Diablo IV
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Platform: Playstation 5
It’s Time to Hit the Grind…Again
I have been a fan of the Diablo series for a long time now; decades at this point. I remember watching my friend play Diablo forever ago, fascinated and enthralled with the twisting tunnels that ran beneath the town of Tristram. By the time Diablo II released in 2000, my family finally had a computer at home, and my friends and I played a shameful amount together via old school Battle.net. Then with the release of The Lord of Destruction a year later, we all played even more! Back in those days we had no voice over IP, so instead we would sit on the landline together for hours at a time, chatting away while we slaughtered the forces of hell.
It was an 11 year wait before Diablo III was released to the world, and way too long after that for the game to finally be in a good state with the release of its expansion, Reaper of Souls. Once DIII was good (with the removal of the real money auction house and the revamped loot system, among other things), I finally sunk a lot of time into it; I even return to this day here and there to see what the latest season has to offer, having a good time whenever I do. I honestly thought that with the release of the necromancer pack in 2017, we would see more classes added to DIII, and that it was going to be going for a while…but we all know that is not how things turned out.
When Diablo IV was announced, I was less than excited. I thought that DIII was in a good place and saw no reason for Blizzard to make another sequel: why not keep making new classes and expansions for DIII like they do for WoW? I guess I was naive, because of course they were going to make Diablo IV. But due to the controversy surrounding Diablo Immortal and what was going on with WoW and Blizzard at the time, I did not care about the prospect of a new mainline Diablo. Blizzard had lost my trust, and it was going to be a long time until they got it back (thanks to them turning WoW around, mostly).
Diablo IV has been out for a few years now, and it has its first expansion under its belt, so I guess it’s as good a time as any to jump in a see what’s up. I would not be playing it if not for my partner deciding to redownload it to the PS5 and buying the expansion because she was at a loss of what to play. It was watching her made me that made me want to jump back into Sanctuary and give Diablo IV a try. Now 100 or so hours later, here are my thoughts on the latest adventure to stop the forces of hell.
Design and Presentation
Unlike the more cartoony/WoW look of Diablo III, Diablo IV sees a bit of a return to the bleak and dreary look of Diablo I and II. I am a fan of the game’s art direction overall, and I find it to be more inline with the feelings of desolation, despair, and hopelessness that I associate with dark fantasy and the Diablo series. The world of Sanctuary is a dark place, and I can understand why the people here live in fear of what goes bump in the night. Even the angels of the High Heavens are horrific in their beauty and their attitudes, showing how flawed even the beings of ‘good’ are in this setting.
Like every other game these days, Sanctuary is an open world. At first, I rolled my eyes at this, because of course Diablo IV has an open world, it’s the in thing right now. Yet honestly, so far, I am enjoying how they pulled it off; I thought I would miss the generated and random areas of the past, but I find myself enjoying the world building that a cohesive overworld can bring. I appreciate how the landscape seamlessly flows from one region to the next, with the lack of loading between the zones helping to add to the sense that Sanctuary is a cohesive whole. But at the same time, there is a lot of busy work sprinkled across Sanctuary: random events, statues of Lilith to find, side quests, and then Hell Tides and the like at max level. I also enjoy the simple fact that we get mounts, and I love that I have a spectral ghost horse! You also can find new armours and accessories for your mounts, and buy them from the shop, but fuck that nonsense.
Another thing I like about the open world is that you can run into other players at times. It seems to happen more when you’re in town, which I feel adds to the sense of being a lone wanderer questing across Sanctuary. The game has a pseudo MMO feel, which I am enjoying. Now, do I think it justifies the need for the always online aspect of the game? No, I really don’t. I would give it up in a heart beat if it meant I could play DIV whenever I wanted.
The sound design is a highlight for me. The music is restrained and acts as a source of ambiance that quietly lends itself to the sense of dread and darkness that the art direction is conveying. There are no roaring tracks to tell you how epic you are, or anything like that, instead the music is here to seep its way into your subconscious and tell you how wrong everything in Sanctuary is. The sound effects are also top notch: combat effects are weighty and thick, delivering visceral and satisfying feedback; the monsters, demons, and bandits screech, roar, and rage with conviction, and their death wails scream of unrealized evil convictions. Blizzard has always had solid sound design, and I am pleased that that tradition is carried over here.
I wish the story, on the other hand, kept the feeling of dread and malice that the art and music are selling so well, but instead it wallows in shallow mellow drama, which is fucking annoying: I am fight back against a demon who wants to end the world as we know it, yet I am babysitting children at times, listening to them cry, and talking about the power of friendship. Like, what? This is a bleak and morbid world of dark fantasy chalk full of religious overtones straight out of the dark ages, not some Saturday morning cartoon where we are going to solve our problems with the power of love and friendship. Now it’s not like that all the time (the acts when you’re working with Lorath without Nayrelle for example), but by in large the story as juvenile. Diablo and Diablo II had the feeling of a religious sermon, while DIII and IV feel like fanfiction written by people who have no idea what made the first two games so special: blood, guts, and violence alone do not make a story dark and brooding, it’s how you convey the darkness that matters.
