Even if you have a pretty good idea of how the song is going to progress from the minute you hear the first iconic note, experiencing Diablo 4 for the first time is like going to a concert to watch your favorite band perform their most popular song live. The action role-playing game (ARPG) Diablo 4 may not do much to revolutionize ARPGs or push the boundaries of a genre that its series helped pioneer, but the adjustments, upgrades, and borrowed concepts that it does introduce have sculpted this newest model into the best Diablo we have ever had. The finely-tuned combat, extensive build options across each class, stellar graphics, and strong live-service foundation are all among the most impressive in the genre. Furthermore, the endgame activities and grind are so well thought out that I struggle to find any fault in them – something that happens about as often as rain falling on Mars. Even after killing a ton of demons and stressing about loot rolls, I'm still really excited to play quite a bit more of Sanctuary, despite the fact that the game's story isn't particularly good and there are a few glitches that can be rather annoying. However, despite these flaws, the eighty hours that I've spent playing Sanctuary have been overwhelmingly pleasant.
The latest installment in a demon-focused series, Diablo 4, is soon approaching its 30th birthday, and it mostly succeeds in updating the depths of Hell to the point that it can finally compete with other action role-playing games released more recently
You are once again sent on an endless string of dungeon crawls where mastering your hotkey-bound abilities, optimizing your damage per second (DPS), and improving your survivability are generally more important than things like an engaging story or explaining the insane diarrhea of flickering lights and elemental effects that typically occupy the screen
However, practically every moment of that is really, really enjoyable whether you are playing alone or with up to three friends, and this is true whether you are playing alone or with up to three friends
Running dungeons captures the old but just as compelling loop of fighting hordes of foes, accomplishing goals, and taking down bosses
Running sidequests to learn more about the mythology of the world and the individuals in it is typically a really enjoyable experience, even when the main plot is meandering
However, if you were thinking that Diablo 4 would shock the world of action role-playing games (ARPGs) with significant new additions to the genre, you are likely to be disappointed in this particular area. Blizzard seems willing to primarily play it safe by introducing intelligent but unsurprising improvements to the formula of action role-playing games (ARPGs), with things like more customisable skill trees and more diversified playstyles between its iconic character classes, rather than attempting to reinvent action role-playing games in any big way. This franchise has a lot of ground to make up in the 11 years since the release of Diablo 3, and whether it's taking inspiration for its fighting system from Path of Exile or incorporating online features from Lost Ark, there isn't really anything about what Diablo 4 does so brilliantly that is absolutely unheard of. However, despite the fact that there are not many game-changing breakthroughs, the good news is that the lack of experimentation has resulted in a game that is incredibly well-designed and is successful at almost everything it tries to do.
I'm one of those weirdos who actually pays attention to the story in Diablo, and while the one in Diablo 4 probably won't win any awards, it is still a significant improvement over the one in the game that came before it. The quest to find and stop Lilith, daughter of one of the Prime Evils of Hell, after she unleashes her fury onto Sanctuary serves as a terrific launching point that I was still eager to unravel even after my ninth playthrough of the first act during the pre-launch beta. In this quest, you will have to find Lilith after she unleashes her fury upon Sanctuary. Gone are the days of WWE-like voice talents and painfully corny dialogue. The queen of succubi is one of the most nuanced villains the franchise has ever seen, with motivations that even made me question the justness of my own cause. This marks a significant improvement over previous iterations of the series.
But before you get any genuine payoff for what's expertly built up in the first act, you'll spend the overwhelming majority of the next four going on tangentially connected errands with more filler than a packing peanut factory, before eventually getting back to the business at hand. This is all before you get any real compensation for what's expertly set up in the first act. The end result is a plot that is engaging but lacks cohesion, and the conclusion isn't quite satisfying enough to justify the effort. The fact that Lilith makes everything so much more interesting whenever she is either present in the scene or directly involved in the goings-on makes it all the more frustrating. However, for the overwhelming majority of the campaign, she is kept concealed behind a curtain in anticipation of the conclusion of the story, and the side quests you are given to complete along the way feel like pointless distractions the entire time. When you combine it with some genuinely disheartening boss fights, especially the final one of the campaign, it's hard not to feel let down by what this could have been. I won't give anything away, but trust me when I say that.
