REVIEW – The latest installment in Blizzard and video gaming’s most famous action RPG franchise once again takes us into the immersive, dark fantasy world of demons and angels. The long-awaited Diablo IV continues the story of the previous installments and takes the hellish world to a new level in terms of gameplay, graphics, and atmosphere. Can we take on Lilith, Queen of Hell, and defend humanity? Read on to find out!

For over 25 years, the Diablo series has enthralled gamers, spending days and nights in digital hell, unabashedly engaging in bloody and brutal combat, hunting monsters and treasure in the deepest recesses of the literal underworld. Blizzard’s latest creation, Diablo IV, continues the story of the previous installments and takes the gameplay, graphics and atmosphere to a new level. Tested on PlayStation 5, the game takes advantage of the console’s strengths and delivers an immersive experience.

Lilith is a demonic dominatrix who is no joke

Hell hath no fury so cruel as that of a woman scorned and cast aside. Lilith has returned to Sanctuary, determined to reclaim the world she helped create, even if it means slaughtering thousands of her children. Though many of us have spent countless hours ascending to near-godhood three times to defeat the titular big bad demon, Diablo IV is both a return to the old ways and a welcome departure from the franchise’s established norms. Yes, it’s a confusing statement, I’m aware of that. But relax, let me explain – let’s start with the new demonic dominoes in town and the resident big bad, Lilith.

The Hell Lords are slowly regaining their strength, and another invasion of the Sanctuary seems inevitable. At least that’s how Elias, the fallen Horadrim, sees things. And that fear and misguided sense of purpose is enough to take matters into his own hands, calling Lilith back from the Void to wipe out the Lords of Hell and remake the world in his own image.

That’s where you come in, the newest hero, destined to save Sanctuary from the horrors Lilith will leave in her wake. Soon after you’ve wandered into a small village overwhelmed by a treacherous storm, you’re drugged and prepared to be sacrificed to Lilith’s mother. Luckily, you’re the protagonist, so of course a stranger saves you at the last minute. (Otherwise the game would be hilariously short with a Game Over.) After you clean up by slaughtering the entire village, you learn that you’ve not only been drugged, but fed Lilith’s blood. Normally this would convert even the most devoted follower of Inarius, but you’re not bothered, you’ve just made enough of a connection with Lilith to have visions of her “misdeeds”, which is a welcome benefit for you. What follows is an epic tale of overcoming all the horrors Lilith throws at you and the Sanctuary.

“The night is dark and full of horror”

Despite the complexity of a universe that has been developed over almost three decades, through novels and comics in addition to games, the Diablo series has always struggled to deliver the story of those games in a convincing way. Sure, we’ve always glossed over the lead-ins, but the classic story of good and evil is always played out through two-dimensional villains who have no real motivation for their actions other than “the bad guys have to do it”.

In Diablo IV, Lilith couldn’t be more the opposite, as unlike the previous Lords of Hell, Lilith is a real, believable “flesh and blood” character – even if it’s strange to read that about a demonic arch-villain in a video game. She boasts a truly compelling backstory, her motivations are complex, and she is consistent and ruthless in her adherence to her rock-solid principles. For the first time in the series, I can truly empathise with why the antagonist does the things he does, an essential ingredient for a great villain.

The same multidimensional character portrayal extends to many other characters in the game. While previous games have seen a lot of loss and cruel fates befall certain characters (Leah, we’re thinking of you with tears in our eyes…), Diablo IV takes us into a story that is even more heartbreaking, cruel, sinister and believable. And because of that, this Diablo installment is by far the best in terms of story and character development.

Some things are a little too familiar…

If only the same progress could be said for the core gameplay. Although Diablo IV is still incredibly enjoyable and addictive, it has to be admitted that it feels almost too familiar and hasn’t been able to innovate significantly from previous games. Sure, there are some significant gameplay improvements, such as the addition of mounts, an easily accessible transmog system, various frequent world events, and the addition of interchangeable legendary gear aspects. The rest of the gameplay elements, however, are just what we’ve become accustomed to in Diablo III.

Every mission, for example, consists of “go here, kill this, get that, then come back” – probably the game’s biggest disappointment, especially considering how high the bar has been set for other AAA titles. This makes completing each mission feel like a chore, done solely in the hope of getting one or two better pieces of equipment.

