One of the consequences of allowing a decade to pass between sequels is it creates lofty expectations. Diablo games have traditionally been successful, achieving acclaim from critics and consumers alike. Fans still regularly play Diablo II and Diablo III and debate over which one is superior. The fact these games were released in 2000 and 2012, respectively, speaks to their longevity, but with that also allows enough passage of time where nostalgia can factor into current assessments of those games and the judgment of their follow up. After watching update developments for a couple years and hands-on beta access, the gates of hell open up once again as Diablo IV is finally upon us, ready to be judged by new and old fans alike.

Diablo IV takes place thirty years after the events of Diablo III. Unlike its predecessors, the titular Lord of Terror does not appear to be the main antagonist, at least not in any of the promotional material leading up to its release. Instead a new villain appears to be at the heart of the conflict. Cultists have summoned Lilith, daughter of the prime evil and Lord of Hate Mephisto into Sanctuary. Something about Lilith seems different from other evils that have plagued Sanctuary. Lilith is clearly demonic based on her appearance and powers, but despite this has a maternal and benevolent air about her. Her plans and desires for Sanctuary reveal themselves as the player advances, but Lilith has more nuance to her personality than has been traditionally seen in Diablo villains.

There are five available classes to choose from: Barbarian, Druid, Necromancer, Rogue and Sorcerer. Upon selecting the desired class the player has a great deal of freedom when it comes to customizing their appearance, including hair, skin color, gender, make up and tattoos to name a few options. Each class has their own abilities and strengths. The Barbarian is a physical brute that carries an arsenal of four weapons. The Druid can command the forces of nature and assume the forms of a werewolf and werebear to augment their combat prowess with bestial might. The Necromancer utilizes death related magic, relying on curses and summoned skeletal warriors. The Rogue fights with daggers and arrows which can be augmented with shadow magic and poison. The Sorcerer unleashes powerful magic utilizing the forces of fire, ice and lightning. Each character has a branching skill tree that makes a variety of builds possible for each class. If a player is dissatisfied with their build they can spend gold to reassign their skill points. It's recommended to experiment with different builds to see which approach ends up being the most enjoyable to an individual's playstyle. Each class will likely continue to be rebalanced following launch, so the emphasis on each build should be which is most fun to play. Experimentation with all classes was conducted, but the primary character during the review was Necromancer based on the complaints of that class getting nerfed prior to launch.

World tiers have returned to allow players to choose how difficult they desire their time in Sanctuary. In a nutshell, the lower the tier the easier the enemies are to kill, but experience and gold boosts come with higher level tiers, and some exceptionally nice loot can only be acquired on tier 3 and tier 4. Tier 1 is the default setting, and for Diablo veterans would be considered too easy by many, but is a good option for newcomers. Tier 2 is a good balance as it offers a challenge and the player is much more likely to die, but should be able to ultimately overcome any obstacle. Tier 3 and 4 need to be unlocked by completing specific dungeons after the campaign is completed. These tiers offer a greater challenge, but by the time they're accessible, the player should have the skill and gear necessary to tackle it.

One of the more dramatic changes in Diablo IV is the acts all take place in one connected open world as opposed to areas being separated and inaccessible without using a waypoint. The world of Sanctuary is rather large, and even though players are free to go to any location they desire, the option to ride a horse of use one of the numerous waypoints makes getting around easy. Even though there is a story that progresses through the various acts this helps make the world feel more connected and less linear than its predecessors. During the review act 3 was actually completed before act 2, which was not a deliberate choice, it just happened naturally based on the quest markers that were being followed. The ability to break the linearity of the story by tackling the acts somewhat out of order was a nice touch in that it made the progression through story feel more organic and less contained by the specific act's location. This was also true of side quests. Traveling to the other end of the world map wasn't as immersion breaking as having to find a waypoint to travel back to a previous act.

