Diablo 4 interview: The inspirations that fueled Blizzard’s epic action RPG

Diablo 4 is a massive success: Action RPG fans have already spent 10,000 years of gameplay in Blizzard’s next masterpiece. PCWorld spoke to Art Director John Mueller and Game Director Joe Piepiora about the artworks, philosophers, and mindsets that formed the basis for the greatest Diablo of all time.

PCWorld: Whenever we play Diablo 4, we think of a quote by Stanley Kubrick: “Every Frame a Painting.” Every frame a painting. Diablo 4 seems very artistic, and has a lot of elements that in combination create a harmonious picture and make the game seem as if we were walking around in a work of art. What did you draw inspiration from? Do you visit a lot of museums all over the world? There are a lot of interpretations of hell in different art eras.

Art Director John Mueller: That’s a very nice compliment. I mean, because it was intentional. We have a design pillar that we call the Pillar of the Old Masters. When we were designing Diablo 4, we wanted it to feel like a gothic, medieval painting come to life. Not like a photograph or a film. And so we looked at artists like Albert Bierstadt, a naturalistic artist who painted landscapes. And these are very dark, very epic. Very diabolical.

This article, which originally appeared on PCWorld’s sister site PCWelt, was translated from German to English.

If we move above ground, humans live there. The monsters are rather unwelcome visitors. The world above ground is the sanctuary, the world we fight for. If we go underground, anything is possible. If we descend into the dungeons, that is the entrance into darkness.

There is this absolutely fascinating painting, my favorite painting called “The Raft of the Medusa” by the French Romantic Théodore Géricault, which is more Diablo in its essence than very little other art. It is a very powerful drawing of a world of people caught between the eternal conflict of heaven and hell. And that is exactly the core of the Diablo series. After all, there are many old masters who depict the demons and angels in heaven and hell, with the tormented humans in the middle..

PCWorld: And in between all this is Lilith, the daughter of Mephisto, who plays a kind of femme fatale, you could almost say. Clearly diabolical, but also with a certain art of seduction, because she taps into the lust for power of some people in dialogues.

Art Director John Mueller: Lilith is not this hulking, giant monolith that Diablo is often imagined to be. She’s a character who seems quite feminine – almost human, but not quite. Almost demonic, but not really. It was enormously exciting for us to design her because she is this rebellious outcast among the demons who created the Sanctuary as a place where the darkness can flourish undisturbed by other demons and their armies.

PCWorld: Diablo 4 often makes us think of Game of Thrones: There are many grey rooms, few characters we would dub as classic heroes and many, many who act nice but pursue dark intentions.

Game Director Joe Piepiora: I think it’s an interesting point of comparison when we look at other dark fantasy stories that are morally ambiguous in their approach. With Diablo 4, we knew we had to make sure we were making a game that was true to the Diablo series. It’s a long-lived series now, but we also wanted to make sure that we created a work that felt accessible to new adventurers. It tells a lot of little stories, has a lot of secrets and Easter Eggs for fans, but I think it’s also easy for new players to dive into. Hence the strong focus on our main characters like Lilith, the mother of Sanctuary.

We introduce these characters almost like in a play, such as the archangel Inarius, who led the armies of heaven against those of hell and fought Baal, Mephisto, and Diablo in the series. The whole setting of Diablo 4 is a world that takes place between the very physical, real struggle between Heaven and Hell that people are caught between, and we take a lot of time to characterise Lilith’s motivation. She’s this keeper of Sanctuary, but she’s also a demon. She allows terrible things to happen in order to do the right thing from her point of view.

PCWorld: Have you also been inspired by real history? The Cathedral of Light, led by Inarius, remind us of the formations and armor of the Roman legions..

Art Director John Mueller: It definitely has something to do with our goal of bringing paintings to life. There is a lot of historical art that shows gigantic battle scenes. There are certainly some armors of certain eras – like those of the Roman legions – that lend themselves because they convey a certain familiar epicness. We associate something with these martial shields and armor. And then there’s this fascinating component where thousands of soldiers met, which is sometimes an inspiration for our big battles, without wanting to give too much away (he grins).

PCWorld: John, what was the biggest challenge in the design of Diablo 4? What aspects did you have to rework or even completely rethink?

Art Director John Mueller: The connected open world was a gigantic challenge. We wanted to be able to walk or ride all the way from the top of the world to the bottom without ever seeing a loading screen. In previous versions, there were originally many portals inviting you to travel. The decision to have an open world that can be freely travelled via horseback on horseback made us think a lot more about the nature of geography at its core and how everything is connected.

To give an example: If we look at Fractured Peaks, it’s a mountainous region with lots of glaciers and different biomes; in the southern region of Fractured Peaks it’s actually starting to melt. The water that comes from the fractured peaks flows down into Hawezar, creating the swamps. This kind of living world geography was something we had never had to think about before, but it was also incredibly exciting and a great challenge for the whole art team.

PCWorld: In one of your own making-of videos, you said that Diablo 4’s world doesn’t have to be beautiful, but entice you to adventure. Can you elaborate on that?

Art Director John Mueller: One of my favourite places is the coast of the Dry Steppes. I love the beaches, that voluminous colour palette. I love the atmosphere there. There are all these discoveries you make when you travel around there, but I wouldn’t say it’s beautiful. At least not in the way you might call something beautiful on holiday (he laughs).

It was important for us to offer a really wide range of scenarios and locations that stand on their own. Which are able to tell their own stories through their art design. Each location has its own lore – sometimes religiously based, sometimes triggered by catastrophes, famines, wars. These can pay into the main story, but they don’t have to. It’s a bit like a work of art that you can read a lot into. Or just enjoy the atmosphere it gives off.