This somewhat tired formula could easily have been improved with a little more thought, if I had a game designer’s mind, for example, the creators could have thrown in a few puzzles. Fortunately, the excellent voice acting, the impeccably crafted universe and the story behind the missions put us back in front of the screen, which helps compensate for the lack of innovation.

One of my favourite missions involved getting stoned on some incense and following a giant snake hallucination through the swamp in search of the Tree of Whispers. (No harm intended, my character was just stoned.) While there was nothing complex about the gameplay itself, the environment and dialogue were interesting and really exemplified the improvements in storytelling and world design.

Today I’ll be a necromancer, tomorrow a druid, then a wizard…

Despite its shortcomings, I still really enjoyed the typically “diabolical” gameplay, which was a bit simplistic at first and only later became more complex with a plethora of different skills. Each class feels almost perfectly refined, with complex skill trees that change your playstyle significantly depending on your build. Thanks to the overall balancing and the introduction of new skills, some of the available classes have a completely different feel to previous games. I initially went for necromancer, and after unlocking a few abilities and seeing how everything came together, and the dark mage’s ability to raise the dead made for an incredible experience as I wiped masses of monsters off the screen thanks to some of the most brutal spells.

Each class is almost perfectly refined, with complex skill trees that change your playing style significantly depending on your build.

I had to take a very different approach to playing as a druid. Although I could diversify my abilities with necromancer in the early game, it made me weak as a druid. Fortunately, I could easily recoup my skill points for a small amount of money, allowing me to make a more specialized Werebear build that I could use to beat the crap out of my enemies. In addition, the transformation abilities could now be triggered mid-combo, so I could quickly switch between my Werebear and Werewolf states and use my elemental abilities seamlessly on the fly. This was a nice improvement over the minute and a half of switching in Diablo II.

For my third playthrough, I chose the sorcerer. While this class has always been historically strong, it has mostly acted as a glass cannon, which made it a bit daunting to try without a group to take some of the blows for me. In Diablo IV, the sorcerer seems less fragile and more like a battle mage. I found that I could stand my ground in the middle of the action, and had plenty of powerful attacks to incapacitate my enemies. In addition, of the three classes I tried, the sorcerer had one of the strongest skill combinations. Inferno Ultimate’s spell summoned a giant flaming snake that coiled around my enemies, causing a massive firestorm. After unlocking the Prime and Supreme Inferno ability levels, the Inferno spell now attracted enemies to itself, allowing me to cast fire spells without mana cost while the Inferno was active. There’s nothing more satisfying than bouncing the Meteor spell ten times to burn my enemies.

It is a very, very, very dark world…

One of my favorite changes in Diablo IV is the return to the much darker tones and more sinister locations art style that I fell in love with in the first game and Diablo II. The visual world of Diablo IV is incredibly dark and depressing, while being more reminiscent of a medieval Russian setting. In the small towns of the wretched villages, people are equally terrified of the demons outside. Beyond the walls, in the dungeons, among the various ruins and hellish locations, the most varied monsters are out to squeeze every last drop of blood out of us.

The graphics are accordingly stunning and immersive – even if the resolution on PlayStation 5 is slightly lower than usual, and a regular graphics “glitch” bug spoiled the experience for me. Regardless, the graphics are beautiful and realistic enough – as realistic as a fantasy world with a top view should be.

Although the pre-launch version of the game fell a little short of my expectations, I still had a great time for the 25 hours or so it took me to play through the six acts. The story is engaging and perfectly complemented by the meticulously crafted world design. Plenty of end-game content, such as higher World Tier difficulties, Nightmare Dungeons, World bosses, and recurring seasons, provides plenty of opportunities to keep you entertained long after the story is finished. And since Diablo is a live-action game that will continue to evolve over the next few years, I have no doubt that it will get better and better the more the community plays it, as Diablo III was almost unrecognizable by the end when compared to the launch version, due to all the development.

Whether you’re a die-hard fan or this is your first Diablo experience, you will surely enjoy your Sanctuary visit. While some areas seem a little underdeveloped, the essence of making Diablo games fun is present and polished to near perfection.

-BadSector-

Thank you to Magnew Kft. for the test code!

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Blizzard Entertainment

Style: Action RPG

Release: June 6, 2023.