Playing through the main campaign took around twenty hours or so, but this was also skipping and ignoring most side quests and optional dungeons. This is not the recommended way to play as part of the joy of Diablo IV is exploring Sanctuary and learning about the hidden tales that many dungeons contain. Not to mention the perpetual quest for acquiring loot and getting bonuses that apply to all of one's characters on the server. Thankfully these areas scale in level to the player so they were able to be addressed in the endgame and still provide a satisfactory level of challenge. And speaking of the endgame, this is where a lot of the fun with building overpowered characters can be had. The paragon board opens up when the player hits level 50 and provides a substantial matrix of skill augment glyphs to unlock. This is crucial when tackling the increased challenges found in World Tier 3 and 4. Whispers of the Dead send the player on bounty hunts where they can try to earn more legendary gear. The Helltide is a regularly-occurring event where the forces of evil are strengthened but greater loot can be earned by those brave enough to overcome them. Capstone and Nightmare dungeons offer up new challenges and greater rewards, as is a general theme in Diablo. And one of the anticipated elements of the endgame is the Fields of Hatred where players can go the designated PVP arena and see who really has the best build. All in the all there was plenty of endgame content to keep playing interesting long after the end credits rolled.

Anyone who has played any of the three previous Diablo games has a general idea of what Diablo IV is about. Demons are invading Sanctuary, so it's time to click them all to death and collect the best loot possible. But just as Diablo III is not simply Diablo II with better graphics, Diablo IV follows the general gameplay template but forges its own identity within series. Diablo III did bring quality-of-life improvements to the franchise, and fans of that particular game will see the similarity in Diablo IV. But Diablo IV also brings back the skill tress from Diablo II where players can experiment with different character builds, albeit in a new incarnation. The dark aesthetic of Diablo II has also returned. The impression that was given back during the first beta was Diablo IV combined the best elements of the previous games to build it into something that is both new and familiar. The review period for Diablo IV was simply too short to take a deep dive into every character class and experiment with all the different possible builds, but it was long enough to know that this is an element that is being looked forward to on subsequent playthroughs.

As enjoyable as Diablo IV was during the review, it's plagued by the dreaded always online requirement. Diablo games are more fun with friends and it's likely most people will be spending most of their time in Sanctuary wanting to be online, but this brings with it an assortment of annoyances, especially when wanting to play solo. There weren't too many issues during the review period. Occasionally there was a network problem the delayed starting a game and sometimes there would be lag preventing an area from being accessible for a couple minutes. Basically issues that were annoying but not game ruining. But also this was when few people were on the servers, and back in 2012 starting a game in Diablo III was a nightmare during the first couple weeks following its release. Hopefully events like the Server Slam weekend helped iron things out so Diablo IV's launch is much smoother.

With the exception of the aforementioned issues that can occur with games requiring a constant internet connection, things ran smoothly during the review period. The review copy in which we were provided access was for the PlayStation 4 version which was played on a PlayStation 5. Some of the cinematics weren't as sharp as they were during the PS5 betas, but looks great considering it was designed for a decade-old console. The voice acting was well done across the board and the music perfectly set the mood, particularly the creeping children's choir during the start up screens. The gameplay is repetitive, which is to expected from this series, but the controls and skill mapping are both responsive and intuitive where managing the multiple skills in the heat of battle is a breeze. Compared to previous titles in the series there was a greater emphasis on storytelling and the story itself was more intriguing than expected. A new change that will be easier to form an opinion on after launch is the light MMO elements where other characters are seen wandering about Sanctuary.

Closing Comments:

Based on the franchise's history, Diablo IV has large boots to fill, but does an admiral job of meeting this longtime fan's expectations. Diablo IV maintains the core gameplay that made it popular while combining the best elements of the the previous games. The continuous open world is an improvement over the completely separate acts with an intriguing story that feels more nuanced than the previous entries. All the elements of of a great action RPG are present, most importantly Diablo's reward loop system where players can spend years playing through new seasons and characters to experiment with different builds and try to collect the best equipment. The gameplay is repetitive and simple but is still a joy to binge play, especially with friends.

Diablo 4

Reviewed on PlayStation 4

Franchise
Diablo
Platform(s)
PC , PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S
Released
June 6, 2023
Developer(s)
Blizzard
Publisher(s)
Blizzard
Genre(s)
Action RPG , Hack and Slash