Blizzard says Diablo 4's repetitive dungeon designs are intentional
Don't judge a Diablo 4 beta dungeon by its layout.
Criticisms over the Diablo 4 beta's lack of dungeon variety is strictly a beta problem, according to the game's lead developers.
In the recent Diablo 4 pre-order beta, dungeons kept the same layouts on repeated runs—a rare trait for a series that typically randomizes them. As players adventured through the beta on multiple characters, they started to notice the similarities, calling it "repetitive" and "linear".
According to game director Joe Shely in an interview with NME, the repetitive dungeon design is because the beta is limited to one area in the open world game.
"We put well over 100 dungeons in the game—many of those are not in Fractured Peaks," Shely said. "We expect that as you’re leveling up your character, you’re going to be adventuring through many different dungeons rather than doing the same dungeon over and over.”
Shely went on to explain how Diablo 4's dungeons aren't always about slaying demons. Some dungeons require you to place objects on altars to progress, kill a boss at the end, or complete an event. "It's really about—during the level-up period—experiencing all of the different dungeons that exist in the world, and of course, in the beta you're only getting a fraction of that."
General manager Rod Fergusson also told NME that Diablo 4's dungeons will have a "sense of place," compared to the randomly-generated Greater Rifts in the last game. And he said Blizzard will "continue to iterate on dungeons and other features," once the game launches on June 6.
In a Reddit thread about a separate interview with Fergusson and Shely with Eurogamer, fans expressed dissatisfaction with their comments about the dungeons and worried nothing will change in the next three months before Diablo 4's release. One user, who claims they were in the endgame beta, says the dungeons they experienced weren't that different.
Shely told Eurogamer that the Fractured Peaks region in the beta takes up "about 20% of the overworld," and that the dungeons are intentionally similar to tie them to their location in the world.
"People are seeing dungeons at the baseline level," Fergusson added.
Diablo 4's next beta will be open to everyone and starts this Friday.