For new or lapsed fans, Diablo 4 will show you why this series is always spoken of with a blend of reverence and fear. The one where so many things are almost exactly how you want to remember them. For long-time Diablo fans, this game’s opening hours will feel like that impossible trip back home. It’s one of the most viscerally satisfying RPGs I’ve played in a long time, and I’ve played a lot of them. I can’t overemphasize how much fun Diablo 4 is. Even lesser items are valuable in the game’s manageable resourcing “scrap” system that contributes to your character’s growth in meaningful ways. Most items in the game have a purpose and abilities that make you carefully consider their merits rather than just go for the biggest gear number. I recently ranted about the negative impact gear scores have had on gaming loot, and Diablo 4 shows that there are indeed better ways to do things. Attacks are pleasantly weighty, classes are wonderfully unique (and allow for various viable character builds), the soundtrack is phenomenal, and Diablo 4‘s emphasis on the gore and darkness Diablo 3 initially downplayed is just the cherry on top.Įven Diablo 4‘s loot feels good. The feel of a Diablo game is often its most important quality, and Diablo 4 feels as good as any game in this genre has ever felt.

Even in the game’s earliest days, there are signs that suggest Diablo 4 has learned a few things from Destiny (and games like Destiny) that already have some franchise fans wondering about what kind of experience it intends to be in the long run. However, as I played more and more Diablo 4, I thought a little less about Diablo and a little more about the game that has come to dominate the mainstream loot-based gaming scene since Diablo 3′s release: Destiny.

When Diablo is good, it’s the surest and most fulfilling way for any action gaming or role-playing fan to lose hours of their lives. Competitors have come along that do loot-based action-role-playing as well as (or better) than Diablo, but there is a magic to the Diablo franchise that can be hard to replicate. It’s the franchise that turned classic role-playing into an addictive action experience. Then again, that’s always been Diablo‘s thing. I was hopelessly addicted to Diablo 4‘s recent Early Access beta, and I’m already looking forward to losing myself in the game once more during its upcoming Open beta weekend.

Single player game like diablo 3 or poe