To pat a dog in Diablo IV, you have to stand near the pooch you’d like to give some love to, open the emote wheel and select the “Hello” option. Sometimes, you’re not standing quite near enough to the dog and your character says one of their many greetings while the dog looks on. If you are close enough and manage to get the emote to fire before the dog wanders off, you’re treated to a couple of seconds of canine friendship. And then you go back to killing monsters.
The convoluted way in which the game allows you to interact with dog NPCs is a somewhat apt microcosm of Diablo IV as a whole. It’s built upon layers and layers of overlapping systems and mechanics threatening to drown what is, at the core, an exceptional gameplay experience.
The central pillar of Diablo IV’s gameplay is unrivalled. The dungeon-crawling combat and loot collection are about as good as it gets in the genre but there’s so much other “noise” the good stuff sometimes feels as though the volume’s been turned down. Thankfully, the gameplay is so good, it manages to shine regardless.
Diablo IV Review
Like its predecessors, Diablo IV is an isometric action RPG. You select from one of a number of classes, kill monsters, level up, gain new skills and collect loot. I don’t think anyone is under any preconceptions about just what kind of game Diablo is. But Diablo IV has moved away from the bright, over-the-top, almost comic-book feel of Diablo III and has taken a step back towards the grimdark, seriousness of Diablo II. I adored the ridiculousness of Diablo III, the vibrance of colours and the absolute insanity that unfolded onscreen once you really got going. I miss that in Diablo IV. It’s a far more grounded game. It’s darker, more drab, less silly.
And I know there’s a contingent of fans who wished for this direction but I’m not one of them. Diablo IV is all gruff-talking men with muscles seriously discussing the end of Sanctuary in a way that would put Bruce Wayne to shame. It’s just a bit much and the levity that Diablo III wrought from its visuals and its combat has not made its way back into Diablo IV. The combat is still excellent (as it needs to be seeing as though it IS 99% of the game) but I do wish that some of the Diablo III flair had been implemented.
In my time with Diablo IV, I’ve played as both the Rogue and Barbarian. At this stage, I have to say, that neither of them feels particularly well-balanced. I’ve tried a number of builds and I never felt like I was in control of a powerful warrior. In fact, more often than not, I felt like I was holding on by the skin of my teeth and in a lot of cases, encounters felt genuinely impossible with the character I had chosen. In moments where I managed to join a group of play with other players, Diablo IV suddenly felt like it was under my control but then, it was too easy. I never found a happy medium between frustratingly difficult and laughably easy, spending my play time seesawing between the two. Never is this more apparent than during dungeons.
Some dungeons are a cakewalk. I strode in, smashed up the joint, turned the boss into custard and teleported out. Others nearly broke me. During the beta, I was stuck on a dungeon boss called the Broodguard. It was frustratingly, punishingly difficult for melee characters and while I managed to beat it, it wasn’t satisfying. Fast-forward to now and the Broodguard is still a nightmare. I took less time beating it this time around because I knew what to do, but it still feels like a painfully unfair fight. There are numerous instances of this throughout Diablo IV, with some bosses being nigh on impossible until I changed my entire build. I have no doubts that balancing a game like this must be frighteningly complicated but at this stage, I don’t think Blizzard has it quite right just yet. I haven’t played the other three classes as yet so I’m not sure how they fare, but for me, Barbarian and Rogue still have a ways to go.
The move to a fully open world is one that’s both good and bad. On one hand, being able to freely move around the entirety of Sanctuary without loading is incredible. Exploring the world has never felt so good in Diablo. On the other hand, there’s really not much to see and do in this massive open world and getting around takes a long time, even with fast travel. Outside of quest markers, the open world is largely devoid of any content outside combat. Being constantly accosted by dozens of enemies while you’re exploring doesn’t take long to become a nuisance. Riding a horse is a good way to avoid this but mounts seem to have been added only to alleviate the issue of the large open world a don’t actually add anything substantial to the table.
Visually, the open world is spectacular, but the snowy mountains, desert and swamps don’t really look or feel all that distinct from one another. It really goes back to the grimdark, serious tone that Diablo IV has set for itself which seems to have limited the scope for colour and silliness. Put it this way, if Diablo III was the MCU, Diablo IV is the DCEU under Zack Snyder. It’s po-faced where it could be something that straddles the line between Diablo II and Diablo III. We all know the fate of the world is serious business, but let’s have some fun while we save it, yeah?
As previously mentioned, combat is delicious and the main event. The majority of Diablo IV is spent fighting hordes of monsters and thankfully (balance issues aside) it’s absolutely thrilling. However you build your hero, you’ll be balancing a mix of direct attacks, special abilities, passives and ultimate. The build crafting game in Diablo IV is exceptional and changing your build can be done at any time for a small fee of gold. Figuring out the best way to make your hero unstoppable is part of the joy of Diablo IV and the more you level up the more skills you have to play with. When combined with weapons that augment or increase your skills and abilities you start to see how you can easily lose hundreds of hours of your life to the grind.
Loot is an absolute fixture as it should be, however, like much of Diablo IV’s systems, loot doesn’t really come into play until you reach the end game. For the duration of the campaign, you’re really just looking for the next best thing to constantly increase your damage and armour. It’s not really worth investing resources and time into upgrading weapons and armour until you reach the end game because you’re always going to find something bigger and better. The same goes for many of Diablo IV’s many overlapping systems.
As mentioned at the beginning of the review, there are so many complex layers to the game that they can feel overwhelming, however, many of them can be ignored until you reach the end game as this is where they really come into their own. It’s difficult to judge Diablo’s systems and mechanics too harshly as it’s an open secret that the game doesn’t really begin until you reach the end. It’d be nice though, if the journey through the campaign made better use of end-game features and mechanics so that it felt a bit less of a slog.
That being said, and in spite of what may seem like a litany of complaints, Diablo IV is absolutely essential gaming. Blizzard has refined the formula while bolting on a huge number of live-service features. It remains to be seen if Diablo IV will have the staying power of Diablo III, though if I were a betting man, I’d say it’s a sure thing. It’s just stupidly easy to boot it up, look at the clock and see that three or four hours have passed like nothing.
For now, I’m looking forward to the ongoing support from Blizzard, balance changes and whatever else is in store because you just know that like Lilith, Blizzard won’t want to let its followers get away so easily.
Diablo IV was reviewed on PC and PS5 using digital code provided by Blizzard.
