Darkhaven: New ARPG by former Diablo developers gets playable demo on Steam

Developed by Moonbeast Productions—comprised of former Diablo and Diablo 2 devs—Darkhaven promises to take the ARPG genre further by adding destructible environments and a Fortnite-like construction mechanic to complement its main selling feature: destructible environments. The developers claim players can completely change how their maps look by hacking away at their terrain.

Darkhaven looked great on paper, and now, we finally got to see how it plays thanks to a demo. It can be downloaded via Steam, and, for now, there’s only one playable class with a handful of active skills. So far, it has been received well on the platform, with players praising its combat. One can easily feel the Diablo influence after a few minutes in. The developers have also launched a Kickstarter campaign to accentuate Darkhaven’s development.

The ARPG market now has fairly prominent faultlines, with the majority of players divided between Diablo, Path of Exile, Last Epoch, and, for some reason, Torchlight Infinite. While classics like Grim Dawn and Titan Quest have dedicated fanbases, the lack of meaningful online components makes them unattractive for many. Titan Quest 2 is still in early access, and it’ll be a while before it is playable. Much like No Rest for the Wicked, Darkhaven looks like a promising game that will deviate from the cookie-cutter ARPG format that has you chasing larger numbers in perpetuity.