While Diablo 4 is most certainly its own narrative, it doesn’t hesitate in calling back to previous games for character archetypes or even bosses. But very early on we had this commitment to fulfilling the promise of Diablo 4 being a dark, gothic fantasy.” And that’s the beauty of making a numbered sequel, in that you get to recast the die. All of Diablo one through three all view Diablo differently, and treat Diablo differently.

“I think that each of the games, I would say it’s a lens in which you view the world of Sanctuary. When asked if the art direction of the game was done as a deliberate choice in response to criticism of Diablo 3, Mueller elaborated and stated that each Diablo game has its own core visual identity, entangled with the different stories found within Sanctuary, and Diablo 4’s art direction reflective of the narrative this team wanted to tell.

The visceral nature of Caravaggio was also mentioned as key inspiration for how they chose to approach contrast within the visual elements of the game itself, and how Albert Bierstadt’s work helped inform the environments of the game.

Diablo 4 cinematic white guy