Full disclosure: I have never played a Diablo game before. This review is for the campaign only, not the endgame.
After playing Diablo IV briefly during its free weekend, I was hyped to continue playing the game, and a brief subscription to Gamepass gave me the chance to do just that. I loved the game...initially. The first 8 hours or so that I played the game were awesome, but as I continued, I began to grow increasingly bored as I saw how shallow the game is.
The game is very aesthetically pleasing. It has great art, an engaging story set in a cool fantasy world, awesome-looking monsters and characters, and one of the best game soundtracks ever, a soundtrack that I still listen to on a weekly basis. Everything about it is great except for the gameplay.
Now, to give some context: I have not played any Diablo games before (although I've played a bit of Fate and Torchlight 2). So when I criticize the gameplay of this game, I'm criticizing it on its own merits. The gameplay is simplistic and boring. Almost every fight can be easily beaten by just sitting in one place and pressing a couple of buttons. A few boss fights are slightly more tough, but those can be easily beaten as well. The game is all about collecting loot, which in practice means that I keep ending up with hundreds upon thousands of weapons with multiple minor differences and arcane status effects, none of which matters because I can just stand in one place and hold A and win almost every encounter. The game somehow manages to combine two of my pet peeves: unnecessary "complexity" As far as creating a "build" goes, I just gave my Necromancer whatever seemed cool and he steamrolled through every encounter. There are two hard modes, but these are locked behind beating the campaign, and I have no desire to sit through something that dull for the faint possibility of a challenge when I have other games to play.
Finally, I have to say that I don't like the isometric viewpoint. Yes, I know it's a Diablo thing, but the world of the game looks so cool and I'm able to see so little of it--I don't even have the option to rotate the camera. Give me a game set in the Diablo universe, but with gameplay more like Skyrim or Dark Souls, and I'll play it to death. Heck, I'd even play a Dragon Age: Origins -style CRPG in this setting.
In conclusion, Diablo IV is a game that is as shallow as Vampire Survivors or Cookie Clicker, but hidden beneath a beautiful coat of paint that makes you feel like you're doing something more than mindlessly clicking or pressing buttons. I do not recommend it unless for some reason you absolutely need to turn your brain off, and even then, I'd recommend just putting on the soundtrack and going for a walk.
5 stars for aesthetics.
1 star for gameplay.
After playing Diablo IV briefly during its free weekend, I was hyped to continue playing the game, and a brief subscription to Gamepass gave me the chance to do just that. I loved the game...initially. The first 8 hours or so that I played the game were awesome, but as I continued, I began to grow increasingly bored as I saw how shallow the game is.
The game is very aesthetically pleasing. It has great art, an engaging story set in a cool fantasy world, awesome-looking monsters and characters, and one of the best game soundtracks ever, a soundtrack that I still listen to on a weekly basis. Everything about it is great except for the gameplay.
Now, to give some context: I have not played any Diablo games before (although I've played a bit of Fate and Torchlight 2). So when I criticize the gameplay of this game, I'm criticizing it on its own merits. The gameplay is simplistic and boring. Almost every fight can be easily beaten by just sitting in one place and pressing a couple of buttons. A few boss fights are slightly more tough, but those can be easily beaten as well. The game is all about collecting loot, which in practice means that I keep ending up with hundreds upon thousands of weapons with multiple minor differences and arcane status effects, none of which matters because I can just stand in one place and hold A and win almost every encounter. The game somehow manages to combine two of my pet peeves: unnecessary "complexity" As far as creating a "build" goes, I just gave my Necromancer whatever seemed cool and he steamrolled through every encounter. There are two hard modes, but these are locked behind beating the campaign, and I have no desire to sit through something that dull for the faint possibility of a challenge when I have other games to play.
Finally, I have to say that I don't like the isometric viewpoint. Yes, I know it's a Diablo thing, but the world of the game looks so cool and I'm able to see so little of it--I don't even have the option to rotate the camera. Give me a game set in the Diablo universe, but with gameplay more like Skyrim or Dark Souls, and I'll play it to death. Heck, I'd even play a Dragon Age: Origins -style CRPG in this setting.
In conclusion, Diablo IV is a game that is as shallow as Vampire Survivors or Cookie Clicker, but hidden beneath a beautiful coat of paint that makes you feel like you're doing something more than mindlessly clicking or pressing buttons. I do not recommend it unless for some reason you absolutely need to turn your brain off, and even then, I'd recommend just putting on the soundtrack and going for a walk.
5 stars for aesthetics.
1 star for gameplay.