‘Diablo 4”s Lilith could be ‘Diablo”s Darth Vader says franchise head

nme.com:

Diablo fans diving into this weekend’s closed beta were treated to their first look at Lilith, the often-mentioned but never before seen daughter of Mephisto.

She’s taking a central role in the events of Diablo 4, and fans may have seen a slightly more nuanced approach to being evil, as she wins over the hearts and minds of a small church in the game’s opening cinematic.Antagonists in Diablo have often been more classic big bad fare, likely related to the fact they are actual demons.

However, the team working on Diablo 4 is trying to do something different with Lilith, who despite being part of that demonic pantheon should feel like a more human character.“It’s a very deliberate choice to change the way Lilith comes across because we want to tell a story that people can relate to,” says Jeff Shelley, the game director for Diablo 4. “Even when we have big antagonists that are supernatural angels and demons, they need to have relatable human motivations”Shelley ties this into the fact that Diablo 4 is going to be a much darker game in tone than Diablo 3, thanks in part to the fact that darker storytelling like Game of Thrones, Squid Game, and even The Walking Dead has shown that there’s an appetite for darker fictional worlds.“Characters need to be able to have a depth that you care about, so that players can understand how they could feel like their objectives are justified versus just a paper character that wants to do evil because they’re evil.”Rod Fergusson, the general manager of the Diablo franchise, compares her to Star Wars villain Darth Vader.“She’s not a moustache twirling villain, right?