Before I get into this Diablo 4 review, I want to clarify that I’m not some bitter, nostalgic who can’t accept the game is a modern, better-looking version of the original. I played Diablo 1 a few months ago, and I’m harsher than I’d like to be because I’m so excited about the series coming back. But who knows? Maybe my change in attitude as I play has more to do with Diablo 4 watering down my enthusiasm with its vast array of content. I’ll get to my final judgment soon, but before that you need to know the Diablo 4 >Diablo 4 Lilith Bible lore >features>opening areas>endgame>replays
Blizzard talked up the shift to an MMO-style open world during Diablo 4’s development, but I’m struggling to see the benefit. The landscape isn’t a visual feast, Diablo 4’s presence of other players has robbed the original’s lonely horror of its edge, and navigation feels uncomfortably familiar.
After playing the first beta and unexpectedly enjoying it, I went back and played Diablo 1 to learn more about the series’ roots. Diablo 1 felt focused and interesting; Diablo 4’s world feels bland, sprawling, and frustrating. It’s as if the content is spread over an impossibly wide surface area, with the open world and sheer quantity of stuff meant to draw me in and distract me from the fact that Diablo 4’s characters are mostly forgettable, there are only a handful of activities in the world, and I’m doing the same thing over and over again without any variation.
In both games, I play as a Necromancer. In Diablo 1, every single character in Tristram was memorable. I could never forget Griswold’s face when he asks me to get his pride and joy, the Horn of Screaming, back from the fallen Baroness. And Wirt’s reaction to the concept of being possessed by demons. And Farnham talking about a wishlist for the afterlife that ranges from a ladder to Tir’s secondary function as a discotheque. Do you know anyone who can match those impressions from their time in Tristram?
In Diablo 4, I meet lots of NPCs, but they’re all basically the same. All the dialogue from all the NPCs I’ve met so far boils down to: “We’re trapped here, we need help escaping,” or “Lilith is vile,” or, especially early on, pleading for me to open a portal. The constant repetition threatens to make the conversations meaningless, evoking memories of Destiny’s continual missions where I end up spamming the same responses to make small talk with robot buddies.
When I’m not farting around in Diablo 4’s landscape, there are multiple features Blizzard promised that appear to make up for this, specifically Legendary Aspects, Renown, Altars of Lilith, Murmuring Obols, and Gems that buff weapons and armor. I’ll go into more detail on these in my guide. For now, I’ll say that they’re all nice additions on their own, but their benefits are rarely clear, making it difficult to know if I’m making the right choice.
Defeat in the open world often nets me a truckload of gold, which is great for buying potions and repairing my gear, but I have no idea how to spend it on upgrading my Legendary Aspect. And I’m not given any direction on where to spend it. The features seem to have random upgrades with no rhyme or reason, which means ultimately this decision is up to the game telling me when I’ve earned enough points to upgrade.