The only narrative highlight is Mephisto in both voice work and characterization. He plays everyone for fools; Lilith may have been the big bad, but even she was a pawn in his schemes. It’s such a shame then that this personification of evil is held back by such mediocre storytelling. Here is hoping that with the new expansion coming next year, Mephisto’s story keeps getting better.
The Real Meat
Now let’s be honest here, most people (me included) don’t play ARPGs for the story, we play it for the minute-to-minute gameplay and that dopamine rush of getting new loot. For the most part, I am enjoying the after-story grind Diablo IV has on offer, and I am finding that the loop is fairly satisfying. You roll around Sanctuary battling monsters and demons, clearing out dungeons, facing off against bosses, all while chasing that ever elusive amazing item. It feels the same as it always has, and I am having a good chunk of mindless fun.
Once the story is finished, the real bulk of the game opens to the player. The following is a list of all the activities and events I have uncovered so far in my quests across Sanctuary. They are presented here in alphabetical order, because that’s how I roll!
The Artificer’s Tower
Delving into the depths of the tower as you attempt to finish each floor within the time limit. Pushing deeper is what lets you unlock the torment difficulties, and completing the floors within time is how you upgrade the glyphs that you socket into your paragon boards.
The Dark Citadel
I have not tried this yet, because you need a group of 2-4 people to delve into the depths of the Khazra Citadel. Maybe I will give it a go and some point, but for now, this will remain and mystery.
District Runs
Located within the Undercity of the Kurast Docks, these timed runs are another activity I have not done much of. To access the Undercity, you need special keystones, and maybe I am just unlucky, but I have not found one or had one drop for me in forever.
Hell Tides
For an hour the forces of hell invade a region of the map. Killing demons enrages the tide, causing a surge of them to spew forth from the depths to avenge their fallen. You collect cinders to open chests in the hopes of getting good loot, and hearts to summon Maidens of Lust to battle for loot and glory
The Infernal Horde
A classic horde mode where you battle against waves of demons until the boss spawns. Once again, all in the hope in getting a good drop. I haven’t done this much, but it seems cool enough.
Lair
Small dungeons where you spend special reagents to summon powerful boss demons to battle. This is how you get the real good loot, and they can be a bit of a challenge at times.
Nightmare Dungeons
Slightly harder versions of the dungeons that are spread across Sanctuary. From these dungeons you get the reagents needed to upgrade your gear. Each of the keys you get for the dungeons have random affixes on them, lending the runs a bit of variety.
Seasonal Events
New events and activities are added and removed each season. I have only experienced one season so far, so I can’t really attest to how different each one can be. Right now, we are working with the Tree of Whispers to hunt down rogue heads who owe a debt to the Tree. Head hunts are when zones turn ‘purple’, and you slaughter countless monsters and do activities to get heads for the Tree and the witches. There are also witch powers that you equip in a separate menu, with each of them granting you new abilities and the like.
With the new season starting on the 29th of April, I am looking forward to seeing how it plays out from the start. Just like in Diablo III, you make new characters each season and start the grind from level 1 all over again.
Strongholds
Spread out across Sanctuary are Strongholds. When you entre them, you do a small event to liberate the fort by battling the forces of evil and then claim it for the forces of good. Once it’s claimed, there is usually a waypoint and a couple of dungeons to do after the fact. Pretty standard open world stuff, and nothing to write home about.
World Bosses
Once and a while a message will pop up and tell you that a world boss will be spawning soon in a certain area. They’re large, almost kaiju like monsters that need a whole bunch of people to take down, and because of the always connected nature of the game, you usually have a whole group of folks there fighting it. Then drop some decent loot and are a visual sceptical to fight.
I have been grinding out the region reputations as well as nightmare dungeons so I can upgrade my gear and push deeper into the tower to raise my torment levels. It’s a mindless grind most of the time, but I am having fun.
Conclusion
If you go to the Diablo IV subreddit, you will think the game killed their family and stole their dog, and that it is the worst game ever made. I can see that DIV isn’t the best game ever, or even the best in the series (shout out to Diablo II), but it is not nearly as bad as those perpetually online folks say it is. If you go in looking for some mindless fun, I think Diablo IV is going to provide you with that; not every game needs to be some sweaty try hard mess.
I would say that if you can get the base game and the expansion for cheap, give it a go. I wouldn’t recommend it at full price, especially with the amount of microtransactions, but I would when it’s on sale. It’s a good time, and while it’s the not best game ever made, it’s a solid ARPG, and worth your time.
