo differently. And that’s the beauty of making a numbered sequel, but from very early on we were determined that Diablo 4 would live up to its promise of being a dark, gothic fantasy.”
Diablo 4 is undoubtedly a story of its own, but it doesn’t hesitate to bring back games from the past, even for character archetypes and bosses. First appearing in Reaper of Souls, Loras’ Gnar and Narel are his two main characters who ultimately remind us of Deckard’s Kane. Leah appeared in Diablo 3, Prime, where he was only an unfortunate victim to revive Evil. Much of Diablo 4’s story generally seems to carry on ideas from the past, perhaps used as a hallmark of the growing series.
But when it comes to the discussion of a new character, Narel, she’s potentially an attempt to rectify the pitfalls of Diablo 3’s story about Leah, particularly the way her character becomes a conspiratorial device to bring Diablo back to life. may be considered to be For boss battles, Senior Quest Her designer Grzegorz Sazynski said, “We wanted each character to be able to experience their own motivations, aspirations, and character journeys without resorting to repeating something. We are doing it.”
The narrative team wanted these characters to be able to be enjoyed independently by new players, even if they had no previous game experience. Story and Narrative Producer Melissa Corning said the additional knowledge will help the player’s overall experience of characters like Loras and their apparent connection to Deckard Kane and other major story beats so far in the Diablo universe. , but it does not preclude narrative choices. Find out who this character really is and how he became the lonely old hermit that players know today.
“Our approach to creating this story was iterative. I wanted to announce it before.” In terms of the overall creation of Diablo IV’s story, Sadzinski. Corning also said the development team “read and considered all of these reports.” But this wasn’t just Diablo IV’s main scenario. She went on to say that feedback was also considered for non-story-critical character dialogue, such as deviant villagers found throughout Sanctuary throughout the open beta.
But Diablo 4’s most prominent character, Lilith, is back in the conversation once again. Sadinski elaborated on the creation of Lilith and how collaborative it was between the various departments of the development team. “I think it’s a matter of so many other disciplines coming together under a strong creative direction. [Lilith] It’s nuanced and you know, it’s just doing terrible things and not some giant demon out of hell that we have to kill it. That was one of my goals. He shared that his team, the casting director, the voice director, and the film team, were all involved in creating the character who would eventually become Lilith after her brief appearance in Diablo 3.
Art director John Mueller extended the design of Lilith, who appears as the player’s final narrative encounter at the end of the game. Much like her father Mephisto, Lilith becomes a floating torso, and in the final stages of battle she mostly resembles herself save for her long skeletal appendages and tail. “It’s almost like she’s become a father. You know what she hates most about herself, or what does she hate the most? The second form of is described as an example.
“I remember it really went over and over again to get the balance right. This isn’t just Mephisto, it’s really brought it forward and it’s her monster form, but her character It’s like having a second form that maintains .She doesn’t just fall apart and become this awful monster.It’s like she should have been Lilith after all.So that’s the biggest challenge. But Muller explained that this version of Lilith looks a lot like her hatred-succumbing father, but named one of Lilith’s more interesting traits: her eyes.
“The reason for her blue eyes is interesting. Because we wanted to give her the feeling of being an outcast among demons, so we wanted to give her a demonic vibe that would never fit in. And we wanted to create a character that wasn’t evil. I felt like I wanted to, so she’s bad, but she’s not really bad.”
Associate Game Producer Kelly Yeo echoed, “I think a lot of what we’re trying to do with Diablo is not to make things black and white.” She brought up Inarius in particular while talking about the grayness of the entire world of Diablo. Inarius, like Lilith, escaped eternal conflict and founded an unprecedented sanctuary. “Inarius was also an outcast of sorts. And he’s definitely not a perfect human being.” , remained an integral figure in the game’s narrative. It was somehow predictable, especially for the way he meets the end, but also shocking in how it was ultimately presented in his final encounter with Lilith.
“The death of an angel was very exciting,” Muller shared. “It’s the idea, ‘How do you kill an angel?’ and the whole. But besides Inarius’ death, his death in Hell was a metaphor for his inability to escape the torment he endured in the fiery hell for thousands of years. “That was his ultimate demise. It was like he never got away from it.” said he did the job.
He also acknowledged that Mephisto’s wolf form had nothing to do with making the King of Hate appear more approachable or more appealing to players. However, the original design of the wolf cub cosmetics available to players during the Open Beta suggested that Mephisto was a wolf. Ultimately, they decided that, all things considered, it was just too unreasonable and they decided to drop some of these references.
At the end of Diablo 4, Lilith was defeated by the player character and Mephisto was trapped in the Soulstone like many Prime Evils in the Diablo universe. But in the end, it all comes down to the choices Narel, a young girl once seen as a future Horadrim in Loras’ eyes, and her escape from Mephisto’s Soulstone before the credits roll. And when the final set of cutscenes plays, the familiar music of the “Tristram” theme is heard as Narel boards the ship and Mephisto in wolf form appears next to him.
So when it comes to discussing future content based on how Diablo 4 ends, Melissa Corning said, “Our goal is definitely to make sure we give people the opportunity to tell more stories in the future.” said. With Narel and Mephisto on the move, it seems like a given. However, it will be interesting to see what the Diablo IV team builds after the finale.
Kazuma does odd jobs in all areas of the industry, including translation, story design, and consulting, and spends his time playing games ranging from farming simulators to classic CRPGs. In his spare time, on his Twitch channel he speedruns Resident Evil series games as a VTuber and raids with friends on Final Fantasy XIV and Lost Ark. You can find him on Twitter. @JusticeKazzy_.
