Diablo IV successfully tempted me to happily indulge in sin at every turn. An exciting hunt for rare loot feeds my insatiable greed and lust for power. The satisfaction of slaughtering thousands of enemies, supernatural or otherwise, leaves little room for remorse. Whether taking down the forces of darkness alone or with friends, this is a massive and deeply engrossing action RPG that keeps me coming back for dozens upon dozens of hours.
Diablo IV offers a deeply satisfying fantasy of developing a character from a one-way pony into an unstoppable, highly specialized killing machine, thanks to its well-timed progression and pipeline of systems that make many aspects of the game rewarding. does. No matter which of the five classes you prefer, there’s a greater focus on player mobility and an array of enemies that encourage efficient play resulting in entertaining, thoughtful, and chaotic combat scenarios. Titanic, prolonged boss encounters border on feeling manageable and won by the skin of my teeth, offering the best example of the game’s good difficulty balance.
I love that becoming stronger is less of a grind to level up and more of a way to adjust loadouts to maximize my playstyle and abilities. I’m encouraged to regularly hone in on skill points to sample new powers and perks and enjoy the great sense of control over how my character is shaped. A more robust but easier-to-parse skill tree helps with this increased flexibility, and it gives way to a new Paragon board when it hits level 50, a more complex and enjoyable form of self-improvement provides.
Tinkering with gear proves to be an obsessive venture as I can replace unwanted armor traits with new ones, scavenge useless loot for materials to improve favored equipment, or sockets for stat-boosting gems. I can add Loot provides powerful gear at a decent cadence, but even shoddy gear feels valuable because, at the very least, I can turn generic items into vital materials to turn a great weapon into its final form. As weird as it sounds, I’m also glad that I’m not getting amazing loot too often, allowing me to connect and grow with equipped gear without the fear or hassle of constantly ditching stuff for shiny new toys.
While exploring the five vast areas of Sanctuary is sometimes a task because of how long it takes and the near-constant evasion from enemies is a blast to uncover. Tackling over 100 cool sidequests, some of which lead to interesting multi-part stories, locating Lilith’s dozens of stat-raising altars, and exploring several random dungeons seems worthwhile as they take place in Reno. Let’s feed. This effective rewards system gives players high-fives for completing routine tasks such as discovering new areas, completing quests, and unlocking waypoints by rewarding them with extra skill points and best of all, more potions. Reputation encourages me to run dungeons that don’t offer aspects, powerful item perks for my class, or to clear out parts of the map that I might have otherwise overlooked. Strongholds, objective-based enemy-filled areas, are my favorite side activity. Their steep and unique challenges usually presented worthy tests of my skills for big payoffs, as did new settlements and exploration.
Diablo IV’s centerpiece feature, its always-online shared open world, is largely unobtrusive during moment-to-moment gameplay. The many pre-release technical tests have paid off appropriately, as I’ve yet to experience any major connection hiccups. I generally favor solo play, but I never felt that the presence of others hindered my adventure, and in the occasional instance I encountered another human avatar emerging The story had neat moments included. When a horde of goats nearly tore me to pieces while dealing with one of the many diverse, often-challenging live events, a deus ex machina-style barrage of Frost Bolts from an intervening wizard player turned to a cool scripted Felt like a rescue. While I’m happy to bid such helpers a friendly wave before proceeding, it’s easier to group up with strangers, as it is to assemble friendly squads to raid as a squad.
Diablo IV’s reliance on an Internet connection is still puzzling on a conceptual level, due to the reality of server issues preventing log-ins. For a cosmetic-only in-game store, the cost is relatively high for a full-price release ($8 for a small accessory pack?), but the abundance of great-looking discoverable gear doesn’t leave me wanting to throw down the cash. on cool threads.
It’s not hard to sell me on a fun dungeon-crawling action RPG, but Diablo IV’s strong narrative is a treat. Lilith’s hostile takeover of Sanctuary and the unsettling events that follow had me hooked thanks to the improved cinematography, something you don’t often see in a top-down dungeon crawler. The in-game cutscenes do the strong performances and characterization justice. I was almost invested in learning more about a character or seeing the next big plot point as I was dungeon crawling. Diablo veterans will be delighted by the abundant context and surprise cameos, but even newcomers can absorb and enjoy the story because it doesn’t rely heavily on existing knowledge of previous entries. Striking an infectious reverence for Diablo’s history, and the plot, especially its ending, has me itching to see where the artist goes next.
An ample endgame offers several neat twists that turn Sanctuary into a fun playground for turning a strong character into a god-like force. In addition to unlocking new World Tiers that offer more demanding challenges and greater rewards, I loved engaging with the Whispers of the Dead missions, which give special gifts for completing them within a time limit. The exploration of Helltides, recurring zones with tough-as-nails hordes of existential threats, is another solid measure of my skill. Other fun shakeups include nightmare dungeons and PvP battles, creating an impressive dessert that fueled my drive to keep going strong even after so many hours.
Diablo IV continually draws me in with its promises of power and riches and routinely follows through. I’ve had a hard time putting it down even after restarting several times, and I get excited thinking how I’ll foil Lilith’s schemes in the coming months as the seasonal updates roll out. Until then, I’m happy to continue reliving Sanctuary with its treasures — and the demons of their lives — in this devilishly impressive epic.