PC gamers can now enjoy a new demo for Darkhaven, the upcoming action RPG from the original creators of Diablo.
Diablo is arguably one of the most influential RPGs of all time, influencing a large range of games that have come about in the past thirty years.
Some of its core developers went on to work on franchises like Torchlight, Hellgate, and Warcraft, and it looks like this new game from Moon Beast Productions is set to revive that type of experience.
Darkhaven comes from the minds of some of those original Diablo developers, including Erich Schaefer, Brian Fitzgerald, and Peter Hu. And for the most part, it looks like an excellent successor to the original series.
As you can probably tell from the gameplay trailer, which I’ve embedded below, the game uses a top-down isometric camera, with loads of mobs to plow through and loot to collect.
Sounds pretty much like a Diablo game to me, but it should shy away from some of the more controversial changes made to later games in the series to make the experience appeal more to fans of what made the original games so great.
Darkhaven’s Demo Is Worth Checking Out If You’re A Diablo OG
If you fancy checking it out now, you can check out Darkhaven’s demo on Steam for free. It’s quite a long trial experience, featuring several hours of gameplay.
The demo doesn’t have a specific end to it, but rather caps out your progression at Level 8. It also only features one character class, with six available skills across three separate skill trees.
There’s also one world event which can occur by following the main quest. Once it’s triggered, it’ll start transforming your world over time until you put a stop to it.
As Moon Beast mentions, in-game performance will improve through subsequent patches and updates, with the full release supposedly fixing any outstanding issues found during the demo period.
The Steam blurb on Darkhaven reads: “Darkhaven is a dark-fantasy isometric ARPG set in the aftermath of a total collapse of civilization. You are a survivor in a world where the wild lands and monsters have reclaimed the ruins of long-dead empires.
“To survive, you must venture beyond the safety of your meager stronghold to hunt the remnants of evil and become the hero this world awaits. Unearth items of legendary power, learn arcane skill trees, and master a combat system that rewards skill and positioning over simple stat-checks.”
