Diablo IV activities aren’t walled off between different modes or multiple toggles. Non-linearity is another goal. If you want to follow the main story with your friends, go for it. If you simply want to explore the game world for dungeons, go ahead. Wandering around could lead to surprise encounters with players and demons alike. Instead of teleporting from challenge to challenge, the hope is that players will take charge of their own experiences. If there was another key thing to change, McCree told me, it was the pacing.

“The gameplay videos make it look frantic but the pacing is down a little bit,” McCree said. “I think it adds more atmosphere, more time to take things in.”

The result was a Diablo experience that I really enjoy and definitely want to check out again before Blizzcon is over. There’s a focus on pleasing players, bringing back competitive battles and allowing them to focus on what they want. Underneath the gritty looks and the expansive world is the monster mashing gameplay folks love.

“Smashing stuff is really fun,” McCree said.

It’s Diablo through and through, and more Diablo is always a good thing.