Valera

I think the foundation is pretty solid, with some reservations. I’m enjoying my time with it (just as I did with D3), but I’m not planning Diablo to be my Next Big Online Game. I still have FF14 for that.

Blizzard seems to want D4 to be an MMO existing alongside WoW, maybe a bit lighter. I don’t really know how I feel about that, I’ve never really played Diablo with people, never really wanted to engage with endgame, I just play through the story and fuck around when I feel like it.

I tend to be pretty critical of games that demand all of my time (hence why I love FF14 and bounced off WoW), and I hope D4 doesn’t expect me to play every day once I have a character at max level.

The vibe/aesthetic is pretty good, definitely getting back to the D1/2 feel, Lilith as a present and multifaceted antagonist is a welcome change to the others, where Diablo just hangs out in Hell until you show up. I don’t personally like the endless snowfields as your intro to the game, but I mostly just find them kind boring. I was really missing the dark forests of D1-3 Act 1 or the deserts of D2/3 Act 2.

I also find the pacing pretty weird, but this is a natural progression of the more MMO structure. I was doing sidequests as I fucked around the Fractured Peaks, then figured I should probably get through Act 1, at level 25. I like that the world scales to your level, but always feels kinda weird when I feel like they didn’t intend you to do too many sidequests before getting to the MSQ.

Finally, I don’t like that mounts are locked until Act 4. Act 1 makes sense, but it’s kinda a slog to keep going back and forth on foot when I see stables in all the major settlements.

But yeah, I like the game, it’s good to play when I wanna be brain-dead for a few hours, which is pretty much the draw of Diabloclones.