Ray tracing is officially coming to Diablo 4 in March. Cool! Nvidia recently released a short trailer – and I mean really short, just 40 seconds – showing off the spruced up visuals and, um, well. Reader, why don't you see if you notice a difference, because I am honestly struggling over here.
The first few shots of the trailer are all labeled "RTX on," but you could've told me it was RTX Negative and I wouldn't have questioned it. There's a comparison at 0:16 where a group of ghosts gets passed through that classic before-and-after filter for ray tracing, and without looking at the little stamp in the corner, I mistook the RTX Off shot for the improved, RTX On version, appreciating the clarity of detail in the ghosts' hair and limbs and clothes. But the RTX, you see, was actually off, and when I realized it had come back on, I also noticed that those details were suddenly lost under a sheen of odd fluorescence. There are clearer reflections, I guess, but is that worth the hit to visual clarity when you're fighting a big mob?
At 0:20, we see a gang of skeletons cast long shadows across a cobblestone floor. When Nvidia throws the RTX switch this time, the shadows are – and you might want to sit down for this one – still there. But, like, more skeleton-y. Skeleton-ier. This sample of shadows is – I hesitate to say lifelike because, you know, undead – probably the most compelling comparison in the trailer, and if skeleton-ier is the best we've got, that's really not saying much.
Ray tracing, as a quick refresher, is a fancy bit of rendering tech that enables more lifelike lighting by realistically simulating elements like reflections, shadows, and refractions. It literally traces rays of light in greater detail. Here's the problem with that in a game like Diablo 4: there ain't no freakin' light. Yes, there's obviously enough light to let us perceive things, but Diablo's aesthetic explicitly revels in the dark and dreary, and it's hard to appreciate shadows when it's all shadow.
Not only that, because the camera is pulled out so players' eyes can appreciate Maximum Dudes Per Second, all those elegant reflections and shadows are both hard to see and obscured by the aforementioned dudes. And if some of those dudes are skeletons and they live long enough for you to marvel at their shadows, you are either 1) possibly a Necromancer or 2) probably playing Diablo 4 wrong. The result of all this is a remarkably fruitless trailer that manages to make Diablo 4 look uncannily like Diablo 4. I'll just take the DLSS frame rate boost, thanks.
Diablo 4 devs know they've been "a bit quiet" on Season 3, but will have details to share "very soon."
