Diablo IV’s Vessel of Hatred expansion has been out for a few days, and we take a look at the highs and lows of the long-standing title.
It was a warm Monday evening, and everyone had prepared themselves for a 1 am release for Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred (in Europe, at least). Having known about the expansion for quite some time, players were ready for yet another late night of grinding their way through the hordes of Hell – but they did not. We are barely a week in and there have been some major lows for Blizzard Entertainment, but also some stellar highs, and we look back (and forward) at everything to do with D4 VoH and what could become of the famed Action Role Playing Game.
A Hellish Launch
With millions across the world waiting to jump into VoH, the worst thing that could have happened did, with a severe delay to the launch. For those of us playing on Europe’s servers, it meant we could get a bit of sleep and not slog through the early hours of the day, while everyone had to wait the “short” five hours for the fixes to be made.
However, this did mean that there were no server queues, and nobody struggled to get into the game, not as far as we could tell, at least. But that is neither here nor there, as our first five hours of VoH were already a major letdown and it meant that Blizzard would need to be releasing an immense expansion… and in the almighty, albeit paraphrased, words of Illidan Stormrage, “we were not prepared”.
Everything is (Spirit) born at once
From the delay, birthed an amazing expansion, which changed the entire face of D4, with numerous changes to every aspect of the game. Our journey into the new season began with, as it did for many, creating the new Spiritborn class – and figuring out its intricacies as we made our way through the new storyline. Bringing together the flavours of Diablo 3’s Monk, a little sprinkle of Diablo 2’s Amazon, and a whole bunch of furry friends, Spiritborn is taking over the game in the same way that Necromancer did in the previous title.
Read more: Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred impressions: Spiritborn class is an instant hit
Mobs. Mobs everywhere
In its early days, many complained about the lack of mobs around the map, with some zones *cough Fractured Peaks cough* feeling more like a wasteland rather than anywhere the forces of hell would be fighting us. No longer is this the case, even if it was a change made in previous seasons, as now there are actually hundreds of demons awaiting you at every turn – not just Helltides.
Raids? In Diablo?
World of Warcraft is, and always will be, one of the most successful games ever – spanning twenty years already and surviving through thick and thin. Raiding has been one of the big parts of the game, which puts you and up to 29 other players together to defeat some of the most iconic bosses in Warcraft’s history. But now D4 has taken on the “raid” aspect, with The Dark Citadel. Although raiding is realistically not new to Diablo – we tend to not ever speak of the undesirable that is Immortal.
D4’s raid takes up to four players on an adventure through three wings, with puzzles and fights along the way – meaning that bought brawn and brains are required to make it through unscathed. Although Citadel runs reward the player with mainly cosmetic gear, there are coins which can be used for buffs in future runs and a weekly completion cache too.
Beyond this, there are also a plethora of new dungeons, and with the change to Nightmare Dungeons, it takes a few minutes to knock them out for the purposes of renown farming, or simply boredom.
Difficult at last
Although it is quite clear that D4 tends to lean more towards the “casual” ARPG player, VoH has certainly turned up the difficulty levels quite a bit. Not only do Torment tiers require clearing The Pit at higher and higher levels, but higher levels definitely knock you down instantly when you feel strong. That said, some classes such as Barbarian seem to be in dire need of a few buffs to keep up with the Spiritborns and Necromancers.
There are a million and one reasons to hate Diablo 4, and its often confusing in-game store, but VoH is proving that Blizzard has taken a corner and is finally hearing its community again. From our point of view, this is definitely a good time to jump in and join in the fun, whether you’re in it for the story, the gameplay, or the grind – because it would seem as though we may actually have two extremely amazing ARPGs on our hands very soon.
