Diablo 4 Review

"Lilith Has Come"

Campaign

June 15, 2023 at 9:43pm
By Jason Stettner

The wait between main line Diablo entries has been long. We were lucky enough to be graced with the presence of Diablo 2 Resurrected not too long back which was excellent, but the desire for that fourth main entry has been extensive. The time has finally arrived and it’s coming out the door swinging.

The mother, Lilith has returned and you’re hot on her trail trying to figure out what she’s going to do. Lilith is a wild card, being stuck between the battles of heaven and hell. So you’re never sure what’s going on with that character, but regardless she commits many evil acts and must be dealt with before all is lost.

This is of course handled very well over an extensively long narrative that you can enjoy. The six or so acts of Diablo, depending on if you consider the extras part of that will have you going across a massive continent exploring what’s out there and solving the mystery. It’s impressively long offering well over thirty hours of play if you’re just rushing through the story.

I’ve spent about fifty hours or so at this point and I really do almost feel like it’s just rolling, with so much more out there to explore and do. That’s insanely impressive honestly. The game begins with a dark tale, and that’s where you meet your character.

You pick from the following classes: Barbarian, Druid, Necromancer, Sorcerer and Rogue. Each offers their own unique skill tree, style and general attitude. There is light customization that I hope they expand upon down the road and then you’re off venturing. The game really has no limits to your exploration once it opens up.

You can go about conquering the endless dungeons, cellars or other events at your leisure. There are side quests, open world multiplayer activities including epic boss battles and then a pile of end game content as well. That takes the form of more thrilling high tier challenges that I’ll try not to spoil here but just sort of mentioning them.

Trust me, the end game is long and goes on as long as you desire it to. There’s also zones for PVP or these exciting Strongholds that bridge the gap between story and dungeons. The game is just stuffed with things to do and an insanely massive world to do them in that in itself feels rather endless.

I was just blown away by the effort here, they really did provide something massive and it feels as though it’s just getting rolling. There are of course those trademark high quality cutscenes that pop up from time to time which certainly means something is going down. Those are usually backed by this game’s epic soundtrack that really does set the mood across your entire adventure.

The story itself is brutal, dark and lengthy with many twists along the way. They play at hiding the main intentions of Lilith very well so it was a treat to see that slowly get revealed over time. There are of course some returning faces, some shocking reveals and of course a darkness that only this franchise could deliver upon you.

It’s also really neat in how this is handled from a multiplayer perspective since it’s this shared world. You’ll come across others on your open adventures, connect with people easily to do battles and easily have friends join for coop as it scales well. You could even start a clan which is cool to have for those looking to venture with close friends in a larger way.

Gameplay

As is tradition you will control your chosen character from an over the head perspective. You’re using a variety of simple inputs to unleash abilities upon anyone unlucky to get in your way. You can of course use higher world tier difficulties and even unlock more to make your journey harder.

If it’s somehow not difficult enough, hardcore mode will cause your character to perish forever so that’s a bit slightly insane to choose. The skill trees in this one are seriously deep in concept offering many ways to personalize your character. A sorcerer for example may have many unique elemental properties to them based on what they choose to improve.

Then there’s also a whole paragon system that comes afterwards in your leveling which is even more in-depth. It really does feel deep in every element of play. It’s also rather neat that you can play the game in local coop splitscreen which is such a treat to have present. This is a multiplayer only setup in case you were curious, so everything you do is tied to others with no offline.

The servers have had some moments where things are down but it honestly hasn’t been too bad and I’m sure it’ll continue to be smooth since they’ve gotten it all handled at this point, seemingly. Just an aspect I felt I should mention. The world itself is massive in this, truly almost ever expansive it feels like. There are dozens and dozens of activities to take part in across completely unique areas.

There are just tons of dungeons, cellars or other worldly activities to take part in. You can spend tens of hours like I have and still be coming across new ones to venture into. That doesn’t even include side quests and the main narrative. The world is also incredibly detailed and filled to the brim with foes to demolish.

There are so many creatures in this game to slaughter, ever so many. It’s delightful. You get everything from demons to massive bosses and even various forms of bats but never a generic bat which is weird. The places you do visit vary so greatly. From terrifyingly detailed dungeons filled with bones to sandy libraries and even ethereal planes, this game has it all going on.

On the Xbox Series X when it comes to quality you get a 4k resolution at 60fps which looks incredible sharp and detailed. It plays fluidly and is just an excellent, well polished experience. I should also mention for travel that you can get a horse after awhile which is awesome. Bit of a random side thing to come up with but yeah, that’s just how filled this one is.

The game’s loot economy is also stuffed with ever so many weapons or pieces of equipment to gather for every class. That’s the beauty of this one, you just keep grinding more stuff so it feels as though the magic never ends. Even if you get to the end of a class you can jump on another one or just keep cranking up that difficulty. This truly is one of those games that feels like it could never end, if you want.

The Conclusion

Diablo 4 is an incredibly impressive continuation and expansion upon the core foundations of Diablo, offering an ultimately extensive and exciting experience. It feels as though your time with it could never end unless you desire to cut it short. The main narrative is insanely lengthy and that’s expanded upon greatly with a seemingly never ending splash of side activities.

You’re able to explore endless quantities of dungeons, take in world events that are thrilling or even just venture about with friends in cooperative play. There are almost too many things to do, and despite being expanded upon that core foundation of Diablo feels impressively alive here. It really does expand into that multiplayer space almost perfectly and I can see many getting hopelessly addicted to it like I’ve been.

It’s just an awesome game to play and one that I really don’t want to ever put down once I start engaging with it. It’s really hard to find games where you just keep coming across fresh stuff and don’t get bored of it. That’s really quite an accomplishment here and despite how much time I’ve spent I somehow still feel like I’m just getting rolling with how much I’m going to end up playing this.

I really don’t have many things to go over from a negative stand point. I may point out that some cellar or dungeon goals are somewhat repetitive after awhile, but when you have ever so many locations that truly does make sense. The only other aspect is online connection, but that’s going to matter more to some than others.

I think they almost perfectly nailed this latest iteration on the franchise. It feels familiar while going boldly into a connected multiplayer world and it just works. I had a ton of fun roaming alone, with friends or even randoms when we faced massive world boss monsters. They really did make an impressively expansive offering and I’m sure fans or newcomers will find this ever so charming.

It’s very easy to get into if you’ve never played the series whereas veterans will feel right at home. It’s got the charm of great story, well done performances and trademark Blizzard elements that once again thrive within this sort of play space. A truly impressive game, Diablo 4 absolutely hits the mark. It’s a heavenly great time, which is ironic considering the many demonic experiences you’ll face along the way.

Read our Diablo 2 Resurrected Review
View our Diablo Hub

Diablo 4 Review on Xbox Series X
Review Code Provided by TriplePoint PR

Rating Overall: 9.6