Well here’s something we didn’t see coming: a crossover between Diablo, Blizzard’s immensely popular hack-n-slash horror fantasy video game franchise, and Berserk, the dark and violent but much admired manga by the late, great Kentaro Miura. This is the first time a Blizzard game has teamed up with non-Blizzard IP, so it’s a pretty interesting collab. 

Although it’s a surprise that a well known video game is integrating a well known manga into its gameplay, tonally the two are a great match. And Guts, the violent anti-hero of Berserk, carries a big sword, just like most of the characters in Diablo. 

The team-up was teased last week, and details were released this morning. Berserk characters, styles and objects will be coming to both Diablo IV, the console/PC game, and Diablo Immortal, the mobile iteration. 

All Diablo games take place in the world of Sanctuary, a typical medieval ish land of villages and cities that has been overrun by demons, led by the ultimate boss, Diablo, and it’s up to you to kill them all. It’s a pretty bleak worldscape – missions usually start out with your character trying to help some innocent villager who has dabbled in something beyond their ken. 9 times out of 10, the mission ends with someone dying in a particularly tragic and sad way. 

It’s a lot like Berserk, actually, which also takes place in a demon infested hellscape. The hero, Guts, slashes his way across the world seeking revenge on the man who betrayed him, Griffith, leader of  the “Band of the Hawk”. Berserk is published in English by Dark Horse and it’s one of their best sellers. It’s one of the most popular manga ever published, due to Miura’s kinetic and detailed worldbuilding. 

I happen to be a regular Diablo player, having spent countless hours in Diablo III. Since Diablo IV isn’t playable on a Mac (boooooooooo!), I’m currently an avid Diablo Immortal player, so I’m pretty curious to see how this all plays out. For my general thoughts on Diablo, scroll down, but here’s how the event. will roll out, per the blogs that were released this morning. First, a few videos, an intriguing anime-infused trailer for the Berserk crossover in DIV

https://youtu.be/U6LL5EsAwvE 

And a gory trailer for the Berserk-themed mayhem in Diablo Immortal

https://youtu.be/yXS30KScwFI?feature=shared

I’m more familiar with DI’s gameplay, but in Diablo IV the Berserk Reliquary will run from 5/6 at 10am PT to 6/3 at 10am PT, and the Berserk bundles will be available in the shop from 5/6 at 10 am PT through 6/5 at noon PT. You’ll be able to purchase Berserk-themed cosmetics in the Berserk Reliquary, using Behelits, powerful gems that drop during combat. 

Trade in Behelits to the Berserk Reliquary to claim items befitting the will of Godhand themselves. Claim the Hawks Destiny Back trophy, which houses the shackles that once held the fallen knight Griffith captive, the honorable Skull Knight’s Heraldry Mount Armor, or the cursed Brand of Sacrifice Marking. 

Besides armor, and a mount, you can also acquire the Chimimoryo Schnoz Pet. 

For Diablo Immortal, the program runs from May 1 to May 30th and you’ll also be able to gain cosmetics, and a new Golem familiar:

Log in during the event to select your preferred tool of demonic dismemberment, the first of which will be specific to your class. Weapon skins available during the Struggler’s Path include the fearsomely massive Dragon Slayer greatsword!

While the Struggler’s Path is live, log-in to earn the following items:

• 1x Struggler’s Path Weapon Cosmetic
• Crimson Behelit Legendary Gem
• Eclipse Portal Cosmetic
• Eclipse Frame
• 10x Legendary Crests

It sounds like you’ll be able to get these rewards for playing regularly, not spending cash, but these also sound like what you would get in the regularly appearing Phantom Market, which does require hard cash to max out, so don’t expect a free ride here. The Golem familiar is a guaranteed drop, however. 

A new gem will also be available, the Crimson Behelit. At Rank 10:

Your Behelit activates in response to your overwhelming desire, granting you the Behelit Power you seek the most. While above 50% health, dealing damage grants you Behelit’s Wrath, increasing your damage done by 30% for 6 seconds. When taking damage below 50% health you gain Behelit’s Mercy, reducing the damage you take by 30% for 6 seconds. When a Behelit Power triggers it releases a scream of terror at the enemy’s location, Fearing nearby enemies for 1.6 seconds. Each Behelit Power has its own separate cooldown; Behelit’s Wrath has a 20 second cooldown and Behelit’s Mercy has a 60 second cooldown.

The most intriguing aspect of the Immortal crossover, for me, is a new version of Survivor’s Bane. This is a kind of “endless battle” game mode where you start with no powers and have to survive in a barren landscape to get more resources, and eventually, kill lots of things. It’s one of my favorite game modes and Berserk brings a new version of game, according to the blog:

The infamous Eclipse comes to life within Survivor’s Bane. The Eclipse is an apocalyptic event within Berserk, where the Band of the Hawk was sacrificed by their former leader to exalt him to member of the Godhand. Within the Eclipse, these doomed warriors were teleported to a hellscape, mercilessly slaughtered after being marked with the Brand of Sacrifice.

While Survivor’s Bane is active during the Struggler’s Path event, you’ll be able to fight within the Eclipse itself. Every other minute, you’ll experience the full Eclipse for 60 seconds. Rally as though you are side by side with the Band of the Hawk, fighting for your life despite the brand of Sacrifice freshly etched upon you.

In this mode, Struggler’s Bane will introduce new monsters and a new boss. 

As usual with Blizzard games, there’s a lot of artwork – definitely more Blizzard-y than Miura-esque, but let’s dive in:

Aside: Diablo and Me

I avoid playing video games because they’re just too addictive, and honestly, I suck at most console games. The Diablo franchise is my sole exception. After a hard day reporting the comics news, it’s very relaxing to turn into a necromancer or barbarian and kill demons accompanied by massive explosions and death gurgles and tons of loot. Also, both Diablo II and Diablo III were available for Mac, and that is gooooood. I played DIII for years, exploring pretty much every nook and cranny of Westmarch and collecting seasonal rewards. Putting together the best possible gear each season is a lot of fun, and the one time I managed to finish all of the season’s challenges felt pretty good.  (I also played Diablo II, a leaner, much harder game that came out in 2000 and had somewhat primitive graphics but an enjoyable story and challenging gameplay.) The world of Sanctuary has a lot of cool mythology and characters, and the little bits that got added to it over the years was enjoyable to experience. 

Diablo Immortal came out in June 2023, and offered the familiar slash and grab gameplay, but to make much progress required a lot more money than the console/PC versions of the game. I only started playing regularly about 18 months ago, after the kinks had been worked out. Unlike other versions of Diablo, you pretty much have to be part of a “clan” which requires a lot of interaction with other players. That’s been an interesting experience, and actually led to some real world anxiety which I might write about some day, because it’s kind of a funny story. But I’ll save that for another day. 

Anyhoo, I’ll definitely be collecting as much Berserk-themed Diablo Immortal gear as I can in May. And maybe I’ll fire up the emulator to collect some of the Diablo IV goodies: I’ve only played the game a little bit, but it’s very immersive and detailed and a lot of fun. 

What do you think? Berserk fans, Diablo fans and Berserk/Diablo fans: are you excited about this team-up? Let us know in the comments!